General Professional Skills (ABK)

University studies lead to many challenging occupations and university graduates are active in great variety of jobs. In order for students to grasp this flexibility as an opportunity and develop job-orientated skills and perspectives during their studies, the bachelor's degrees at the Universität Hamburg incorporate a third component in addition to the major and minor subject sequences: The General Professional Skills Course (ABK).

General professional skills are interdisciplinary skills that are both useful during your studies and necessary in all professional occupations. They provide the "key" that enables you to access and develop new spheres of knowledge and activity throughout the course of your life.

The six Schools at the Universität Hamburg have developed different models and discipline-specific provisions for the ABK course. The aim of all these courses is to support students in orientating themselves professionally and in acquiring key skills and additional qualifications. In most cases students will find lectures and seminars on the ABK course relating to the following topics (with some variations within the disciplines):

• Social skills (e.g. discussion techniques, conflict management, group and teamwork, intercultural skills)
• Methodological skills (e.g. dealing with the media, information processing, problem solving, moderation and presentation, writing techniques)
• Personal skills (e.g. time and stress management, motivation, creativity, self-management)
• Exploration of prospective areas of employment
• Practical experience via case studies, discussion with professionals and internships

These skills will of course also be further developed in other contexts, for instance in subject seminars and through social engagement.

The course area ABK currently makes up around 15% of the bachelor's program and students receive up to 27 credit points for participating in these seminars and lectures.

A cross-school network of persons responsible for the ABK courses ensures the exchange of experiences within the University and enables co-operation with other institutions supporting students and graduates in their professional orientation.

We encourage you to actively engage in shaping your studies and your professional orientation. You are also encouraged to make use of the many additional opportunities offered by the Universität Hamburg that assist students in acquiring further skills and qualifications in the area of general professional skills. For details, please consult the individual subject homepages. You will find an overview of the ABK courses offered at www.uni-hamburg.de/abk.