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Study programme

The International Relations degree programme is divided into a core area (40 LP) and an advanced area (80 LP). All relevant courses offered by the three universities can be found in the course catalogue of the MAIB. The course catalogue is published in the download area before the beginning of each semester. Below you will find a detailed overview of what you can expect in our Master's programme.

Core area

In the core area, students must take two compulsory modules and additionally two compulsory elective modules. In each module, students must take two courses. One of these courses must be a lecture (VL) or a so-called core main seminar (K-HS). Exact information on which courses are involved in each case is published in the course catalogue.

In both courses of the module, a certificate of attendance (Teilnahmeschein) must be obtained, which proves your active participation (you will be informed of the requirements for this by your lecturers at the beginning of the semester). To successfully complete a module, you must also obtain a certificate of achievement (Leistungsschein) in one of the two courses, which you usually obtain by successfully passing a written exam or writing a term paper.

Compulsory Modules

  •  International Institutions and Transnational Politics | Internationale Institutionen und transnationale Politik (10 credits)

International institutions - which can  materialise in symbols, rules, norms, conventions, regimes or organisations - constitute order and cooperation in international relations. In addition to states, actors from the economy and society participate in international institutions. This module deals with the empirical manifestations of international institutions and transnational politics as well as the theories on their functionality.

  • International Economic Relations and Political Economy | Internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen und politische Ökonomie (10 credits)

Cross-border economic interactions establish fundamental interdependencies that have strong repercussions on politics, the economy and society. In this module, processes of development/underdevelopment, economic globalisation and the global governance problems in the economy, environment and other policy areas outside international security are dealt with and analysed both empirically and theoretically.

Elective Modules

Students must choose two of three compulsory elective modules. Students who take the specialisation EU Studies must in any case take the compulsory elective module EU.

  • Transformations, Regions and Comparative Foreign Policy | Transformationen, Regionen und vergleichende Außenpolitik (10 credits)

Regions form an important level of global politics, where integration and fragmentation processes can be observed both above and below nation states. The courses in this module will examine how domestic processes and global change influence national policies and their various transformations. The focus is on a systematic political science perspective and its application to the individual world regions. Furthermore, foreign policy decision-making processes are analysed comparatively in this module against the background of the specific political, economic and social conditions of individual countries as well as integration processes in different world regions.

  • International Conflict, Security and Peace | Internationale Konflikte, Sicherheit und Frieden (10 credits)

War and peace are central phenomena in international relations. In addition to classic interstate conflicts, the focus today is on intra-state conflicts and their international implications, which are proving inaccessible to traditional solution strategies. This module deals with ways to prevent the violent escalation of conflicts and to pacify violent conflicts.

  • EU Studies | EU Studien (10 credits)

This module focuses on European integration as a prominent example of regional integration. In the courses of this module, various theoretical, methodological and empirical perspectives and problem areas of European integration are taught from the internal and external perspective. In the exemplary analysis of European politics in various policy fields, the current structures, institutions, interactions and modes of functioning of the state and non-state actors of the EU are examined.

Advanced Area

In the advanced area, students must take the following modules:

  • Methods International Relations I / II | Methoden Internationale Beziehungen I / II (10 credits)

Students complete the module Methods International Relations I or II. The methods module serves to deal with quantitative and qualitative methods of social research. It is intended in particular to prepare students for the scientific work within the framework of the Master's thesis.

  • In-depth studies International Relations | Vertiefung Internationale Beziehungen (10 credits)

In the in-depth module, contents from the core area are deepened theoretically and empirically or through the development of additional region-, theory- or method-related competences. The in-depth module enables students to develop an individual focus during their studies.

  • Research International Relations I / II / III | Forschung Internationale Beziehungen I / II / III (13 credits)

In the modules Research International Relations I or II, students have the opportunity to choose from one to two-semester project courses on various theoretical or empirical problem areas of International Relations. In doing so, the project course allows a thorough examination of the application of social science research methods through the particularly intensive study of a topic and thus enables preparation for the Master's thesis In the module Research III, students have the opportunity to choose two seminars from the in-depth module that deal with different theoretical, empirical or methodological problem areas of international relations in a substantive or methodological way that builds on each other or complements each other.

  • Research International Relations IV | Forschung Internationale Beziehungen IV (5 credits)

This module serves to accompany the Master's thesis and will be held as a colloquium. The latest research approaches and innovative methods in the field of political science research on international relations are presented, discussed to enable students to apply them to their own research projects. The presentation of one's own research work is taught as well as its theoretical and methodological situation in the field of political science research on international relations. The aim is to convey the reflection and plausibility of the research design, the approach and the research results in the academic discourse.

  • Interdisciplinary Area I / II | Überfachlicher Bereich I / II (10 credits)

This module serves to supplement your specific knowledge in international relations by dealing with subject areas that are thematically related to it (e.g. history or international law). Language courses can also be taken as part of this module.

  • Internship | Berufspraxis (10 credits)

Primarily during the lecture-free period, students must complete a subject-relevant full-time professional internship totalling at least six weeks. An internship report must be written for this.

Master thesis (22 credits)

The Master thesis demonstrates that the candidate is able to work independently and scientifically on a problem in International Relations. The Master's thesis should be about 20,000 words long. (More detailed information can be found in the tab "Master thesis".) The MA thesis does not have to be defended.

Upon successful completion of all modules and verification of the MA thesis, students are awarded the academic degree Master of Arts (M.A).