Students apply heat extraction to reveal the diversity of soil organisms
Study structure
Students studying soil organisms
Students conducting a vegetation survey
Vegetation ecology is so relaxing!
Students taking insect samples
In order to find out how insect diversity is related to plant diversity, students collect insects in defined and well-characterised plots using a modified leaf vacuum.
Facts & Figures
Duration: 2-year-program
Credits per year: 60
Language of instruction: English
Accreditation/ Evaluation: until September 30, 2027
according to the system accreditation of the University of Bremen by AAQ Swiss agency of accreditation and quality assurance.
Formalities
Subject-specific master examination regulations
18. Mai 2022; in German only
General master examination regulations
February 2021; in German only
Starting point for diverse careers
After they obtained their MSc degree, almost 50% of the Ecology students decide to stay within academia and now work as PhD or postdoctoral students at different ecological research institution around the world.
A large proportion pursue career options at non-university research stations, conservation organisations, authorities and consulting firms.
Degree curriculum
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Master's Program Ecology for Summer Term 2024
File name: MT_Module_Guide_for_the_Master_s_Program_Ecology_29097_3b_en.pdfLast update: 08.04.2024
Module descriptions
Mentoring
You are not alone!
In our degree program, you will benefit from an individual mentoring module. We will assist you with our many years of professional experience and offer personalised support during your studies, which takes your special skills and interests into account.
“Choosing a professor as a personal mentor and talking through your career expectations, helps you not only to find the right partners here at Uni Bremen, but it also gives you access to the academic network of the respective professors.” Elisabeth Riedel, Alumna of the MSc Ecology program, Bremen.
Mandatory modules
MOE-ConcEcol: Important concepts in different sub-disciplines of ecology: from autecology to ecosystems.
MOE-DataAnal: The consequences of experimental design for data analysis.
MOE-SciWri: Motivation for scientific writing; how to get started; variability, basic structure and contents of the single parts of a scientific publication.
MOE-MolEcol: Molecular-based community analysis, molecular markers and their use in ecological studies.
MOE-PopEcol: Students will be provided with a sound knowledge about important concepts in population ecology, can explain such concepts and can plan and conduct experimental investigations based on these concepts. Based on this, they can formulate research hypotheses, gather appropriate data, analyze andpresent them.
MOE-CommEcol: The nature of ecological communities, interactions between vegetation and abiotic / biotic factors.
MOE-Res_Proj: Conductance of an individual research project connected to a working group at the Institute of Ecology or to an external, national or international laboratory, exemplary work on all steps of a scientific project.
MasThes: Definition of an independent ecological research theme. Planning and discussion of the contents and the time frame of the research work in lab meetings. Realization of the research project: practical preparation, sampling of data, statistical analysis, structuring and writing of the thesis.
Summer term
Elective modules
MOE-InsEco: You will be able to use different field collection techniques to explore the amazing functional diversity of insects.
MOE-LongExc: Excursion with 9 to 14 days duration, to variable destinations. Students link association of organisms to particular ecosystems and the contribution of species to ecosystem functioning.
MOE_FoodWeb You will learn in this course how food webs are structured and function, compare and contrast different food webs, hypothesize how changes in biotic and abiotic factors may affect food webs and Identify the appropriate tools to study specific trophic interactions.
Winter term
Elective modules
MOE-ExpEcol: You will be able to plan, carry out and present your own experimental research from scratch
MOE-GisAppl: General introduction to the concept of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
MOE-FunctEcol: Which computational sources need to be used to decipher the biogeography of species and their functional traits? We will check different -omic datasets for answers.
MOE-Biodiv: The understanding of basic concepts of biodiversity will make you realize how important the archiving and documentation of biodiversity is. You will be able to reflect on the significance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning and in a societal context.
MOE-BaT: Student assistance in a practical course of the 1st study year.
Mobility through electives and block courses
Exemplary timing of the Master modules
A great variety of options
- Choice of courses from other department's master programs (Ecology, Marine Biology or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), if free slots available.
- Choice of General studies of the University of Bremen (e.g. language learning, max. 9 CP).
- Choice of modules from cooperating universities in Germany or abroad.
- Choice of joint or specific courses from other European Universities (e.g.YUFE).
(Consultation with the Master's Examination Board required)
The system of blocked modules
We offer block teaching and learning. Block teaching means that individual semester modules are taught in a concentrated manner within a "blocked" period of time and concluded with an examination. By switching to block teaching, the fragmentation of topics and time is reduced. Students can focus entirely on one topic and then take the corresponding exam directly.
But students can not only learn better and more sustainably, they also have the possibility to exchange blocked courses of their study program with blocked courses of other study programs or even other universities.
The schedules of the various master's programs at FB2 are largely synchronized, i.e. courses from different programs may be interchanged.
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We are there for you
© Bremen University
In my group, we work on marine fungi: we investigate whether individual fungal species have different preferences towards organic material as a food source, and whether they decompose organic material alone or in collaboration with other microbes. We then process this information to understand their role in the marine carbon cycle and assess their ecological relevance.
These questions have general relevance to ecosystem analysis: In my Master of Ecology courses, I show how populations or communities of organisms can be analyzed using molecular methods, which are then linked to information about functionality of individual members to precisely define their role within important processes in an ecosystem. To do this, we use large data sets and bioinformatics tools, among others.
© University of Bremen
“I am fascinated by insects! Our research group Insect and Chemical Ecology investigates how changes in environmental conditions and species interactions regulate the survival and reproduction of these animals that are so central to maintaining many ecosystem functions."
Please visit the webpage Insect and Chemical Ecology for more details!
Prof. Christian Wild
Our department Marine Ecology pursues an interdisciplinary approach and uses a range of appropriate tools from the fields of ecophysiology, biogeochemistry, and microbiology in order to address the following research areas in Marine Ecology: Ecosystem engineers and other key organism groups; Dynamics of benthic communities and Nutrient cycles and energy transfer.
Examination and admission board
© Universität Bremen
Chairperson Prof. Martin Diekmann
Chairperson: Prof. Martin Diekmann
- Prof. Juliane Filser
- Prof. Marko Rohls
- Dr. Marlis Reich
- Emma Zyplik (master student)