Business Management

Conditions of access

a) Holders of a bachelor’s degree awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution, whose curriculum reveals an adequate scientific background
b) Holders of a bachelor’s degree awarded by a foreigner Higher Education Institution that is in accordance with the principles of the Bologna process, and whose curriculum reveals an adequate scientific background
c) Holders of a foreigner higher education degree that is deemed by the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics as complying with the objectives of a bachelor's degree, and whose curriculum reveals an adequate scientific background
d) Holders of an academic, scientific or professional curriculum that the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Economics deems relevant to attend this master program
e) Seniors attending degrees like those identified in points a) and b) can also apply. These students must have at least 138 approved ECTS at the date of their application and must be able to graduate by the end of July of the academic year in which they apply. Applications by Seniors are allowed only in march and are considered conditional until graduation
f) Points c) and d) above are not an equivalence of a bachelor's degree nor the recognition of such degree by the University of the Algarve.

Criteria for selection of the candidates

Criteria (A) – First degree’s final classification 
Rounded final classification of the candidate on his/her first degree (on a scale from 0 to 20 points)
Foreign degrees will be assessed via the formula of the Direção Geral do Ensino Superior, which is as follows:
Cfinal = {[(C-Cmin)/(Cmax-Cmin)]*10} + 10
where:
Cfinal = final classification (on a scale from 0 to 20 points);
C = final classification of the foreign diploma;
Cmin = minimum mark to pass in the country of origin
Cmax = maximum mark in the country of origin

Criteria (B) - Position of the Institution that awards the first degree in the international rankings
20 points – If the awarding institution is present in the Times Higher Education ranking;
10 points – If the awarding institution is Portuguese but is not present in the Times Higher Education ranking;
0 points - Other situations.

Criteria (C) – Curriculum vitae
20 points – If the professional/scientific experience of the candidate exceeds two years in roles closely related to the program’s main scientific area;
10 points – If the professional/scientific experience of the candidate is between one and two years in roles closely related to the program’s main scientific area;
5 points – if the professional/scientific experience of the candidate is up to one year in roles closely related to the program’s main scientific area;
0 points - Other situations.

Criteria (D) - Additional Training
Candidates that have already completed other advanced programs (i.e., Master's or Doctor's degree, have a postgraduate diploma, and similar situations) may have extra points according to the relevance of such training for the master’s program as follows:
20 points – If the previous training is very relevant;
10 points - If the previous training is relevant;
5 points – If the previous training is not very relevant;
0 points – If there is no previous relevant training.

Criteria (E) - Motivation Letter
Candidates will have from zero to 20 points conditional on the analysis of their motivation letter.

Final classification of the application = 0.65 Criteria (A) + 0.15 Criteria (B) + 0.10 Criteria (C) + 0.05 Criteria (D) + 0.05 Criteria (E)

Tiebreaker criteria:
1. Exact classification (not rounded to the nearest unit) of the first degree;
2. Reassessment of the motivation letter;
3. In particular cases, applicants may be asked to attend a selection interview

NOTES:

1. Candidates must have at least a grade average point of 14 in their first degree (according to the Portuguese scale) to be considered in the march application round;
2. Candidates in all application rounds must have at least 9,5 points in their final application score. Applications that do not comply with this threshold will be dismissed by the School of Economics;
3. The School of Economics does not consider applications of candidates that have a first degree awarded by a non-Portuguese University that is not in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in the march’s application round;
4. All applications received at a given application round are analysed on an equal basis with applications that were transferred from a previous application round. Yet, candidates that are not offered a spot in the master in a given application round must reapply for the next one (if it exists) if they continue interested in enrolling in the program. In this case, no charges apply.

Necessary documentation

a) On-line application:
b) Up-to-date CV;
c) Payment of the application fee;
d) University Degree Certificate and Academic Results Transcripts. Documents in English, Portuguese, Spanish or French do not require translation. Documents in any other language must be translated into English or Portuguese. Documents issued in a country other than Portugal must be certified in that country by a notary under the Hague Apostille Convention or by the Portuguese Consulate. Graduates from foreign institutions must present an official declaration, issued by the Higher Education Institution where they completed their first degree that includes their final classification as well as the respective scale used. This declaration must be written in Portuguese or English and duly validated by the competent entity;
e) Passport or identity card;
f) Colour photograph;
g) Taxpayer number (for Portuguese applicants only);
h) Motivation letter.

NOTES:
1. UAlg graduates may replace their qualifications certificate with a pdf file with the same information registered in the internal system of the University of the Algarve;
2. Foreign students must present official information regarding his/her final classification in the first degree and the scale used to attribute it. Students that do not comply with this requirement shall be treated has having passed in their first degree, which is equivalent to 10 points on the Portuguese scale;
3. In the march application round, senior candidates must replace their certificate of qualifications with a declaration of honor, attesting that the student has at least 138 ECTS completed at the time of application, and indicating the weighted average of all ECTS completed at the time of the application. Such declaration of honor must be supported by an official document stating the ECTS completed at the time of the application and the respective individual marks of the student.