The bachelor's degree programme in social work at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam offers a very broad, academically sound and at the same time practice-oriented education, with which you can work in all areas of social work after graduation. During your studies, you can set and pursue your own focal points. In the integrated internship, the theoretical knowledge acquired is applied and reflected upon.
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Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Type:
Full time
Course language:
German
English
Standard study period:
6 semesters, incl. at least 20 weeks of integrated internship
Start of study:
Winter semester
Application deadline:
15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
Admission requirements:
General university entrance qualification/ technical college entrance qualification/ equivalently recognised prior vocational training (BbgHG)
Profile
Social work as a pillar of society
Our society is a complex web of social relationships and processes. Individuals, groups, organisations or entire districts face different challenges and difficulties in the process of coping with life. Social work identifies, examines and addresses the social challenges and problems and develops solutions, arrangements and agreements together with a large number of actors involved.
The focus is always on sensitising society to perceive injustice and disadvantage. With the degree in social work, you gain the qualification to realise and reflect on such help processes and to form communities. In doing so, you will acquire research, preventive, intervening and aftercare working methods. The fields of social work are complex and varied.
Research & Practice
In the social work degree programme, you formulate your special and specific epistemological interest in certain phenomena of social work in the corresponding fields of action. From this, explicit research questions are generated, which you then work on with the support of teachers and tutors. For this purpose, there are various teaching and learning formats in our department that stimulate and support the research processes. The basics of scientific work are integrated, as is of course the acquisition of specialist knowledge on the individual work-research springs. The integrated internship is flanked by the university day. Here you will receive training supervision, attend methodological seminars relevant to the internship and be coached in a project support seminar in the implementation of an independent project.
The social work programme at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam ensures a reflective transfer of theory to practice by teaching you how to apply your scientific knowledge in practice and how to scientifically process questions from practice.
Is this degree programme right for me?
Social work is intensive work with people, groups and institutions. It requires a high level of reflection to be able to grasp and assess one's own abilities and approaches. A pronounced ability to communicate and empathise are basically good prerequisites. You should also have the ability to assess the balance between distance and closeness. If you also have a basic interest in scientific work and want to devote yourself to social, legal and business management issues, you have all the important prerequisites for studying social work.
You should bring these personal qualities with you
- Desire to support people so that they can help themselves
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Strong communication and empathy skills and patience
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Ability to cope with tension
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Finding a balance between distance and closeness
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Interest in legal as well as business management and organisational issues
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Openness to perceive social developments
Online Study Choice Assistant
Would you like to find out more about the social work degree programme, get opinions and tips from students and lecturers or take a look at typical study tasks?
Contact
The colleagues at the student counselling service provide information to prospective students, first-year students, parents, teachers and students on all general questions about the degree programme. If you have specific questions or concerns about the bachelor's degree programme in social work, please contact the subject counselling service.
Subject Counselling Service
Dipl.-Soz.Arb. Dipl.-Soz.päd. Matthias Schreckenbach, M. A.
Akademischer Mitarbeiter für Theorie und Praxis sozialer Arbeit, Familie/Jugend und Studiengangentwicklung Sozialmanagement (M. A.), Lehrplanung
These degree programmes might also interest you
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Early Childhood Studies (MA) | German | Winter semester | 15/06 – 15/10 (free of admission)
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MA Social Work with a Focus on the Family | German | Winter semester | 15.05. – 22.06. (NC degree program)
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Social Management (MA) | German | Summer semester | 15/12 – 17/03 (free of admission)
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Social Work (BA) | German, English | Winter semester | 15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
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Social Work | Dual-Digital (BA) | German | Winter semester | 15/06 – 15/09 (free of admission)
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Social Work | Part-time Distance Learning Study Programme (BA) | German | Summer semester | 15/12 –15/01 (admission restricted)
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Career Prospects
Career prospects
The approximately 105 different fields of work in social work range from counselling activities at aid institutions or accompaniment and support to coordinating and steering activities in the field of organising institutions and social agencies. In addition to imparting knowledge, the intensive transfer of practical theory in the social work degree programme forms the basis for your later, everyday work.
Possible areas of application
The generalist bachelor's degree programme in social work gives you access to various institutions and fields of work in social work, where you can work in an advisory and mediating capacity as well as in an accompanying capacity or work within coordination. These include, for example:
- Youth, social and health care facilities
- providers of educational and training work
- Social counselling services
- Social management
- Resocialisation
- And many more...
State recognition as social worker / social pedagogue
Graduates of our bachelor's degree programmes at the social and educational sciences department receive state recognition upon separate application.
The basis for state recognition is the Brandenburg social professions act. On the website of the Brandenburg State Office for Social Affairs and Supply you will find all the important information as well as the form for applying for state recognition and for the medical certificate. The leaflet of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the state of Brandenburg summarises the documents to be submitted.
