Public Health - Health Promotion & Prevention, M.A.

Welcome to the homepage of the master’s study program “Public Health – Health Promotion and Prevention M.A. in Faculty 11 Human and Health Sciences at the University of Bremen!

The University of Bremen has been offering the four-semester study program “Public Health – Health Promotion & Prevention” with subsequent award of the academic degree Master of Arts (M.A.) since winter semester 2014/15.

Language requirements

M.A. Public Health - Health Promotion & Prevention is a German-speaking study program. Therefore the prerequisite for enrollment is that you can prove sufficient knowledge of German, at least at C1 level. Accepted German language certificates are published on the internet.

A further admission requirement is a language certificate evidencing English competence at the level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Contact person

Ulrike Meyerdierks
Visiting address: Grazer Str. 2/ room 0310, 28359 Bremen
Post address: Universität Bremen, Fachbereich 11, POB 33 04 40, 28344 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-68502 (Tuesday until Friday)

The field of Public Health / Health Sciences is a multidisciplinary one, drawing on the knowledge, experience and the methods of different individual disciplines, such as the social sciences, psychology, economics, medicine, epidemiology.

The master’s study program Public Health – Health Promotion and Prevention is subject to restricted admission depending on the number of study places available. Each winter semester, 20 incoming students are admitted to this master’s program.

Pursuant to Art. 4 (3) of the regulations governing admission to the M.A. Public Health – Health Promotion & Prevention, should there be more applications for study places than the number actually available, a priority list is drawn up on the basis of the final grade awarded for the preceding degree, or the average grade at the time of application.

This information applies to the application procedure as of winter semester 2016/17. Regarding your application please note that the conditions concerning restricted admission and admission regulations may change yearly. For more information see the Aufnahmeordnung (Status: February 2015) and the Master's portal.

The following contains a step-by-step explanation of the requirements that applicants must meet in order to be enrolled in the master’s program, as well as the possibility to submit documents at a later date than the closing date for applications (15.07.):

a)  Compatibility of contents of first degree (pursuant to Art. 1 sec. 1a of Admission Regulations AR)

The Admission Regulations list four study programs defined as first higher education degrees that qualify for admission to the master’s program “Public Health – Health promotion & Prevention”:

  • Public Health/Health Sciences
  • Sociology
  • Special Needs Education/Social Work /Sciences of Social Work
  • Psychology


If you have been awarded one of these degrees you only have to submit a Transcript of Records with your application for admission to the program.

b)  Knowledge of Epidemiology or Statistics as well as Social Research (pursuant to Art. 1 sec.1b of Admission Regulations AR)

Pursuant to Enrollment Regulations, applications for enrollment on the program must be accompanied by evidence of having been awarded 6 Credit Points in Epidemiology or Statistics and 6 CP in Empirical Social Research.
In the area Epidemiology and/or Statistics, only CPs awarded in Epidemiology and Statistics or in corresponding statistics-computer courses can be recognized. In addition to these, the following courses may also be recognized: Statistical Methodology and Quantitative Methods.
Please note: There is no possibility at the University of Bremen to make up for missing knowledge of statistics during the master’s program. Applications for enrollment on the program must be accompanied by proof of having obtained the 6 CP for Epidemiology and/or Statistics as well as the 6 CP in Empirical Social Research by closing date for applications (15.07.); otherwise no enrollment
 
CPs awarded for statistics in modules bearing other titles can only be recognized if the module description clearly indicates on what level epidemiological or statistical methods were dealt with. Applications are to be accompanied by the corresponding module descriptions in order to verify whether the admission requirements in the area of Epidemiology/Statistics as well as Empirical Social Research are met. Please note: In the online portal under "miscellaneous", it is only possible to upload module guides comprising max. 5 MB.

Not enough CPs to prove requisite knowledge of Epidemiology/Statistics or Empirical Social Research

  1. If you are still enrolled, try to acquire the missing CPs in your present study program or another university program.
    Note: We only recommend you take the missing courses in Epidemiology/Statistics and Empirical Social Research in the last summer semester before entering your master’s studies if you are really sure you will be able to acquire the credits you still need by closing date for applications (15.07.).
  2. Enroll in a study program not subject to restricted admission and take the courses you still need there.

c) Knowledge of English at level B2 (pursuant to Art. 1 sec.1c of Enrollment Regulations)

A further requirement for enrollment is a B2 English language certificate (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). You do not need such a certificate if your last university degree or your university entrance qualification was obtained in English.

The language certificate can be filed with the Registration Office for International Students at the latest two weeks following commencement of tuition (see Semester-/Vorlesungszeiten at the University of Bremen). Please Note: In the event of being granted admission to the program prior to receipt of all the necessary documents (English certificate and/or evidence of having been awarded the bachelor’s degree), you will not be sent your student documents (Semesterunterlagen) until such time as they actually are handed in. Among the student documents is your Stud.IP password, which you need to register for courses. You can find detailed information on which B2 certificates are accepted at the University of Bremen on the homepage of the Foreign Language Center.

