Press release: First English-language Bachelor Degree programme at the University of Göttingen

Nr. 64/2011 - 07.04.2011

“Molecular Ecosystem Sciences” combines molecular biology with ecosystems research

“Molecular Ecosystem Sciences” is the first Bachelor Degree study programme at the University of Göttingen to be conducted entirely in English. The study programme is being offered by the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology and leads in six semesters to the degree of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). Commencing for the first time in the 2011/2012 Winter Semester, the three-year programme targets prospective students from Germany and abroad. The final date for applications is July 15, 2011. Programme content is centred on the molecular bases of ecosystems.

“Understanding the complex processes taking place in an ecosystem is one of the greatest research challenges worldwide”, says Programme Coordinator Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey of the Department of Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding. “These processes call for interdisciplinary thinking within large-scale contexts and research networks.” With English as the language of instruction, students can work in an international environment from the first semester onwards; the fourth semester can be taken as a study period abroad. “Our programme targets highly motivated and well qualified prospective students, irrespective of whether they are from Germany, neighbouring countries, or overseas”, explains Prof. Finkeldey. “From the very outset they will be prepared for the global employment market.”

In addition to attaining a good grounding in, and wide-ranging knowledge of, the natural-science-oriented disciplines, students will gain practical experience in the laboratory and on field trips. “It will only be possible for us to understand the reactions of a cell, a tissue, an organism, and hence an entire ecosystem, if we understand the interactions of the molecules”, points out Prof. Finkeldey. “This knowledge is necessary in order to keep ecosystems intact in their function and task, especially in view of the environmental changes caused by humans.”