Qualification goals

The Master's program in political science leads to a second professional and research qualifying degree at an academic university. Completion of the master's program also lays the foundation for subsequent academic qualifications, for example a doctorate. The qualification goals represent which competencies students acquire with an MA degree in political science.

After a successful master's degree, graduates are able to describe, explain and forecast political and, to some extent, social processes:

• The students do not only receive pure knowledge transfer, but have learned possibilities for independent acquisition and for the deepening of knowledge and information after the study.
• After completing the major or course of study, graduates have in-depth subject knowledge, have an overview of the interrelationships of the field of study, and possess the ability to independently develop approaches to solving complex social and political problems.
• They are able to independently apply scientific methods and findings of the field of study.
• By focusing on methodological training in the context of methodological and application-oriented seminars, students are able to apply and weigh up the procedures of social science data collection and analysis.
• In the course of this, each graduate is familiar with the entire research process of a project in empirical-analytical political science from their own practical experience.
• The students are able to characterize and question different complex methodological approaches. They finally prove this in the context of their final thesis on a self-designed research question, in which they apply both the theoretical and methodological knowledge they have learned in a well-founded manner.
• Upon completion of the program, graduates are able to critically discuss and thereby draw on or apply certain theories and methods of political science.

Within the framework of the program, students are offered the opportunity to design their studies according to their field of activity by focusing on specific areas. Typical fields of employment in addition to research include planning authorities and institutions, political parties, government and administrative authorities, associations, companies, research institutes, development aid organizations, companies and institutions for communication, marketing, public relations, survey and market research, media and advertising as well as centers for personnel training and further education.

• By focusing their studies, students deepen and broaden their knowledge. As a result, they are able to reflect comprehensively on complex, interdisciplinary phenomena and to conduct political science research projects independently.
• The strong emphasis on methodological training in the procedures of social science data collection and analysis as well as the theoretical focus of the Political Science program in Bamberg enables students to design and conduct more complex research designs.
• At the end of the Master's program in political science, graduates have mastered the methodological tools of empirical-analytical political science and are able to evaluate methodological instruments in a differentiated manner, which is particularly in demand in professional practice.

The study of political science should train students in the areas of self-assessment and independence in addition to subject matter:

• By specializing in a particular area, graduates have deepened and broadened their expertise and are thus able to comprehensively analyze even complex, interdisciplinary phenomena and conduct political science research projects independently.
• Thanks to the strong emphasis on methodological training, graduates are able to apply social science data collection and analysis methods in a solution-oriented manner. Within the context of the theoretical focus of the political science program at Bamberg, they are able to design and carry out more complex research designs.
• Upon completion of the master’s program in political science, graduates will have mastered the methodological tools of empirical-analytical political science and will be able to evaluate methodological instruments in a nuanced manner—a skill that is particularly sought after in professional practice.