To apply for admission to this master's degree programme, you must have completed, or expect to complete, a qualifying bachelor鈥檚 degree or a similar Danish or international degree programme which is assessed to be relevant. Apply for admission via the application portal.
Below, you can read more about admission requirements and which documents to upload in the application portal.
Here you'll find the different academic requirements depending on which qualifying degree you hold.
With a Bachelor's degree in
you are granted legal right of admission and guaranteed a place on the Master鈥檚 programme in Mathematics-Economics if you apply in time to begin within 3 years of the completion of your Bachelor鈥檚 degree.
You meet all academic requirements if you hold one of the degrees listed below. Learn about when and how to apply. Note, however, that you still need to document that you meet the programme's language requirements.
If you have a Bachelor鈥檚 degree other than those listed above, you must submit additional documentation along with your application so we can evaluate whether or not you meet the admission requirements. Learn about when and how to apply.
If you have a Bachelor鈥檚 degree, Professional Bachelor's degree or equivalent from Danish or international universities you are qualified for admission if your programme includes the following:
If you have a Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Actuarial Mathematics or Mathematics from University of Copenhagen you are qualified for admission if your programme includes the following:
We may also admit applicants who, after an individual academic assessment, are deemed to possess educational qualifications equivalent to those required above.
When we assess whether you meet the admission requirements for the Master's degree program, Danish legislation only allows us to assess your Bachelor's degree. Consequently, you cannot study supplementary courses between Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in order to meet the admission requirements.
If you have passed courses/projects before you complete the qualifying Bachelor's degree, these can be included in the assessment, even though they are not part of the Bachelor's degree program.
You can only get an answer to whether or not your degree meets the admission requirement by applying for admission to the MSc Programme. Only the admission committee can evaluate whether you are qualified or not and they only do this once they have received your application.
You are entitled to 1 pre-assessment for 1 study programme, where, based on an assessment of the documentation you have submitted, we will inform you whether you meet the admission requirements.
This is a service offered by SCIENCE, but it is not a service you have to make use of in order for you to apply for admission.
Unless you have a legal right of admission to the programme you are applying for, you are required to document proficiency in English.
Application deadline for Danish applicants and applicants from within the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Open for applications from 16 January. You will receive a reply by 10 June.
Application deadline for applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Open for applications from 15 November. You will receive a reply by 1 May.
Application deadline for Danish applicants and applicants from within the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Open for applications from 15 August. You will receive a reply by 10 December.
Application deadline for applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Open for applications from 1 July. You will receive a reply by 1 December.
Choose the category below that fits you and read more about how to apply for admission. You will also find information about application deadlines and documentation on the websites.
Bachelor with legal right of admission
Bachelor鈥檚 degree from Denmark
Bachelor鈥檚 degree from Denmark
If the number of qualified applicants to the programme exceeds the number of places available, applicants will be prioritised according to the following criteria:
If you have already completed a Master's degree, please check out the rules concerning a second degree.
| Admission statistics Mathematics-Economics 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Admitted | 48 |
| Admission distribution (legal right/other) | 92% / 8% |
| Applicants | 61 |
| Age average | 24 |
| Legal gender distribution (cpr. - m/f) | 65% / 35% |
| Nationality (dk/international) | 94% / 6% |
| Available spots | No |
The first year of the programme consists of two compulsory courses which provides you with basic knowledge of advanced econometrics and macro-economics.
The rest of the programme is very free, and can, to a great extent, be composed according to your own wishes, with an emphasis on finance, econometrics, operations research, or theoretical economics. Regardless of which direction you choose, the mathematical foundation will play a major role.
You can use some of your elective courses to do a Project in Practice in collaboration with a company or an organisation. You can also choose to study abroad as part of your programme. Read more here:
The programme concludes with a thesis, where you work in depth with an academic problem. Often, the thesis takes its point of departure in practice, and in some cases you can carry out the work in collaboration with a company.
Below you can see some examples of possible thesis topics:
The programme can be structured in two ways, depending on whether you start your studies in September or February:
Compulsory courses: 15 ECTS
Restricted elective courses: 45 ECTS
Elective courses: 30 ECTS
Thesis: 30 ECTS
One block each year equals nine weeks of study and 15 ECTS. The table is primarily for guidance and may be subject to revision.
| Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course | ||
| Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course |
| Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elective course | Elective course | Thesis | |
| Elective course | Elective course | ||
Study start in February is only for students with legal right of admission to the programme. Read about legal right of admission here >>
Compulsory courses: 15 ECTS
Restricted elective courses: 45 ECTS
Elective courses: 30 ECTS
Thesis: 30 ECTS
One block each year equals nine weeks of study and 15 ECTS. The table is primarily for guidance and may be subject to revision.
| Block 3 | Block 4 | Block 1 | Block 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course | ||
| Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course | Restricted elective course |
| Block 3 | Block 4 | Block 1 | Block 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elective course | Elective course | Thesis | |
| Elective course | Elective course | ||
Choose your restricted elective courses from the list below. Click on each course for a detailed description.
