Digital Studies

The Master of Digital Studies is taught entirely in English. You also have the opportunity to earn a double degree with selected international partner universities. In this case, you typically spend at least one semester abroad (30 ECTS credits). Beyond the double-degree option, the European University Viadrina offers extensive opportunities for international mobility, including study exchanges at more than 250 partner universities worldwide.

During your studies, you will build an international personal and professional network and benefit from the university’s unique location at the intersection of Eastern and Western Europe. Situated at the Collegium Polonicum on the Polish side of the Oder River, the European New School of Digital Studies (ENS) is embedded in a cross-border academic and cultural environment. Close cooperation with Polish and international partner institutions, the daily encounter with different languages, cultures, and perspectives, and the proximity to Berlin create a distinctive European learning experience.

The ENS represents a modern, open, and networked vision of Europe—one in which transnational cooperation, intercultural exchange, and social responsibility are part of everyday academic life.

The European New School (ENS) follows a research-oriented, collaborative, and dialogue-based approach to teaching. Within a small and personalised campus environment, students and lecturers work closely together in manageable groups and engage in continuous intellectual exchange. Project-based learning, critical discussion, and interdisciplinary perspectives shape the programme’s academic culture. The dedicated ENS Coworking Space provides an open environment for focused work, collaborative knowledge production, and informal exchange. Short distances, individual mentoring, and a trusting learning atmosphere create ideal conditions for research-based learning at a high academic level.

Professional requirements

The Master's degree programme "Digital Studies - Technology, Media, Society" requires a first professionally qualifying university degree of at least 180 ECTS credits (6 semesters), in which knowledge in the following subject areas has been acquired through coursework and examinations or equivalent evidence amounting to at least 60 ECTS credits:

• Social sciences or humanities (e.g. sociology, media studies, communication studies, political science, history, etc.)
• Interdisciplinary digitalisation research or a related subject (e.g. social informatics, science and technology studies, digital studies, etc.)

A minimum of 10 ECTS credits must be proven through methodological knowledge from the above-mentioned subject areas.

Of the 60 ECTS, a maximum of 10 ECTS can also be from the subject areas:

• Economics or a related subject,
• Law (Law) or a related subject or
• of the technical sciences

Language requirements

All students are required to have English language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The following are recognised as proof:

UNIcert III
TOEFL (IBT): for exams taken on or after January 21, 2026: minimum score: 5. For exams taken before January 21, 2026: 95-120 points minimum
Cambridge Advanced (CAE): C1
IELTS (IELTS for Study): Minimum score 7.0
TOEIC: 945 points minimum (listening/reading), 180 points minimum (speaking), 180 points minimum (writing)

Students, who have successfully completed a Bachelor or Master in English at a university located in one of the following countries, do not need to provide a proof of English language knowledge:
Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada (except Québec), Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States of America

The study course is admission restricted. Please note the application deadlines.

For Germans and foreign students, the application has to be done online in viaCampus. The required documents are uploaded to the system.

For foreign students, the application is made via uni-assist e.V., after successful examination your documents will be forwarded to us and you will receive the access data to our portal viaCampus and information on the further procedure from the Admissions Office.

Application for the 1st subject semester is only possible for the winter semester.

After admission is received, the enrolment must be completed online in viaCampus. The required documents are uploaded to the system.

For enrolment in higher subject semesters, the following requirement for classification confirmation must also be observed.

Questions regarding recognition and study planning can be clarified with the Study course related Advisory Service.

For further information on enrolment, please visit our page "Application and Enrolment".

Whether you want to complete one of our study programmes and graduate with an academic degree from the European University Viadrina or whether you are planning a one- or two-semester stay abroad as part of our exchange programmes with us at the Viadrina - we warmly welcome you.

For important information to make enrolment, arrival and settling in easier, follow the link to our page:

Admissions Office: Advice on the application and enrolment process
Central Student Advisory Service: further advice on starting your studies (housing, financing, arriving)
Viadrina International Affairs: specific information and advice for prospective students from abroad

This module provides the conceptual and methodological foundations of the programme. It includes the submodules “Introduction” and “Methods”, each worth 9 ECTS credits.

Total: 18 ECTS

This module focuses on key thematic areas of digital transformation. You can choose two of the following submodules, each worth 9 ECTS:

• Digital Infrastructures, Technopolitics and Transformations
• Digital Practices, Theories, Criticism
• Digital Platforms and Political Communication

Total: 18 ECTS

This module focuses on research practice. It includes 

• one research seminar and 
• two colloquia or one colloquium and one competence seminar focusing on specific academic skills.

Total: 18 ECTS

This module allows you to specialise through thematic tracks. You must complete two tracks out of the following options:

• Social and Cultural Studies Track – courses from the Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences
• Business and Economics Track – courses from the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics
• Law Track – courses from the Faculty of Law
• MoDE Track – courses from the interdisciplinary programme Digital Entrepreneurship (MoDE) at ENS
• Digital Matters Track – additional courses from Module B that have not already been taken in Modules B or S
• Certificate Track – recognition of a Viadrina certificate programme

Total: 24 ECTS

In the compulsory electives module E II, you have the choice between:

• two graded foreign language courses of 6 ECTS credits each or
• an internship of at least 8 weeks (full-time) during the programme, or
• a combination of one language course (6 ECTS) and a 4–7 week internship (full-time).

Total: 12 ECTS

In the specialisation module, you complete an examination in a course from Module B: Digital Matters. The selected course must be different from those you have already taken in Modules B and E1.

Total: 9 ECTS