Modern East Asian Studies
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Application and Admissions

If you're interested in applying for the MEAS programme, there are three entry requirements to consider: an appropriate BA qualification, C1-level proficiency in English and an excellent research proposal.

Since the entire programme (with the exception of beginners' Korean) is taught in English, you do not need to be able to speak German in order to apply.

We accept students from many different academic backgrounds. You can apply for MEAS if your BA programme (min. 180 ECTS) is academic and in any of the following subjects:
  • Social sciences (Economics/Management, Law, Political Science, Sociology)
  • East Asia-related humanities (Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Southeast Asian Studies)
  • History or Cultural Anthropology
Admission to the MEAS programme is dependent on both your final BA grade (51%) and your research proposal (49%). To find out whether your BA aligns well with the MEAS programme and the research focus of our professors, take a look at 'About the Programme' and 'Who We Are'.
If you're interested in applying, you will need to submit the following:

  • uni-assist online application form
  • academic CV
  • letter of motivation (500–600 words), including the name of a potential referee
  • BA degree certificate and transcript of records
  • theoretically based and academically sound research proposal (i.e. a description of a research project which has not yet begun; 800–2000 words) on a topic that aligns well with the MEAS programme (see Guidelines below)
  • English language proficiency certificate (unless your BA was taught exclusively in English): TOEFL Internet based (95 or above); TOEIC (945 or above); IELTS (7,0 or above); UNIcert (III/C1 or above); since test centres provide in-person language tests again, please do NOT take the home edition of any of these tests
  • language proficiency certificate for Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese or Korean (if available)
  • university entrance qualification (applicants not enrolled at the Goethe University)
  • APS certificate (applicants with a bachelor's degree from China, Vietnam, Mongolia or India)


The application period for MEAS is 1 April to 15 August. If you did your BA abroad, we recommend applying by 15 July at the latest.


There are four stages to the admissions process:

  1. Firstly, you need to apply online through uni-assist e.V. (via Goethe University's mater's portal). Applicants with international degrees also have to send their documents as hard copies to uni-assist e.V. in order to complete the application process successfully.
  2. Once you've submitted your application, uni-assist verifies whether you're eligible to study at master's level in Germany and if so, forwards your application to Goethe University.
  3. The MEAS admissions committee checks whether your academic background and research proposal fulfil the programme requirements.
  4. Once the committee has made a decision, you will be informed via email. If your application was successful, you will also receive an official letter of admission

If you have general questions about admission to Goethe University's master's programmes, you can find more information on the website of Goethe University's Global Affairs Study and Teaching department.

If you did your bachelor's degree outside of Germany, you can find more information about the admissions process here.

If you have any questions about enrolment, please contact the Master's and International Admissions Department: sli-master[at]uni-frankfurt.de.

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Quick Access

Student assistant positions are open on an irregular basis. MEAS and IZO accept unsolicited applications for these positions. If you are interested, please send your application to the MEAS and IZO coordinators.

Contact

MEAS Coordinator:
Mirjam Tröster

SKW, 5th floor, room 05.B140
Rostocker Straße 2, 60323 Frankfurt/Main
Mailing address:
Goethe University Frankfurt
Sinology/MEAS, FB09 - Linguistics, Cultures, and Arts
Mirjam Tröster/SKW
60629 Frankfurt

Tel. +49 (0) 69-798-28795
Email: m.troester[at]em.uni-frankfurt.de


MEAS Administration:
Elssy Kiradjieva
W.-Adorno-Platz 4
RuW, Room 4.242
60323 Frankfurt/Main
Tel. +49 (0) 69-798-34809
Email: kiradjieva[at]em.uni-frankfurt.de

IZO Coordinator:
Bertram Lang
Email: izo[at]uni-frankfurt.de

Student Assistant:

John Droß

Email: dross[at]em.uni-frankfurt.de
Image credits (left to right, top to bottom): Mirjam Tröster (Lanterns); Iwo Amelung (Entry Requirements); Uwe Dettmar, Goethe University Frankfurt (Application Documents); Peter Kiefer, Goethe University Franfurt (How to Apply)