International Nature Conservation, M.Sc.
Georg-August-Universität offers an integrated bi-national four-semester Master's programme in International Nature Conservation. The degree is a double degree offered jointly by Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen and Lincoln University, New Zealand, and can be held as Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Master of Science/Master of International Nature Conservation (M.Sc./M.I.N.C.).
Programme facts
| Degree | Master of Science (M.Sc.) |
|---|---|
| Duration | 4 semesters, 120 ECTS |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Required English | C1 |
| Study mode | Double Degree |
| Start | Winter semester |
| Application | winter semester until 15.05 |
| Admission | Admission restriction (NC): a competition of school grades |
| Tuition fee | €0 per semester for international students |
| Semester contribution | €375.31 per semester |
What the tuition fee consists of
Will I get in
The programme has an admission restriction: the average grade of your certificate, converted to the German scale, decides. The cut-off changes every year — last year's value shows the order of magnitude, not a promise.
How the selection works and how strong the competition is — we go through it against your certificate when we select programmes for you.
Programme selection →About the programme
General Objective, Innovative Features and Rationales
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Nature Conservation is the conservation, sustainable and equitable use of nature and its goods and services. The education programme provides a platform for an international professional career in nature conservation by enhancing postgraduate comparative studies at twinned Universities through contrasting issues between the southern and northern hemisphere.
Innovative features and rationales:
- links to the international initiatives within the Convention on Biological Diversity
- shared supervision based on collaborative research
- support and endorsement by an international advisory committee
- learning by contrasts, multi-experience and multi-location
- different countries, different problems, different solutions
- network of developed, developing and transformation countries
- practical problem solving at a local, regional and global scale
- holistic understanding of environmental management
The main rationale of the programme is learning by contrasts between countries and circumstances to meet contemporary demands of local, regional and global nature conservation issues
What you study
The study semesters provide students with a basic understanding of Conservation Biology and offer insights into international conservation problems. Compulsory courses at Georg-August-Universität (Conservation Biology and Assessment, Monitoring and Conservation Strategies) focus on the stucture of, and basic theories and research approaches in Conservation Biology, reasons for biodiversity loss, the role of population biology as well as on methods to describe biodiversity and wildlife populations and practical strategies for recovery. At Lincoln, a combination of modules are compulsory among which there are Advanced Ecology and Environmental Sciences for Environmental Policy, Research Methods in Ecology, and Aspects of Sustainability.
The full curriculum and the programme's parameters are part of programme selection: we compare them with your profile.
Pick programmesCareer
Service in conservational agencies, the media, botanical or zoological gardens, organisations of nature conservation
Cost of study
| Tuition fee of the federal state (Lower Saxony), international students | €0 |
|---|---|
| Semester contribution | €375.31 |
Requirements and application
| Previous education | Admission Criterea for the Master of International Nature Conservation six semester Bachelor degree in Biology, Biodiversity, Ecology or equivalent fields (at least 150 of 180 Credit Point have to be achieved so far respectively 83,5 % of the required credit points of your study program) At least half of the credits of your Bachelor Degree need to be awarded in one or several of the following fields: Agricultural Sciences, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology, Forest Sciences, Geography, Nature Conservation, Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Management or similar. sufficient knowledge of the English language motivation previous special experiences and expertise in international nature conservation not to have already finished or definitely failed a master program in the field of nature conservation. |
|---|---|
| Language | English C1 — confirmed by a certificate when you apply |
| Application | winter semester until 15.05 |
The procedure and the set of documents depend on your certificate. We check the university's requirements against your documents and give you a list: what to submit, how to certify and translate it, where and when to apply.
Check the requirementsHow to get into this programme
- 1Check your certificate and its recognitionDirect admission, a year at a university at home, or Studienkolleg first — this decides the whole plan.
- 2Documents and translationsCertified translations of the certificate and transcript, an APS if required. 3–4 weeks.
- 3Application until 15.05Send the documents well before the deadline — an incomplete application cannot be completed after it.
- 4Admission, visa, movingPlan 2–3 months for the visa and the blocked account in parallel.
How to apply
You can submit the application yourself or with our help — the university decides on admission in both cases.
Applications go through the university's portal or uni-assist. Typical mistakes:
- ×incorrectly made certified copies and translations
- ×a wrong set of documents
- ×the application submitted the wrong way
- ×errors or gaps in the application form
- ×the application submitted at the wrong time — too early or too late
An incomplete or incorrectly prepared application is excluded from the selection — it can no longer be corrected after the deadline.
StudyInFocus does not represent the university and does not influence the admission decision. We do not sell study places and do not guarantee admission — this is a service for preparing and submitting documents on the applicant's side.
If your level is not enough yet
The two most common stoppers are a language level below the requirement and a certificate without direct admission. Both can be solved, but they take months — plan them now, not after a rejection.
Questions about this programme
How much does the programme cost?
What language level do I need?
When do I need to apply?
Don't postpone the application
The deadline is 15.05.2027 (213 days left). Language, translations and the document check take months, not weeks. In 30 minutes we will build a plan backwards from the deadline and tell you honestly whether you can make it.