Ecosystems are currently facing multiple challenges such as climate change, land use, pollution, etc. Students will learn the necessary skills to understand the various responses of organisms to their rapidly changing environments. The Master programme brings together different fields of ecology (animal and plant ecology, chemical ecology, conservation ecology and theoretical evolutionary ecology) to explore how individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems respond and adapt to environmental change.
Over the course of the Master programme, students learn to design and conduct laboratory and field experiments, acquire chemical-analytical methods, learn how to build eco-evolutionary models, and strengthen their statistical analysis and scientific communication skills.
All classes are taught in English and international applicants are very welcome!
Information event
The events for the 2025 application phase have already taken place.
For information and advice, please contact Barbara Caspers.
We look forward to receiving your application!
In the first year, students take classes including Ecosystem Wadden Sea (with excursion), Environmental change and chemical communication, Models in conservation biology, Animal Ecology in a changing world, Effects of environmental change on plant chemistry, Plant ecology in a changing environment, Nature conservation and environmental protection (with excursion). The second year consists of individual research modules and the Master thesis
Teaching combines theoretical and practical work which are closely linked. Working in small groups prepares students for scientific work in research groups. The courses teach the necessary knowledge, skills, and methods enabling the students to perform scientific work, present scientific data, critically assess scientific findings, and act in a responsible manner.
In this master programme, students gain knowledge and skills in the areas of fundamental and applied ecology, with a special focus on aspects of global environmental change. Using model species, they get to know the role of diverse abiotic and biotic parameters in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, addressing trends of global change and adaptations of organisms to these parameters.
They acquire skills in scientific methods such as laboratory and field experiments as well as in ecological modelling. In particular, they develop a broad repertoire of ecological, taxonomic, chemical-analytical, evolutionary and theoretical concepts and approaches, enabling them to understand complex concepts in basic and applied research and to apply their skills in environmental aspects.
The combination of basic and applied concepts of ecology as well as the numerous methods and tools convey qualifications for both scientific and more applied areas of the job market.
Graduates interested in research may pursue a scientific career by working on a PhD, in order to qualify for research positions in universities, research institutes or industry.
Graduates focused on applied aspects are qualified for a broad spectrum of job opportunities such as in communal, national and European government agencies, in economy and in nature conservation. They are furthermore qualified for working in the areas of outreach, including scientific publishing, scientific journalism and museum education.
An overview of programme related details can be found in the university's “Study Information”. This includes, for example,
Please apply online. You will find lots of information regarding enrollment including deadlines and our application portal here (it is possible to change the language with a click on "EN" in the line under the wide picture).
You will need to provide the following application documents: