Crop Sciences

The Master's study programme in Crop Science is a research-oriented study programme with the aim of imparting theoretical and methodological skills for carrying out independent and innovative research work in the field of crop science in the field of agriculture and horticulture. Students are involved in research projects and choose one of the three specialisations: "Production Ecology and Resource Conservation", "Digital Agriculture" or "Molecular Crop Science", each with a wide range of elective modules. Mandatory courses encompass Data Analysis and Visualisation, Technology and Sensors in Precision Crop Production, Resource Conservation, Production Ecology, Crop Physiology, Crop Breeding Research, Advanced Scientific Writing and Communication. The elective courses cover a wide range of specialised as well as interdisciplinary topics in crop sciences, such as: General topics: sustainable production, renewable resources, horticultural production, ecosystems, agroecology, agroecosystems, sustainability, cropping systems, decision analysis, forecasting in agriculture, modelling (crops, soil, rhizosphere), crop management, tree phenology, population and quantitative genetics, crop assessment, climate change Agricultural and horticultural production systems and management: organic agriculture, sustainable production and farming, agroforestry, decision analysis, future competent agricultural and food systems Plant Health, plant stress, plant pathology and plant protection: entomology, nematology, crop stress, stress perception and signalling, plant-pathogen interactions, forecasting Soil sciences: soil ecology, soil protection, soil microbiology Crop physiology and molecular biology: plant nutrition, molecular crop physiology, crop functional genomics, plant biochemistry, plant biotechnology, plant breeding, genome analysis, genomics Digital agriculture and advanced methods: sensors in agriculture and horticulture, sensor technology, plant phenotyping, biometry, robotics Agricultural and horticultural ecology: agrobiodiversity, ecosystem-atmosphere interactions, climate-smart ecosystem management, element cycles, nature conservation, risk and transformation, crop ecology, water management, geobotany, ecological climatology 30 ECTS compulsory modules in the first and third semester 36 ECTS elective modules 24 ECTS from the focus areas, the cross-focus area and/or the free elective area 30 ECTS Master's thesis