International Programmes 2023/2024

Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning (REAP) Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning (REAP)

HafenCity University Hamburg • Hamburg

Degree
Master of Science - MSc
Teaching language
  • English
Languages

All classes of this programme are given in English language.

Programme duration
4 semesters
Beginning
Winter semester
Application deadline

Applicants with a non-German university degree have to apply via uni-assist and the ahoi application portal of the HafenCity University.

First step:
You can submit your application at uni-assist starting from 1 March each year for the following winter semester. Uni-assist needs up to six weeks for checking the certificates. Therefore, we recommend that applicants submit the documents at uni-assist early enough to keep the application deadline of the HCU in our ahoi portal, which is 1 July for the following winter semester.

Second step:
In addition, all applicants have to apply directly at HCU via the ahoi online application portal (1 June - 1 July): www.ahoi.hcu-hamburg.de

Tuition fees per semester in EUR
None
Combined Master's degree / PhD programme
No
Joint degree / double degree programme
No
Description/content

The Master of Science degree programme "Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning" (REAP) is an international and interdisciplinary study programme at the HafenCity University of Hamburg. It aims to enable participants to promote sustainable development on an urban level in different geographical and cultural settings.

The main emphasis of the Master's programme REAP lies on technology for the provision of urban and building services, yet it also investigates the socio-economic context in which these services are provided and managed.

In detail, the programme:

  • provides an overview of the complex relationships between building and urban services technology (i.e., building construction and renovation, energy and water supply, waste and waste water management) and the environment (i.e., resources and space consumption, impacts on environmental media and ecosystems)
  • gives insight into patterns of user demand and behaviour and how they affect the technology-environment interaction
  • imparts knowledge of resource-efficient technologies, e.g., energy generation from renewable sources, as well as underlying principles, such as source separation and the closing of material cycles, demand side management, decentralised, modularised service provision, etc.
  • reviews experience with and conveys ideas for different forms of legal and economic organisation of planning, construction and urban services provision
  • teaches study and research methods and techniques for planning and decision support

With this programme, the HCU targets people from all over the world with a wide range of academic backgrounds and work experience, sharing an interest in technology and society and a concern for urban life. As such, the programme does not require expertise in architecture or engineering nor does it award a professional degree in architecture, urban planning or civil engineering.

REAP covers the following areas:

  • Sustainability
  • Water, material and energy cycles in the city
  • Resource efficient urban technologies and infrastructure
  • Economics and administration of buildings and urban services
  • Legal and policy instruments
  • Urban planning on different scales: building (1:10-1:100), neighbourhood (1:500-1: 5,000) and city (1:10,000-1:100,000) scale and regarding the specific geographical and cultural context
  • Skills development: dimensioning, perception, assessment and decision making in the field of sustainable resource technologies
  • Research methods and decision support techniques

REAP is not:

  • an architectural design course
  • focused on a single discipline – it is interdisciplinary and follows an integrative and multidimensional planning approach

The Master's programme consists of 17 study modules taught over two academic years.

Course organisation

The programme consists of lectures, seminars, and project work. The lectures and seminars impart basic knowledge about sustainable development at the urban level, in particular in the fields of water/waste water, energy, and materials. They are grouped around the project work that is characteristic for the REAP programme. Projects are real-time, real-world case studies. With the help and guidance from faculty the students develop recommendations and solutions. Examples include the following: designing a building-based, integrated supply-treatment system for water and waste water; developing a plan for the environmentally sound retrofit of a housing block; and devising an incentive-based scheme for refuse management or recycling of building materials.

Project work is inspired by the research activities at the university and can in turn contribute to this research. Project work allows students to explore fields that are of particular interest to them. At the same time, they can apply their practical skills and deepen their experience in developing specific concepts for (potential) real world problems. For this reason, it is advantageous for students to have relevant professional experience they can draw on for their project work. Experience with scientific work is useful, as is a general interest in environmental problems.

While two-thirds of the courses are compulsory, in some areas the programme allows to choose between courses, too. However, the programme is not intended to provide a specialisation solely in energy, water or material flows, respectively, as its main intent is to provide an integrative perspective of all resource flows.

Part-time studies are possible, but they are subject to restrictions for some international students.

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A Diploma supplement will be issued
Yes
Course-specific, integrated German language courses
Yes
Course-specific, integrated English language courses
Yes
Tuition fees per semester in EUR
None
Semester contribution

335 EUR

Costs of living

We recommend that single students budget at least 800 EUR per month to meet personal expenses (accommodation, living, health insurance, books).

Funding opportunities within the university
Yes
Description of the above-mentioned funding opportunities within the university

https://www.hcu-hamburg.de/en/international/financial-support

Academic admission requirements

The Master of Science in Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning is normally open to university graduates with a Bachelor's degree or German "Diplom" (university or FH) or the equivalent in Architecture, Urban Planning, Geography, Landscape Planning, Civil Engineering, Law, Political Science, Business and Administration, Economics, Humanities or others with a focus on REAP-related fields and a demonstrated strong interest in interdisciplinary approaches to environmental design and technology. The Master's programme is geared towards academic individuals with work experience in a field related to REAP. This work experience may be gained prior to or during enrolment at the university.

