Profile and Career

As an MSc Climate Change student you will learn about both natural and social science aspects of climate change:

• Climate change, impacts, adaptation and mitigation
• The physical climate system, climate models, and observations
• Biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles
• Energy systems and geoengineering
• Sustainability and innovation
• Climate change and land use
• Geopolitics and economics of climate change
• Ethical aspects of climate change

The programme enables you to choose your own academic focus from a broad range of restricted elective and elective courses. 

Thus, you may choose to study the consequences of climate change for human living conditions and access to land, water, energy, and food resources. You will learn to analyze climate change using key approaches within social, economic and political science.

Or you can focus on the functioning of the climate system and the causes of climate change. Important topics here are the key physical processes of the climate system, the design and use of climate models, the interplay between the biosphere and the geosphere, natures key cycles, and their impact on climate change.

You can also choose to combine the two academic areas during the programme. Regardless, you will get a solid understanding of complex, interdisciplinary climate change issues, which will enable you to propose solutions based on both natural science and a number of social and environmental science aspects.

Career Opportunities

Broad-based expertise on climate change is in high demand, and the MSc in Climate Change offers a wide range of career opportunities:

• In governmental agencies and municipalities which develop plans for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• In consultancy companies carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment, develop, implement or monitor climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.
• In climate change research, teaching and information dissemination.
• In industry, developing environmental and energy technologies.
• In NGOs and international organisations (incl. the UN) involved in climate change impacts assessment, mitigation and adaptation.