Master in Transnational Governance

• Starting date: 1 September 2023
• Application deadline: 28 February 2023
• Duration: 2 years 
• Academic credits: 120 ETCS
• Tuition fee: 14.000 euros per academic year 
• Language requirements: B2 level of English 
• Location: Palazzo Buontalenti, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

Launch of 2022/23 applications: 18 October 2022
Application deadline: 28 February 2023
Selection: 1 March – 17 April 2023
Notification of results: March – April 2023
Deadline for confirmation:  April 2023

Additional dates based on the admission offer:

Deadline for tuition fee deposit: 30 April 2023 / 18 May 2023
Deadline for first year tuition fee: 30 June 2023
Initiation of Visa procedure: 22 May 2023
Delivery of Visa supporting documents: 1 June 2023 onwards

Fast Track Selection:

Deadline for full application submission: 8 January 2023
Fast-track student selection: January 2023
Notification of results: January 2023
Deadline for confirmation: 5 February 2023
Deadline for tuition fee deposit:  28 February 2023
Deadline for first year tuition fee: 30 June 2023

Boot Camp

The Boot Camp is a two-week introduction period with that kicks off the academic year prior to the beginning of classes. It takes place at the end of September and provides a friendly and casual environment in which students can get to know the STG faculty on a personal level. During the Boot Camp, students will get a baseline understanding of transnational governance as it is taught in the programme, while learning more about the Institute’s social activities, and what it means to be a member of the EUI and STG community.

First year

The programme’s first year lays the foundation for understanding and analysing governance in a transnational context. Students study transnational law, economics, politics, and institutions, so to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on transnational governance. Students learn about emergent actors and practices of transnational governance, as well as studying the drivers of contemporary shifts in global interdependence and their implications for democratic systems.

Internship

Between the first and the second year of study, students participate in an internship programme with one of our international partner organisations, which include UNCTAD, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, and the European Parliament. The internship is worth 10 ECTS and last a minimum of 300 hours. The internship is a crucial opportunity for students to gain more international experience while expanding their professional network.

Second year

During the second year, students specialise in an area transnational governance of their choosing. Additionally, they are also able to participate in a broad range of events, talks, workshops, and lectures held by globally recognised leaders to advance their expertise and professional development. To complete the programme and earn their degree, each student chooses to either write an academic-focused Master Thesis or engage in a practice-oriented Capstone Project.

