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Ecosystem Management (B.Sc.)

Features

At the interface between natural spaces and human utilisation: You will get to know the most important facts and concepts from ecology and economics and develop an understanding of the interaction of ecosystems. Thus, you will gain an insight into the essentials of agriculture, forestry and the geosciences. You will acquire professional competence through an internship outside the University over a period of several months. This degree programme is the basis for entry into closely related Master's degree programmes.

Programme:
Ecosystem Management
Degree:
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)
Standard period of study:
6 semesters
Start:
Only the winter semester
Language of the programme:
German
Admission:
restricted admission (application to the University)
Pre-course:
A pre-course is offered
Orientation events:
at the begin of your studies orientation events are offered

Get to know us


Details

Ecosystem Management (ÖSM) is an interdisciplinary degree course at the interface between natural conditions and human usage. The subject-specific and methodological contents take up the concept of sustainability and focus on the current and future tasks in society and on the labour market.

As a student, you will get to know the most important subject-specific and methodological principles of ecosystems and their management during the three-year course. You will learn about the fundamental issues and concepts related to ecology and will be given the tools for the protection and sustainable usage of terrestrial ecosystems with their resources. You can:

  • recognize cause-and-effect relationships,
  • make sound, professional judgements,
  • develop planning concepts for nature and landscape management and
  • work out solutions to conflicts in usage in the area of tension between ecological hazards and economic efficiency.

Characteristic of ÖSM is the broad spectrum of courses. You will not only sit in the lecture hall and listen to the lecturers or to your fellow students' presentations, you will also take excursions to get to know the flora, fauna and ecosystems in the field. You will do practical exercises outdoors, such as identifying rocks and mapping, or you will examine soil samples in the lab. Or you will learn how to capture, process, analyze and present geographical data with GIS.

In the fourth semester, you will choose between a work placement of at least three months and a semester abroad at one of our partner universities. Through the work placement, you can put the knowledge you have gained into practice in the corporate sector, administration or similar establishments, making initial contacts with the world of work. In the semester abroad, you can gain insight into the studies and teaching of foreign universities, broadening your cultural expertise and getting to know other ecosystems first-hand.

The semester for work placements or studying abroad and the wide range of compulsory elective and key skills modules offer you plenty of scope for individually shaping your studies in Ecosystem Management.

Having a Bachelor of Science in Ecosystem Management in itself qualifies you to start your professional career. Experience shows that natural scientists and graduates in environmental planning have considerably broader opportunities on the labour market with a master's degree. The Ecosystem Management course provides you with a good basis on which to commence a master's degree in the related subjects of Geoscience, Forest Sciences and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Göttingen or a master's with a similar focus at another university in Germany or abroad. Possible employers include administrative authorities at a national, regional and local level, non-governmental conservation and environmental organizations, private enterprise companies (industrial companies, consultancies, tourist and landscape planning offices, publishers, etc.) and scientific institutions, such as state universities and non-university research institutes.

With around 35-40 students per year, this degree course is, on the one hand, relatively small with a friendly atmosphere. On the other hand, however, it is supported by the three faculties of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Agricultural Sciences, and Geoscience and Geography, which provide you with excellent points of contact. ÖSM was set up in 2008 and is still a fairly recent degree programme.

Related and consecutive/graduate programmes


Structure

The Ecosystem Management degree course has a modular structure, i.e. you take modules and receive a certain number of credits with the exams for each module. At the end of the course, you write your bachelor's dissertation. In total, you need to achieve 180 credits.

In the first semesters, you will lay the subject-specific and methodological foundations in mathematics and the natural sciences, particularly ecology. The further you advance, the more specific your studies become: you will gain the necessary legal and political know-how, deepen your knowledge of computer-assisted working methods, such as "geographic information systems" (GIS) and modelling, and will deal with application-related issues in ecosystem management (e.g. forms of exploitation, conflicts in usage, energy systems, landscape ecological disturbances and the options for eliminating them).

Regulations and module directory


Admission

Start:
Winter semester only
1st subject semester:
restricted admission (application to the University)
2nd to 6th subject semester:
restricted admission (application to the University)

EU
Citizen from an EU country (including Germany and EEA) or holding a German university entrance qualification

Non-German citizens without a German educational qualification

Non-EU
Citizen from a non-EU country (or stateless person)


Contact

Academic Advising

Katrin Kranz
Tel. +49-(0)551-39-10807
oekosystemmanagement@geo.uni-goettingen.de

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty for Geoscience and Geography
Room 1 (ground floor), Goldschmidtstr. 3, 37077 Göttingen
Consultation hours:

  • Tue 2-4 pm
  • Thu 10-12 am
  • and by appointment, room 1 (ground floor)

current changes in consultation hours