The Master of Criminology is designed to provide students with an advanced understanding of crime, public response to crime and, specifically, criminal justice in Europe and beyond. The programme focuses recent developments in criminological theory and their implications for national and international policy-making.

About the programme:

General subjects include criminological theories and models of law enforcement, psychology, law and criminal justice, youth criminology and juvenile justice, and research methods. The programme also offers cutting-edge courses on international police and judicial cooperation, political crimes and transitional justice, restorative justice, terrorism, and organised and corporate crime – research fields in which our Leuven Institute of Criminology professors are internationally renowned experts.

Our programme is characterised by a strong link between education and research, an explicitly international orientation, and a comparative approach. You will write a master's thesis in the research area of your choice. Furthermore, the programme will improve your critical reflective methodological skills and attitude to enable autonomous, constructive, and high-quality research and contributions to the field.

High quality at an affordable price:

The Master of Criminology programme offers high quality education at one of the oldest, most well-respected universities in the world.  Moreover, Belgium generally offers affordable higher education fees in comparison with the rest of the world.

Preparatory programme:

Without an academic bachelor degree in Criminology, you do not have direct access to the master. However you can apply for the preparatory programme to gain access to the master's programme. Please note that the preparatory programme holds its own strict entry requirements.

Although the preparatory programme can be partially combined with the Master's Programme, the duration of your study will be extended to 1.5 - 2 years.

Focus on research:

The programme is characterized by a strong link between education and research. With your master's thesis you will learn to build up research independently: you formulate research questions, describe research paths, collect and process information. At the end you will make a high quality contribution to criminological research.

Student profile:

Ideally, you should possess the following attributes:

• a critical-reflective attitude towards the law, community and crime;

• theoretical knowledge of applied psychology, sociology and anthropology within the field of crime and the treatment of crime;

• extensive knowledge of basic research methodology; familiarity with specific criminological sources as well as legal, psychological and sociological sources and the ability to formulate research questions from existing literature and basic knowledge of (quantitative and qualitative) data collection;

• basic skills of oral and written reporting, especially in a criminology context, in English, that is, and the capacity to understand English texts, seminars and lectures taught in English.

Career perspectives:

Our graduates stand out as professionals or academics with excellent methodological and critical thinking skills. You will find them working in police departments and in justice, youth care, private companies focusing on security and safety, civil services, and the non-profit sector.

The programme also prepares you for a career in research, national and international policy, or criminal justice and victim assistance. You will be supported by our criminology experts with expertise in the field, in both its theoretical and applied aspects.