Study Programme

International Agribusiness and Rural Development (IARD)

Key facts

Location: Founded in 1737, the Georg-August-University Göttingen (GAUG) is a research university of high international standing. Famous scientists such as Gauß, von Haller, Weber, Nernst and Heisenberg, to name but a few, helped to make scientific advances in mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics. Forty-four laureates have been strongly connected to the University, 12 of them explicitly honoured for research work in Göttingen. GAUG comprises 13 faculties including Agricultural Sciences, 3,246 scientists including 411 professors, 24,500 students from 133 countries, and modern library facilities with more than four million volumes and subscriptions to about 14,000 scientific journals. Founded in 1981, the University of Talca has progressively become one of Chile’s main referents of higher education. It is situated in the city of Talca, within the Maule Region, Chile’s VII Region, 257 km south of Santiago de Chile. The University of Talca, founded in 1981, offers 21 Bachelor’s degree programmes, 23 Master’s and four Ph.D. programmes in the following fields: Law, Agriculture, Forestry Engineering, Business, Accounting, Dentistry, Medical Technology and Mechanical Engineering. The Faculties of Agriculture of the Universities of Göttingen and Talca have been cooperating scientifically for many years. In 2002, they introduced the new postgraduate course in International Agribusiness in order to meet the demand for qualified executive staff. The programme speakers are Prof. Dr. Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (on behalf of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Göttingen) and Prof. Dr. José Diaz Osorio (on behalf of the University of Talca).
Course language: English and partly in Spanish at the University of Talca
Target group: Highly qualified students who wish to pursue a career in international agribusiness within the private or public sector, research, or non- governmental organisations in the agribusiness sector. Successful applicants are expected to have an excellent grade aver- age in their undergraduate degree (B.Sc. or Diploma) and a good working knowledge of English and Spanish.

Course Focus

The core study programme consists of modules covering international agricultural economics, agricultural and rural development policy as well as business administration, management and agribusiness marketing, development economics and rural sociology. As a research-oriented programme, strong emphasis is placed on acquiring methodological research skills in the fields of econometrics, marketing and social sciences. The programme further offers a number of optional modules in agricultural technology, agronomy and animal production. Modules also include seminars, computer-aided exercises, and teamwork to enhance the presentation, communication and team-building skills of students. The course is of 21 months’ duration (including a two-month German language course in Latin America). There are three teaching semesters with a total of fifteen modules. The students start in Chile. After two semesters some students can be selected to continue their studies in Germany according to their academic performance and also depending upon language skills and other criteria, while other students (who have not been selected for Germany) will finish the pro- gramme in Chile. The programme starts every year in January. The semester in Germany starts in October. During the three teaching semesters, students are expected to attend a total of 15-17 modules; the last semester is dedicated to field research and writing the Master’s thesis.

Target Group

Highly qualified students who wish to pursue a career in international agribusiness within the private or public sector, research, or non- governmental organisations in the agribusiness sector. Successful applicants are expected to have an excellent grade aver- age in their undergraduate degree (B.Sc. or Diploma) and a good working knowledge of English and Spanish.

Visit Homepage Course Structure Module Handbook Entry Requirements Application Deadline Further Information Contact