Programme structure
Programme structure
Our curriculum is divided into themes, all of which examine Europe from a different disciplinary perspective. These themes are politics, law, economics, humanities, and social sciences relevant to European studies and research.
By combining mandatory and elective modules which are designed to simultaneously strengthen research and interpersonal skills of the students, the programme offers various areas of interest through different courses. This variety strengthens the students' academic portfolios and constitutes an asset in securing future jobs.
In the first semesters, students take compulsory modules, which introduce them to the topics of European law, the actors and decision-making processes of European politics, the history of European integration and European ideas, the theories underlying them, and the methods of empirical European and social research. They also learn about good scientific practice.
In the second semester students deepen their competencies in the fundamentals of European law, politics, economics and research methods relevant for the study programme. Additionally a special focus of this semester is on sociology and the humanities.
In the third semester, students choose 30 ECTS from elective modules in three areas: political and legal Europe, societal and economic Europe, and European ideas and diversity. They acquire the ability to discuss and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in a field, justify their position in discussions and defend it argumentatively. In addition, they learn to critically examine and abstract various research questions and problems and to independently develop and work on further research questions. Students also have the option of completing an internship to further their practical education in their field of choice, as an optional module in the third semester which would credit them with 5 ECTS.
In the fourth semester, students come together for a master´s colloquium. This helps them understand the more practical aspects of thesis writing and provides them with a platform to discuss their research, which then results in their Master´s thesis.
Our programme also offers students the opportunity to spend their third semester in one of our partner universities abroad, either through the Erasmus programme or pursuing an optional double degree with the University of Catania, in Italy or the University of Limerick, Ireland.
Curriculum
Curriculum
In the first and second semesters, students take compulsory modules, which introduce them to the topics of European law, European politics and policies, European political economy, the history of European integration and European ideas, the methods of empirical European and social research, as well as the fundamentals of good scientific practice.
In the third semester, students choose 30 ECTS from elective modules in three areas: Political and legal Europe, Societal and economic Europe, and European ideas and diversity. Students also have the option of completing an internship to further their practical education in their field of choice. Our programme also offers students the opportunity to spend their third semester in one of our partner universities abroad, either through the Erasmus programme or pursuing an optional double degree with the University of Catania, in Italy and the University of Limerick, Ireland.
In the fourth semester, students come together for a master´s colloquium. This helps them understand the more practical aspects of thesis writing and provides them with a platform to discuss their research, which then results in their Master's thesis.
Main documents
Main documents
Here you can find the main documents that will help you understand the structure and the curriculum of our programme. The original document of our exam regulations is in German. We have added the English version here for your convenience.
Please also have a look at our module catalogue in order to get an overview of the contents, learning objectives, exam forms, teaching and learning formats and workload of each separate module.