The Brandt School’s Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a two-year interdisciplinary degree program designed for young academics and professionals who wish to pursue a career in public service, including government agencies, international organizations, and the non-profit sector. The MPP program equips future decision-makers with the knowledge and practical skills they will need to advance the public interest and make sound policy decisions.

Drawn from political science, economics, sociology, public administration and law, the MPP curriculum builds the skills and knowledge base required of a professional policy analyst. It includes courses in political and economic analysis, statistics, public management, and ethics. Throughout the coursework, research and field experience, students develop their understanding of the policy process and the institutions and actors involved in that process.... [-]

Master of Natural Hazards and Risks in Structural Engineering

The Natural Hazards and Risks in Structural Engineering (NHRE) master’s degree program has a strong international orientation. It trains students to apply themselves to demanding engineering tasks with regard to specific external influences, such as earthquakes. We teach students how to use modern equipment to assess the dangers and damage potential of natural phenomena, we show them how to create models and simulations, and we prepare them for conducting projects and- risk analyses of their own.In this way, the program provides students with key qualifications for engineering positions which require innovative, enterprising solutions for dealing with a wide variety of natural dangers, like earthquakes, floods and storms.The occurrence of an increasing number of natural hazards all over the world and their various effects on individuals, societies and modern economies is one of the major challenges for future decades. The master course in "Natural Hazards and Risks in Structural Engineering" faces this challenge by providing indispensable tools for taking into account those phenomena in the different design processes in civil engineering. Thereby, the master course aims at combining practical structural engineering with state-of-the-art concepts regarding computational mechanics, dynamics and probability theory/stochastic analysis. Consequently, the master course provides key qualifications for innovative work in the field of earthquake, flood and wind engineering and offers an international setting in which students will achieve both technical success and personal advancement.Main areas covered by the master course in "Natural Hazards and Risks in Structural Engineering" are... [-]

Master of European Urban Studies (EU)

European Urban Studies respond to the dynamic transformation processes which affect urban spaces at the beginning of the 21st century. Urban landscapes of dispersed character, global markets, virtual spaces, powerful actors in the construction business and postmodern lifestyles generate new challenges for the spatial competence of planners and spatially oriented designers.During the first and third semester, in-depth scientific and basic applied knowledge in the thematic context of "European Urban Studies" is conveyed. The study project in the first or third semester deals with a particular urban and/or spatially oriented issue. This issue is tackled using scientific and/or design-oriented methods in an interdisciplinary, yet applied manner close to reality. Hereby, applying the content and methodic core competence of all or as many as possible of the fields of European Urban Studies will be relevant. Courses and examinations are held in English.During the second semester, which is oriented towards professional practice, international partners in Germany, Europe and overseas offer collaboration on "International Model Projects". These internships (three to six months) are conducted with chosen project partners such as scientific institutions, communal authorities, real estate developers/investors, construction managers, architects, and planning offices. The presentation and discussion of the results drawn from the research work and practical experience that occur in the third semester, following the internship during the annual Model Project Forum.In the fourth semester, students are expected to draw up their Master Thesis. This phase of writing and research is accompanied by a colloquium at regular... [-]