Notes for Prospective Students

BSc and MSc

The geography curriculum consists of a 3-year BSc program, leading to a BSc degree in Geography, followed by a 1.5-year MSc program, leading to a MSc degree in Geography, with optional specializations (including, among others, GIScience).

For further information, please consult the Student Advisory Service.

PhD

We are successful in attracting research funds. As a result, our research groups host many PhD students. About half of our PhD students are international students. We often receive inquiries about opportunities for PhD studies. If you are interested pursuing PhD research in our center, please note the following prerequisites and criteria:

• Don't send us 2-line "Dear Sir or Madam" email messages inquiring further information. Such messages will not be answered. We need sufficient CV information in order to process your request. Sufficient CV information includes information on your academic education, research and work experience, as well as personal data including age and marital status (for visa purposes).
• Prerequisite to starting the PhD program is a Master's degree in a discipline relevant to GIScience, preferably matching the research specializations in our center (see the research pages). Note that each degree is subject to acceptance by the Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences of our university. Note also that our faculty does not accept any degrees of Universities of Applied Sciences (in German: Fachhochschulen).
• We accept PhD students only if the following two conditions are met: 1) Funding must be secured, and 2) the qualifications and research interests of the prospective PhD student match the research interests of particular groups of the GIScience Center.
• On funding: The normal case is that PhD students are funded as Research Assistant (RA) on one of our research projects. Naturally, that means that a RA position must be available. Vacancies are announced on the GIScience Center homepage as well as on telejob. In some cases, candidates also secure their own funding (e.g., via a scholarship of their home country). Note, however, that we will not actively seek possible funds for a prospective candidate; this is solely the responsibility of the prospective candidate.
• On qualifications and research interests: It is important that there is a close match between the interests of a PhD student and his/her advisors. You will be spending three years of your live on a research project, a time that you will only be able to bring to fruit if you are sufficiently motivated. Hence, we interview all prospective candidates (provided the funding condition is met) and reserve the right to decline candidates even if they could provide their own funds.