The German-language program offers students the opportunity to delve into the rapid development of cities, their diverse everyday life, their complex planning, and their future challenges. Students can choose from a wide range of topics, enabling them to develop a social science perspective on cities that is unique in Germany. The degree is awarded by both universities.

Exciting career path

The master's program is aimed at bachelor's degree graduates in social sciences, history, human geography, and architecture who want to deepen their basic knowledge in a practical field of research. The program qualifies students for a growing professional field that deals with the complex challenges of cities in the areas of urban management, urban education and public relations, citizen participation, neighborhood development, urban monument preservation and archiving, as well as consultative urban planning. Applications for the program are open until March 1, 2026.

Combining two distinguished locations

The program combines the expertise of two distinguished locations for urban research in the German-speaking world. At TU Darmstadt, the Institutes of Sociology, History, and Political Science, as well as the Department of Architecture, are involved, among others, and can build on many years of collaboration in urban-related research. At the University of Frankfurt, the Institute of Human Geography contributes its expertise in globalized urbanization processes to the study program. Modules in planning, economics, linguistics, and philosophy from both universities complement the program.

Long-standing cooperation

The initiative for the cooperative degree program originated with the Darmstadt-based working group “Interdisciplinary Urban Research,” which is now further developing its long-standing joint research collaboration with a joint degree program. The cooperation with Frankfurt's Human Geography department initially consisted of joint research projects (e.g., the DFG Research Training Group “Organizing Architectures”). This gave rise to the idea of supplementing the perspectives and expertise of the social sciences and history department at TU Darmstadt with geographical perspectives, thereby creating an attractive study program for students.

The master's degree program in 'Urban Studies' combines social science and technical science content and enables in-depth examination of urban phenomena. The skills acquired in a bachelor's degree in sociology, history, political science, architecture or human geography are expanded to include perspectives from other disciplines. Courses are held at TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt.

Structure of the program

The core subjects are sociology, history, political science, architecture and human geography. In addition to an introductory course, 35 credit points (CP) are earned in these subjects in the compulsory area. In addition to the compulsory area of the Master's program, there are extensive elective areas in which students can set their own priorities during the course of their studies. The compulsory elective component consists of a methodology, specialisation and extension component, in which courses totalling 30 CP can be taken. This program is supplemented by perspectives from planning science, economics, linguistics, media studies, literary studies and philosophy. In addition to courses on quantitative and qualitative urban research, the methodology section also offers courses on spatial data processing and data analysis, for example using geographic information systems. In the Studium Generale program, students can attend courses worth 15 CP from the entire catalogue of TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt in order to balance out differences in knowledge levels among students and pursue their own interests. In the third semester, students can spend a semester abroad at partner universities of the participating institutes – alternatively, they can complete their own research projects in guided courses, including in sociology, human geography and planning science. There is also the option of an internship to apply the skills learned and gain professional experience. The final Master's thesis (30 CP) can be written either at TU Darmstadt or Goethe University. It is also possible to write the thesis under joint supervision at both universities.

Career prospects

The Master's degree program in Urban Studies combines social science perspectives with practical content from architecture and human geography at both of its locations. With a degree from two universities renowned for urban research, career opportunities in academia and business are wide open. In addition to the possibility of working in research, the program qualifies graduates for positions in the field of urban management. For example, in the areas of city marketing, city tourism, urban monument preservation, education and public relations, urban archiving, but also at institutes for city history, in urban social and integration work, in consulting for city planning and administration, in moderating citizen participation or in urban development policy.

Admission requirements

To be admitted, students must have a bachelor's degree in one of the core subjects of sociology, history, political science, human geography or architecture, or in a combination of the core subjects. Architecture graduates must have earned at least 40 CP in recognisable social science subjects in their bachelor's degree. Applicants with other bachelor's degrees must be able to demonstrate at least 120 CP in a combination of modules from the core subjects.

Why the combination of Darmstadt and Frankfurt am Main?

TU Darmstadt and Goethe University can point to a wide range of different research groups, institutes and research projects in urban studies. TU Darmstadt has professorships in Urban and Spatial Sociology, urban and environmental history, and architecture and planning. It also has the Network Urban Research for young urban researchers and the Working Group “Urban Research”, which promotes its own research projects on topics related to urbanity. In Frankfurt, the Institute for Human Geography is worth mentioning, which deals with critical housing research, global cities and mobility research, among other things. In addition, Goethe University is home to the ‘Gewohnter Wandel’ (Habitual Change) graduate college, which examines social transformations and the materiality of housing. Another important institution is the interdisciplinary DFG graduate college ‘Architekturen Organisieren’ (Organizing Architectures), in which TU Darmstadt and Goethe University, along with other institutions, supervise and train doctoral students and postdocs.