Welcome to the webpage of the student council Oceanography!

On this page you can find some information about studying Oceanography, as well as some helpful links to facilitate your start at the Universität Hamburg.

Who are we, and what do we do?

The student council consists of Oceanography students of the Bachelor's and Master's progamme, and represents the student body. In general, we are the connection between student body and the lecturers/teachers, and organise various events. Some of our responsibilities are

• organising the introductory week for the freshmen in the Bachelor's programme, and an introductory "lecture" for the Master's programme 
• organising events like the Christmas party, board game nights, etc.
• evaluating lectures after each semester
• discussing evaluations or problems with lecturers
• representing the student body in committees, examination boards, etc.
• being the contact if you have questions, about practicals, study abroad, organisation, student assistant jobs, etc.
• ...

Why study Oceanography?

Especially when starting a Master's programme the  job perspectives become increasingly important. The typical career in Oceanography is a scientific one. For a scientific career, a Master's degree is a requisite, usually even a PhD. There is a large number of research institutes where you can do a PhD or where to work as a scientist. For instance, in Germany some well known institutes are the CEN/IfM (Hamburg), Alfred-Wegener Institute (AWI, Bremerhaven), MARUM (Bremen), GEOMAR (Kiel) or the IOW (Warnemünde); institutes abroad include WHOI (Woodshole, USA), NOC (Southampton, GB) or Ifremer (France) - just to name a very short list of possibilities.

The scientific career is not limited to Oceanography. With the Master's degree in Oceanography you can also enter related fields like Geophysics, Meteorology, Climate Science or Hydrography. With the skills you acquire in the oceanographic education, it is also possible to switch to a career in free economy, e.g. in Big Data (data analysis) or science journalism.

Contact

Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding study-related questions or problems via mail fsr.ifm@lists.uni-hamburg.de, or simply come and talk to any one of us in person. No matter which topic – the study programme in itself, problems with lecturers, things like BAföG or similar, just ask. We don‘t know everything either, but we might be able to suggest who to ask next. And, of course, it is possible to meet with one of us in person to discuss your matter!
Very helpful general information (language courses, residence registration and permit, health care etc.) for prospective and newly-arrived students from abroad can be found in the Guide for Prospective Students here.