Press release: Göttingen University offers an appealing range of international degree programmes

Nr. 226/2011 - 04.11.2011

The University submits successful EU-level grant applications for the Social Sciences and Forest Sciences

(pug) The European Union (EU) has extended funding for two international Master’s degree programmes at Göttingen University. Sponsoring by the EU for the “Euroculture” degree programme offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences will last till 2017, whilst the “Sustainable Forest and Nature Management (SUFONAMA)” degree programme at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology will receive funding till 2018. “These two degree programmes belong to the comprehensive offering of international programmes that will make Göttingen University – with its excellent study conditions – even more of an internationally attractive study location over the coming years,” stated Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne, Vice President for Research and International Affairs at the University. The funding is provided by “Action 1” of the Erasmus Mundus programme. In the ongoing allocation round, 30 projects were granted funding out of a total of 177 pan-European applications.

Lower Saxony’s Minister of Science and Culture, Professor Johanna Wanka likewise expressed her pleasure at the successful outcome, “Lower Saxony ranks at the top in a nationwide comparison in this programme line. Out of a total of eleven projects where Germany participated, four went to universities in Lower Saxony. That’s impressive testimony to their international competence,” noted Professor Wanka.

Since 1999, the two-year Master’s degree in “Euroculture” has pursued an interdisciplinary approach based on cultural and political sciences, history, theology and the study of literature and linguistics. The different ways societies, social groups and individuals express and manifest their self-images are examined within the European context. Alongside the University of Göttingen, seven other European and four non-European universities in Japan, India, Mexico and the USA are involved in the programme. Students spent their first two semesters at two of the European partner universities. In the third semester, they can opt between studying at another university and taking a practical semester.

Since 2007, the two-year SUFONAMA Master’s degree has been dedicated to educating highly qualified specialists in sustainable management of forests and other natural resources. The universities of Copenhagen (Denmark), Bangor (Wales), Padua (Italy) and Alnarp (Sweden) are participating along with the University of Göttingen. In this respect, the University of Göttingen is one of three universities that students can opt for in their first year and spend their second year at one of the other four universities. The content of the study term in Göttingen focuses on sustainable land use in the wake of global change. Lectures and practical exercises are complemented by numerous excursions and practical experience gathering. Each year, a module jointly run by all partner universities takes place at alternating locations.


Contact addresses:
“Euroculture” degree programme:
Marc Arwed Rutke, Coordinator
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty of Social Sciences
Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen
Phone +49 (551) 39-22381
mrutke@gwdg.de
Website: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/euroculture

“SUFONAMA” degree programme:
Professor Alexander Knohl, Coordinator
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology
Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen
Phone +49 (551) 39-3682
aknohl@uni-goettingen.de
Website:http://www.sufonama.eu