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Opens 15 November for applicants from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland, and 16 January for applicants from within the EU/EEA/Switzerland.
About the programme
Globally, there is a great inequality in health status and this inequality is a barrier to development. As a graduate in Global Health your competences will enable you to work with the many interrelated determinants impacting human global health and disease - ranging on a scale from individual to society. This includes politics, policies, trade and economy, frameworks, socio-cultural issues, and climate change.
What makes the programme at UCPH unique?
The programme welcomes students from all over the world to Copenhagen and has a highly international profile and outlook. You get hands-on, case-based education e.g. the country exposure course, where you research and work abroad. You will possess complex problem-solving skills, which enables you to address questions and issues of global health in depth.What specialisations does the field of study offer?
After completing the compulsory courses and country exposure course, you specialise within one of the five following study tracks: Policy, financing and health care systems; Disease burden, challenges and changes; E-health and ICT in health; Disaster risk management or a generalist track. Additionally, you can join many extracurricular activities, such as the global health film festival and the summer school’s global health challenge.Admission and application
To apply for admission to this master's degree programme, you must have completed a qualifying bachelor’s degree or a similar Danish or international degree programme which is assessed to be relevant. Apply for admission via the application portal.
Below, you can read more about admission requirements and which documents to upload in the application portal.
Academic admission requirements
Here you'll find the different academic requirements depending on which qualifying degree you hold.
There are no bachelor’s degrees that give legal right of admission to the MSc in Global Health.
If you hold one of the degrees listed below from a Danish University or abroad, you are considered to meet all academic admission requirements and have direct access to apply to the master’s degree programme in Global Health.
- Public Health Science
- Sociology
- Geography and Geoinformatics
- Political Science
- Anthropology
- Health Informatics
- Psychology
- Dental Surgery
- Veterinary Medicine
- Food and Nutrition
- Development Studies
- Biology
- Medicine
- Professional bachelor’s degree in Nursing
- Professional bachelor’s degree in Global Nutrition and Health
Please note that having a bachelor’s degree that fulfil the admission requirements does not guarantee you admission to the programme.
If you have a bachelor’s degree, professional bachelor’s degree or equivalent you are qualified for admission if your programme is within the following areas:
- Social sciences
- Health sciences
- Life sciences
Furthermore, you must have obtained at least:
- 5 ECTS in qualitative research methods
- 5 ECTS in quantitative research methods
Please note that having a bachelor’s degree that fulfil the admission requirements does not guarantee you admission to the programme.
You must have earned your bachelor’s degree within a maximum of 5 years prior to the start of the first semester of the master’s programme, e.g. for the intake in the autumn of 2025, you must have graduated by September 2021 or thereafter. In exceptional circumstances the Admissions Committee may waive the graduation year requirement.
If your bachelor’s degree is too old, you can apply for an exemption from the graduation year requirement. If you choose to apply for an exemption, you must submit the following documents along with your application for admission:
- A letter explaining how you have maintained your academic qualifications since graduation (e.g. relevant work, internships, further studies)
- Relevant documentation (e.g work contracts, diplomas etc).
If you already have a master's degree from Denmark or another country, you can, in principle, only be admitted to a new degree programme if there are places available on the programme for which you are applying for admission.
When we assess whether you meet the admission requirements for the master's degree program, Danish legislation only allows us to assess your bachelor's degree. Consequently, you cannot study supplementary courses between bachelor's and master's degree programs in order to meet the admission requirements.
If you have passed courses/projects before you complete the qualifying bachelor's degree, these can be included in the assessment, even though they are not part of the bachelor's degree program.
- It applies to courses/projects you have taken as single subjects and courses/projects you have taken as part of another study program.
- A maximum of 30 ECTS credits of these courses/projects may be included.
Language requirements
Applicants to a master’s programme taught in English must document their English language proficiency in accordance with the language requirements for admission.
If you have legal right of admission to the programme that you are applying for, you are not required to document your proficiency in English.
If you have completed your upper secondary education in Denmark, you must upload a copy of your upper secondary education diploma as documentation for your English proficiency.
All other applicants must document qualifications equivalent to the Danish upper secondary school ‘English level B’ or ‘English level A’.
Your documentation must be valid at the application deadline that applies to you.