• Digitalisation, Technology and Media (DIGIT): Navigating through the digital transformation is not easy. It takes more than knowing how computers work, more than understanding the ultimate product on the market. The digital transformation revolutionises business models, patterns of social relationships, the way we access information, engage in diplomacy, develop and share our political opinions. Engaging in horizon scanning to grasp the future technology landscape is essential to work in a variety of domains, from climate to health, migration and finance. And for sure, nothing is more transnational that digital technology, with cyberspace becoming a locus of interaction between state and non-state actors from all over the globe, all in one place. The digital revolution increasingly requires a massive transformation of the way governments organise themselves, hire their staff, regulate the economy and society, and actively promote innovation. All this generates a whole new series of ethical, governance and policy challenges created by "dual use" technologies such as Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and Extended Reality, Synthetic Biology and Genome Editing. There is no doubt that the leaders of tomorrow will have to master technology as their daily bread: the more you control it, the less you are controlled by it. The more you understand it, the more you can use it for the public good. Coordinator: Professor Andrea Renda.
• Environment and Climate (ENCLI): Ensuring the sustainability of our societies and political systems for future generations has become a central challenge for politicians, stakeholders, and academics alike. Environmental protection and climate change are paradigmatic examples transnational problems that require global governance. This creates a strict environmental and political interdependence between developed and developing countries that requires global action and increased cooperation. In this track, you will explore the challenges of, and route to, transnational solutions to environmental problems. We will examine these from both a legal and a policy perspective across two seminars. In Global Environmental Governance (in semester three), we will examine the global governance and legal networks relating to climate change, biodiversity, water, and waste. In EU Climate Policy/Green Deal (in semester four), we will zoom in on the specific challenge of climate change as addressed by EU legal and policy instruments. Coordinators: Professor Jos Delbeke and Professor Emma Lees.
• International Political Economy and Regulation (IPE): From pandemics to economic and financial crises, from climate change to managing data and AI, from international trade to economic development and inequality: policy-makers today are agents of change, making decisions under uncertainty, balancing economic with social and political considerations. They operate in an increasingly interconnected economic environment, with an incomplete and contested system of governance, and a global presence of rules and regulations produced by state and non-state actors. In this environment, the international political economy and regulation specialisation track offers students the concepts and tools to understand, appraise, challenge and design economic and regulatory policy. It focuses on the economics and politics of crises, on the design and management of rules and regulations, on sustainable policies for a fairer world; on scientific evidence and the use of data; on the effectiveness, fairness and accountability of policies. Coordinator: Professor George Papaconstantiou.
• Migration (MIG): Migration is a contentious topic. For some, it represents a powerful driver of economic and social progress. For others, it is a threat to security, social cohesion, and sovereignty. Ultimately, migration is a human phenomenon, and its impact on society depends on how it is governed. This is what this specialisation track is about. It addresses three broad questions: Which actors regulate the international movement of individuals? What goals do they prioritise? And what principles do these goals reflect? The seminars in this specialisation track use scientific research to address current debates on asylum and refugee protection, development, gendered migration, irregular migration, labour migration, student mobility, visa policy, and more. The seminars are issue-led, multidisciplinary, and combine short interactive lectures with case study exercises. Those who select this track will become involved in the standing group on the Transnational Governance of Migration and will have the opportunity to publish short research notes. Coordinator: Professor Lorenzo Piccoli.
• Peace, Conflict and Security (Peace): This specialisation track is intended as a journey taking students (and instructors) through some of the most fundamental questions about how foreign and security policies are being conceptualized and contextualized in a transnational world. We take off from theories of international security all the way to specific, in-depth case studies of specific policy areas or real life-dossiers: from Iran to Africa to the Balkans—often taught by the senior policy practitioners directly involved in diplomatic negotiations. Being these some of the very last courses that you will take (for some time at least), we also aim to provide hands-on applications of skills and tools necessary for you to navigate in different foreign and security policy practices, ranging from debriefing a senior policymaker, to devising a scenario, to preparing speaking points. Coordinator: Fabrizio Tassinari.
• Politics, Democracy and Citizenship (DEMO): While transnational governance can be thought of as merely an extension of national bureaucracy across borders, it matters too much to the life of citizens around the world not to be subject to deeper legitimacy requirements. This is where transnational democracy and its many incarnations come in, from systemic competition between types of political regimes, to democratic accountability and representation in international organisations to the connection between the global agenda in climate, finance, trade or security and transnational social movements, to the role of networks of cities and the introduction of democratic innovations such as citizens rights of initiatives, assemblies, or referenda. Indeed, the challenge ot democratise transnational governance is also pressing for reasons of effectiveness and the need to mobilise collective intelligene and local capacities to shape and enforce the global rules required to deliver global public goods. Transnational governance should not mimic tdemocracy within states or that democracy or be carried out in the same way at all political levels. Familiarity with the theoretical and practical challenges raised by this agenda will be precious to anyone working on any of the issues that form the substance of the transnational agenda. Therefore, this track will focus – among others – on the following topics: I) The history and genealogy of democratic ideas in Europe and in the rest of the world. II) The main challenges to democracy throughout the world at the national and subnational levels III) The features of democracy beyond the state, the challenges faced and the practical ways to address them. Coordinators: Professor Kalypso Nicolaidis.
• Public Leadership, Management and Administration (ADMIN): Many non-governmental organisations and non-state actors are administrative entities that need to be run by managers with competencies in finance, administration, human resources, IT systems and others. Consequently, leaders need to think outside the public administration sphere to understand the logic behind such public organisations. Only in this way would it be possible to leverage their skills as human rights advocates, public relations managers, or think tank leaders. Leadership, Management and Administration are thus intimately intertwined. In this track, themes covered are Public Diplomacy, The public manager of tomorrow, The reform of bureaucracies for better “glocal” outcomes, The understanding of how the public administration operates “under adverse” conditions, i.e., in the world of ideological polarisation and populism and The Ethic of Loyalty and Dissent in Managing Government. Coordinator: Professor Diane Stone. 

Between the first and the second year of study, students participate in a curricular internship programme with one of our international partner organisations, which include UNCTAD, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the European Parliament, Oxfam, the World Bank, the European Court of Auditors, and many more. A full list of our partners who have built ad-hoc internship projects for our students can be found here.

Students who wish to pursue other internships opportunities outside the STG’s institutional partners must seek these out independently. The Curricular internship are an integral part of the study programme. Worth 10 ECTS , the internship must be at least 300 hours long (approximately between 6 - 12 weeks). Internships take place during the Spring - Summer break, i.e. between the second and third term of the first year of study.

The curricular internship is an opportunity for students to gain more hands-on experience in an international environment, while expanding their professional network.  Students take part in their “curricular internship” before receiving their degree and is therefore an on-the-ground training experience, not a work contract, and as such is generally not paid. It is at the sole discretion of the hosting organisation to provide a stipend to the students. Students must therefore plan for this activity in their budget, while also considering all the logistics involved (i.e. accommodation, transports, insurance, VISA when needed) in pursuing an internship abroad.

For Italy, compensation (monetary contribution) and any benefits are at the discretion of the employer, as they are not  prescribed by law.

In case of internships abroad, compensation (monetary contribution) and any benefits depend on respective national laws.

The governing rules of curricular internships are established by current national, European, and regional laws and regulations, and by the University.

For more information about Internships, contact: [email protected]

A unique component of our master’s programme is the importance given to the development of practical skills. Throughout the two-year programme, students have the opportunity to attend a wide range of different workshops to further develop their skills in areas such as project management, communication, negotiation and much more. Combined with the core theoretical course foundation covered in year one, participating in  these workshops prepares student to successfully take on leadership and management positions in a globalised world.

The EUI is among 24 universities in Italy who are part of the UNHCR project 'Corridors for Refugees' (UNICORE). The project, now in its third year, enables 43 refugees from Ethiopia to enroll in degree courses in universities across Italy. The STG welcomed two students in September 2021.