Overview The Master’s programme is an application-focused, internationally oriented English‑language degree that prepares graduates to work with refugees and migrants in a range of national and international settings. It trains students to support and empower displaced people and newcomers by promoting their social inclusion, removing administrative and service-related barriers, and drawing on the linguistic, cultural and religious resources of migrants and foreign professionals to enrich German and international social work practice. The programme also prepares graduates to plan and deliver human-rights–centred assistance in European hotspot asylum centres or UNHCR refugee camps in origin and transit regions, ensuring access to protection and longer‑term perspectives for people affected.
What you will learn and do Grounded in empirical research and relevant theories, the curriculum builds professional, social and practice-oriented competences for social work with migrants and refugees. You will develop intercultural, legal, educational and psychological skills to design and implement solution‑oriented interventions, and to engage with policy and practice at local, national and international levels. The course’s international partnerships promote professional exchange with countries of origin and transit and qualify graduates for on‑site work abroad as well as for roles with local and international actors. Two established study‑abroad collaborations in the second semester are with the German‑Jordanian University (Amman, Jordan) and the university in Palermo (Italy), and further project partnerships are continually being expanded.
Entry and application notes (concise)
Curriculum overview The program is internationally oriented and built to support student mobility, including opportunities to study abroad. It emphasizes hands‑on learning through practical projects alongside academic coursework, preparing students to work with refugees, migrants and marginalized communities in a variety of settings.
Course structure and outcomes During the first two semesters students complete subject‑specific modules that combine theory, law and practice. Key topics include empowerment and participation with marginalized groups, international/European/national migration and refugee law, violence prevention and conflict transformation, and research perspectives, methods and ethics. The final semester is dedicated to a master’s thesis and applied projects, enabling students to carry out independent research or implement practice‑based interventions. Graduates gain skills in designing and evaluating interventions, applying legal frameworks, facilitating community participation, managing conflict‑sensitive work, and conducting ethical, policy‑relevant research.
Key modules
Program requirements (curriculum components)
This programme requires applicants to hold a completed undergraduate degree in a relevant social field and to have achieved a sufficient overall grade. The required degree must correspond to a 210 credit-point programme and should come from one of the specified subject areas. If your degree was earned outside of Germany or has a different label, its equivalence to the required qualification will be checked by the programme’s Examination Board.
The Examination Board makes the formal decision on whether a non-standard or foreign degree meets the entry requirements, following the rules set out in Section 63, Paragraph 1 of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHSchG). International applicants should therefore provide full documentation of their prior studies so that this equivalence assessment can be carried out.
Admission requirements (summary)
Winter Semester (International)
15 October - 15 December for the following summer semester
Summer Semester (International)
15 December 2026
Summer Semester (EU/EEA)
15 December 2026
Graduates are prepared for practice-oriented roles in the international and national social work sector addressing migration and forced displacement. Typical employers include NGOs, humanitarian organisations (e.g. UN agencies), asylum and reception centres, local and national social services, and international aid projects where they may work in case management, integration services, project coordination, community outreach, and capacity building. The programme’s legal, intercultural and research components also qualify graduates for positions in policy advice, advocacy, monitoring & evaluation, and cooperation projects with universities or institutions in origin and transit countries. With international experience from partner universities and project work, alumni can work both on-site in affected regions and within host-country administration and service providers.