- Citizens from a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland: 15 January
- Citizens from Denmark, EU, EEA or Switzerland: 1 March
We accept the following ways of documenting English qualifications equivalent to the Danish upper secondary school ‘English level B’ or ‘English level A’:
You have completed an upper secondary school degree, bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in English in one of the following countries
- Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or USA
You must upload a copy or scan of your official school diploma as documentation.
The degree must be a minimum of 2 years of studies. A student exchange semester/year is not sufficient documentation for English proficiency.
You have studied an upper secondary school diploma in Denmark or one of the Nordic countries.
You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript from a Danish upper secondary school to document that you have passed English level B or higher.
If you have passed a Nordic entrance examination with an English level comparable to the Danish level B or higher, you must upload your transcript that documents the subjects you have passed.
You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript to document that you have passed one of the following levels:
- English A1, A2 or B, higher level (HL),
- English A1 or A2 standard level (SL)
- English A Literature or English A Language and Literature, higher Level (HL) (from 2013)
- English A Literature or English A Language and Literature, standard Level (SL) (from 2013)
- English B, standard level (SL)
You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript to document that you have passed the course:
- English language 1 (LI), English language 2 (LII) or English language 3 (LIII) with a minimum score of 50%
The EB must be passed at one of the European Schools placed in Copenhagen, Bruxelles, Luxembourg, Mol, München, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Varese or Alicante.
You must upload your transcript from the educational institution as documentation that you have passed:
- Danish upper secondary school 'English level B' (Engelsk B) or
- Danish upper secondary school ‘English level A’ (Engelsk A).
You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript to document that you have passed the course:
- English Leistungsfach (LF) OR
- Erhöhtes Anforderungsniveau (eA) OR
- Kernfach (KF) OR
- Profilfach/Profilgebendes Fach (PgF)
All with a maximum score of 4 (Ausreichend).
You must document that you have passed one of the following accepted tests:
- IELTS Academic (taken at an IELTS test centre, online, or Home Edition)
- TOEFL iBT, TOEFL iBT paper edition or TOEFL iBT Home Edition
- Cambridge Advanced English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
Deadlines for sending your documentation
Your test must be valid at the application deadline that applies to you:
- Deadline for citizens from a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland: 15 January
- Deadline for citizens from Denmark, EU, EEA or Switzerland: 1 March
Your application will be rejected if you have not provided sufficient documentation for English proficiency by your application deadline.
The IELTS and TOEFL results are only valid if they are not older than 2 years counted from the application deadline. There is no limitation for validity for the Cambridge tests.
Documentation by passed English proficiency test
| Name of test | Minimum score | Your options for giving us the needed information |
|---|---|---|
IELTS (academic) IELTS Home Edition | 6.5 (overall test score) 6.5 (overall test score) Only overall score will be considered. | Upload your test score sheet in the application portal. If you have difficulties uploading the test score sheet, please email us the sheet, and we will verify it online. |
TOEFL
(MyBest Scores are not accepted) | 1. 83 2. 83 3. 560 | Upload your test score sheet in the application portal. If you have difficulties uploading the test score sheet, please email us the sheet, and we will verify it online. |
Cambridge Advanced (CAE) or Cambridge Proficiency | Passed at level C1 or C2 | You must inform your test centre that the Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen is allowed to verify your test score results online. You must upload documentation which includes your Statement of Results number or Reference number. |
Application deadlines
Study start in September
1 March at 23:59
Application deadline for Danish applicants and applicants from within the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Open for applications from 16 January. You will receive a reply by 10 June.
15 January at 23:59
Application deadline for applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Open for applications from 15 November. You will receive a reply by 1 May.
How to apply
Choose your category and read how you apply for admission. You can also find information about deadlines and documentation requirements.
Please note that you must also select according to your citizenship:
- Citizen from Denmark, EU, EEA or Switzerland (EU)
- Citizen from countries outside EU, EEA or Switzerland (NON-EU)
How we assess your application
The programme accepts a maximum of 40 students. One third of the seats may be reserved for students from countries outside the EU/EEA.
If the number of qualified applicants to the programme exceeds the number of places available, qualified applicants will be prioritised according to the following criteria:
- Applicants will be prioritised if they can demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and skills within qualitative and quantitative methodology, based on relevant course activity, research and/or work experience.
