International focus
Economics used to be called national economics, but that was a long time ago. Globalisation means that business no longer stops at national borders – and the same goes for our academic work. The Düsseldorf Master of Economics has a clear international focus, both with respect to the content of the degree course and its interaction with other faculties around the world. We can offer you numerous opportunities to spend a semester abroad and, at the same time, we invite students from international Master's degree courses to come to Düsseldorf on exchange programmes. Some of our lectures are held in English – most of our literature is also in English. The University Language Centre (USZ) at the HHU also offers students a wide range of language courses, including many which focus in particular on the vocabulary required for business.
Intensive support
In our degree courses in Düsseldorf, we are committed to working with small groups and giving our students intensive support. Overcrowded mass lectures where you may even have to sit on the steps are not something you will find here. We guarantee intensive support. To promote direct communication, you will be assigned to one of our professors at the beginning of your course as your mentor; they will always be available to you to answer any questions you may have on your course or with regard to economics. We don't just want to help you, though. We want you to support us too – because we want to make constant improvements to our teaching, which is why we welcome your suggestions and feedback. In January 2011, we were able to start using our new building – the Oeconomicum. Its open architecture makes it easy for students and researchers to get to their destinations quickly and offers them a wide range of opportunities to get into conversation with one another. We have also set up a cutting edge research laboratory where we undertake experiments to investigate whether people in everyday situations in business really do behave in the way that economic theory suggests that they would. In Düsseldorf, you will find that the study conditions are similar to those at a private university, but you do not need to pay for them – because university fees have recently been abolished at all state-funded universities in North Rhine Westphalia.
Top level research
In the past few years, the faculty has managed to attract a committed team of top researchers to Düsseldorf. Nine professors teach Economics at the HHU, and, in addition to this, there are more than 30 junior researchers working for us who are working on post-doctoral qualifications or dissertations and who are involved in teaching.
With the founding of the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE), a unique academic centre for research into the effects of competition and questions of market regulation has been established at our university, which has also met with great interest in the media. "Market researchers for Merkel" (Rheinische Post, 30/9/2009), "Düsseldorf economists are steaming ahead" (Handelsblatt, 8/2/2010), "Competition in the west" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 7/6/2010).
We research at the cutting edge and analyse, for example, how we can promote competition in the energy, telecommunications and media markets or how we can make the healthcare system efficient and efficient for all social groups. Our studies are regularly published in the most well-known specialist journals in the world and presented at international conferences. And perhaps you too can make a contribution to driving our research ahead, once you have completed your degree.