YOUR MASTER'S PROGRAM

Required courses

The degree program is worth 120 ECTS credits and the regular period of study totals 4 semesters. The master's degree curriculum is set up so students can earn 30 ECTS credits in each of the 4 semesters.

The program is comprised of required courses (84 ECTS) and elective courses (36 ECTS).

The required courses are dived into 6 modules:

Interdisciplinary Master’s Course (6 ECTS)
Principles of Public and Non-Profit Management (6 ECTS)
Methods Module (6 ECTS)
Research Module (12 ECTS)
Knowledge Exchange and Future Prospects (24 ECTS)
Final Module - Master’s Thesis (30 ECTS)

Starting together at the University of Hamburg

The program begins with the interdisciplinary master's course, which all 35 students attend together in the first half of the first semester. The introductory event introduces all of the topics in the master's program. The interdisciplinary master's course gives you the opportunity to get to know various lecturers in the master's program and gain experience in academic writing and giving presentations. The principles of public and non-profit management module covers topics in those areas.

Learning about methods is essential.

In close coordination with the research module, a methods module with practical exercises is also offered in the first semester. It focuses on qualitative and quantitative methods. This lays the foundation for carrying out your own data collection and analysis. You will need these methodological principles to complete the 2-semester research module and your master's thesis.

The research project—gain the empirical tools of the trade

You will also plan and conduct a research project in this program. For this purpose, small research groups work on their lines of inquiry in one of the topic areas of the master's program, using approaches both theory-based and empirical. This includes the identifying research gaps, developing the concrete line of inquiry, analyzing the literature, developing models and hypotheses, gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data, and discussing results. The focus of the knowledge exchange and future prospects module is the relevance of scientific work outside of an academic context.

Your master's thesis

The master's thesis is the final module of your degree program. You can sign up for it as soon as you successfully complete the methods module. Students have 6 months to complete the thesis of roughly 50 pages. The thesis topic should focus on public and non-profit studies.

Electives: Organization and curriculum

From the first semester, you can choose 2 of the following modules in the elective area:

Public Studies
Non-Profit Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies

In the knowledge exchange and future prospects module (with a total of 24 ECTS), you can choose 2 out of 4 possible sub-modules:

Knowledge Exchange (12 ECTS): The focus here is the relevance of scientific work outside of academic context, e.g., in the following areas: science and scholarship in everyday life; science/scholarship and the media; science/scholarship and politics; participatory research, especially community-based research.

Internship (12 ECTS): In line with the objectives of the program, students must complete the internship, with only few exceptions, in a public sector or non-profit organization. The internship must cover at least 240 hours.

Advanced Methods (12 ECTS): Courses are offered to deepen selected quantitative and qualitative methods.

PhD Track (12 ECTS): The PhD track is a special seminar for students interested in research and considering a doctorate after they earn their master's. Students develop a proposal for a potential future dissertation. The doctoral track is usually offered every second summer semester.

The module Public Studies lays the foundation and provides in-depth knowledge of the public sector, e.g., with seminars on the following topics: