Programme information

A focus subject consists of a theoretical and a practical module. Theoretical modules consist of lectures, a seminar, and an oral exam. Practical modules are essentially lab internships. As focus subjects, you can elect

• Ecology
• Biodiversity
• Evolutionary and systematic botany
• Theoretical ecology
• Molecular ecology and evolutionary biology
• Animal ecology and evolution
• Conservation ecology and genetics
• Microbiology
• Bioinformatics

For this module, choose courses from 2 of the following 4 areas. When in doubt about whether courses are eligible, please contact Prof. Christoph Reisch (externer Link, öffnet neues Fenster) (external link, opens in a new window), who is responsible for the module.

1) Science and philosophy

A lecture or seminar from the areas of (science)philosophy or ethics.

2) Environmental law

For example BVU course "Biodiversitätsfördernde Maßnahmen" or an introductory lecture in public law.

3) Language skills

You can take any language course offered by the UR (e.g. the courses by the SHK here (externer Link, öffnet neues Fenster) (external link, opens in a new window)) or any other language course (e.g. VHS or private language school with a certificate) with a duration of at least 2 SWS

4) Soft Skills

Any courses in the following areas:

1. Any presentation, rhetoric or scientific writing courses, see e.g. courses offered by the ZSK
2. Job skills (application training or career events)
3. IT courses, see e.g. here

An internship of at least six weeks, organised by the student, in an institution or company with potential jobs for biologists. E.g. planning offices, authorities, biological collections, zoos, national parks, botanical gardens, museums, associations or scientific institutes. Positions at the University of Regensburg or other universities in Germany will not be recognised. Only in exceptional cases and after consultation with the chair of the examination committee is it possible to do the internship at the university. The internship can take place in Germany or abroad.

Contact person: Prof. Erhard Strom (external link, opens in a new window)

A compulsory 3-week block course in research methods that is offered once per year. It is recommended to take this course in your first year. The date will be announced in the course catalogue.

Broadly, the same rules for the thesis apply as for the MSc biology, with the addition that you would typically search for a supervisor within the groups that contribute to the EEC programme (this, however, is not a requirement). External MSc theses are also possible and encouraged.

Application for admission for the master thesis: download pdf! (external link, opens in a new window)

The examination regulations for the programme can be found here (opens in a new window). (not barrier-free) (external link, opens in a new window).

Because of legal / administrative reasons, all regulations are in German. For translation, you can use, for example, the DeepL German-English translation (external link, opens in a new window) (external link, opens in a new window).

You can find the course catalogue for the EEC programme here. (external link, opens in a new window)

The MSc EEC program is very similar in structure to the MSc Biology program at the University of Regensburg. Thus, in principle, it's easy to switch between the two programmes.

The main difference is that a) for the EEC program, you can only take focus subjects with relevance to the EEC field (see examination regulations), and b) the EEC program has slightly different soft skills modules than the EEC.

If you want to change from the MSc Biology to the MSc EEC, you need to apply for the EEC, following the normal application procedure. Expect that:

• All focus subjects from the MSc Biology that you have already started or completed that are also included in the MSc EEC can be transferred
• The Research Skills module can be transferred
• Possibly, some courses from the MSc Biology job skills module can be transferred to the MSc EEC Ethics, law and communication
• You will definitely have to do the MSc EEC Internship module, which is not included in the MSc Biology.