Master in Global Energy Transition and Governance
The Master in Global Energy Transition and Governance is targeted at students and young professionals with a bachelor degree and is open to all academic disciplines.
It aims to give a deep understanding of the complexity of the current energy transformations in Europe and worldwide.
With its unique, multidisciplinary approach, the programme analyses the links between the different levels of energy governance, from an international to a local level, offering problem-focused learning at the crossroads of theory and practice.
Teaching Language: English
Study Destinations: Nice, Berlin, Nice
Duration: A one-year programme + optional professional internship (max. 6 months to be completed by 31 December)
Start Date: October
End Date: June
Credits: 60 ECTS
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Entry Requirements & How to Apply
• For students who have completed their undergraduate studies
• Good knowledge of English required.
Tuition Fees: 9,800 €
Early bird (31 January 2025): 8,900 €
Application Deadline: 30 June 2025
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Overview of the Academic Year
The one-year Master programme (three terms) welcomes participants from all five continents and takes place in two study locations: Nice and Berlin.
The programme includes a study trip to Brussels as well as several field trips to relevant energy sites in France and Germany.
October to December: Nice
The programme starts off in Nice in October. Classes on the basics of all modules.
The first term in Nice encompasses classes on the basics of the four energy modules (International Energy Governance and Conflicts, Economic Energy Governance and Markets, Clean Energy Transitions in the EU, and Cities and Citizens in the Energy Transition Processes). During this first term, the students choose their Master thesis topic. They will also be offered courses on research methodology and oral communication methodology.
January to March: Berlin
For their second term students move on to Berlin. From here they will travel to Brussels, for a study trip to relevant European institutions and professional organisations. During this term, they will also participate in various field trips.
In Berlin, teaching continues in the form of workshops. Experts and practitioners are invited to hold lectures. To better understand the local energy challenges in the framework of the German Energy Transition, different field trips are organised in co-operation with local institutions and companies.
In Berlin, students will profit from a first round of professional coaching sessions. They are also introduced to negotiation techniques and smart decision-making thanks to specific courses consecrated to these aspects of professional skills. During this term, students receive a thorough introduction to the module on project cycle management. A special highlight of this second term is the one-week study trip to the European institutions in Brussels.
April to June: Nice
In April students return to Nice. Finalising research work, defence of the thesis, final oral exams, graduation ceremony.
This third and last term aims at concluding all modules. Students deliver the last papers and prepare their last oral presentations in each module. Support for the writing of the Master thesis is provided in the form of individual and/or collective discussions. During this term, a simulation game enables the participants to test their negotiation skills. Meetings with energy professionals from the Nice region and the last field trips are organised to conclude the year. A final coaching session is organised to prepare the students for their professional future asPolicy officers in energy transition.
The Master thesis is delivered in mid-June and defended at the end of June.
With their graduation on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, students become part of CIFE’s worldwide Alumni network.
From July: Optional internship (max 6 months) to be completed by 31 December of the current year.
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Programme Structure & Learning Outcomes
Teaching modules
Five basic modules form the framework of teaching and research at CIFE. International guest lecturers, experts from various European and international organisations, as well as researchers from partner institutions contribute to these modules.
Click on the titles for more information
This module delivers the theoretical knowledge on the main international energy-related issues and conflicts (resource curse, neo-institutionalism, developmentalism, weak/strong States etc.). It also provides the participants with concrete examples of the emergence and regulation of energy conflicts worldwide in order to analyse better how they exert pressure on the security and diversification of the energy supply.
Economic and market fundamentals are applied to the energy sector in order to understand the current multiple national, regional, and local low carbon energy pathways in the world. The module examines how the different markets are regulated and how they influence the transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energies. The economic perspective will highlight the role of liberalisation, privatisation and regulation of the sector.
