Programme Overview

Focus of the Programme

The MA programme provides knowledge/understanding in the following areas:

• Relationships between physical activity, exercise, and health
• Quantitative and qualitative research
• Social science based understanding of the challenges of disease prevention/ health promotion
• Strategies on how to promote health among populations and sub-populations
• Conceptualising, implementing, and evaluating actions to promote physical activity and health
• First-hand project experience in the areas of Rehabilitation and Disease Prevention /Physical Activity and Public Health
• Intercultural communication

 

The MA programme does not provide the following:

• Technical skills or coaching skills in various forms of exercise or sports
• Skills in the area of Physical Education
• Skills in Sport Medicine or a licence to practice Sports Medicine in Germany
• Skills in Physiotherapy or a license to practice Physiotherapy in Germany

 

Learning Environment

The programme provides a highly multicultural and transdisciplinary learning environment. Students from more than 30 nations are currently enrolled in the programme. 25% of current students are native Germans and 75% are international students from all corners of the world. Students come from diverse scientific disciplines, having acquired previous degrees in sport science, physiotherapy, public health, medicine, physical education, and anthropology (among others). Faculty members also come from diverse scientific disciplines (sport science, rehabilitation science, political sciences, sociology).

Cohort sizes are typically 15-25 students. Classes more often employ approaches of active/project-based learning which require high degrees of teacher-student interaction. Students are regularly required to prepare presentations, and engage in peer-to-peer learning. Teaching materials are often designed to provide students with state-of-the-art knowledge in the field of study by utilising original research articles as readings rather than excerpts from textbooks A number of classes expose students to social science based theories and models in health promotion.

 

Career prospects with this MA degree

The programme provides students with a broad overview of the field of physical activity and (public) health. Students who complete the programme acquire sound research skills and are trained to work in multicultural/transdisciplinary teams on real world public health/ health promotion problems related to physical inactivity.

Students are able to effectively market themselves with these skills and can be utilized in launching their professional career in diverse fields. After the first year in the programme, students are advised to take the opportunity to use the internship and MA thesis to reflect upon potential working fields of interest and assess the varying options within the job market.

Key results from the last Alumni survey 2017:

56 of 74 individuals (75.7%) who finished the programme since October 2010 responded to the online survey in May 2017.

32% of programme Alumni report working as a researcher or to continuing their studies on the PhD level. Other Alumni enter the field of healthcare (30% e.g., workplace health promotion), find a job in industry (19%), work for governmental (11%) or non-governmental organisations (11%) in the fields of physical activity promotion/ health promotion.

Of those Alumni working, 68% report that they are working in the field of physical activity promotion at least broadly. Further, of employed Alumni, 59% report that it took them 3 months or less to find employmen; 75% report to have found a job within 6 months after graduation (Data from the most recent Alumni Survey, May 2017).

 

Module Overview

The Master’s programme includes a total of 120 credit points according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). Please download the new module descriptions (valid for all students starting the MA programme in Oct 2017 or later) for more information on the goals and contents of the individual modules.

 

Programme Structure (valid from Oct 2017)

Please click here to download the new structure of the MA programme (valid for all students starting the MA programme in Oct 2017 or later).