MSc in Environmental Chemistry
University of Bayreuth
Key Information
Campus location
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 semesters
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
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Application deadline
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Earliest start date
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* there are no tuition fees; in Germany, students at all higher education institutions pay a semester contribution; this payment - at the University of Bayreuth: about 110 EUR per semester - has nothing to do with tuition fees
Introduction
Environmental Chemistry addresses today's global challenges caused by increasing industrialization and overexploitation of natural resources. Contamination is not restricted to one compartment (air, soil, or water), but affects whole ecosystems and often has a considerable political dimension. The key to future sustainable resource management, current impact prediction, and prudent cleanup of past contaminated sites is a solid understanding of Environmental Chemistry.
Why study Environmental Chemistry in Bayreuth?
Environmental Research has a long‐standing tradition in Bayreuth. The study program geoecology (today with a bachelor and master program) was designed in Bayreuth in the late 1970s and rapidly became a success story. Today, it can be studied at 6 universities throughout Germany. In 1989, the Bayreuth Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research was founded to investigate complex ecological interdependencies with a focus on forest die-back. Today, the focus has further broadened and about 25 research groups are organized in the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research. The assembled expertise provides unique opportunities for national and international students joining weekly seminars, using our joint laboratory facilities or our national and international network for your master´s theses. The new program Environmental Chemistry is centrally organized by six groups, which are the research groups for Atmospheric Chemistry, Environmental Geochemistry, Experimental Biogeochemistry/Microbiology, Hydrology/Hydrochemistry, Isotope Geochemistry, and Soil Ecology/Soil Chemistry (for further details see Your Lecturers).
Admissions
Program Outcome
In the two-year master´s program, you learn to address global environmental chemical challenges with knowledge, skills, and experience from an application-oriented and strongly interdisciplinary perspective. Aside from the core understanding of processes in air, soil, and water, subjects include inorganic and organic chemistry, microbiology, toxicology, ecosystem analysis, and human-environment interactions. Tutorials in small groups enable the hands-on experience of the front-end analytical techniques in the individual research groups and the development of solution-oriented thinking and creativity. You are trained in critical reflection, abstraction, and logical argumentation as well as oral and written communication. Different perceptions of environmental challenges by students from different countries at different stages of development and with different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds are integrated to sharpen their understanding of international contexts.
Career Opportunities
The demand for highly qualified experts in environmental chemistry will continue to grow with increased industrialization and ever‐tighter global interdependence and integration. Our graduates will have various attractive career opportunities in the academic sector, in the industry (experts and consultants of national and international companies, heads of laboratories, company founders), and in the public sector (policy consultation, development cooperation). Excellent employment opportunities are also available in developing and emerging countries in view of increasing industrialization and demand for expertise.
Doing a doctorate at the University of Bayreuth
The University of Bayreuth Graduate School supervises doctoral students of all subjects who are pursuing a doctorate in a structured program or at one of the University's seven faculties. We facilitate scientific exchange already in the earliest phase of independent research and complement the interdisciplinary education of doctoral students with additional teaching and training opportunities. Our aim is to create the perfect research and learning conditions for them.