- Relevant internships and/or work and relevant stays abroad
- grade point average from the bachelor’s degree
| Admission statistics Global Health 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Admitted | 42 |
| Admission distribution (legal right/other) | 0% / 100% |
| Applicants | 362 |
| Age average | 25 |
| Legal gender distribution (cpr. - m/f) | 12% / 88% |
| Nationality (dk/international) | 33% / 67% |
| Available spots | No |
Programme structure
The MSc in Global Health is a 2-year programme taught in English, and there are approximately 40 students in a year.
The programme is reseach-based and has an international student profile and a global outlook. You will work with a cross-disciplinary and case-based approach, e.g. in the country exposure course.
Teaching forms are lectures, case-based groupwork, field work and research projects.
• 50 % mandatory courses
• 25 % elective courses / specialisation
• 25% thesis
In your second year you specialise in one of five study tracks, e.g. Policy, Financing and Health Care Systems or Disaster Risk Management.
2nd year
| 1st semester | 2nd semester |
|---|---|
| Specialisation (study track) | Thesis |
The country exposure course covers approximately nine weeks and is divided into the following parts:
- 2½ weeks of preparation in Denmark
- approximately 5 weeks of field work outside of Denmark
- 1½ week of working on the project report in Denmark
2½ weeks of preparation
The preparation for the country exposure course takes place in Copenhagen. Lectures, presentations, and group work around specific cases, will prepare you in applied research methodologies, building on previous courses.
Approximately 5 weeks of country exposure
During the field study, you will gain practical experience related to the use of the research methods taught in Copenhagen. You will obtain valuable information regarding environmental and public health services, disease patterns, and other issues related to the country or region of the host institution.
You will visit field sites and receive lectures and supervision by local as well as accompanying staff. You will be working in groups as well as individually, collecting and analysing data, and start writing your project report.
1½ weeks of working on the project report
Upon returning to Copenhagen, you will continue working on your data analysis and project report. You will present your findings to your peers and receive feedback on your work by fellow students and supervisors, before writing up the final project report.
Expenses
The teaching, supervision, and other academic activities taking place as part of the country exposure course – both in Copenhagen and abroad – is covered as part of the programme.
However, students bear the expenses connected with travel, insurance, vaccinations, food, and lodging for the field trip. These expenses depend on the destination, as the travel to a destination in Europe will be less expensive than going outside of Europe.
Below you find examples of previous country exposures. The destinations will vary.
Article: Country exposure in Poland and Tanzania
Video: Impressions from Country Exposure in Warszawa
After completing the compulsory courses and country exposure course, you specialise your global health studies within one of the five following study tracks:
- Policy, Financing and Health Care Systems
- Disease Burden, Challenges and Changes
- E-health and ICT in Health
- Disaster Risk Management
- Generalist track
During your first year of studies, there will be workshops and seminars about the different study tracks, helping you to decide in which of the tracks you wish to specialise.
During your third semester, you can do an internship as part of your chosen study track.
An internship provides a unique opportunity to gain experience and put the knowledge, skills and competences acquired in the course of your studies into practice in a real-life work context.
It is up to you to identify and decide on the topic and kind of organisation and setting you would like to try out.
You can find inspiration and information about opportunities via the links below.
Course description: 10 ECTS Internship
Elective courses can be taken at the University of Copenhagen or at other institutions in Denmark or abroad. Elective courses can also be combined with an internship.
The programme offers a variety of elective courses in cooperation with other programmes at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, for instance, the Master of Disaster Management.
It is possible to study abroad during your degree, and your third semester is best suited for it. Alternatively, you can choose to write part of your thesis abroad. It is also possible to take a summer course as an alternative to an elective.
Why Study Abroad?
A main objective of studying abroad is to further widen your academic knowledge and network. You are also likely to benefit socially and culturally.
It is a good idea to seek advice from lecturers and the student guidance when planning your studies abroad to find out where to go and how to structure your academic programme. Your lecturers may have academic inputs, international contacts and may be able to provide you with references which can prove useful.
Exchange Agreements
The University of Copenhagen has an extensive number of exchange agreements with universities world wide.
Information about partner universities specific to Global Health is available through the International Relations Office at Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
Student Mobility at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
You write your thesis during your fourth semester (30 ECTS). The thesis is the culmination of your studies and must reflect the skills and competencies, which you have acquired during the programme.
