Application & Admission

Admission requirements

• A bachelor’s degree from the University of Bayreuth in Applied African Studies, African Culture & Society, International Economics & Development, African Development Studies in Geography, Philosophy & Economics, or Geography (final grade “2.5” or better), or an equivalent degree awarded by another university (see FAQ page)
• At least four weeks of practical experience abroad dealing with development
• English language skills (C1) and – for international students – demonstrated skills in the German language

Applicants who do not hold a university degree for a programme conducted in German will be asked to proof language skills at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference until the end of the first year of studies.

Start of the programme:

• Each winter semester (October)

Application for admission

The application period opens in early March.

All applicants are asked to submit the required documents by 15 July in order to facilitate the administrative process. Foreign applicants (except for “Bildungsinländer”) need to submit the required documents by 15 July. The date of application before this date will not affect your chances for admission. However, international students who have to expect a rigorous visa application process for entering the European Union are advised to apply by 15 March. Admissions are only valid for the application year.

Please read all of the following information carefully before you proceed!

"Preliminary review documentation (VPD)":
All international applicants from outside the EU who have obtained their degree abroad must undergo a fee-based special procedure and request a preliminary review documentation (Vorprüfungsdokumentation (VPD)) via uni-assist. Please keep in mind that due to uni-assist’s processing time it may take 6-8 weeks for your VPD to be issued. You should therefore request your VPD as early as possible.

• deadline for submitting the VPD in the online application in CAMPUSonline: 15 July
• the request for a preliminary review documentation (VPD) via the online portal at uni-assist is NOT yet an application to the University of Bayreuth. In addition, an application in due form and time via the application portal CAMPUSonline at the University of Bayreuth is always necessary
• we can only accept your VPD if it has been issued for an application to the University of Bayreuth (evaluation reports and VPDs issued for other universities will not be accepted)
• you can have your documents reviewed by uni-assist any time of the year. If the portal for the desired semester has not yet been opened at uni-assist, simply select the current semester and any degree programme at the University of Bayreuth. It does not matter whether you apply for the summer or the winter semester at uni-assist
• Your VPD will remain valid for one year.
  
  For further information including FAQs, please visit our uni-assist infopage.

All applications must be submitted via the online application tool "CampusOnline". Change the language with the 'DE/EN' button (two speech bubbles) in the upper right corner of the CampusOnline homepage and create a basic account first. Afterwards, you can login and begin with the application process.

You will be asked to upload the following documents.

• Transcript of Records (if you hold several relevant degrees, include all transcripts in one PDF file)
• Bachelor's Degree Certificate (if you hold several relevant degrees, include all certificates in one PDF file)
• School Leaving Certificate (your most senior school diploma that is required to join a university)
• Internship Proof (if and only if your internship is still to take place after your application but before the start of the study programme, please upload an official acceptance letter; the final internship proof must be submitted upon enrolment)
• Language Skill Certificates

If you are an international student you are additionally required to upload a CV and the VPD (see above).

In addition to submitting the proofs and certificates, please indicate which focus you would like to choose in the Master's degree programme Development Studies by entering it in the Text field individual focus, which will show up during your application in CAMPUSonline.
You can select one of the following:
-  Advanced Global Sociology and Politics
-  Advanced Global Geography
-  Advanced International Economics

Partial applications will not be considered. Please, also have a look at the FAQ page.