Educational requirements
A prerequisite for admission is that applicants have a Bachelor of Sciences (or Master of Sciences) degree in biology, ecology, environmental sciences, oceanography, marine sciences, (bio)chemistry, biotechnology, geography, geology, or other equivalent degrees, with minimum 180 ECTS.
Students in their last year of relevant bachelor degree at the time of application, will also be considered for admission. However, if accepted, it will only be admitted if the degree is obtained prior to September 1st of the year of IMBRSea intake. It is the applicant's responsibility that the required degree is obtained prior to the start of the IMBRSea programme.
Upon acceptance to the IMBRSea programme, your degree and transcript of records will need to be duly legalised. Please see below.
Language requirements
Knowledge of the English language is considered as a basic requirement to follow classes.
All students must provide evidence of their proficiency in English through one of the following documents:
- A TOEFL Certificate: minimum score: 570 points (paper) or 87 points (internet)
- A IELTS Certificate (in person or online): minimum score: 6.5
- A Certificate of a University Language Centre testifying that the student masters the necessary knowledge of English to function academically (specify CEF-level / minimum CEF-level B2)
- A Cambridge English certificate: Cambridge English First (FCE) - grade A or B
- A certificate proving that you have followed at least 1 year of higher education in English
The IMBRSea Programme Board can, at its own discretion, waive the requirement for proof of English language skills, if English was the official language of instruction/teaching for at least one year of the previous successful Higher Education studies.
Diploma legalisation requirements
If you are accepted into the IMBRSea program you will be required to send hard copies of your higher education diploma and academic transcript of records to Ghent University, in order to finalise your application and to start the enrolment procedure. Please respect the given deadlines.
Hard copies are required to ascertain the authenticity of your diploma and transcript of records. Please read carefully the information about the legalisation methods per country and how to get your documents legalised at Ghent University here.
The legalisation method depends on the country where the diploma was issued (check the list of countries per legalisation method).
- OR Apostille: for contact information on where to get the Apostille seal and requirements on how to get the seal, click here. Check the Competent Authority of the applicable country under the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.
- OR Certified copy: A certified true copy of a document is a copy taken of the original primary document by a qualified official who guarantees its authenticity as a true copy. Click here for more information.
- OR legalise your diploma at the Belgian Embassy: For contact information of the Belgian embassy in your country to have the legalisation done: click here.
The list of requirements for each country can be found via this link where you should enter the following data:
Situation: 'Use a foreign document in Belgium'
Country: Insert the country where your diploma was issued
Document group: 'other documents drawn up or legalised by a competent local authority'
Note that you might have to contact the institute that issued your diploma to obtain a certified copy or to find out what the procedure is to have your diploma apostilled or legalised.
Important remark about translation: if your higher education diploma(s) are not issued in English, French, German, or Dutch, they need to be translated by a certified translator and both the original and the translation need to be added to your application.
Complete application requirement
In order to be eligible for admission, you need to submit a complete application form before the imposed deadline!