Master’s Labour Law of Erasmus School of Law deemed excellent

Annually, 1200 master’s programmes are evaluated for the composition of the Keuzegids. These programmes are reviewed on the following factors: content, professors, examination, career preparation and overall appearance. De master’s Labour Law achieved the highest possible evaluation of ++ (significantly above average).

Top-notch education

Van Minnen and Houweling spend a lot of their time on the quality of the education that is being offered within the master programme. “In Rotterdam, we have deliberately chosen to design the master’s Labour Law in such a way that a selective group of maximal 30 students receive top-notch education for a year long. During the year, experts from all over the country and the world are flown in to present the students with the best possible experience. This way, students are being introduced to an impressive network of professionals. They will visit offices and organizations and complete internships at the best labour law practices in the Netherlands.”

The selectivity and the quality of the master’s offer the students even more. “Within the master’s Labour Law in Rotterdam, you are not a number. You are an authentic person who will receive customized education to become the best version of yourself”, state Van Minnen and Houweling. “That can be becoming a Zuid-as lawyer, a researcher, a very confident businessman or -woman, or a politician.”

Van Minnen and Houweling believe that students have to get the chance to develop themselves to the fullest. In order to do this, fellow students and professors should give their all. According to Van Minnen and Houweling “this is being achieved by working hard, reflecting critically on labour law, learning from experts, daring to fail, but most of all by having a great time with your peers and embracing your future”.

 “Providing excellent education is a top sport”

The excellent status of the master’s is not a given for Van Minnen and Houweling. “Like real top sporters, everyone in our team strives to improve their performance every year.” Therefore, the master programme changes every year. An example is the drama series Casa Loco that has been introduced in the spring of 2021. This series deals with all kinds of issues related to labour law, which are reviewed in the lectures. Other examples of new educative methods presented to students during their master’s are theatre training, personality tests, Moot Courts and plead exercises. “It can and should always improve”, stress the master’s coordinator and the professor.

Last autumn, all docents completed the BKE (Basic Qualification Examination). More preparations have already been made for the following years. And in March this year, all professors of the master’s Labour Law will gather to create a new ‘master plan’, which will ideally be introduced in 2025.

“It feels like winning a gold medal”

Van Minnen and Houweling are happy with the result: “We are extremely proud! We cannot even find the words for it. We are honoured to be the only programme of the whole Erasmus University Rotterdam which belongs, together with only twelve other master’s programmes in the Netherlands, to this top league. Maybe this is what a gold medalist feels like. We work very hard, ask a lot of our surroundings and, thanks to the team’s effort (including students, professors and partners), we achieved the absolute best result. That truly feels amazing. But we are not slowing down; we are already training very hard for next year. Bring it on!”