AgriFood Economics, Policy and Regulation

The degree program offers a unique combination of agricultural policy with an interdisciplinary approach that considers scientific and socio-economic aspects.

You deal intensively with the complexity of the AgriFood sector, which is characterized by close interactions between biological, technological, economic, social, and political-legal challenges and systems.

During your degree program, you will deal intensively with the current challenges in the agricultural and food sectors. How are digital technologies influencing our agriculture? How can resources be better utilized, and what can sustainable regional production and marketing principles look like? You can combine your basic scientific knowledge from agricultural sciences and your fundamental knowledge of empirical research methods with specific industry-relevant knowledge from business and politics. If you have an economics or political science background, you can combine this with knowledge of agriculture's scientific and technological aspects.

No other degree program offers you these interdisciplinary opportunities - it is unique in Europe.

Political goals such as climate neutrality and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity in the European Union can only be achieved with the necessary expertise.

As a graduate of the AgriFood Economics, Policy and Regulation degree program, you will be sought after by private and public employers who urgently need specialists familiar with the diverse challenges and conflicting objectives in the agricultural and food sector.

Due to the continuing trend towards increasing international concentration and integration in the agricultural and food sector, there is also a growing need for specialists who are used to dealing with global partners and have fluent business English skills and intercultural and interdisciplinary expertise.

You can, therefore, expect a variety of potential employers and fields of work in both the national and international labor market.

Possible fields of work for you include, for example:

• International organizations in the agricultural and food sector, such as EU agencies, FAO, and the World Bank
• National and regional ministries and related authorities on rural development and agricultural and food policy issues
• Nationally and internationally active private-sector companies in the agricultural and food industries in the manufacturing sector, or the consulting industry
• Industry associations, NGOs, or in the media and communications sector
• Research activities in the academic field and public research

The degree program combines skills from the field of agricultural sciences (natural sciences and technological knowledge) with the social sciences (political and management sciences and economics).

You complete five compulsory modules in the first semester:

• Economics of agriculture and technology
• Sustainability policies
• Environment, agriculture, and nutrition
• Technology for agriculture and nutrition
• Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in AgriFood Research

In the compulsory modules, you will learn the basic framework of the degree program, as fundamental knowledge from agricultural sub-disciplines is combined with advanced content on current research topics.

After completing these courses, you will have in-depth knowledge of the socio-economic and political-regulatory consequences of modern agricultural production and food systems.

In the following semesters, you can develop your individual interests and strengths and, depending on your preferences, choose from a wide range of elective modules in the following subject areas:

• (Agricultural) economics
• Governance, political sciences, sociology
• Climate science, resources, ecology
• Technological innovations

You can also use the 2nd and/or 3rd semester as a mobility window and take credits from the compulsory electives at other German or international universities.

You will complete your degree program in the fourth semester with a master's thesis.

As a graduate of the AgriFood Economics, Policy and Regulation degree program, you are familiar with the complexity of modern agri-food systems. You will be able to discuss ecological implications, socio-economic and political interactions and describe technological principles of food production. You will understand the political landscape in the agricultural and food sectors and the motives of the key players. You can compare different regulatory interventions in free markets and analyze their economic impact.

As a graduate, you will be able to...

• Discuss findings from scientific reports on topics in the agri-food sector and analyze their significance for existing food systems.
• Communicate constructively with all relevant stakeholders and lead multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
• Understand conflicts between stakeholders and promote economic and political cooperation between different actors within the agricultural sector.
• Develop innovative solutions through consumer initiatives, business models, cooperative approaches, and campaigns.
• Develop new regulatory systems and develop approaches to reorganize existing regulations.

As an analyst and problem solver, you actively contribute to finding compromises between economic and ecological needs in modern food systems in today's society.

For a comprehensive description of the program, please refer to the program documentation.

Application requirements and eligibility

The prerequisite for the application is that you hold a qualified bachelor's degree of at least six semesters or an equivalent degree in agricultural and horticultural sciences, political science, economics, and business administration, or a comparable course of study, which you have acquired at a German or foreign university.

Important: The bachelor's degree must already be available at the time of application and must be submitted by the end of the application deadline at the latest (31 May). Your application will not be valid without proof of successful completion of studies (i.e. submission of a final transcript of records with degree date stated, or, if this is not yet available: submission of a certificate of completion of studies together with preliminary transcript).

Knowledge of the English language

Students whose native language or language of instruction is not English must demonstrate proficiency through an acknowledged language test such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL, with a minimum of 88 points), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS, with a minimum of 6.5 points), or the Cambridge Main Suite of English Examinations.

Preliminary Documentation (VPD)

Applicants for a master's degree who did not obtain their qualification for postgraduate studies (usually a bachelor's degree) in a country within the EU/EEA (with the exception of Switzerland) require preliminary Documentation (VPD).
The VPD must at first be applied for at uni-assist e.V. before it is uploaded together with the application at TUM.
Important: the processing of the VPD at uni-assist can take 6-8 weeks! An early application is therefore recommended, otherwise delays in processing the application documents at TUM must be expected. This is because only complete application documents can be processed.

