Degree : Master of Arts in Social Science

Number of credits : 90 to 120 ECTS
Duration : 3 to 4 semesters
Languages : French and English

Registration deadline :

For the start of the autumn term :

• August 1 for students from the University of Neuchâtel
• April 30 for students from other universities

For the start of the spring term :

• November 30

Programme overview

The Master’s in Social Science (MA ScS) at Neuchâtel offers an interdisciplinary training program that is unique in Switzerland, addressing current issues in society and equipping students with the tools to understand their complexity. The courses adopt creative and critical perspectives to shed light on public debates. By enrolling in the MA ScS, you will benefit from personalized supervision, innovative pedagogy and participative teaching about contemporary problems.

The MA ScS is organized around a variety of themes, approached in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Our courses focus on the following issues: migration and mobility; social innovation; digitization, big data and society; sustainable consumption and lifestyles; utopias and imagination; and the technologies of bureaucratization.

This degree program is uniquely designed to provide crucial tools for understanding contemporary challenges and developing innovative responses, skills that will be invaluable for your future professional activities.

Programme structure

The Master’s in Social Science (90 or 120 ECTS credits) is made up of an interdisciplinary core curriculum und a main focus, to be chosen from among five disciplines.

• anthropology
• human geography
• migration and citizenship
• psychology and education
• sociology

The interdisciplinary core curriculum

The interdisciplinary core curriculum comprises four types of seminars:

• methods seminars (qualitative or quantitative), providing training in the tools of social analysis
• seminars given by a single lecturer and focused on current themes
• interdisciplinary seminars co-taught by teachers from the different disciplinary focuses within the MA ScS
• “Constructing Tomorrows” workshops, involving the co-construction of knowledge with students and, where appropriate, people and organizations from outside the university.

The core curriculum provides the knowledge and skills needed to apply an interdisciplinary, critical and reflexive approach to social problems.

Detailed informations :

• Maison d'analyse des processus sociaux

Career opportunities

A recent survey of alumni shows that our students easily are integrated into the job market. In addition to acquiring fundamental theoretical knowledge, they learn flexibilitly and develop such important cross-disciplinary skills as analytical capacity, critical thinking, reflexivity, investigative work, and the monitoring and evaluation of various forms of socio-technical intervention. In addition, all the pillars offered within the Master’s program grant access to doctoral programs.

Admission criteria

Holders of a Bachelor's degree in the humanities and social sciences from the University of Neuchâtel or in a degree program deemed equivalent by the faculty are admitted unconditionally to a major or minor “pillar” of the MA ScS, provided they have acquired 60 ECTS in the corresponding branch of study.

Holders of a Bachelor's degree obtained abroad as well as holders of a Bachelor's degree obtained in any other course of study than the major or minor pillar of the chosen Master's degree may also be admitted. The faculty may ask them to complete additional coursework.