You should decide fairly soon after starting the program. The course "VU Arbeit und Gesellschaft" is a good place to start and learn more about this subject area. All students are required to take this class during the first semester of the program. Deciding early on is important as you have to decide on your sociological research project and specialization fields in sociology accordingly.

If your major is Social Economics, you can take courses as listed in the curriculum for sociology. You can choose here. If you would like to write your Master's thesis in sociology, make sure the courses you select will familiarize you with the subject area in a theoretical, methodological and/or empirical way in regards to approaches and the academic level of sociology that play a role in your thesis topic. 

While part-time studies are always more difficult than studying full-time, the Department of Sociology realizes and understands that many students work and/or have childcare responsibilities. Students can take some courses online. This digital option is always offered on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. You can also follow the recommended study plan. In any case, there will be times where you will be required to be on-site at the JKU to complete some sections of the program and, despite all of the flexibility we offer, you will also need to plan for the fact that you need to be well prepared when attending a class and complete the required assignments after class. You will have to reserve and commit time for your studies.

You can include a study abroad program at a university and take courses that are comparable in content and scope to the program here and get the credits transferred. The experience is different and valuable, even if you study theory or methods in-depth at a university abroad including, for example, the topic of "work/labor and society". The educational content and working methods will be different than here. How and what content is covered also depends on how and what is the area of research at the respective institute. Studying abroad is an opportunity to learn about the many differences as well as discover many new things. Our sociology department has a strong network of international contacts and if you are considering a study abroad semester, please contact a course instructor.

In general, it is easier to work on a topic once you have attended classes. During the course of the program, one option would be to consider what topic(s) you are most interested in. Graduate students in sociology conduct their own research as part of research projects and this can sometimes turn in a Master's thesis topic. You can also approach prospective thesis supervisors with an outline of ideas briefly describing potential research questions you would like to pursue and how you aim to explore the area for a Master's thesis. Some ideas come from outside of the university and academia. For example, as part of our collaboration with the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor, you could also select a Master's thesis topic that is of interest there.

Your Master's thesis will supervised by course instructors who hold a doctorate or post-doc/habilitation degree. In general, once you have an idea in regard to a topic, you can put together a small outline of ideas and ask course instructors whether or not they can supervise your thesis. We also recommend checking the website to see what kinds of topics different department institutes are working on as this makes it easier to find a thesis supervisor who conducts research and/or teaches in that particular subject area. We also supervise our students' Master's theses during academic advising sessions in which, for example, individual thesis chapters or methodological approaches are discussed, etc. These academic advising sessions are also a part of the Master's colloquium requirements. At the end of the program and once your thesis has been submitted and graded, there is no examination in a conventional sense. Instead, you will present your Master's thesis and discuss it in a broader sociological context. In this regard, we also strongly recommend getting in touch with the examiners early on in order to discuss the presentation, etc., in advance.