NOVA School of Law

Master in Law and Economics of the Sea – Ocean Governance (MDEM)

This is the perfect opportunity to find out about our wide range of educational programmes, discover our innovative teaching methods and learn about the extracurricular activities that make our academic community so special.

Target Applicant

The master’s degree places value in involving students with very diverse previous academic paths. The following may enter the course:

• Holders of a bachelor’s degree or legal equivalent;
• Holders of a foreign higher academic degree conferred following a 1st cycle of studies organized according to the principles of the Bologna Process by a State that adheres to that Process;
• Holders of a foreign higher academic degree that is recognized as meeting the objectives of the bachelor’s degree by the Faculty’s Scientific Council.

The teaching phase corresponds to 60 ECTS and consists of 8 mandatory courses (38 ECTS). Students must also complete 22 ECTS in option subjects (4 ECTS in the Social and Behavioural Sciences option and 18 ECTS in the Law or Economics or Management option), as listed below.

From 2024/25, students will need to approve the curricular component with, at least 13,50 points out of 20 (13,5/20) to be able to enrol in the research phase (2nd year of the course).

Completion of the curricular component (60 ECTS), with any positive grade, grants the award of a Diploma in Postgraduate Studies in Law and Economics of the Sea.

1st Year - Taught Component

1st Semester

Mandatory

• Environmental Law
• International Law of the Sea and International Courts
• Natural Marine Resources and the Ocean Economy
• Maritime Law and Civil Liability
• Ocean Policies

Restricted Option (Law)

• International Humanitarian Law
• Business, Human Rights and Sustainability
• Financial Instruments Law
• Energy Law

2nd Semester

Mandatory

• Financing Sustainable Blue Economy and Integration of Policies and Development
• Economic Models for Sustainable Ocean Economy
• Maritime Security

Restricted Option (Law)

• Data Protection and Management Law*
• Methodology of Legal Research
• EU Asylum and Migration Law***
• International Commercial Law
• Port’s Law and Shipping Management
• European Law of the Sea
• Insurance Law (EU Insurance Law)**

Restricted Option (Social and Behavioural Sciences)

• Ocean Governance

Restricted Option (Management)

4th trimester (March through May)

• Business Model Innovation

2nd Semester

• Applied Social Entrepreneurship

Restricted Option (Economy)

3rd trimester (January through March)

• Environmental Policy

4th trimester (March through May)

• Global Energy Markets

2nd Year - Research Phase

Research Phase

Mandatory

Dissertation, internship at national or international institution or project work

Goals

Students should acquire in-depth knowledge in the areas of law most relevant to the field of the sea, always bearing in mind the perspective of ensuring sustainability, as well as in the area of economics related to the ocean – the major areas of development of the sustainable economy of the ocean, financing of the economy and the link between natural resources and the economy of the sea.

They should acquire an integrated, holistic and interdisciplinary vision of ocean-related issues, from a critical, constructive and creative perspective that allows them to identify the main trends, the threats the ocean suffers and the opportunities it holds, and to be able to contribute creatively to finding solutions to threats and to seizing and creating opportunities.
Students are challenged to understand issues at local, but also regional, national and global levels, in a mutually related perspective consisting of diverse levels of reflection and action.