New press release: University of Würzburg just published a press release at their front page about MERGE! https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-events/einblick/ 

Check it out what did they say about us:

As is commonly known, two is better than one. This also applies to a master’s program that offers two degrees from two European cities. Julius-Maximilian-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and the University of Bergen (Norway) have introduced the MERGE (Master of Global Change Ecology) degree program for the 2025/2026 winter semester. The program focuses on the effects of global change on biodiversity and ecosystem functions, with particular emphasis on climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, and environmental pollution, as well as concepts for sustainable land use and nature conservation.

Students can earn both a master’s degree in Life Sciences from JMU and a master’s degree in biology from the University of Bergen in four semesters. To compete for one of the ten study places per semester, applicants need a bachelor’s thesis in a life sciences subject with a grade of 1.7 or better. The master’s program comprises a total of 120 credit points. Master’s theses are supervised by one lecturer from each university. Interested students can apply for the 2026/2027 winter semester until July 15, 2026.

What makes this program special is that JMU students can spend one to three semesters in Bergen. Conversely, the program allows Norwegian students to spend the same amount of time in Würzburg.

“The study content of the two universities complements each other perfectly, with Bergen focusing on plant ecology and Würzburg on tropical ecology,” says Jochen Krauß, professor at the JMU Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology and scientific coordinator of MERGE. Both countries also offer different natural habitats to explore, which are ideal for students who want to immerse themselves in field ecology.

With the master’s program to Bergen and a Norwegian island

Julius Schneider, who is particularly interested in ornithology, or the study of birds, falls into this category. The JMU student completed his stay in Bergen from July to mid-December 2025 as part of MERGE. Since the winter semester starts earlier there, he completed his stay abroad before the official start of the semester in Würzburg. His highlight was an excursion in paleoecology, which deals with fossil habitats and biotic communities.

“We spent three nights at a research station on Lygra, a Norwegian island. There we took soil samples and examined them,” says the master’s student. Such samples provide a good indication of the current and former soil conditions. “The deeper you dig, the further back you can see into the past,” says Julius.

From Norway to Würzburg and Kenya

Two students from Bergen are currently in Würzburg. One of them is Anja Ryabinina. She is spending a total of three semesters at JMU. “My main interests are tropical ecology and conservation biology. The University of Würzburg offers the ideal study environment for this,” explains the Norwegian.

In September, Anja will go on a two-week field trip to Kenya. There, she wants to study and observe different habitats: “From savannas to rainforests to coastal areas, everything is included,” says the student. MERGE students are also  in contact regularly. Julius, for example, helped Anja settle in Würzburg and get to know the university IT system.

Exciting news: Our Global Change Ecology Double Degree Program with Norway is OFFICIAL! This programme provides advanced training in the fields of Ecology, Conservation Biology and Global Change Biology. We welcome all students in Bioscience to join us here in Würzburg and Bergen!

You can find the study programme description at www.ecology-conservation.de, and at UiB site: https://www4.uib.no/en/studies/programmes/double-degree-programme-in-global-change-ecology.

The programme Global Change Ecology gives an overview in the fields of Ecology, Conservation Biology and Global Change Biology. This includes aspects of Applied Ecology, Remote Sensing, Evolutionary Biology as well as the interaction of individuals, populations, and communities in complex and variable ecosystems. The students learn basic principles underlying ecological and evolutionary theory, observational and experimental approaches, and obtain insight into current research in the different fields of Global Change Ecology. Further research training is provided in a selected field of interest, and the students are actively involved in ongoing research projects and learn to independently plan and perform both theoretical and experimental work and finally, to summarize and discuss the results obtained in the thesis. By the end of the Programme, students expand their knowledge on all aspects of conservation, ecology, global change biology and ecological sustainability. They become qualified to understand basic and applied research, to design and evaluate observational and experimental approaches in ecological laboratory, field and landscape studies.