Study subject

Soils - the skin of the earth - are natural bodies with important functions: Not only do they provide habitat for a wide variety of organisms, buffer acids, filter pollutants and store nutrients, but they are also indispensable for agricultural production. Soils are in constant exchange with the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.

In the specialisation Soil Science of the Master's degree program in Agricultural Sciences at the University of Hohenheim, we take a holistic approach to the processes that take place in soils and address key issues for protecting soils, preserving their functions, understanding their development, and conserving natural resources as the basis for a secure world food supply.

You will learn about the diversity of soils, their interactions with other environmental media, their uses and ecological functions and be able to evaluate them. Lectures will provide you with theoretical basics, and in seminars you will work on current problems from the entire spectrum of soil science. You will actively participate in soil science research at the institute; you will work on relevant issues in practice-oriented modules. These courses are supplemented by excursions as well as field and laboratory practicals.

Studying Soil Science opens up many employment opportunities for you. Through your studies in Hohenheim, you will qualify, for example, for jobs in agriculture, in environmental administration, in environmental consulting companies, in engineering offices, in soil science research and analysis. The range of soil science courses offered at Hohenheim is unique in Germany, both in terms of breadth and depth.

You are interested in our study program, have questions or need more information? Then please simply contact the head of the study program Prof. Dr. Thilo Rennert.