Political Science

If you are interested in the global political struggle to create a sustainable relationship between people and our environment – perhaps the biggest challenge of our time – this track could be for you.

What, for example, are the political struggles that underpin the transition towards a fossil-free economy? How do we tackle global environmental problems with effective and legitimate governance? How can governments, cities, regions, companies and civil society join forces to create new solutions to complex problems? And what about addressing the needs of both industrialised and developing countries?

This specialisation focuses on global environmental governance; it marries international relations with environmental studies. You will unearth the complexity of global cooperation between politicians, policymakers, multinationals, international organisations, civil society and scientists when it comes to governing the environment.

You will study environmental degradation from the perspective of politics and international relations and find out what the political aspects are of a range of environmental problems, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation and unstainable fisheries. You will develop your methodological skills and analytical toolbox, both qualitative and quantitative, and learn how to apply them to environmental challenges.

You will work in various settings, in both large and small groups, to apply these methods to case studies. You will formulate your own research questions and learn how to collect the right data to answer them. You will familiarise yourself with the state-of-the-art research in this field and learn about different research traditions and approaches.

Conducting independent analysis and high-quality social scientific research will play a large role. You will write research papers, essays, and literature reviews, and practice the art of public speaking. There will be class discussion and presentations, and intensive coaching through tutorials and workshops. We encourage you to engage with players outside academia for research projects and our internationally acclaimed and well-connected lecturers are on hand to help with this.

In the last period, having formulated your research question and designed your research, you will work on your Master’s thesis, supervised by a lecturer from one of our research groups in Political Science or Global Environmental Governance.

When you graduate, you will have knowledge and skill-sets that are in high demand for decision-making positions in this highly popular field; locally, nationally and at an international level.

If you want to understand the complexities of global power, how conflicts are played out on the world stage, and how this impacts national politics and societies, this specialisation is for you.

Are you interested in conflicts in changing world order? Like the rivalry between the US and China? Do you want to understand how power is shifting from West to East? What are the drivers in newer conflicts, such as who owns our natural resources, or our technology? Are new forms of cooperation possible to tackle global problems such as growing inequality, international instability and war? You will debate issues like this in different settings, from large groups to tutorials. You will also look at the effects of globalisation on the world economy, on international security, and on global cooperation. You will analyse how politicians and diplomats cooperate and negotiate with multinationals, NGOs, and intergovernmental organisations such as the World Bank or the World Health Organisation.

You will refine your skills in methodological training, both qualitative and quantitative, and learn how to apply them in these topics. Working in small groups you will apply these methods to case studies. You will formulate your own research questions and learn how to collect the right data to answer them. You will familiarise yourself with the state-of-the-art research in this field and learn about research traditions and approaches.

Conducting independent analysis and high-quality social scientific research will play a large role. You will write research papers, essays, literature reviews and blogs, and practice the art of public speaking. There will be class discussion and presentations, and intensive coaching through tutorials and workshops. We encourage you to engage with players outside academia for research projects and our internationally acclaimed and well-connected lecturers are on hand to help with this.

In the last period, having formulated your research question and designed your research, you will work on your Master’s thesis, supervised by a lecturer from one of our research groups in Political Science.

When you graduate you will have a knowledge and skill-set that is in high demand for high-level decision-making positions in both the national and the international domain.