Master's Degree

The Master's Degree in Military Sciences is a university degree comprising 120 ECTS. The degree has three alternative programmes: officer, officer pilot and executive assistance.

The primary task of the master's degree is to train officers for the Defence Forces and the Border Guard who work in headquarters. The master's degree and the military vocational studies that it includes aim to give students the prerequisites to serve as leaders within a battalion in emergency conditions, as commanding officers of a company-level unit in normal conditions and in staff positions within headquarters on international missions.

Students completing a master's degree in military sciences can chose from one of these majors:

• leadership
• military theory (operational art and tactics, strategy or military history)
• military pedagogy or
• military technology.

Every student must either choose military theory as their major or have it as an extended minor.

On the Executive Assistance Programme major is defined when applying:

Degree Structure

A Master's degree consists of advanced studies and a Master's thesis. Major studies include compulsory modules and elective modules, methodology courses and writing a thesis. In addition, students study minor subjects as well as languages and communication studies. Officers completing their master's must all study operational art and tactics as well as leadership and military pedagogy. Civilian students complete a work experience to deepen their expertise.

Most of the studies are completed at the National Defence University and some at the service, branch or functional area schools as well as in the Border and Coast Guard Academy and the Logistics School.