FAQ

A number of B.A. degrees from the University of Bayreuth, listed in the Application & Admission section of this website, are accepted. Non-Bayreuth degreed will be checked for their equivalence.

The assessment of equivalence depends on the individual focus that you have chosen in your application. All applications will be checked individually. In some cases, you might be admitted subject to catching-up with some additional B.A. courses. 

If you selected "Advanced Development Sociology and Politics," the assessment takes into account the candidate’s knowledge base in the social sciences demonstrated in a detailed transcript of records. Candidates are expected to have successfully covered a range of introductory courses in the social sciences in their previous studies; approximately including a general introductory course to the social sciences, sociology, or political science, quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as some development issues and/or sociology/politics in regions or countries of the Global South.

If you selected "Advanced International Economy," the assessment takes into account the candidate’s knowledge base in economics demonstrated in a detailed transcript of records. Candidates are expected to have successfully covered a range of introductory courses in economics in their previous studies; approximately including micro- and macroeconomics, statistics, as well as applied economics.

If you selected "Advanced Geography," the assessment takes into account the candidate’s knowledge base in geography demonstrated in a detailed transcript of records. Candidates are expected to have successfully covered a range of introductory courses in geography in their previous studies; approximately including human geography, basic theories of social and cultural studies, quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as development issues and/or the regional geography of a region in the Global South.

Your grading has to be transferred into the German grading system. This will be checked based on your formal application and the documents provided by you. In this case the copy of your certificate and of the transcript of records is required. The German grading system distinguishes four performance levels of successful graduates. Mark 1 is the best whereas 4 indicates that the cadidate scraped through with great difficulties.

We accept a variety of language tests from official agencies. For example, English skill can be proven by TOEFL results equal to or above 95 points or IELTS results equal to or above 7 points. We also do accept "DAAD Einstufungstests" issued by some German University language centres. More information on this is given by the International Office here.

The “School Leaving Certificate” is the school certificate which allows you to either enter a university directly (e. g., German Abitur) or which is the fundamental requirement for university applications.

Practical experience abroad dealing with development of at least four weeks’ time is expected. 'Practical experience ' includes traineeships and formal employment. 'Abroad' particularly applies to applicants who do not originate from a developing country. ‘Dealing with development’ means that the organisation, public agency or business should be related to development issues. However, the admission assessment weighs different aspects of your practical experience.

If you have no such proof yet, for example, because you will only realize the intership in the summer after the application, please provide an official acceptance letter for the intership. Under specific conditions, the internship can also take place within the first year after the inscription. Again, please provide an acceptance letter for the internship in such a case.

You can provide proof of an internship dealing with development through submitting an internship certificate after you have already completed your internship. An internship contract is not a sufficient proof of internship. The certificate must be issued by the employer/internship provider after the internship and must contain the duration of the internship as well as references to the contents of the internship.If you are still in the process of completing the internship you can submit an official letter that proves that you have started the internship already.

In case you haven't started your internship yet, an internship contract or an acceptance letter by your future "employer" is sufficient. Just keep in mind, that the period of internship has to be four weeks minimum.

Currently, it is only possible to hand in the application for the Master program online via Campus Online. Hard/Printed copies which are send in per mail are not accepted. The same applies to soft copies sent by email. Due to the high number of applications we cannot return individual notices in such cases. For more information, please take a look at the 'Application and Admission' section on our Website.

All application deadlines are available here.

Application ends for non-EU Applicants on 15 July for the following winter semester. Early applications are very welcome but not before March when the online system opens. We advice international students who need a visa and who have to expect a rigorous visa application process to apply before the end of March. You will be informed about the decision in due time.

Programme entry is restricted to winter semesters. You can find the official start of the lecture periods on the website of the University Bayreuth. Usually, the winter term starts in mid-October.

For the specialization 'International Economics' the Universities of Bayreuth and Bordeaux offer the opportunity to obtain a prestigious double degree from both institutions. For the specialization in Geography a double degree from the Universities of Bayreuth and Bordeaux Montaigne is possible. Please find all necessary information listed in the Double Degree (Geography) and Double Degree (Economics) section of this website. 

Applicants who have obtained their Bachelor degree abroad have to upload their application documents via uni-assist and undergo a fee-based special procedure in addition to the application at University of Bayreuth via CampusOnline.

You can find the relevant information about the document checking process here and under "Application & Admission" on this website.

In the following cases, an application via uni-assist is not necessary:

• You are already enrolled as a student at the University of Bayreuth
• You have already obtained your entrance qualification for master's programmes (usually your first degree) at an accredited university in Germany.

• Double-check if you have submitted the correct e-mail and the supplementary letter.
• If you did so, get immediately in touch with developmentstudies@uni-bayreuth.de, tell us about the situation and include all available information about the visa process, in particular, the location of the consulate where you submitted your documents, your visa application number and a contact name and address if available. Only write to us after you have tried yourself to explain to the consulate that the e-mail and the supplementary letter are the official admission documents. In your communication, you should refer to the website section 'Information for foreign representations' on the application and admission page.

The official admission letter is the e-mail from the "Masterbüro" (Master's office) that explicitly says that you have been accepted to the Master's programme in Development Studies. It is valid without a signature. This letter can be handed in together with the supplementary letter to the admission notice as the supplementary letter carries a signature and the official university letter head. Please, do not try to apply for a visa with the supplementary letter only. The supplementary letter has the title "Complementary information concerning your admission to the Master's Programme 'Development Studies' at the University of Bayreuth", it is a PDF document attached to a second e-mail.