Semester fees and tuition fees at TUM

All students must pay a semester fee to the student union (Studierendenwerk).

++ NEW ++ International students from third countries, i.e. countries that do not belong to the European Economic Area, will be charged tuition fees as of the winter semester 2024/25. All information on fee levels, waivers and scholarship programs can be found on the website on tuition fees for international students

Application period and start of studies

The application period is from 01 January to 31 May each year for the following winter semester. The start of the degree program is only possible in the winter semester. See here for semester dates. For international students, we strongly recommend applying as early as possible, ideally before 31 March. 

Online application

The application is only possible via our online application portal, for which an applicant account must be set up. The instructions for the online application can be found here. All documents must be uploaded to the TUMonline portal by the end of the application deadline! Documents submitted by e-mail cannot be processed. 

Depending on the nationality and the country in which the Bachelor's degree was obtained, different documents may have to be submitted via our TUMonline portal. Documents issued in German or English do not have to be translated. Documents that are not issued in German or English must be translated into German or English by a sworn translator. Both the original and the translation must be uploaded to as one PDF file. The documents required for the application can be found in the country-specific regulations and in the glossary of documents.

Please note: We can only consider applications that have been uploaded in full and within the application deadline!

Aptitude assessment procedure

In a subsequent aptitude assessment process, we will check whether you have the appropriate qualifications and skills for the Master`s program Agrifood Economics, Policy and Regulations.

In the first stage of the aptitude assessment process, the qualifications acquired in the first degree program are assessed based on the final grade and the professional competence based on a written assessment (online aptitude test).

The assessment (online aptitude test ) for the Master's degree program AgriFood Economics, Policy and Regulation is offered once per application period. 
You can find the date for the test here:

At the latest one week before the date of the online aptitude test, we will automatically send you an email with the Exam-TUM -Moodle Login and access data. This means that you can access the Moodle course one week before the online aptitude test to get an overview of the system and read all the information. 

The online aptitude test  is conducted in written form and in English (multiple-choice test format; duration: 40 minutes).

The online aptitude test  covers the following topics:

• General and interdisciplinary basic knowledge about regional and global challenges of the agri-food sector (30%),
• Research methods and mathematical principles (30%)
• knowledge in agriculture, economic contexts, and current political discussions (40%).

The total score for the first stage of the aptitude assessment is the sum of the calculated final grade (max. 30 points) and the result of the online test (max. 40 points).

Applicants who have achieved at least 52 points will receive confirmation that they have passed the aptitude assessment.

Applicants with fewer than 46 points fail the aptitude assessment.

The remaining applicants (46 to 51 points) will be invited to an aptitude assessment interview in the second stage of the aptitude assessment process. We will invite you to an interview of 20-30 minutes via Zoom. We will announce your interview date at least one week in advance. 

Enrollment

After admission to the program, the study place must be accepted in the applicant's account, the application for enrollment has to be signed and uploaded together with the missing documents for enrollment. And also the semester fees must be paid. All relevant information is displayed in the TUMonline applicant account. See here for details on the enrollment process and here for the glossary of documents.

++Please note: From the time of admission, we will only contact our students via the tum.de or mytum.de email address, which can be found in the applicant account. Instructions for setting up the e-mail address at TUM can be found here.

• Curriculum
  The degree chart gives you an overview and recommendation, which modules you should take in which semester according to academic and examination regulations (FPSO).
   
• Timetable (TUM ID required for login):
  This timetable is intended to give you an overview of the planned compulsory and elective modules of a semester. It is for orientation purposes only and will not be updated during the semester! 
  
  Via TUMonline you can have a timetable created for each semester according to FSPO.
  
  You can also create your own individual timetable, which can contain not only the dates of the selected courses, but also your personal appointments.
  
  First steps with TUMonline

• General Academic and Examination Regulations at TUM (APSO)
• Academic and Examination Regulations (FPSO)
  • Academic and Examination Regulations 20241

• Examination dates & registration via TUMonline
  In TUMonline you can register for the module examinations that accompany your studies. 

  Important: You can only take most of the exams if you have actively registered yourself via TUMonline within the registration period. The registration and deregistration period will be displayed at the exam date.

• Further examination matters
  • Academic progress check
  • Examinations
  • Recognitions
  • Theses
• Board of Examination
  The board of examination is a committee consisting of university professors and lecturers of the degree program. Applications to the board of examination are received by the secretary and submitted to the board of examination for decision. You can reach the secretary by sending an email to examination.co(at)ls.tum.de.

A pre-study internship before the start of the course is not required for admission. 

More information about

• Internships
• Excursions