Language requirements

The course language is English.
All applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of sufficient English language proficiency. This may be:

  • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): min. 570 points (paper-based), 230 points (computer-based) or 88 points (Internet-based)
  • IELTS (International English Language Testing System): min. 7
  • CAE (Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English): min. grade B
  • CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English): min. grade C
  • TELC: min. C1

You do not have to pass an English language test, if one of the following conditions apply to you. In this case, you have to submit instead of an English language test:

  • A certification that the instruction language of your previous studies – at least four semesters – was English
  • A certification that you attended a school of general education of at least five years where the English language was used as the medium of instruction
  • A certification that you have had a professional and subject-related stay abroad of at least one year in a country where the official language is English

In order to be prepared for German everyday life and to work in Germany if so desired, REAP students may attend German language courses at different levels at the HafenCity University Hamburg.

Application deadline

Applicants with a non-German university degree have to apply via uni-assist and the ahoi application portal of the HafenCity University.

First step:
You can submit your application at uni-assist starting from 1 March each year for the following winter semester. Uni-assist needs up to six weeks for checking the certificates. Therefore, we recommend that applicants submit the documents at uni-assist early enough to keep the application deadline of the HCU in our ahoi portal, which is 1 July for the following winter semester.

Second step:
In addition, all applicants have to apply directly at HCU via the ahoi online application portal (1 June - 1 July): www.ahoi.hcu-hamburg.de

Submit application to

First step:
All applicants with a non-German degree have to apply through www.uni-assist.de.

Second step:
In addition, all applicants have to apply directly at HCU via the HCU online application system (1 June - 1 July). Further information: https://www.hcu-hamburg.de/en/sv/for-prospective-students

Possibility of finding part-time employment

Due to the intense nature of the programme, working while studying is sometimes difficult but possible. Nevertheless nearly all of our students have some sort of a part-time job in one of the study periods. The university itself offers to students the opportunity to work as assistant for lectures, research or projects under the supervision of a professor. Students can also obtain off-campus part-time jobs in the public sector or private industry in the field of REAP.
Students from the European Union and the EEA stand practically on equal terms with German students and have free access to the German job market. However, for students who do not come from the EU or EEA countries, work is restricted; they are only allowed to work up to a specific number or hours. German employment regulations have to be considered before taking on a job.
Students who intend to work in Germany during their studies or afterwards are recommended to attend a German language course.

Accommodation

Most of our international students live in Haus Bauhütte (see www.studentenwohnheim-hh.de/wohnen/einzelzimmer for further information) or in rooms provided by Studierendenwerk Hamburg (see www.studierendenwerk-hamburg.de/en/accommodation-for-students-and-trainees for further information).

Please note: It is not at all easy to find adequate and affordable accommodation in Hamburg in time for the beginning of the semester. Therefore, we highly recommend to begin the search even before receiving your letter of acceptance and arriving in Hamburg.

Support for international students and doctoral candidates
  • Welcome event
Supervisor-student ratio
1:15

HafenCity University Hamburg

The HCU Hamburg - University of the Built Environment and Metropolitan Development - was founded by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in January 2006. With its approx. 2,300 students, HCU is a small university with a focus on addressing current and future issues facing our towns and cities. Our professional excellence is based on the four disciplines that cover the spectrum from house to city: architecture, civil engineering, geodesy and geoinformatics, and urban planning.

Our reality is changing more rapidly than ever. New solutions for metropolitan problems thus demand disciplinary excellence as well as openness to neighbouring disciplines such as social sciences, humanities, and metropolitan culture. Our goal at HCU is to foster lifelong learning and the continual search for new solutions. The "studium fundamentale" and the study projects at HCU encourage students to diverge from the usual ways of thinking, develop their abilities to reflect, and use their powers of judgement in the complex and changing challenges of the future.

University location

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany, with its 1.8 million inhabitants, is the second largest city in Germany. Economically and culturally, Hamburg is also the centre of all Northern Germany. Approximately 3.5 million people live in the metropolitan region of Hamburg. For them, Hamburg is a shopping and cultural metropolis. With 755 square kilometres, the city area is seven times larger than Paris and two and a half times larger than London. Up to 14% of the city area is made up of green spaces and recreational areas. Hamburg boasts 31 theatres, six music halls, 10 cabarets and 50 state and private museums. They range from the Kunsthalle Art Museum and the State Opera to music clubs on the Reeperbahn. The Reeperbahn, formerly known as the "Sin Mile", has numerous bars, cafés, and discos as well as many other interesting sites that can not be found anywhere else. The "Kiez", as the natives call it, even gave the Beatles their start in the early 1960s.

For more info, please see: http://english.hamburg.de/.

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