Courses are held in English (100%).
Please keep in mind that almost all extracurricular activities at the IPU Berlin are provided in German and that sufficient German language skills (B2) will strongly ease your everyday life in Berlin. All applicants of the Master of Psychology – Work, Society, and Environment programme are thus strongly encouraged to start learning German before their arrival.
This multidisciplinary MA Psychology programme with an organisational focus aims to foster a reflective socio-critical stance while students scientifically explore subjects revolving around transformation processes in the context of organisational psychology, environmental psychology, health psychology, and related areas.
Changes within the work environment are unfolding in a society in which the significance of progress and growth must be rethought, given current complex global challenges such as climate change and digitalisation. Psychologists maintain decisive roles within numerous professional fields by providing support to individuals and organisations coping with transitions and the challenges of today’s society. Social change raises the question of what significance different organisations have and should have in contemporary society. This is accompanied by new forms of interpersonal relationships and dynamics between man and machine as well as the additional challenges associated with sustainable business strategies. “Work, Society, and Environment” are therefore not merely buzzwords put together in a title; much more, they are to be understood as highly intertwined concepts that systematically focus on the dynamics in animate and inanimate relationships.
As a graduate of this MA programme, you will be equipped with theoretical and practical skills that will provide important impulses for the development of sustainable solutions through reflection on social dynamics and change processes. Moreover, the integration of knowledge acquisition and independent reflection offered by this MA programme fosters a strengthening of systemic competences surrounding the skill of recognising and assuming responsibility. This will ultimately develop one's ability to make independent decisions in leadership positions.
The target group of this MA Psychology programme is Bachelor's graduates in psychology or economics and related fields who wish to pursue a career within the field of organisational psychology while implementing a psychodynamic perspective. Whether it be NGOs, governmental agencies, environmental organisations, or something else, this MA programme will excellently prepare you for a diverse professional life and career.
The programme encourages the students' communicative competences by practising academic discussion while maintaining a reflective stance. The didactics of the degree programme are primarily oriented towards participatory forms of teaching and learning. From the first semester onwards, students learn how to research scientific questions independently, to present and discuss them, and to deal constructively with criticism. These communication skills enable the students to obtain competences associated with leadership positions.
All degree programmes offered at the IPU Berlin are both research-based and application-oriented and are designed to help students develop independent, socially reflective, and solution-oriented professional abilities.
The teaching itself is also characterised by variation: In addition to lectures and lecture-oriented seminars, workshop formats are implemented. Workshop formats allow students the space to reflect on their own experiences and use these insights for learning and research practice.
The programme consists of 120 ECTS credits, which can be earned during four full-time study semesters. The ECTS credits are divided evenly across three semesters, with the Master's thesis to be written during the final (fourth) one.
The programme is arranged in five overarching areas of study, consisting of 12 modules with lectures, seminars, and workshops.
The areas of study include:
In addition to this, the
are also part of the curriculum.
The reasoning behind the compulsory elective subject is to provide the students with the opportunity to focus on a scientific or academic field in line with their own interests (e.g. Social Trauma course elective).
More information including detailed module descriptions can be found under Study and Examination Regulations.
PDF DownloadStudents have the option to complete their compulsory work placement abroad and use the Erasmus+ funding for work placements within the EU and PROMOS for work placements worldwide.
Students are required to complete a work placement in order to become acquainted with application areas of psychology and to acquire practical skills in the professional use of psychological working methods. The internship provides the students with an opportunity to gain valuable practical experience while implementing the theoretical knowledge already acquired via the lectures and seminars.
The work placement is to be completed before or after the third semester, either entirely during the semester break or, alternatively, throughout the semester while studying.
Students will earn a total of 15 ECTS credits through the 450 working hours. Out of these working hours, 330 hours (11 ECTS) should be spent on the actual practical work while 120 hours (four ECTS) should be set aside for writing a report.
With a full-time work placement over the semester break, the requirement of 330 working hours can be fulfilled over the course of eight weeks.
As at any other university in Berlin, students are required to pay a semester fee which includes contributions to the StudierendenWERK Berlin and the IPU Berlin Student Council. Visit the course page for more information.
Students should expect to need 900 to 1,000 EUR per month to cover their entire cost of living (rent, insurance, personal expenses, etc.).
Deutschlandstipendium: Available from the second semester onwards, providing 300 EUR per month for high-achieving and committed international students who are especially talented and dedicated and who will gain or have already gained outstanding achievements in their studies or professions (link)
Bachelor's degree in Psychology
Graduates from other disciplines (i.e. Sociology, Political Science, Economic Science) are eligible for admission if they have completed at least 40 ECTS credit points in psychology as a part of their Bachelor’s degree.
If you are a student from another discipline (other than psychology) and you are uncertain whether your degree qualifies you for the Master's programme, please contact the university at: admissions@ipu-berlin.de
Students have the opportunity to take up part-time or temporary student jobs with an employer of their choice, work as student assistants at the university, or take up paid internships.
Paid employment for students is subject to strict regulations, since it may prolong the period of study. If and how long-term international students are permitted to be employed in Germany depends on the type of employment and the type of residence permit the individual student holds.
For more information, please have a look at our guide for international students.
Finding accommodation in Berlin is a challenge. It is highly advisable to initiate your search as early as possible!
