FAQ Political Science

There is no minimum GPA required. For the selection of candidates, your GPA is an important criterium (it accounts for 40% of the selection process) and high grades are important. It is also extremely important to ensure that you document that you meet the admission requirements in order for your application to be considered!

You can still be considered in the selection process if your academic record indicates that you will obtain your bachelor's degree by the end of the first semester of the master's program, even if you do not yet have a degree certificate for your first degree when you apply.

If your transcript does not show your current GPA, your GPA must be certified by the examination board or office.

If you cannot submit your bachelor's degree certificate by the end of the first semester of the master's program, you will be deregistered and will not be allowed to continue in the program.

Only applications that meet all the requirements will be considered in the selection process. Missing requirements cannot be acquired retrospectively. If you know that you do not meet at least one requirement, please do not apply. Your application would not be successful.

The admission regulations allow only one exception: As you can submit your bachelor's degree certificate until the end of your first master's semester (31 March of the following year), you may complete compulsory modules or compulsory elective modules of the bachelor's program in the winter semester if you could not complete them in the summer semester before the master's program. Beyond that, there is no possibility of compensating for missing admission requirements.

lf you consider switching from another master's program to Political Science, you'd have to follow the regular application process. Your application will be evaluated based on the defined standard criteria. Your current master's studies will not be considered within the admission process.

Once you have been admitted to the program and once you are enrolled as a student at the University of Hamburg, you may apply for recognition of external achievements.

Applicants who, at the time of their application, are not able to prove the required English language skills, must provide proof of their registration for the next possible test date (e.g., printout of the online registration). In this case, the test result must be submitted for enrollment (no later)!

You don't need to prove German language skills within the application, since the Political Science master's program can be studied entirely in English. All applicants must have a very good command of English. 

In 2026, we will offer 45 study places.

Once your application has been reviewed, an acceptance or rejection letter will be made available in your STiNE account at the section “Documents” ("Dokumente" in German).

The enrollment deadline will be indicated in your acceptance letter - please submit the documents required for enrollment by this date. Detailed information about the enrollment process can be found at the website of the Campus Center.

Once you have successfully submitted your digital enrollment application, you will find an overview of your details in the section "My Data" in your account in the enrollment portal. Upon accepting the university place, you are enrolled at University of Hamburg.

If you do not accept the university place or fail to submit the required supporting documents for enrollment by the deadline, the offer of admission expires. This deadline is final; no extensions can be granted. The loss of the university place is irreversible.

A checklist [PDF] provides a full list of which supporting documents are specifically required for enrollment. Review your documents carefully using these checklist as your guide. The documents that you must submit prior to the enrollment deadline are marked in color in the checklist.

You can submit the remaining documents later via an upload to your account in the online enrollment portal without jeopardizing your admission. However, your permanent semester documents (proof of enrollment, Student ID, semester public transport pass) may not arrive until after the has started if you submit your documents at a later date.

Be aware that enrollment at University of Hamburg takes place entirely electronically. Paper documents sent via the postal service or personally submitted on-site will not be considered.

Please have a look at the checklist for enrollment [PDF] into International Master’s Degree Programs.

Here you can find some information about the certification.

If you are not familiar with the German health insurance system, you can find information about health insurance on the website of the Campus Center.

You will find a letter of rejection in your STINE account.

Yes, you are welcome to apply next year again.

If your application was rejected because you did not meet all the admission requirements, it only makes sense to reapply next year if you will have met also the yet missing requirements by then. Otherwise, your application will be rejected again.

STiNE is the student information network that provides valuable support to students from their initial application through to completion of studies (and even beyond that as alumni). To apply to a program at the University of Hamburg you must use the online application form on STiNE.

Once you have set up an applicant’s account in STiNE you may log in repeatedly during the application period to complete the application form. You must upload your documents and submit the completed form electronically via STiNE.

Applications cannot be submitted before the start of the application period (15 February) or after it ends (31 March). The online portal is only available during this period. It is not possible to fill in the application form earlier or later. Applications submitted outside of the portal will not be considered.

No. For legal reasons you must use STiNE for your application.

No. It is necessary to complete the application form in STiNE and upload all required documents with it until 31 March.

No. It is not possible to apply for more than one international program at the same time.

If you do not understand a particular question regarding the admission requirements or the documents to submit on the application form, please contact the Campus-Center.

For subject-specific questions, please contact the Political Science team at the Academic Office Social Sciences.

After submission of the application form you receive a notice confirming that your application was received.

Yes, please contact STiNE support.

If you experience technical difficulties using the STiNE portal, please contact STiNE support.

It is absolutely essential to upload your application documents as PDF. If you submit documents in other formats, we may have problems to access them. PDF documents can be created directly from WORD documents or most image editing software by using the Adobe PDF function, if installed, or by using free software and the print function.

Please note that the PDF must not exceed the maximum file size of 5 MB. Therefore, please be sure to compress images or image files before converting them into a PDF.

If you you are still studying when you apply and cannot yet provide a final certificate listing your grades, please submit your current Transcript of Records confirming your provisional grade point average. You will then need to submit your degree certificate by the end of the first semester of your master’s program.

For applicants with a degree from a university from outside Germany: Please make sure, that the grading scale of your first degree is available on your degree certificate or the current Transcript of Records. If it is not clear from these documents, please submit another proof. The grading system must show the minimum passing grade and the highest possible grade.

No. Uncertified copies are sufficient.

In general, all application documents must be submitted by the deadline. There are only two exceptions:

1) If your bachelor's degree certificate is not yet available by the end of the application period, it must be submitted by the end of the first semester of the master's program at the latest.

2) Applicants who have registered for an English language test but have not yet received the results may submit the test certificate when they enroll.

No. All application documents must be submitted online via the application portal (STiNE).

Enrollment at Universität Hamburg will take place digitally. lf you are admitted to the Political Science MA program, you will receive the relevant information on the digital enrollment application with your admission letter.

Documents sent in paper form by mail will not be considered!

The program starts in the winter semester; i.e. October. There is only one intake per year. The application period runs from 15 February to 31 March.

No. The program only starts in the winter semester.

Yes, you can study this master’s degree part-time. Detailed information about prerequisites, deadlines, the application procedure, and any exceptions is available on the university's Campus Centers website. 

Part-time degrees however, are not designed as evening and/or weekend programs. Our classes normally take place during the week between 8 am and 8 pm.

It is not necessary to announce that you would like to become a part-time student within the application.

At the University of Hamburg, a semester contribution is mandatory. There are no additions tuition fees at the University of Hamburg. 

No. Currently, neither the university nor the program are able to provide any sort of scholarships. Please check the general information on financing your studies.

Comprehensive information on scholarships available from German funding bodies can be found at the website of DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).