Team English at the University of Bremen’s Foreign Language Center

Any questions concerning B2 certification should be addressed direct to the contact person in the Language Center’s Team English:

d) Knowledge of German (pursuant to Art. 1 sec.1d der AO)

International students, i.e. prospective students applying for admission, who did not obtain their university entrance qualification at a German-speaking institution, must prove that they have sufficient knowledge of German to successfully participate in courses before they can take up studies at the University of Bremen (ability to study in the language of instruction). Please check here which examinations other than TestDaf are recognized by the University of Bremen.
As in the case of evidencing B1 level in English, proof of knowledge of the German language can also be submitted up to two weeks prior to commencement of courses and lectures.

e) Proof of Internship (pursuant to Art. 1 sec.1e of AO)

A further requirement for enrollment is proof of having completed a minimum 3-month internship in the areas of Public Health/Health Sciences or Health Promotion and Prevention. This internship may be part of your previous study program. For details of areas that can be recognized, see the Merkblatt Admission Requirement three-month internship in M.A. Public Health – Health Promotion & Prevention.
Please note: The internship must be completed before commencement of studies (01.10.). Proof must be in the form of a certificate indicating the type and duration of internship activities. When applying for a study place, it is sufficient to submit written confirmation of having concluded an internship agreement. The three-month internship can be split up; it is possible to submit proof of max. two internships, whereby the duration of a single internship must not be less than one month.
Any questions regarding the pre-studies internship should be addressed to the Praxisbüro/Career Service in FB 11: Beate Heitzhausen, phone: 0421-218-68505.

Structure of Studies

In their first semester, students of all four study programs M.A. Public Health – Health Promotion & Prevention, M.A. Public Health – Healthcare Provision, -economics and management, M.Sc. Community Health Care and Nursing: Versorgungsforschung and Versorgungsplanung and M.Sc. Epidemiology learn together in the introductory module “Methods of Problem-oriented Learning”. In the frame of this module, each student joins two different groups. One of these is a cross-program group in which the students work together on a topic they set themselves. At the same time, in the cohort belonging to their individual study program, they prepare the choice of a topic for their research and practice projects that take place in their 2nd resp. 3rd semester. Furthermore, during their first subject-related semester, they take part in two compulsory modules where they acquire deepened insights into the field of Public Health. Summarizing, one can say this semester fulfills the function of stressing the shared foundations of the study programs in health and nursing sciences.

In the second semester of the program "Public Health – Health Promotion & Prevention", students focus on theories of social science as well as strategies and evaluation approaches of health promotion and prevention on communal level. In their third semester, they acquire insights into evidence basing in health promotion and prevention. Additionally, they choose a further module from General Studies

Curriculum

In the frame of research-based and practical application, students learn to develop theoretically and empirically grounded as well as ethically reflected concepts and measures of health promotion and prevention. Students deepen their theoretical, empirical and conceptual knowledge and acquire the competences to independently develop and implement both research projects as well as application-oriented projects of health promotion and prevention. On the basis of empirical and theoretical knowledge, they learn how to conceive and communicate (e.g. to other career groups, decision makers, and other stakeholders), implement, evaluate and reflect with a view to their own professionalism.
The program trains students to:

  • Systematically generate, formulate and substantiate research questions in the context of health promotion and prevention;
  • classify the research questions according to methods of empirical social research and the scope of different research methods and study designs;
  • apply different (quantitative and qualitative) methods of empirical social research;
  • ethically reflect decisions on methods, theoretically substantiate decision options and apply them to concrete fields of research and practice;
  • communicate, conceive, implement and evaluate practical projects in the context of prevention and (i.a. communal) health promotion in respect of the respective target groups and
  • illustrate their work by means of scientifically grounded oral and written presentations.

Questions surrounding the pre-studies internship:

Praxisbüro/Career Service FB 11
Beate Heitzhausen
Grazer Str. 2/ room 0150, 28359 Bremen
email: heitzhausenprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Phone: 0421-218-68505

All important informations about how to study abroad you find on the website of the

Possible career fields for graduates are found in the areas of research, education, health promotion and prevention in various settings (in-house/ public authorities, communal accommodation, hospitals, schools, daycare centers etc.), planning of population- or group-based measures (in the context of health insurance providers; specialist agencies belonging to the Federal Ministry for Health or corresponding federals state ministries; associations and societies in the healthcare sector); health counseling and education; public relations and communication in the area of healthcare and nursing services etc.

List of student research projects (M.A. Public Health - Health Promotion and Prevention)

A current overview of all contacts can be found on the German version of this website. 

You can find current module descriptions (Modulhandbücher or -beschreibungen), study schedules (Studienverlaufspläne) and other course-specific information on the German version of this site.

Student counseling

Dr. Thomas Hehlmann
Visiting address: Grazer Str. 2/ room 0110, 28359 Bremen
Post address: Universität Bremen, Fachbereich 11, POB 33 04 40, 28344 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-68874

 

Prof. Dr. Henning Schmidt-Semisch
Visiting addresse: Grazer Str. 2/ room 0090, 28359 Bremen
Post address: Universität Bremen, Fachbereich 11, POB 33 04 40, 28344 Bremen
Phone: +49-421-218-68870

Application/Enrolment/Online Application Portal

Master's team of the University of Bremen in the
Office for Student Affairs (SfS I)
Master's Portal
Phone: +49-421-218-61002 

B2 certification

Team English
Fremdsprachenzentrum Bremen   of the University of Bremen
Dr. Annette Jahnke
+49-421-218-61970

ways of gaining a B2 certificate