Hertie School of Governance - Human Rights Scholarship

The Hertie School in Berlin prepares exceptional students for leadership positions in government, business, and civil society. The school offers master’s programmes, executive education and doctoral programmes, distinguished by interdisciplinary and practice-oriented teaching, as well as outstanding research. Its extensive international network positions it as an ambassador of good governance, characterised by public debate and engagement. The school was founded in 2004 by the Hertie Foundation, which remains its major funder. The Hertie School is accredited by the state and the German Science Council. 

About master programmes

• Master of International Affairs
• International security, European governance or the future of human rights – our rapidly transforming world calls for solutions that positively shape the trajectory of our societies.
• The Master of International Affairs (MIA) equips students with tools of international policymaking and the practical skills to devise sound policy proposals in a global multilevel system. Learning how to navigate this complex landscape of diverse actors and disciplines is at the heart of the programme.

How to apply

• First, submit a standard application to the MPP or MIA programme.
• Additionally, answer one of the following questions in a brief essay:
  • What are the major challenges concerning the enforcement of human rights in international law and what do you propose to address these challenges?
  • Is the list of human rights pronounced in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights outdated?
  • Is the critique of international human rights as a western construct imposed on the rest of the world well founded? Why (not)?

The additional essay should be sent to grad-admissions@hertie-school.org after a standard application has been submitted. The essay should be approximately two pages in length.

Interested applicants should submit their applications and motivation statements before 1 February. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

About Hertie School 

The Hertie School is a private university based in Berlin, Germany, accredited by the state and the German Science Council. It prepares exceptional students for leadership positions in government, business and civil society. Interdisciplinary and practice-oriented teaching, first-class research and an extensive international network set the Hertie School apart and position it as an ambassador of good governance, characterised by public debate and engagement. Our motto is "Understand today. Shape tomorrow".

The Hertie School was formally founded as a private, non-profit institution in December 2003 by the Hertie Foundation, thereby becoming the first professional school for public policy in Germany.

Offering programmes that emphasised academic excellence and practical orientation in the reunified capital of Berlin, the Hertie School was, from its start, a unique educational institution in Germany. The school began by organising panels, symposia and discussions as well as providing a platform for policymakers, professionals and practitioners from the media, NGOs and business to engage with academia.

In February 2005, the Hertie School was granted official state recognition and given the authority by the Berlin Senate to award the academic title Master of Public Policy as an institution of higher learning. The first cohort of students in the two-year Master of Public Policy programme began their studies in September 2005, and the programme has grown considerably each year.

In September 2008, the school launched its second master's programme: the Executive Master of Public Administration. Together with the Freie Universität Berlin and the Social Science Centre Berlin (WZB), the Hertie School established the Berlin School of Transnational Studies in 2008.

In 2011, the Hertie School was one of the few private universities in Germany to receive the right to award doctorates. The Doctoral Programme in Governance started in 2012. The first cohort of the Master of International Affairs began their studies in 2015, the first cohort of the Master of Data Science for Public Policy will begin their studies in 2021. 

Our School bears a household name in Germany, which belonged to a successful chain of department stores – Hertie. The original stores, or Herman Tietz Warenhauser, were founded in 1882 by a German Jewish family, led by Oskar Tietz, with the support of his uncle, Hermann Tietz (the name HERTIE was later derived his name: HERmann TIEtz).

After many years of successful growth and expansion, the company entered the Great Depression in the late 1920s heavily indebted. From 1930, the stores also faced the effects of discriminatory policies against Jewish merchants and sales significantly deteriorated.

In 1933, the stores were “aryanised” and a consortium of banks, known as the “Hertie Kaufhaus Beteiligungs GmbH”, dispossessed the Tietz family of their company assets. The consortium appointed Georg Karg, a long-time salesman and later chief textile buyer, as the new managing director. Many members of the Tietz family immigrated to the US and elsewhere.

After the war, a financial settlement was reached with the Tietz family and Georg Karg, the subsequent owner of the Hertie brand.

The Hertie Foundation was founded in 1974 by Mr. Karg. Since its launch, the Foundation has spent more than 450 million Euros on its own projects or grants in the fields of multiple sclerosis, neurosciences, education, integration, democracy, and work-life balance. Currently, the work of the Hertie Foundation focuses on two key issues: brain research and strengthening democracy.

In 2003/2004, the Hertie Foundation founded the Hertie School (now Hertie School) to institutionalise research and teaching on new forms of statehood and governance. The Hertie Foundation’s leadership has a strong commitment to honour its past. In November 2020, its board commissioned the Frankfurt-based Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte (Society for Company History) to conduct an academic review of the early history of the foundation's assets.