The Master’s Programme in Public International Law at Sigmund Freud University Vienna is delivered in cooperation with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. It is defined by two core strengths: sustained engagement with the United Nations system through UNITAR, and direct access to Vienna’s wider international legal and diplomatic environment.

The programme begins with a UN Immersion Week in Vienna and continues through four further UNITAR training weeks held at the Vienna International Centre. These weeks bring serving diplomats, UN officials, and international legal practitioners directly into the classroom and place students in contact with the working environment of multilateral diplomacy.

At the same time, students benefit from Vienna’s exceptional concentration of international organizations, agencies, and diplomatic institutions. They participate in institutional visits and exchanges with organizations including the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Vienna, the Federal Presidency of Austria, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the OSCE, the World Bank, the International Anti-Corruption Academy, OPEC, and IOM. During the UN Immersion Week, students often engage with experts from Vienna-based United Nations agencies, including the IAEA, UNODC, UNIDO, and the CTBTO Preparatory Commission.

Students leave the programme having spent a year closely connected to this environment, with the doctrinal command, professional skills, and institutional fluency expected of practitioners in international law and diplomacy.

The programme is based in Vienna, one of the four headquarters cities of the United Nations and a principal centre of international law and diplomacy. Students study in immediate proximity to major international organizations and engage directly with professionals across human rights, migration, development, anti-corruption, energy, and global public policy.

The curriculum provides a comprehensive foundation in the core areas of public international law, including its sources and principles, international organizations law, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law. It addresses contemporary challenges in the international legal order and the evolving role of international institutions.

The programme also develops the professional skills international practice demands: negotiation, intercultural communication, legal analysis, and advanced legal writing, taught alongside the institutional context in which these skills are exercised.

Available both on campus in Vienna and online, it allows participants to pursue an internationally focused LL.M. while maintaining professional or personal commitments.

At the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Explain and apply the core principles and sources of public international law
• Analyse the law and practice of international organizations, including the United Nations system
• Engage with key fields such as international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and contemporary developments in the international legal order
• Understand the relationship between international law, diplomacy, and global governance
• Demonstrate practical skills in negotiation, intercultural communication, and legal writing
• Connect legal doctrine with institutional practice in international organizations and diplomatic contexts
• Conduct independent legal research and present findings through the Master Seminar, Master Thesis, and Oral Examination

The programme combines academic training with professional exposure. It begins with a UN Immersion Week in Vienna and continues with courses taught both by academic faculty and experienced practitioners from international organizations and diplomatic services.

The curriculum is structured in four modules:

Module 1: Core Fields of Public International Law

• Sources and Principles of Public International Law
• International Organizations Law
• International Humanitarian Law
• International Human Rights Law
• Recent Challenges in Public International Law

Module 2: Theory and Practice of Global Diplomacy

• Theories of International Relations
• Introduction to Global Diplomacy
• Introduction to the Work of the United Nations
• Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Module 3: Legal Thinking and Communication in International Contexts

• Comparative Public Law
• Europe as an Actor under International Law
• Negotiation Skills and Techniques in Intercultural Contexts
• English Report Writing Skills

Module 4: Examination Phase

• Master Seminar
• Master Thesis
• Oral Examination

The programme is designed for lawyers and professionals who work, or intend to work, at the intersection of law and multilateral institutions. It suits practitioners moving from domestic legal practice into international organizations, diplomats and civil servants seeking formal legal credentialing in public international law, and professionals already engaged in human rights, migration, humanitarian, development, or anti-corruption work who require deeper doctrinal grounding to operate effectively within international legal frameworks. Given Vienna’s concentration of UN agencies and the programme’s direct UNITAR partnership, it is particularly well suited to those whose careers are oriented toward the United Nations system.

Participants join an international cohort and benefit from a learning environment that combines legal depth with institutional engagement.

The programme positions graduates for careers in the international legal profession. A year in Vienna places students in immediate proximity to the organizations they aim to work with and in sustained contact with the practitioners working within them. At the same time, the programme provides the doctrinal and professional foundations expected in the field. Graduates have gone on to positions within the United Nations system and other international organizations, as well as in professional roles connected to international law, diplomacy, and human rights work. While admission to the UN and to other international bodies is competitive and determined by the institutions themselves, the programme is designed to give graduates the credential, substantive expertise, and institutional fluency to compete seriously for those roles.