Student housing is available via the Student Union or on the private market.
Reasonably priced accommodation for a few days is available in student hotels or backpackers' hostels, usually in shared rooms.
In Berlin, student residence halls or dormitories are run mainly by the StudierendenWERK, the student welfare organisation, rather than by the university. The residence halls are located in various parts of the city. Rooms vary in standard and price, starting at approx. 350 EUR per month. Students can find more information regarding the residence halls and other housing opportunities as well as information on rent and waiting lists on the website of the StudierendenWERK.
Generally, finding accommodation in Berlin is very difficult, especially in the dormitories. The number of applications is very high at all times.
Shared accommodation in private apartments (so-called "Wohngemeinschaften" or "WG"), where all have a room of their own, are very popular, especially within the inner city districts of Prenzlauer Berg/Pankow, Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg, and Neukölln. Rooms in shared accommodation are advertised on the internet or posted at the university. For a room in a "Wohngemeinschaft", one can expect to pay approx. 400 EUR per month in Berlin.
In 2024, the IPU Berlin opened a dedicated International Career Service with funding from the DAAD.
Range of career service events
Professional and career preparation options integrated into the studies
Alumni Network
Welcome Center
Starting with the annual Welcome Week, the Welcome Center aims to support international students throughout their studies at the IPU Berlin. For more information, please refer to our international student guide.
Student Mentoring Programme
The Student Mentoring Programme serves as a study and career orientation and planning tool for Bachelor's students in psychology and for students in the English-language Master's programme in psychology.
Mentors are experienced students, mostly from the Master's programme in psychology, who are able to contribute their advisory skills. The mentors are supervised during regular counselling meetings. The mentoring programme lasts between one to two semesters, depending on the needs of the mentees.
The IPU Berlin is a state-recognised private university with its campus and administration in Berlin. With the commencement of lectures in 2009, a gap was closed that had arisen in the one-sided natural sciences direction of academic psychology. The study courses at the IPU convey psychoanalysis as a science which maps the human as a biological, social, and culturally imprinted being and which seeks to understand the individual against the background of their history and the influence of their unconscious. All of the courses of study at the IPU are related to research and provide close contact with clinical and pedagogical practice from the first semester onwards.
The IPU Berlin was granted official state recognition on 17 April 2009 by the responsible Berlin Senate Administration. The IPU was awarded its institutional accreditation by the German Council of Science and Humanities, the Wissenschaftsrat. This was effective as of 27 November 2014, and the IPU was successfully re-accredited in April 2020.
The IPU facilitates studies, advanced studies, and further education as well as research with a psychoanalytical basis and pursues a transdisciplinary understanding of science in the fields of teaching and research. In dialogue with other sciences, the IPU contributes to the further development of psychoanalysis as an applied social science and cultural theory. The academic staff lecturing and researching at the IPU has acquired many years of experience in practice, teaching, and research. Lecturers and researchers enjoy excellent learning and working conditions with the required resources at their disposal. Analysis, discussion, and shared development – on an interdisciplinary level and beyond the limitations of any status groups – represent a defining criterion of the scientific and organisational work at the IPU. The IPU builds up networks and establishes cooperative arrangements with national and international partners in science, training, and practice, which promote mutual enrichment in terms of content and a positive perception within the general public.
Study programmes currently offered at the IPU:
The IPU Berlin runs its own outpatient research facility as well as an EEG lab, and its library has an extensive stock of printed and electronic media as well as attractive reading areas. Together with contacts at our partner universities, our International Office organises and arranges stays abroad for the students.
The Psychotherapeutic University and Research Outpatient Services offer diagnostic and psychotherapeutic services with different forms of therapy to patients, especially focusing on patients with personality disorders. Students of the IPU Berlin are able to gain their first impressions and experiences in this field of practice by participating in clinical services and diagnostic procedures.
The activities and subject areas of importance to the IPU Berlin are presented at public events, such as the university's public lecture series and conferences. Numerous specialist congresses facilitate such scientific exchanges.
Berlin was founded in the 13th century, and despite its long history of war, the city developed into one of the most exciting cultural hot spots in Europe. Over long periods of change, Berlin established a vibrant and unique cultural scene that continually attracts people from all over the world.
The city is an urban centre of creative, colourful life and features distinctive cultural spots, like flea markets, galleries, cafés, and vintage shops. Some of the most famous sights include the Brandenburg Gate, the TV Tower, and the Reichstag parliament building. Germany's capital accentuates exceptional museums, theatres, opera houses, and concert halls. Additionally, Berlin's incomparable music, club, night life, and festival scene form its exclusive setting. Big global events like Berlin's International Film Festival, the Berlinale, and Fashion Week draw numerous visitors to the capital each year. Berlin is also home to many outstanding sports clubs and has hosted many international exemplary sporting events in the past.
Amidst the concrete jungle, one can also find plentiful parks, such as Grunewald, Treptower Park, the Gardens of the World, or former Berlin Tempelhof Airport, which is now a public park. Besides the green beauty, Berlin also features many wonderful rivers and canals intersected by charming bridges that contribute greatly to the quality of urban life. The extensive and affordable public transportation system makes it easy to get around the city to enjoy all of Berlin's great qualities.
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