These degree programmes might also interest you
More courses| Degree programme | Teaching language | Start of study | Application deadline | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Childhood Studies and Children's Rights (MA) | English | Winter semester | 01.02. – 31.05. (free of admission)
|
| |
Early Childhood Education (BA) | German | Winter semester | 15.05. – 15.07. (admission restricted)
|
| |
Early Childhood Studies (MA) | German | Winter semester | 15/06 – 15/10 (free of admission)
|
| |
MA Social Work with a Focus on the Family | German | Winter semester | 15.05. – 22.06. (NC degree program)
|
| |
Social Management (MA) | German | Summer semester | 15/12 – 17/03 (free of admission)
|
| |
Social Work (BA) | German, English | Winter semester | 15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
|
| |
Social Work | Dual-Digital (BA) | German | Winter semester | 15/06 – 15/09 (free of admission)
|
| |
Social Work | Part-time Distance Learning Study Programme (BA) | German | Summer semester | 15/12 –15/01 (admission restricted)
|
Study Content
Course of studies
The standard period of study for the bachelor of social work programme is six semesters and concludes with a bachelor of arts degree.
| Semester 1 – 2 | Compulsory modules |
| Semester 3 | Compulsory modules, FleX module |
| Semester 4 | Practical phase (internship or work placement abroad, accompanying courses) |
| Semester 5 | Compulsory modules, FleX module, semester abroad possible |
| Semester 6 | Research colloquium, Bachelor thesis |
Study content
Knowledge transfer in the bachelor's degree programme in social work mainly takes place in lectures and seminars with a small group size. As the methodological focus of the study programme is based on the approaches of research-based learning, you will not only receive a theoretical education in social work, but also establish a direct link to practical application in practice modules and projects. In addition to classical lectures and seminars, the methodological focus in the degree programme is on reflective application. This ensures a transfer between theory and practice as well as between research and professional action.
In the currently valid module handbooks, study and examination regulations and statutes of the social and educational sciences department, you will find the module overview, a detailed description of the modules and study contents, the study plan as well as the statutes for conducting the selection procedure for the social work degree programme.
Teaching formats
- Seminars, lectures, tutorials and self-organised, small study groups
- Support from teachers (mentoring and counselling)
- Research-based learning in projects (workshops and real labs) and public presentation of results
- E-learning components
- Study visits and work placements abroad through international cooperations
- Interdisciplinary projects within the university (e.g. InterFlex)
Compulsory modules
- Workshop
- Social Work Science
- Fields of Social Work
- Methods of Social Work
- Reference sciences
- Law and Politics
- Digital Media and Aesthetics
- Social Research
- Real Lab
- Social economics
FleX module
- Deepening depending on the area of interest for individual focal points
Internship
In the fourth semester, you will complete an 800-hour (approx. 20 weeks) integrated internship. This practical phase is supervised on one university day per month by training supervision, methodological seminars relevant to the internship and a project support seminar. The university day is compulsory.
Internships at the social and educational sciences department
International
The fifth semester of study lends itself to a stay abroad. It is also possible to complete the integrated compulsory internship as an internship abroad. You can find more details in the module handbook. We also offer many English-language seminars, e.g. through the international consortium VirCamp.
Thesis
During the last semester you will write your bachelor's thesis and will be accompanied in the process by a seminar on scientific work/research colloquium.
Projects from the department
More projects
Communicative Appropriation of Digital Sports
An explorative analysis of chat communication in eSports using the example of the Paris Major Blast 2023
SocialGestures – Gestures as Cultural Markers: The Importance of Tact Gestures for Social Preference and Learning in Childhoos and Early Childhood in France and Germany
SocialGestures is a joint research project of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and the Université Grenoble Alpes. The project was developed jointly and is being carried out under joint responsibility. It is funded by the German Research Foundation (GR 4756/3-1).
Prison Architecture – Use of Space and Everyday Experience in a Berlin Prison
The research interest of the ethnographic study concerns the perception of prison architecture as well as the practices of space use and space appropriation by prisoners and staff in a Berlin correctional facility.
Event Series "Elternwissen" with the Healthy Kids Network Potsdam
Events for parents with infants and toddlers aged 0 to 3 years with topics about parenting and child development in the first three years of life
Application & Contact
At a glance
The most important deadlines, dates and admission requirements for the bachelor's degree programme in social work are compiled here. You can find out which steps you need to take for a successful application in the next section.
Deadlines & Dates
- by 15 July: register and submit an online application
- by 15 July: apply for a higher semester to continue a degree programme you have started at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
Access requirements
- General university entrance qualification according to the Brandenburg university act: General university entrance qualification or entrance qualification for studies at universities of applied sciences or previous vocational training recognised as equivalent
This is how you apply!
In the following, we explain to you which aspects you should pay attention to from the registration for the central allocation of study places to the matriculation (enrolment).
Further information
The following links provide you, and especially international applicants, with further information on the topics of application and enrolment at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.
International applicants
You would like to apply for studies from the first or a higher semester and have acquired your school-leaving qualification and/or university degree abroad? Then you can have degrees and achievements acquired abroad recognised and study with us.
Application & Enrolment Procedure
The application and study service provides information and advice on general questions regarding the application process, admission and enrolment at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, application for a higher semester, but also on topics such as compensation for disadvantages, part-time studies, waiting semesters and hardship applications.
Application & Enrolment University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
Contact & Services
The student counselling service provides information and advice on general questions about studying as well as on topics such as choosing a degree programme, application, enrolment and study organisation.
For subject-specific questions on module content, credit transfer, examinations or specialisations in the social work degree programme, the subject counselling service is the right place to go.
Subject Counselling Service
Dipl.-Soz.Arb. Dipl.-Soz.päd. Matthias Schreckenbach, M. A.
Akademischer Mitarbeiter für Theorie und Praxis sozialer Arbeit, Familie/Jugend und Studiengangentwicklung Sozialmanagement (M. A.), Lehrplanung
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