Public Health, Exercise, and Nutrition | Master

Healthy eating and physical activity are core elements of healthy development, in maintaining health and preventing disease, both at the individual and population level. The interdisciplinary, research-oriented master’s degree program in “Public Health, Exercise, and Nutrition” (PEN) provides students with in-depth specialist and methodology knowledge in the fields of health, exercise and nutrition sciences. Students receive interdisciplinary scientific training and are enabled to conduct independent empirical research. This gives them access to subsequent doctoral studies, research activities at universities and non-university institutions, and advisory activities for public authorities and associations.

Healthy eating and physical activity are key lifestyle factors that impact health across the lifespan. They are the corner stones of healthy development, health maintenance and disease prevention and thus key factors in the prevention of non-communicable, lifestyle-related diseases - both at the individual and population level. Diet and exercise have an impact on body composition, the musculoskeletal system, physical and cognitive performance, mental health, metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. In 2002, the WHO called to take action against the global burden of the leading risk factors - tobacco consumption, unhealthy diet and lack of exercise - in a combined set of actions in health sciences, prevention and treatment.

The Master´s degree program addresses key epidemiological, psychological, behavioral and public health aspects of health and well-being. With its interdisciplinary focus on lifestyle-related, physical and mental illnesses as well as diseases that are becoming particularly relevant for an ageing population, it addresses demographic change and its consequences. Thanks to its research-oriented profile, the Master's degree program can strengthen interprofessional health research, for instance by contributing to the development of new medical care models and the scientific justification and validation of mechanisms that can be used to implement preventive strategies, optimize medical treatment and focus rehabilitation.

In particular, the master’s degree program qualifies graduates for research activities in the fields of health, exercise and nutrition sciences in university and non-university institutions as well as in various branches of industry. Other possible fields of activity and occupations are upper management tasks in the areas of health promotion, health counseling, and prevention, ranging from the sports sector, consumer organizations, associations, health insurance companies, professional societies or ministries, clinics and rehabilitation facilities to humanitarian aid.

In general, the prerequisite for master’s studies is a first academic degree qualifying for a profession, such as a bachelor’s degree, in a subject that is relevant to the master’s program and with a scope of at least 180 credit points. A subject is considered relevant to the master’s degree program if it fulfills the central subject-specific requirements for the master’s degree program in Public Health, Exercise and Nutrition, e.g. in the area of health, exercise and nutrition science or medicine.

Applicants must provide proof of English language skills that correspond at least to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

You can read more about the subject-specific admission requirements in the respective Admission Regulations.

In the four-semester master’s program, you earn a total of 120 credit points, consisting of the modules listed below and your master’s thesis.

For additional information, please consult the subject-specific degree regulations or the Departmental Advisory Office.

This description is based in part on information from the subject-specific regulations for a master’s degree in Public Health, Excercise, and Nutrition at the Faculty of Health Sciences, a joint faculty of the University of Potsdam, the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus - Senftenberg dated December 19, 2023 (AmBek No. 18/24, p. 752).