Comparative Social Policy and Welfare, Social Science Research

Next admission to this programme in 2026.

Comparative Social Policy and Welfare (COSOPO) provides an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary societies in Europe and facilitates understanding social policy and welfare issues in global, national and local contexts. In this programme, you are able to develop skills for understanding and analysing the development of societies and for engaging with sustainable welfare and policy solutions.

Our graduates work around the world for national and local governments, private companies, non-governmental organisations, and academia. During the studies, you will learn the dynamics of social policy in countries that represent different welfare models and may choose a specialisation based on your interest in some area of social policy. You will concentrate on comparative designs and practise qualitative and quantitative policy analysis. As a part of the studies, you may improve your future employment prospects by gaining work experience as a trainee or doing voluntary work for three months.

During your studies in the COSOPO programme, you will get experience from two European universities as the programme is jointly organized by Tampere University (Finland) and Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria). The programme combines contact teaching with online learning which means that you will be able to work together with the students and teachers of both universities during intensive 1-2 week periods of teaching each semester and during the rest of the academic year you will be studying on-line which allows you to flexibly plan your schedule.

Master’s Programme in Social Science Research focuses on the contemporary issues and problems of governance, conflicts and policy in the globalizing world/society. The programme currently consists of the following academically independent specialisations with distinct study profiles:

• Comparative Social Policy and Welfare
• Public Policy Analysis