Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management
Pisa, Italy
Master degree
DURATION
15 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
27 Aug 2026
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2027
TUITION FEES
EUR 7,500 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* € 6.500,00 (Early bird discount only for candidates applying for the 1st round of selection set on June 18th, 2026)
Key Summary
About: The Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management is a 1st level Master's program delivering a field-oriented curriculum that links human rights, humanitarian law, conflict management, protection and peacebuilding. It brings international faculty to teach applied theory, qualitative and quantitative methods and research design for policy impact. Students from diverse backgrounds gain practical skills for complex emergencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), United Nations (UN) and government contexts.
Career Outcomes: Graduates move into international organizations, NGOs, regional bodies, public institutions, consultancies, academia, private sector including advocacy, protection, program management, policy, legal practice, monitoring and gender-based violence specialist roles, or PhD research.
The Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management is a postgraduate 1st level Master's program designed to provide students from different cultures and backgrounds with a deep understanding of the linkages between human rights and conflict management theory and practice. The curriculum, strongly field-oriented, prepares participants for working with NGOs, governments, aid agencies, the UN system, and regional organizations, also operating in the context of complex emergencies and joint operations.
Teaching methods
The methodology is characterized by a combination of theory and practice. There is ample use of advanced role-playing sessions, simulation exercises, and case study material.
Course program
The Master starts on January 12th, 2027 and runs until Spring 2028. The syllabus of the Master Programme, in addition to individual studying and the preparation of a final written project (project work), will cover about 440 hours of classroom lectures and 480 hours of internship.
Classroom lectures are from Monday to Friday and run from January 12h to July 31st, 2027. The internship lasts three or more months starting from August/September 2027 and it can be carried out anywhere in the world.
The curriculum, strongly field-oriented, prepares participants for working with NGOs, governments, aid agencies, the UN system, regional organizations, and other institutions where a deep understanding of these issues is critical.
The Program
Module I
- International Law
- UN Human Rights standards and mechanisms
- Regional Human Rights standards and mechanisms
- International Humanitarian Law
- Theories and Techniques of Conflict Management I
- Conflict Studies
- Philosophical perspectives on Human Rights
- Developing personal skills I
Module II
- Business and Human Rights
- International PK and PB Operations
- International Humanitarian Operations
- International HR Field Operations
- International Criminal Law
- Migration Law
- International Election Observation Missions
- Theories and Techniques of Conflict Management II
- International Project Development
- Developing personal skills II
- Selected Issues of Human Rights and Conflict Management
13th best young university in the world (Young University Rankings, Times Higher Education 2024).
The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, or Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna de Pisa to give its full Italian name, is a public university specializing in applied sciences.
Established in 1987, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna is consistently ranked highly in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings, celebrating young, successful universities.
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna is a university with the accreditation to award its own master’s and PhDs, but its undergraduate degrees are awarded in partnership with the University of Pisa. Students at the University of Pisa sit rigorous exams for entrance to Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna’s program.
Students are required to achieve top marks in entrance exams and demonstrate proficiency in two foreign languages. In return, they can study at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna for free.
The fields of study at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna are Business Sciences, Economic Sciences, Legal Sciences, Political Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Medical Sciences, Industrial Engineering, and Information Engineering.
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna has produced some of Italy’s most prominent political and scientific minds. Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, neuroscientist Giuliano Tononi and economist Nicoletta Batini are just a few of the school’s most influential alumni.
Students at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna get to study in Pisa, a historic town with dozens of landmarks, churches, and points of interest besides its famous leaning tower. The surrounding Tuscany region is famed for its natural beauty, vineyards, beaches, and stunning architecture of the capital city, Florence.
The main educational goals of the Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management are as follows:
- To train high-rank professionals who will work in design, management, and monitoring positions within the programs and actions promoted by national, regional, international, or non-governmental organizations, for the double purpose of protecting human rights and preventing, mitigating, or solving conflicts.
- To train professionals who will combine, in a dynamic, non-sequential way, critical knowledge, and technical-operational skills as the key components of extremely professional service in complex situations.
- To train professionals who are aware of the mutual connections between the protection of human rights and conflict management, and who possess a sound juridical and methodological background and practical-operational skills in such areas.
- To train professionals who, in the design and management of actions and decision-making processes, will keep into account the historical, geopolitical, and economic dimensions as well as the “gender” component and the complexity of intercultural relations.
A limited number of partial waivers could be available, depending on financial availabilities, to citizens of non-OECD countries who are eligible for the release of a visa for Italy. Selected applicants may apply for the partial waiver of the tuition fee by motivating their request in a detailed manner on their application form. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna reserves the right to determine the amount of each contribution and the awarding criteria.
The student body of this master's course is diverse in terms of national background, disciplines, and interests. This creates an environment where excellence and diversity are jointly connected making the recent graduates stand out in the current complex job market.
The Master's program covers various topics related to professional practice in human rights and conflict management, taught by an international faculty of leading experts in the field. The program includes sessions that address growing challenges human rights, and humanitarian law professionals face and highlights opportunities to overcome them. There are different International NGO leaders and practitioners promoting human rights in international contexts invited to introduce insights into various aspects of field practice. The student’s future career is supported by coaching sessions held by UN human resources experts who guide them on succeeding in a highly competitive employment market.
Master’s students have successfully started a career in:
- International Organisations
- International and national Institutions
- NGOs
- Lobbying Organizations
- Public Affairs Consultancies
- Universities
- Public and private Companies
In particular, students have undertaken relevant careers and have achieved, just to list a few, the following professional positions:
- Senior Protection Officer, UNHCR (Algeria)
- EU Advocacy Officer, Human Rights Watch (Belgium)
- Programme Officer, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Tunisia)
- Assistant Lawyer, European Court of Human Rights (France)
- Regional Programme Coordination Officer, IOM (Senegal)
- Policy Officer, European Commission (Belgium)
- Monitoring/Reporting Officer, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (Ukraine)
- Human Rights Lawyer, Istituto Nacional de Derechos Humanos (Chile)
- Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, Oxfam (Horn, East and Central Africa Region)
- Adjunct Professor, Science Po (France)
- Education Project Manager, Norwegian Refugee Council (Myanmar)
- Protection Manager, INTERSOS (Iraq)
- Field Human Resource Manager, Médecins Sans Frontières (Korea)
- Program Officer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (South Africa)
- Advocacy Officer, COSPE Onlus (Israel)
- GBV/Gender Specialist, United Nations Population Fund (Jordan)
- Global Policy - Migration Support Programs Advisor, Australian Red Cross (Australia)
- Associate Field Officer, UNHCR (Honduras)
The Master's program is also an excellent preparation for further research work by providing the necessary knowledge and skills for starting a Ph.D. program; this is possible thanks to the added value of national and international professors who bring their expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods used in human rights research, forging students’ design research projects with a solid methodology to have optimal impact on policy and practice in their future career.
Candidates looking for a professionalizing and mission/field-oriented international master's program. The Master is a competitive program open to a maximum of 28 candidates.