The aim of this module is to highlight the EU's priorities and its decision-making process regarding clean energy transition in Europe, thus helping to understand political economy factors that both inhibit and accelerate it. While focusing on how the different EU policies challenge institutional architectures and multi-level governance schemes, the module provides an insight into issues currently facing European policy makers such as social acceptance, sustainability of renewable energies as wellas rapid advancement in clean energy technologies.
Participants will understand how EU regions and cities and more generally territories develop their own low carbon strategy at the crossroads of many policies (housing, waste management, transport, fuel poverty, environment and energy) and in the framework of a multilevel governance system. Concrete examples of local and regional strategies will be delivered in order to analyse the levers and obstacles for more decentralisation.
This module aims to deliver professional and soft skills to equip future professionals of the energy policy at the different levels of governance. Students will acquire skills in research methodology, energy project management and the elaboration of energy strategies. They will concretely experiment different methodological tools: first of all through the research work for their thesis, second thanks to the methodological tools of project management. Students will be involved in a simulation game in which they will have to decide on the construction of a wind park in a territory. In a negotiation game, participants will have to elaborate a common strategy in the perspective of international energy cooperation.
Professional skills
Drafting policy and strategy papers
Research methodology
Evaluating risks and opportunities of energy projects in different contexts
Working on gepolitical, economic, social, political innovations in the
energy sector governance
Energy Project cycle management
Soft skills
Negotiation techniques and simulation
Smart decision
Oral communication and public speaking
Research, analytical and critical skills
Debating skills
Team working in a multicultural environment
Adaptability
Job support service
Skills exchange workshop
Individual professional coaching
Regular update of job offers
For their Master thesis participants will carry out a profound research work on an energy issue, chosen and elaborated in regular coordination with their supervisor. The thesis will require the application of the methodological tools which the students have acquired during the programme.
The academic work will involve in-depth desk research, possible interviews with external partners and the writing of a thesis of approximately 17,000 words. Candidates will defend their thesis in an oral exam.
Teaching methods
The programme offers problem-focused learning at the crossroads of theory and practice. Students gain a strong academic background and are prepared for the job market through a variety of trainings in professional and practical skills. Participants are actively involved in the organisation of workshops and participate in a simulation of a local decision-making process for the construction of wind farms as well as the elaboration of a policy strategy of energy cooperation. Field visits complement the benefits of the programme as well as the participation in international conferences, workshops and seminars.
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Our programmes are designed to offer a teaching method which is academic and at the same time directed towards the professional world. We aim to give students the ability to enter into dialogue with decision-makers from both the economic and the political world, stakeholders, diplomats as well as officials from international and European organisations. This broad outlook is made possible by the wide variety of our lecturers, the visits organised to different European countries and our relationship with our carefully selected international partners. Our in-house panel of experts contributes to the rich content of the modules.
The international composition of our groups enables our students to gain maximum advantage from participating each year in various role games to enhance their understanding of problems of collective action and the art of negotiation in different environments such as the EU, the UN and federal states. Research for the thesis at the end of the programme will enable students to delve into a specific subject in more detail and acquire important skills for the job market. In our documentation centre, reviews, books and a great number of electronic resources are at the students’ disposal. Our lectures are accompanied by an online learning management system, facilitating communication between students, lecturers and staff.
Fees & Funding
CIFE is a private, non-profit European institute of higher education.
We belong to the six designated institutions receiving special funding by the European Union in the framework of the Jean Monnet programme.
Thanks to this grant by the European Union, each CIFE student benefits from significantly reduced study fees. Those fees not only cover tuition and mentoring, but also the accommodation during the trimester in Berlin, travel costs from/to Nice and Berlin as well as the study trip to Brussels and field trips.
The overall tuition fee of the "Master in Global Energy Transition and Governance" amounts to 9,800 €.
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Degree & Title
Graduates receive two certifications:
- The Master in Global Energy Transition and Governance.
This is the diploma of CIFE as a private institute of higher education, certifying the successful completion of the academic curriculum and granting 60 ECTS at Master level.
- The degree qualification "Policy Officer in European and International organisations" (level 7 EQF), recognised by the French state.
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