Most of our courses are offered in English. Therefore, it is possible to apply without knowledge of German and to complete your Master's degree in English.
15 June for the next winter semester
The University of Cologne's Master's in Political Science offers a research-oriented study programme with course offerings across a range of political science areas. Thematic areas include:
The empirical and analytical focus of the programme enables you to analyse political phenomena using state-of-the-art research methods and to carry out an independent research project. Upon graduating from the programme, you will be ready for a professional career in many areas of politics or for the continuation of your studies through a PhD programme in political science.
The department hosts numerous research projects funded by international and national funding agencies (such as the European Research Council), providing Master's students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in conducting political science research as student assistants.
The associated research centre, Cologne Center for Comparative Politics (CCCP), brings together junior and senior political scientists at the department who work on comparative research related to electoral politics and representation, political institutions, political economy, and political methodology. Moreover, professors at the CCCP are part of the Cluster of Excellence “ECONtribute: Markets and Public Policy”, a joint research centre at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn funded by the German Excellence Strategy.
The MA programme includes a module area in “Political Science Research Methods”, which offers training in foundations of research methods, including research design and logic, qualitative methods, and quantitative and computational methods with the statistical software R.
In addition to these foundational methods courses, advanced research projects are offered, in which you apply advanced empirical research methods to current research questions in politics. For instance, past MA courses included training in quantitative text analysis, social media analysis, experiments and causal inference, process tracing, and qualitative comparative analysis.
The Master’s thesis is written towards the end of the programme and can be research or practice oriented, corresponding to your interests.
The semester contribution amounts to approx. 320 EUR per semester. The fee includes a public transport ticket for the regional transport throughout Germany ("Deutschlandsemesterticket").
Bachelor's degree at least 2.7 (German grade) with
Please find more information and a full list of requirements here.
English language skills B2
Please find more information here.
15 June for the next winter semester
Accommodation is available through the student union ("Kölner Studierendenwerk") or on the private housing market. Rent for a single room in a student hall of residence is approx. 200 EUR to 300 EUR. Rent for a single room on the private housing market is approx. 400 EUR to 600 EUR.
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