Content Strategy

The programme is concluded after the fourth semester with the degree “Master of Arts in Social Sciences (MA)”. Before this, you have to successfully complete all the courses in the curriculum, write a Master’s thesis and take your Master’s examination.

In your Master’s thesis, you demonstrate that you have acquired the methods of content strategy and that you can employ them productively in a demanding practical task in a large project. If possible, you should methodically investigate and document a project from your job in compliance with academic standards. The fourth semester is available for the Master’s thesis. You can submit a group thesis if the individual parts of the thesis can be clearly assigned to particular authors. The thesis will be submitted as an e-book. If the thesis has been commissioned by a company – for instance, if you write it for your employer – you can block publication for five years. Supervisors with practical experience will support you in creating the thesis.

You will take the Master’s examination at the end of the fourth semester after you have completed the thesis. The examination is subject to the FH JOANNEUM Examination Regulations and conducted in public. The examination board is usually composed of the supervisor of the Master’s thesis and an examiner. At least one representative of a company or organisation which is a potential employer is also present. In the examination you will present your thesis followed by an oral examination. Furthermore, you will also be examined in three subjects from different modules of the programme.

With the Master’s degree, you are entitled to pursue a relevant doctoral degree, as a rule usually in social and economic sciences. But you have to be accepted by the university where you want to study your doctoral degree, since each university has its own criteria. Because the programme only started in 2014, no graduates have yet had any experience of pursuing a doctoral degree.