Four steps and you are studying in the M.A. Empirical Democracy Research:

1. You have completed a bachelor's degree (or are at least in the final stages).

German degree

In order to be admitted to the M.A. Empirical Democracy Research, you must have completed a Bachelor's degree. However, at the time of application, if you are studying at a German university, it is sufficient if you can prove 135 of the required 180 credit points in your Bachelor's degree. You must prove that you have a Bachelor's degree to the JGU Registrar's Office by the end of your first semester in the M.A. Empirical Democracy Studies (31.3. for winter admission, 30.9. for summer admission). I.e.: You can be enrolled in both the Bachelor's and the Master's program at the same time for one semester. This is useful if you have already (largely) completed your Bachelor's degree, but not all credit points have been credited yet and/or your Bachelor's certificate has not yet been issued. Please note: You should NOT apply if you are still doing extensive work in your first semester in the MA, i.e. if you would still have to write the BA thesis, for example. Please also keep in mind that it takes some time to receive your Bachelor's certificate, so you should take care of it early.

Foreign degree

If you are studying towards a foreign Bachelor or an equivalent degree, please take notice that you must already have your diploma upon application for our Master's Program. In order to be admissible to a M. A. program at Mainz, you must first apply for the recognition of your foreign degree! (Only participants from our partner universities are exempted from this rule, as they submit their documents to Dijon or Opole,  not directly to Mainz.) Generally, it is always the university you wish to study at which must recognize your degree (there is no ”national” recognition procedure for foreign degrees valid for the entire German academic system). Since the recognition procedure of your foreign degree could be lengthy and complicated, make sure to apply for the recognition of your foreign degree well in advance (at least 6 weeks before you intend to submit your full documents for application). The recognition document issued by the International Office of the University of Mainz must be submitted together with the rest of your documents for application! For further information, please check the website and application forms for the recognition/validation of foreign certificates.

Do I have to pass the Bachelor's degree with a certain minimum grade in order to be admitted to the Master's program?

There is no "fixed" NC. There are 20 study places available per year. If there are more applicants than places, then a "flexible" NC applies: It corresponds to the BA grade of the last of the twenty best applicants who would like to accept the place.

2. You speak German.

Some of our courses are in English, but the majority of seminars and lectures are in German. Therefore, German skills are required at least at level B2, better at C1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). In order to prove your command of the German language, you have to pass  the "Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang ausländischer Studienbewerber" (DSH) or an equivalent.

3. You have studied political science or social studies in the bachelor's degree at least as a minor and/or as a 2nd subject.

As part of your Bachelor's degree (or an equivalent degree program), you must have studied the subject of political science to the extent of at least 60 credit points or have completed coursework and module examinations with a focus on political science content to the extent of 60 LP (please note: the credit points you have earned as part of the final module or through an internship do not count towards this).

4. You have acquired knowledge in statistics and methods of empirical social research (somewhere) in your bachelor studies.

You must have earned at least six credit points in statistics and methods of empirical social sciences/empirical policy research as part of your bachelor's degree. It is irrelevant whether you have obtained these six credit points in political science or in a second bachelor subject (such as sociology). If knowledge in statistics and methods of empirical social science/empirical political research to the extent of less than 14 credit points is proven, admission to the M.A. Empirical Democracy Research is subject to the following condition: You have to pass the written exam "Statistics II" within the first two subject semesters, which is offered at the end of each semester (this is worthwhile in any case: see Mainz Methods Certificate!). Please note: If you do not provide proof that you have passed this exam by the end of the 2nd semester, your admission to the M.A. Empirical Democracy Studies will expire.

5.You apply on time and online.

We look forward to your application!