Sustainable Development, Specialized Master

Contributing to sustainable development is a contemporary challenge that must be approached in an interdisciplinary manner. Thus, in addition to specific disciplinary competences, the Master's Degree in Sustainable Development (MSD) draws on concerns of sustainability that are generated by the natural, social and economic sciences.

Methodological aspects of the curriculum include the analytical and integrative skills and knowledge necessary to work on complex questions relevant to sustainability, together with reflexive skills and proficiency in dealing with a broad range of instruments. Considerable importance is placed on competences facilitating and providing constructive work in interdisciplinary and research-based settings.

Focal area of teaching and research

The special feature of the MSD is its three-faculty-structure, formally recognizable by the three supporting faculties, but also by the equal treatment of the three pillars of sustainability – environmental, social and economic. Usually, the master's thesis is written in one of the three offered majors, but it may be interdisciplinary in its orientation as well. This guarantees that students can approach sustainability issues from different perspectives.

The research focuses of the three professorships and their research groups anchored in the MSD are incorporated into teaching, and offer students the opportunity to write a master's thesis within the framework of a current research project; for example on spatial planning for ecosystems and biodiversity conservation, impacts of global change drivers on biodiversity, governance of sustainability in global value chains and food systems, due diligence legislation in tropical commodity sectors, climate change mitigation and adaptation in coffee value chains, environmental ethics, inter- and intragenerational justice, resource economics, energy and climate policy, policy induced technological change, economic concepts of sustainability, etc. 

By interrelating the supporting faculties, the three research groups, the responsible professorships and their teams, a very large network within and outside the University of Basel to cooperation partners ensures the inter- and transdisciplinarity of the degree.

Course structure

The program awards 120 ECTS credits in total. It is a so called «monocourse». When applying for the degree, applicants choose one of the following majors or the possibility to study without a major. This selection can still be changed upon application once students are enrolled in the MSD. Details are stipulated in the study guidelines.

Admission

To be admitted to the MSD, students must provide evidence of a university bachelor's degree worth at least 180 credit points (according to ECTS), or another academic first degree recognized in accordance with the guidelines of the University of Basel. Evidence of at least 100 credit points from one, or at least 150 credit points from two, of the following branches of study must be provided: agricultural sciences, business administration, biology, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, earth sciences, geography, communication and media sciences, mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, philosophy, political science, social work and social policy, sociology, social and cultural anthropology/ ethnology, environmental engineering and geomatics engineering, environmental sciences, macroeconomics.

Further admission requirements:

1. A bachelor's degree with an average grade of at least 5.0/unrounded (Swiss scale) in the degree relevant for admission (formula for the conversion of grades awarded by foreign institutions). As an alternative to this condition current test results from the Graduate Record Examination® General Test (GRE® General Test: https://www.ets.org/gre.html) can be submitted:

• quantitative reasoning: your performance must be among the top 30%;
• analytical writing: your performance must be among the top 20%.

2. Evidence of basic knowledge in mathematics, in statistics or methods of empirical social research or a combination of it at university level in the form of at least 6 CP;

See study guidelines for more details. Details concerning admission requirements are published on www.msd.unibas.ch (section “Admission”)

Binding information under: https://unibas.ch/admission

Tuition fees per semester (also for examination semesters): CHF 850.-

Guidelines and study regulations (both documents in German; English translations available) of the Master's Degree in Sustainable Development are available as downloads on: https://msd.unibas.ch (Services > Downloads MSD 2026). 

Online course directory, medium-term syllabus and timetable are also available on the same site.