The Brandt School was designed according to the Anglo-American model, where education, teaching and research are organised jointly. In the area of public policy, the school offers advanced training at the Master's level, by combining knowledge and methods from different branches of the social sciences. With the help of references to professional praxis and relevant social problems, the Brandt School wants to help soften the borders of the individual sciences. As a result, students should be enabled to use interdisciplinary theory and methods in order to develop and work on problems from different angles and to develop individual skills relevant to their future careers. The Brandt School is particularly characterized by the internationality of its student body. The 121 students currently enrolled are from more than 40 countries. They have a variety of academic backgrounds and prior work experience, while the majority holds a first degree in the social sciences.
Name
was chosen as name giver for various reasons that connect to the city of Erfurt, his style of making politics and the focus of his politics. In 1970, Brandt visited Erfurt for the first German-German summit meeting and was enthusiastically cheered on by the local crowd. His contributions to the east–west and north–south dialogues have helped improve mutual understanding, and his modern, reform-oriented style serves as role model for the students.
Academic program
The Master of Public Policy is an interdisciplinary, practice-orientated, two-year full-time program, conducted entirely in English. The program is intended for students from Germany and abroad, pursuing a future career dealing professionally with problems of modern governance in an executive, leading position. Possible work areas are in the public sector, international organizations, NGOs, politics and commercial enterprises. The MPP can be pursued immediately after the completion of a bachelor's degree, or on the basis of several years of professional experience. Drawn from political science, economics, sociology, public administration and law, the MPP curriculum aims to equip students with tools and methods of policy analysis, development and implementation. Internships, project groups, practical training courses, and case studies add practical aspects to the program. Furthermore, students can choose to specialize in two of the following areas:
Alternatively, they can pursue a Conflict Studies and Management track within the MPP.
Research
In addition to the study program, the school is also engaged in research on public policy and governance. There are four research clusters available:
Methods of Public Policy
Entrepreneurship and Public Policy
International Conflict Management
Varieties of Governance
A PhD program is being offered in all four research foci. The research area "Managing Fragility - Critical Perspectives on Good Governance," which emerged from the Brandt School's CSMP focus, is part of the German Academic Exchange Service's Graduate School Scholarship Program which offers scholarships to foreign PhD students.
Collaborations
Two main partnerships exist: with the Franz Haniel Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service. The programs and scholarships supported by the two partners focus on Russia/ Eastern Europe and on Afghanistan for the most part. The German Academic Exchange Service supports and sponsors different scholarships and programs, most notably the Public Policy and Good Governance program. This scholarship is designed to train future leaders, who alreally have an academic degree, in the fields of politics, law, economics and administration according to the principles of Good Governance. Since 2009, 82 PPGG scholarship holders have completed the MPP at the Brandt School. The DAAD also supports the Summer Schools on Managing Fragility: Good Governance in Transition Contexts which are organized annually since 2013. Between 2008 and 2011, the Brandt School was furthermore the exclusive host for the Good Governance in Afghanistan program in cooperation with the German Foreign Office and the DAAD. It was especially designed for young Afghans and aimed at equipping them for the challenges they face in rebuilding the Afghan political system. 36 participants graduated between 2011 and 2013. The Haniel Foundation sponsors the Franz Haniel Chair of Public Policy, currently vacant, but covered for by Dr. Anja Mihr, and the Aletta Haniel Chair for Public Policy and Entrepreneurship, currently held by Professor Dr. Heike Grimm. It provides several scholarships for Brandt School students from Eastern Europe/ CIS and from Western Europe/ North America, respectively. Furthermore, it supports the annual Haniel Spring Schools which take place in Russia and have covered topics such as "Public Administration - Russia in Comparative Perspectives," "Border Policies from the Soviet Union to the EU," and "The Effects of Center-Local Relationships of Public Policy." Since 2014, the Haniel Schools have been supported by a second partner, namely the St. Petersburg-based Centre for Independent Social Research. The Brandt School is furthermore a member of the Transatlantic Policy Consortium.
Professors and Lecturers
Amongst the Brandt School's academic staff, there are, amongst others, Heike Grimm, Frank Ettrich, Dietmar Herz, Karl Theodor Paschke, Edgar Aragón, as well as many of the professors of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Erfurt.
