Bachelor of Science in Meteorology

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A detailed description of the Meteorology studies can be found here. Some points, however, should be emphasized once again from a student's point of view:
The study of meteorology is in principle a specialized study of physics. Many students underestimate this at the beginning and are then surprised by the extent of physics, mathematics and computer science in their studies. If you take a look at the Studienverlaufsplan des Bachelorstudiums (study plan of the Bachelor's programme)   in Meteorology at the Freien Universität Berlin, will recognize this immediately. During the first three semesters there is only one module with a clear meteorological reference. Conversely, this means that during these first three semesters approx. 80% of the studies consist of non-meteorological courses, which do not take place in the meteorological institute, but in physics or mathematics. If one is not aware of these facts at the beginning of one's studies, this can easily lead to some frustration. It should also be mentioned that the workload is enormous. Each module requires weekly exercises, the results of which are decisive for admission to the final examinations of the respective modules. This quickly leads to a study-related 'working time' of more than 40 hours with corresponding consequences for any existing or planned part-time jobs.

On the other hand it is probably the case with every study, no matter which subject, that at the beginning the basics have to be created in order to deal later with the really interesting aspects. And meteorology is a really fascinating field of study that of course revolves around our daily weather, but also long-term climate changes. In addition to meteorology, the course imparts a broad basic knowledge in physics, mathematics and data processing, as well as the ability to work interdisciplinarily. This opens for graduates of meteorology studies a job market which is clearly broader defined, than the position as 'weather man' in the radio on TV. One finds it naturally with the Deutschen Wetterdienst (DWD), at environmental and universities or research centres such as AWI, GFZ, DLR and MPI  but also at private weather companies, banks and insurance companies, in the aforementioned media, in the energy industry, i.e. wherever complex systems and problems and their computer-aided processing are involved.

For those who now know that meteorology will be the subject of their choice, the only question now is where they want to study. The Institute for Meteorology at the Freie Universität Berlin offers various advantages here: First of all, it is located in Berlin :) Furthermore, it offers good education in theory and synoptics, the students have quickly the opportunity to work as student assistants on numerous scientific projects of various working groups and one can also quite quickly gain first practical experience. Here you have the possibility to work as an observer in our weather tower or as a expert for Wetterpatenschaften. At our institute, names are given to high-pressure and low-pressure areas which influence the weather in Europe. These are the names that can be heard and seen daily on the radio or on television and are adopted by the media for the entire German-speaking area and, in some cases, the whole of Europe.

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Master of Science in Meteorology

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While the Bachelor's programme in Meteorology at the FU Berlin focuses more on the physical basics and scientific working methods, the Master's programme divides and deepens individual meteorological subject areas. A large area is theoretical meteorology. Based on the knowledge of physics, mathematics and meteorology from the bachelor's programme, meteorological processes are broken down, mathematically described and calculated. Another topic is the work with weather and climate models. Different climatic scenarios are simulated and then analysed together, whereby great importance is attached to clean scientific work, as it is also required after the study when writing scientific publications. In addition, there is the possibility to specialize in a variety of optional modules and special meteorological topics on topics such as satellite meteorology, air chemistry, or meteorological extreme events. In this way, each student can put together his or her own master plan according to his or her interests.

This is followed by the opportunity to work at national and international research institutions and universities, which is often combined with doctoral studies. However, the comprehensive knowledge from Bachelor's and Master's studies in meteorology also allows almost unlimited opportunities, depending on one's own interests and talents, to work for companies or institutes that require careful work with large amounts of data or computer-based simulations.