Study Ireland – Stories & Guides from International Students

Like many people, I spent months searching for the master’s programme that I thought would best suit me. I considered everything from location to price. I wanted a program that would give me experience I could put forth after graduation and into my future career. That is when I found the Double Degree program offered by the University of Limerick and the Europa-Universität Flensburg. 

“What is a double degree programme?”, is something you may be asking, as I asked myself the same thing. Though the meaning can vary around the world, this double degree programme allows students to study at two different universities, and then receive a master’s degree from each of these institutions. There are many benefits to doing a double degree programme, with gaining two master’s degrees upon completion of the two years, of course, one of the main benefits. Personally, I chose this programme because I will get to live and study in two European countries, exposing me to multiple cultures and allowing me to gain knowledge from people with many different academic and personal backgrounds. However, this particular programme has many other benefits and would be great for anyone looking to pursue European Studies.

Location 

The first year of the program is spent at the University of Limerick (UL), which is located in Limerick, Ireland. UL has a very active student life, with a large number of clubs, sports teams, and weekly pop-up events. UL has over 18,000 students and a large campus. Limerick itself has a population of over 102,000, but I truly think it feels more like a big town, than a small city.  

The second year of the programme is spent at the Europa-Universität Flensburg, in Flensburg, Germany. Flensburg has a much smaller student population, with a little over 6,000 students. Flensburg is located only 7 km/4 mi from the border of Denmark, making it the Northernmost city in Germany. Flensburg has a population of around 90,000. With Flensburg being located so close to the border of Denmark, there is a large Danish population of around 2,500 people. This mix of cultures is one of the other reasons I think Europa-Universität Flensburg will be a great location for the second year of the program, as I will have the privilege of getting exposed to inter-twined cultures.  

Programme 

European Studies focuses on how the European Union (EU) works. As students, we get to learn about the many governmental institutions that make the EU function the way that it does. As I am only in my first semester, I can only provide the content of what I have studied thus far, which are the courses of: Contemporary Political Theory, Institutions and Policies of the EU, and the European Convention on Human Rights. Like many master’s programmes, the courses are between 2.5-3 hours long but are only held once per week.

For EU students, the first year at UL costs 3,800 euros, and for non-EU students, the cost is 9,000 euros. However, the second year of the programme is only 525 euros, for both EU and non-EU students, making this programme much more affordable than many other I came across during my initial research. The programme itself is also relatively small, with only five students being in the current year at UL. The maximum intake is ten students. This semester, only one core module was assigned, meaning I was in one class with only the people from this programme, and got to choose my other two classes out of a select few modules ranging from Law and History. I love being in such a small programme, as the professors are very responsive and many of my peers are just as interested in the same topics as myself.  

Overall 

I believe this programme is a great opportunity for students to be exposed to multiple cultures, across two countries, in the span of two years. There are also networking benefits as you get to meet so many different people in both locations. Being able to say that you studied European Studies while living in two different European countries can also look quite nice on a CV. So, again, while I am only in my first of four semesters, I would recommend this program to anyone looking to feel immersed in the subject that they are studying.