At the beginning of the second semester, you will start considering the topic of your thesis as part of your study track plan.
The thesis must:
- Be relevant to global health problems
- Have a clear problem definition and clear objective(s)
- Be based on relevant and clearly described materials and methods
- Present its results in a clear and balanced form
- Present a balanced discussion of materials, methods and results, and relate this to other relevant literature within the field.
Career opportunities
The MSc in Global Health fosters graduates with analytical and practical skills related to human health in a globalised world. This gives graduates a wide range of career opportunities.
Graduates are in high demand and offer valuable skills and knowledge to urgent challenges and crisis, which are central on the global agenda.
Globally, there is a great inequality in health status and this inequality is a barrier for development. Better health provides economic development, quality of life, and safety.
The health status of populations and individuals is increasingly dependent on processes at a global level:
- Increased physical mobility; voluntarily (e.g. in the form of increased travel) and involuntarily (e.g. in connection with disasters and conflicts) resulting in new distribution patterns of infectious diseases.
- Urbanization and increasing population sizes, which causes increased pressure on existing resources, including water, forests, and farmland.
- Social mobility; disease patterns are changing rapidly in low and middle income countries in the context of the economic and climatic development. This requires adaptation of health systems and educational institutions.
- Intensified over-national cooperation is increasingly affecting the national political and economic framework. For example, regarding food production and food security, trade and distribution of medicines.
Additionally, a rapid development is occurring in technologies for prevention and treatment; creating new opportunities for health, including medical tourism and distant diagnosis and treatment.
Upon completion of the Global Health programme, you will possess skills in collecting, processing, and evaluating global health related data, using a range of information- and communication-technology tools and databases.
You will possess complex problem solving skills, which enables you to address particular questions and issues of global health in depth.
As a graduate, you will be able to:
- Design, carry out, and co-ordinate scientifically valid and focused research.
- Evaluate the effects of evidence-based interventions.
- Evaluate, validate, and disseminate existing data to advance knowledge in a particular problem area or issue.
- Advise on, and formulate effective responses to complex practice and policy issues.
- Communicate your knowledge and findings to a wide range of audiences using different media and strategies.
- Independently plan, communicate, and realise new innovative initiatives and sustainable strategies to improve health, and prevent and control diseases.
- Initiate, sustain, and supervise effective cross-disciplinary team work.
- Assume responsibility for continuous professional development.
- Promote equity, justice, and dignity via your professional practice.
- Implement procedures for managing health partnerships with integrity and respect.
Depending on your interests and specialisation, the MSc in Global Health programme can lead your career in many directions and to jobs in different sectors.
Examples of relevant workplaces at home and abroad include:
- Bilateral and multilateral development agencies
- NGOs
- Consulting firms
- Pharmaceutical and medical companies
- The food industry
- Government bodies and public authorities
- Higher education and research Institutions
- Patient organisations
- Health facilities
- Donor and funding agencies
Alumni interviews
Interview with Sitheni Mthimkhulu
UCPH Global Health Alumni 2018
Interview with Thomas Rahbek
UCPH Global Health Alumni 2017
Student life
When you study Global Health, you will be part of an divers, international and vibrant study environment both academically and socially.
Many students are engaged in various extracurricular activities, for example, sports, social events, and the student blog Eye on Global Health where they write about topics related to global health. The School of Global Health also have both a yearly Global Health film festival and a Global Health Challenge.
Student blog: Eye on Global HealthGlobal Health Film DaysYearly Global Health Challenge
Campus
The majority of the teaching takes place at the City Campus called Centre for Health and Society (often referred to by its Danish abbreviation CSS), which is located in central Copenhagen.
Global Health students share the campus with students from the Master's programmes in Disaster Management as well as BSc and MSc students from the programmes of Public Health, Health Informatics, Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Economy, Psychology and more.
Meet the students
Contact student guidance
SUND Study Information
If you have questions about
- the MSc programme
- the study environment
- your career opportunities
Do you have questions about digital application?
Read quick guides, instructions and FAQ in our user guide to the application portal.
In case of technical problems, please contact the IT Helpdesk by
- Mail: it-service@adm.ku.dk
- Tel: +45 35 32 27 00
Location
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, City Campus, Øster Farimagsgade 5, DK-1357 København.
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