Specializations

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Currently, Brandt School is offering four specializations, based on the research areas of our core academic staff. Students choose their specializations according to personal interests and professional aims. From the first to the third semesters, they complete two of the specialization modules. Each specialization module consists of elective seminars and a module examination. The variety of courses offered helps students develop and specialize their individual profiles - especially when topically connected to the practical training and thesis.

Students complete two out of the four following specialization modules:

Specialization Modules

International and Global Public Policy

The International and Global Public Policy specialization module introduces students to the functioning of international relations and international organizations and to policy problems that affect countries and regions on a global level. The ways in which political forces shape and interact with economic systems and vice versa are considered. Students acquire analytical competencies regarding the actors and stakeholders, institutions and issues in policy areas that can only be tackled internationally (e.g. climate, energy, sustainability).  

Development and Socio-Economic Policy

The Development and Socio-Economic Policy module deals with development policy, policies for fighting poverty and inequality, economic and social development and progress. The seminars investigate questions like "Do aid policies work?", "Do we progress? What kind of progress and how do we measure it?" Conceptualizations of progress or good governance are examined extensively and are broadened and the impact of policies is evaluated. 

Conflict Studies and Management

The Conflict Studies and Management specialization provides students with a platform to explore the exchange of practitioners and scholars’ knowledge on peace, security, and development promoting dialogue around these multidimensional issues following theory, empirics, and practice in peace and conflict research for public policy design, intervention, and evaluation. The specialization seeks to build relations between scholars and practitioners interested in the wider dynamics of political conflict, dialogue, diplomacy, and peacebuilding, using a multidisciplinary focus and familiarizing students with diverse methodological approaches to the subject. Within the research field of conflict management, the Brandt School seeks to develop policies that prevent violence, promote positive peace, and contribute to capacity building in societies.

Students in this specialization will have the opportunity to access classes, workshops, and seminars with experts from around the world and encounter courses like:

  • Forced Migration Policies in Comparative Perspective
  • Race, Racism & Global International Relations
  • Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict Societies
  • The Research Lens on Public Policy Intervention and Evaluation
  • Gender, Peace, and Conflict

They also could be part of Project Groups where they will have the chance to act as policy advisors and publish policy briefs for decision makers like in the:  Project Group “Armed State Actors and Transitional Justice”, or apply for funding to access resources and have the experience to manage budgets and design interventions and evaluation tools like in the “Everyday Practical Peacebuilding Project”.

Non-Profit Management and Social Entrepreneurship

As part of the Non-Profit Management and Social Entrepreneurship module students study management approaches, methods and instruments in non-profit organizations and social enterprises. Students who aim to work in the non-profit sector train their entrepreneurial, creative, innovative and independent thinking. They learn how to develop and present as well as how to implement social projects and business ideas in an impact-oriented way.

Do you need guidance?

MPP Program and Student Inquiries
(Willy Brandt School of Public Policy)
C19 - Research Building "Weltbeziehungen" / C19.02.40

Have it your way

Customize your MPP experience, find your favorite specializations and apply now! Find out more about requirements, deadlines and scholarships in the section on

Admissions

If you would like to learn more about life as a student at the Brandt School, feel free to contact the

Brandt School Student Government

If you are interested in finding out more about possible careers or research areas, please contact our

Alumni Ambassadors

You can't decide on two specializations, yet? Of course you may revise your decision during the first weeks of the program.