FAQ

The induction event will be in the first week of September. The closing event and graduation follows in October or November of your last year. The programme does not have an interim entry. 

The IMARC programme is a joint programme with a double degree. All students will take courses at least for one semester at one of the two universities and will be awarded with the degree of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Ghent university.

The Dutch government provides options for student finance. You may be eligible to apply for either loans, supplementary grants or both. You have to have either the Dutch nationality or a nationality or residence permit that provides the same rights as Dutch nationals. You can find more information about this on www.duo.nl. Additionally students may also qualify for Rent Benefit and/or a Health Insurance Benefit. 

The programme of IMARC is two years. The regular master’s program in Criminology is one year. For DUO, the one-year master’s degree in Criminology is leading and DUO rights (student finance and public transport travel product) are linked to this. This means that during your IMARC registration you may be entitled to 1 year of student finance from DUO.

If you are not sure of the exact state of affairs with regard to your DUO rights, you can contact DUO: https://duo.nl/particulier/inreken-op-mijn-duo.jsp

If, nevertheless, uncertainties remain for you please contact the student counselors (https://www.eur.nl/onderwijs/praktische-zaken/begeleiding-advies/studentendecanen).

IMARC is a master’s in advanced research and we expect you to have skills and experience with multivariate analyses in SPSS and NVivo or Atlas Ti. We require 15 ECTS as sufficient knowledge for both quantitative and qualitative methods. For this we use the average standard of our partner universities, being 1 ECTS for approximately 25 study hours. 

A. Doing empirical research
Experience with formulating strengths, limitations and ethical concerns of doing empirical research
Experience with formulating theoretically and empirically embedded research questions
Experience with developing a research design
Experience with (quasi) experimental design
Experience with unstructured and semi-structured techniques of data collection

B. Quantitative research
Experience with statistical analysis: Descriptive statistics
Conduct statistical analysis using basic techniques (Mean, Median, Modus, Standard deviation, quartiles, percentiles, frequency distribution)
Creating graphs and figures from a quantitative dataset in Excel or other software
Experience with statistical analysis:: Inductive statistics
Conduct statistical testing (normal distribution, confidence intervals, significance)
Bivariate Statistical testing
–          Compare 2-means / T-test
–          Compare multiple means / ANOVA
–          Pearson Correlation / T-test
–          Crosstabs /Chi-square test
Multivariate models
–          OLS regression
–          Logistic regression
–          Moderation, mediation analyses
–          MANOVA
Experience with Statistical Software
–          Statistics in Excel
–          SPSS
–          STATA
–          R
Experience with reporting of quantitative data results

C. Qualitative research
Experience with analysing qualitative data
–          Coding qualitative data (e.g. thematic coding, open coding)
–          Pattern analysis
–          Making code groups
–          Writing memo’s
Experience with Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDA)
–          NVivo
–          Atlas TI
Experience with reporting of qualitative data results

In IMARC we expect you to be familiar with SPSS (or similar statistic software) and NVivo or Atlas TI. You could check MOOC courses , e.g. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/social-science (Methods and Statistics in Social Sciences Specialization). This is free for read only. You’d have to pay in case you desire a certificate. Of course you are free to choose your own way of gaining better understanding of quantitative research. In either case, this will help you a lot in the IMARC programme.

To brush up your research skills. please find the links to the Erasmus Graduate School here:

• https://www.egsh.eur.nl/doctoral-education/phd-course-guide/brush-up-your-spss-skills/
• https://www.egsh.eur.nl/doctoral-education/phd-course-guide/brush-up-your-research-design/

All courses related to qualitative and quantitative methods and basic principles of research design will give you basic knowledge. Courses on qualitative data collection methods vary using unstructured or semi-structured techniques, ethnography and interview techniques. For quantitative methods,  courses on interpreting and analyzing statistical analysis (correlation, regression) sampling and sample design with multivariate analyses in SPSS, or similar statistic software such as NVivo or Atlas TI, will provide basic knowledge. 

For your qualitative and quantitative skills, please pay attention to criteria such as experience with research designs, (quasi) experimental designs, unstructured and semi-structured techniques,  interpreting and analyzing statistical analysis (descriptive statistics, inductive statistics). Also, in IMARC we expect you to be familiar with SPSS (or similar statistic software) and Atlas TI. On https://atlasti.com/video-tutorials/ you can find all kinds of video tutorials. Also https://www.spss-tutorials.com/spss-two-way-anova-interaction-significant/ offers tutorials. Please check our self-report document for requirements: https://www.internationalmastercriminology.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Application_-Skills-research-methods-1.docx

For your qualitative and quantitative skills, please pay attention to criteria such as experience with research designs, (quasi) experimental designs, unstructured and semi-structured techniques, interpreting and analyzing statistical analysis (descriptive statistics, inductive statistics). Also, in IMARC we expect you to be familiar with SPSS (or similar statistic software) and Atlas TI.

We require 15 ECTS as sufficient knowledge (for this we use the average standard of our partner universities, being 1 ECTS for approximately 25 study hours). In your motivation we ask you to elaborate on how the courses in your previous education meet the criteria on deviance and social control.

