For admittance to the master’s program applicants need to fulfill the following admission requirements:

• a German or equivalent foreign Bachelor degree in geography or in social, cultural or regional sciences.
• Proof of English language skills (level C1 CEFR), unless the university degree was obtained at an educational institution where English is the language of instruction.

German language skills are not required.

Further information can be found in the Admissions Regulations for the master's program.

Students do not pay any tuition fees, the university only charges semester fees and contributions each semester.

The English-language Master of Science "Geographies of Global Inequalities" is concerned with global inequalities from a relational perspective. The geographical perspective on inequalities focuses on the connections between global dependencies and ruptures. The regional focus of the program is both on people and places in the so-called Global South and North. It takes into account that economic and societal privilege or disadvantage in a globalized world is not captured by binary divisions, but much more complex: spatially fragmented, relational and unevenly distributed while existing in close spatial proximity.

The Master’s program chooses its theoretical focus in postcolonial, feminist, political-economic and socio-ecological theories and concepts. These are complemented by different "lenses", such as intersectionality, or science and technology studies. The theoretical perspectives allow a social science-informed view of relevant topics in the subject of geography, such as health, mobility, racism, urban research, poverty and inequality, work and labour markets, multispecies relations, livelihood research, global governance, socio-ecological transformation and gender. The methodological training focuses on qualitative methods of empirical social research. Particular importance is attached to ethnographic methods. Questions of research ethics, data management and the use of software tools are integral to our methods courses.

At the core of the Master’s program is a taught empirical research module with an empirical student project, where students have the opportunity to apply the theoretical and methodological knowledge, gain crucial experience in practical research and lay a solid foundation for their Master thesis research. Climate-friendly alternatives for compulsory research trips are offered. Examination consists of essays and reports, or alternative formats such as websites or blog posts, videos and podcasts. The degree program offers family-friendly study options. The program is aimed at international BA and BSc graduates in geography, cultural and social sciences and related subjects.

Graduates of the Master's program are familiar with the topics, debates, and concepts of human geography and critical social sciences for the spatialization and analysis of global inequalities. The program offers a qualification in the research field of geographies of global inequalities with thematic focuses such as mobility and migration, human-environment relations, crisis or poverty research. Graduates have gained an overview of the theories, concepts and topics in the research field, acquired knowledge about qualitative and ethnographic social research methodologies, and can independently implement and apply these in the context of empirical research work. Graduates acquire further and in-depth conceptual and theoretical knowledge in selected focus seminars that deal in depth with research approaches and topics in geographical inequality research. They know basic methods of qualitative social science research and have scientifically conceived and empirically processed a self-chosen research topic in the Master's Thesis. Graduates are familiar with the general principles of scientific work and good scientific practice and are able to take these into account in their first scientific activities.