This English-taught master’s program equips students with in-depth knowledge and practical skills for promoting health through physical activity and exercise from a global viewpoint. You will learn to design evidence-based intervention strategies and public health policies that encourage active lifestyles across different populations and cultural contexts. The curriculum emphasizes both conceptual understanding and hands-on application.
Training covers implementing activity and health promotion initiatives in real-world settings — for example, within companies, schools, or community organizations — and tailoring those initiatives to specific target groups such as immigrants and older adults. You will also gain the ability to create individualized activity programs and preventive measures for people at higher risk of certain conditions (for instance, back pain or osteoporosis).
The program further focuses on ensuring and improving the quality of offered interventions through management approaches and on scientifically evaluating the effectiveness of physical activity and health promotion programs. For international students, this means developing transferable skills useful for careers in public health agencies, workplace and school health promotion, non-governmental organizations, and applied research.
Core topics and learning outcomes
Curriculum overview
This program combines public health, exercise science and rehabilitation to prepare graduates to promote health through physical activity. Over four semesters you move from foundational topics (e.g., Physical Activity & Public Health I, Basics in Methodology I) into applied and practice-oriented modules (health‑enhancing exercise, diagnostics, rehabilitation assessments) and culminate in project work and a substantial master’s thesis. Teaching formats mix lectures and seminars with practical exercises, laboratory sessions, internships and project work to ensure both theoretical grounding and hands‑on experience.
Key modules and experiential learning
Core modules include Physical Activity & Public Health (I and II), Rehabilitation Science, and a two‑part sequence in Health‑Enhancing Exercise. Practical diagnostic skills are taught in Physical Activity Diagnostics and Diagnostics/Assessment in Rehabilitation and Prevention (lab sessions). Research and evaluation are threaded through Basics in Methodology I & II and the three‑part Conceptualisation, Implementation, Evaluation sequence (project work across semesters). Communication & Interaction, Public Health Policies and an International Internship (with workshop/presentation) reinforce professional skills, policy literacy and cross‑cultural experience.
Intended learning outcomes
Students will gain:
Program requirements (concise)
Admission overview
This international MA welcomes applicants who hold at least a university Bachelor's degree (or an equivalent "Diplom" or Master's degree) from a German or foreign institution. Degrees that focus primarily on health or physical activity are the most directly aligned with the programme, but applicants with related academic backgrounds or relevant professional experience can also be considered.
There are three alternative eligibility routes: an undergraduate or graduate degree in a health/physical-activity field; a degree in another subject combined with documented university-level coursework in health or physical activity (measured in ECTS); or at least one year of professional experience in relevant practice areas. Examples of relevant academic fields include sports science, exercise science, kinesiology, physiotherapy, rehabilitation science, health education and public health; related disciplines include physical education, psychology, sociology, political science, anthropology and medicine.
Academic awards should have been granted with a minimum overall grade of "good" (or an equivalent grade under the issuing institution’s grading scale). For applicants from outside Europe, equivalence of credits and grades will be assessed according to commonly accepted international conversion practices.
Admission requirements (bullet points)
Winter Semester (International)
31 May 2026
Winter Semester (EU/EEA)
31 May 2026
Graduates are prepared for roles in public health and health-promotion practice, such as designing and evaluating physical-activity programmes in community health organisations, schools, corporate health management, rehabilitation centres and NGOs. The mix of diagnostics, implementation and evaluation skills also suits positions in health services management, quality assurance and consultancy.
The programme’s research and methodology components, together with the substantial master’s thesis, provide a pathway to research roles and further academic study (e.g. doctoral programmes) for students interested in advancing in academia or policy research.