If you feel your knowledge is not sufficient yet, you could always consider to take courses on criminological knowledge. All courses related to transnational crime, migration, border crossing, social justice and security are very interesting to attend. For your general criminological knowledge it is always wise to read the book of Carrabine (Criminology: A Sociological Introduction, 2014). Also, we can recommend you to read a comprehensive overview written by Tim Newburn (Criminology, 2013) which provides an introduction to the fundamental themes, concepts, theories, methods and events that underpin the subject and form the basis for all undergraduate degree courses and modules in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Applicants must demonstrate the ability to listen, speak and write in the English language because all classes of the programme are taught in English. Supervision of master theses is also in English. We expect students to actively engage in the course and group assignments. Presentation in English is assessed in 

Letters of recommendation could be from former lecturers who know you personally. Your thesis supervisor for instance, or other lecturers you’ve worked with. A short statement of ½ – 1 page will be sufficient. Your (former) employer(s) could also be a good option. Just someone who knows you on a personal bases and can tell something about you.

You do not need to use a format for your reference letter. If desired, the person who writes your letter of reference may submit the letter directly to the IMARC office (imarc@law.eur.nl), with the name of the applicant in the title. 

You may start your application without letters of reference. We will start the selection procedure under the condition you will provide us with the requested documents at a later stadium. Send us your application using this email address (imarc@law.eur.nl). Application via the website is not possible without these documents.

Please indicate with your application the estimated date for the missing documents.

The final ranking is made on the basis of your academic credentials and academic performance, strength of the motivation letter, affinity of the previous studies with the objectives of the master’s Programme, knowledge of questions of deviance and social control and sufficient knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

If you hold a first degree or higher degree from an institution in which English is the primary language of instruction, you do not need an IELTS test. Your C1 certificate will be sufficient.

You can send your diplomas at a later stage. In case you are admitted to the master, your final graduation and diploma is subject to enrolment.

Non-EEA students must be able to provide documented proof that they have sufficient financial means to cover:

Your tuition fee: to be announced in January 2025
The immigration fee (2024): € 228,=: te be updated in January 2025
Living fee 2024  (financial means): € 1.235,= euro’s per month. So for a year this comes down to € 14.820 euro’s.

You pay the living fee at the start of the enrolment process. You can reclaim your living costs as soon as you have arrived in the Netherlands. The amount will be reimbursed to you in one batch after your reclaim. The immigration invoice will be Tuition fee + € 228 + € 14.820 euros for non-EEA students. Students who stay longer than 12 months receive an annual income statement form that they have to sign. 

The immigration deadline is 15 June, students should not wait for Studielink to send them a message. It is best for them to just follow our instruction emails.

IMARC has been selected as an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) programme for the period 2025-2030. Scholarships are available for this period. More information on these scholarships, eligibility criteria, how to apply, etc., will follow in January 2025. 

 Also, on the general EUR website you can find different scholarships and grants where you can check if you are eligible. In order to filter out the scholarships you might be able to apply for, you can select your current situation and the scholarship overview that applies to you will be shown. In order to filter out the scholarships you might be able to apply for, take the following steps:

1. Select on this page your current situation.
   By clicking on one of the situations, the scholarship overview that applies to you will be shown;
2. All the basic requirements of the scholarship are mentioned in the table of the scholarship overview page. Check for country and region eligibility, study level and faculty specific information;
3. Click on one of the scholarships for more details;
4. To apply, follow the given application instructions.

There are also other possibilities to receive funding for your studies.  

• Grant finder Nuffic
• Grant finder EU Scholarships 

You can check our general website for practical information and FAQ on tuition fee, budget plan, living fee, scholarships, Dutch bank account and so on. Also, here you can find the contact details of the International Office. 

Student housing is not arranged for you by IMARC; it is your own responsibility. We can imagine that this can be a struggle for some of you. You are encouraged to arrange housing directly after a succesful application. To help you get started in the first semester, we organized a webinar on the Rotterdam Housing Market that you can review online. If you have not arranged residence yet, we strongly advise you to start looking for accommodation as soon as possible to avoid stress and disappointment. All information can be found at:
Rotterdam: https://www.eur.nl/en/education/practical-matters/student-life/housing-international-students and housing accommodation information at https://www.eur.nl/en/education/study-rotterdam/living-here/housing-international-students/other-accommodation-providers

Ghent: https://www.ugent.be/en/facilities#Housingfacilities

Watch our housing webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwt-YKmRZIE

IMARC is a full time programme and appeals to a full study schedule. We  discourage side jobs but fully understand if you need it for financial aid. 

In semester two, some courses offered by EUR are open for non-IMARC students. When you are a Erasmus University student, you may be eligible. The courses have limited availability and IMARC students have priority. Moreover, background knowledge may apply per course.  Please check with the IMARC coordinator.

Read more about  living in Rotterdam and Ghent, welfare, student associations,  going out and much more. Do you have specific questions? Then contact the faculties directly.

In Rotterdam: https://www.eur.nl/en/education/study-rotterdam/student-life. 

In Ghent: https://www.ugent.be/en/facilities