• Scientific qualification: The M.Sc. PNK is a philosophical degree programme in which philosophy and neuroscience are fundamentally combined. Students are therefore required to be willing to learn both philosophical and neuroscientific knowledge and methods. The focus is therefore on philosophy of mind, neurophilosophy, philosophy of neuroscience and cognitive science as well as philosophy of science and applied ethics. By choosing different elective modules, a concentration on different neuroscientific fields is possible. These range from the molecular to the systemic level and include both experimental and clinical contexts.
• In this way, PNK graduates develop expertise in various overlapping areas of philosophy and neuroscience with a firm foothold in philosophy. The aim is to train philosophers who can cooperate with neuroscientists on an equal footing, who can understand the problems and issues there from an internal perspective and who can make philosophical issues understandable to neuroscientists. To this end, M. Sc. PNK graduates have acquired the essential theoretical neuroscientific foundations.
• Professional qualification: The M. Sc. PNK is a research-oriented degree programme that is primarily intended to prepare students for a doctorate in neuroscience and cognitive science-related areas of philosophy. In addition, PNK students acquire strong systemic thinking and analytical skills. Both are valuable skills for advisory and managerial activities that enable students to understand complex interrelationships and to view and evaluate problems from multiple perspectives. This opens the way for graduates to enter various fields of consulting and management. PNK graduates are particularly well suited for science-related fields of activity.
• Empowerment for civic participation: Students acquire comprehensive philosophical and neuroscientific knowledge during their education. This enables them to gain essential insights into the philosophical, methodological and ethical-moral foundations of neuroscience and to assess the social relevance of neuroscientific findings and practices. Through the reflexive and communicative competences they have also acquired, they can make the insights they have gained publicly comprehensible and understandable to others. In doing so, they take into account interdisciplinary references and current cultural developments.
• Personality development: Through the acquisition of key qualifications such as independence and organisation, the ability to work in a team, a sense of responsibility and media competence, students develop into committed and philosophically trained personalities.

Graduates are qualified for entry into all common humanities occupational fields such as media and publishing, cultural and academic management, the field of public relations, adult education, human resources or work in associations, parties and commissions. The degree programme also lays a solid foundation for continued academic training in the form of a doctorate.

The M.Sc. PNK is a consecutive degree programme to which graduates of the B.A. PNK can be admitted. Prospective students with another degree can be admitted, provided they prove that they have the knowledge and skills imparted in the B.A. PNK (see admission requirements 1-3). Those who study the M.Sc. PNK should have a great interest in philosophical and scientific issues and a pronounced willingness to read and abstract thinking skills. In addition, the ability to think and research independently is expected and students should have a desire for argumentation and discourse.
For more information about the degree programme and admission requirements in particular, please take a look at the study and examination regulations and the module handbook below.

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