M.Sc. Integrated Climate System Sciences

Courses in the physics of the climate system give students a basic understanding of the meteorological and oceanographic processes of the climate system. Emphasis is placed on the functioning of Earth's climate system, starting with radiation balance of the global energy budget. Lectures focus on the oceanic and atmospheric mean state and the interaction between them and how this yields variability from decadeal to paleo timescales. Although lectures include various approaches and methods in climate research, they focus strongly on numerical modeling of oceanic and atmospheric processes.

Courses in the bio-geochemistry of the climate system give students an understanding of the processes governing the major global cycles of bio-geochemical matter between the atmosphere, ocean, and land. This includes an explanation of geological and biological causes (whether human-induced or extraterrestrial) of environmental and climate change on time scales of a few to millions of years. Lectures focus on the interactions between bio-geochemical processes in the climate system and highlight the importance of these processes for all temporal and spatial scales.

These courses will familiarize you with the principles of economics and social sciences and enable you to apply them to climate-related issues. You can focus on climate policy, climate economics, human-environmental interaction, security, or climate communication. You will learn to evaluate climate-energy-economy relationships; gain a basic understanding of human-environmental interactions; and learn to assess how climate change impacts societies and engenders conflict. Lectures focus on mass media and communication between scientists, journalists, and others in public discourse. Courses in this area focus on the place of the social sciences, as compared to the natural sciences,  in climate science.

Assessing climate change requires interdisciplinary skills. In line with the research philosophy adopted by the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN) and the Cluster of Excellence CLICCS, the MSc ICSS includes special lectures to foster an interdisciplinary perspective. Lectures begin at the start of the program as part of a basic scientific skills module. Later, they focus on overarching topics in climate research (e.g., "Scales in the Climate System" or "Uncertain 2 Degrees"). There is also a Climate Study Report, which involves a seminar and report, and your MSc thesis. These provide a broad range of opportunities to take an interdisciplinary approach to global and regional aspects of climate change.