All necessary courses are taught in English. In rare cases of catching-up requirement a self-study plan may substitue the attendance of a specific course which is not available in English. However, admission requires to demonstrate German language skills at the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, at the latest until the end of the first year of studies. A series of certificates are accepted. We strongly recommend to our international students to start with the language classes as soon as possible. In some cases, you might be able to take the first German classes at your current location even before coming to Bayreuth.

Yes. The Language Center (Sprachenzentrum) at UBT offers German courses and a variety of other languages. Check out their courses here.

The University of Bayreuth’s International Office provides detailed information about arriving in Germany and Bayreuth, including accommodation, enrolment, visa, and many more topics.

The transfer of courses of other master's progammes is possible if the courses are equivalent with regard to content and workload (according to European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System = ECTS points) to courses taught in this M.A. Programme. You need to provide a description of the course. The grade will be transferred into the German grading system. Contact the programme coordinator for further advice.

Applications for the recognition of examination and study achievements/competencies must be submitted to the examination office together with supporting documents. If you have any questions, etc., you can contact the examination office responsible for the degree programme.

Request for accreditation of fulfilled study requierements (in German)
English translation assistance

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be useful in supporting academic work (e.g., improving clarity, structuring text, or checking grammar), but they must be used carefully and responsibly. Always ensure that the work you submit reflects your own thinking, and critically review any AI-generated output for accuracy, completeness, and potential bias. Do not use AI to generate content or to fabricate sources, citations, or data.

Please use the following template to declare and document any use of AI when preparing assignments, term papers, or your Master’s thesis.

The ITS offers access to several AI tools. You can find more information here.

You are free to choose your own topic in the field of Development Studies as long as you find a supervisor that agrees with you on the topic. We recommend to draw inspiration from your study courses at the University of Bayreuth. You might have come across theories, concepts or questions which are of specific interest to you. Before you engage in further research, we strongly advice and encourage you to speak to lecturers associated with your fields of interest about your ideas and to solidify a relevant research topic.

Generally, all professors and lecturers who are part of the departments and units listed in the ‘Programme Overview’ section are eligible as MA thesis supervisors. You will have one supervisor and two reviewers. The supervisor will automatically serve as one of the reviewers. At least one of the reviewers must be part of the department, which is responible for your individual focus, i.e. Economics, Human Geography, or Sociology/Politics. You are not required to look for a second reviewer yourself. If you do not suggest a name for the second review, the board of examiners will select an appropriate second reviewer according to your thesis topic. As a general rule, the two reviewers cannot be part of the same chair/professorship. Exceptions might apply.

If you seek to have a supervisor/second reviewer who is not part of the listed units, please get in touch with the programme advisor (Prof Stroh-Steckelberg). In cases of general uncertainty, you can get in touch with the programme coordinator (Dr Barbara Polak).

Once you have established a research idea and have found a supervisor, you can register your thesis via her or his office.

Once you have registered you are given 5 month (10 month for part-time students) to complete the thesis project. Keep the deadline in mind and plan your time accordingly.

As stated in the Examination rules the Master's Thesis should not exceed 120,000 characters. Depending on the formatting, 120,000 characters correspond to approximately 50 pages of pure text (from introduction to conclusion, but excluding title, indexes, bibliography and any appendices).

Under specific circumstances the board of examiners might extend the deadline up to 12 weeks (24 weeks for part-time students). However, you should consult your supervisor about this and present sufficient reasoning. Please find more information on the extension requirements in the examination rules and the website of the Examination Office. A written application to the examinations office will be required.

The statutory declaration at the end of your thesis is a statement in which you need to confirm that you wrote the thesis independently and did not make use of any sources or materials that are not cited in the thesis. This includes the undeclared use of artificial intelligence. You also need to confirm that the thesis was never before submitted to any other academic institution.
Please use this template as a reference.

The Master's thesis must be submitted in electronic form (printable PDF document) before the deadline. Submission is carried out by uploading the document via the form server. You can find the link on the website of the Examination Office. The Examinations Office will note the date of submission. The thesis will then be handed over to the reviewers by the Examination Office. Abstain from sharing your final thesis version individually with the reviewers.

The University of Bayreuth charges no tuition fees. Only a student fee of € 163,04 per semester must be paid. The student fee includes a ticket for local public transport and entitles you to reduced prices at the University’s canteen.

There is no general M.A. scholarship programme available from the University of Bayreuth. International students may apply for an educational grant at UBT’s International Office. For a detailed description on scholarship opportunities, please visit their website. You may find other possible scholarships on the website of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Bayreuth is the capital of the Upper Franconia (Oberfranken), a picturesque region located in the Free State of Bavaria, Germany. It is also the home of the classical music composer Richard Wagner and the correspondent world-famous festival. Owing to over 13,000 students at UBT – many of them from foreign countries.

Bayreuth hosts a fairly active nightlife and many recreational opportunities for young people. Just in distance are the ‘Fränkische Schweiz’ (Franconian Switzerland) and the Fichtel Mountains, which are great spots for outdoor activities like rock climbing, hiking, skiing (well, at least sometimes), road and mountain biking, or kayaking. The city of Nuremberg is only an hour away.

Further the International Office and Erasmus Student Network Bayreuth organize many activities to get to know Bayreuth, meet new people and explore the surrrounding area.

The local Association for Student Affairs (Studentenwerk) offers dorminory rooms for which you can apply here.

Apart from student dorms most students in Germany live in shared flats with other university students or young adults. Finding a private room is possible through several websites or Facebook groups. Here you can find a detailed list of possibilities where to look for accomondation.