* The course is not offered in the academic year 2025/26.
Learn more about the programme in the:
The MSc programme in Mathematics-Economics gives you the prerequisites to understand economic models, their mathematical foundations, and their application in the financial and political world as well as in the public sector.
Compared to other economics studies, a good deal of emphasis in this programme is placed on mathematics and statistical theory and less emphasis on, say, sociology and economic history. To a large extent you can compose the programme very freely. However, the first year of the programme consists partly of mandatory courses which will provide you with basic knowledge within the fields of advanced econometrics, macro-economics, micro-economics, and finance.
As a graduate from the Mathematics-Economics programme you will have the competences required to:
The job opportunities are very good for MSc graduates in mathematics-economics. For example, many mathematical economists work in Denmark and abroad in the financial sector with advanced model development for banks and insurance companies.
You may also find work at national banks and public institutions, or as a researcher at universities. The close collaboration and relationship with economics is also reflected in the fact that many economic advisers and experts are mathematical economists.
High quality education in English, a flexible study structure, excellent facilities, an international study environment, attractive and green campus areas, and the opportunity to experience life in Copenhagen, the cool capital of Denmark. These are some of the qualities about studying at Faculty of Science (SCIENCE) at University of Copenhagen that you can expect.
Throughout the year, various social activities are arranged for all SCIENCE students and for international students specifically. These activities include:
Students live in residence halls outside campus or share a flat in the Copenhagen area. You will find that the relatively small size of Copenhagen makes it easy to get around, even by bike.
The Mathematics-Economics programme is primarily based at North Campus.
The University鈥檚 North Campus is centrally located. It is home to scientific, pharmaceutical and health science research, and neighbour to the Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Metropolitan University College, and F忙lledparken.
Many exciting building activities are going on at the campus areas at the moment, including the construction of and the Niels Bohr Building. Furthermore, North Campus is part of a coherent district of science, health and interdisciplinarity 鈥� 鈥� which is being developed these years.
You can read more about campus life at the university here:
Here you will find some useful links and videos about student life and housing in Copenhagen, and the welcome programme for international students at Faculty of Science.
Meet Elizabeth and Alex who study at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. See what it is like to live and study in Denmark.
The SCIENCE Welcome Programme is a great way for international students to be introduced to the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen.
Read interviews with students and graduates from the Master of Science programme (MSc) in Mathematics-Economics:
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great degree programme. It鈥檚 very mathematically intense, so we end up with some really good skills. We have special expertise,鈥� says Lea N酶hr Hjelmager Hansen, who holds a BSc in Mathematics-Economics and decided to do a master鈥檚 degree in the same discipline.
During my last year of upper secondary school, I realised that mathematics was probably the right path for me. But I also considered studying French. I had a gap year, working at a restaurant and in a supermarket for the first six months. Then I went to a language school in Lyon for two months and then to Paris for a few months.
I needed it 鈥� I had to learn to be more open and to stand on my own two feet. But I could feel that it had been a year since I had last worked with mathematics when I started my studies. I took me a couple of months to get back into the study mindset. If you have strong social skills, you might not need a gap year.
It鈥檚 a great programme. It鈥檚 very mathematically intense, so we end up with some really good skills. We have special expertise. There are other degree programmes that combine economics and mathematics 鈥� but the Mathematics-Economics programme is a good combination: We cover some of the social science aspects from the MSc in Economics programme, plus the more intensive mathematical understanding.
All economic policy is based on mathematics. Financial risks are also determined using mathematics. It鈥檚 great to be able to explain what you see and hear! When listening to right-wing politicians, you know immediately that they have used such-and-such a financial model, while it is obvious that the left-wingers have relied on a different one.
Things definitely became much more advanced. The BSc programme focuses on more basic knowledge. The compulsory subjects are more advanced on the MSc programme 鈥� the level of complexity is higher.
But you also get a lot more choice. The MSc programme consists of only four compulsory courses, and eight electives. This has allowed me to do courses at CBS and on the MSc in Economics programme.
Doing electives at CBS was great. They have a strong focus on the practical application of the mathematical theories, whereas the level of abstraction is higher on the Mathematics-Economics programme.
The MSc programme is more time-consuming, but also more interesting. I can now see why I had to learn what I did on the BSc programme. You can suddenly see the relevance and practical applicability of things that seemed totally abstract on the BSc programme. Suddenly, everything makes perfect sense. And the compulsory courses from the BSc programme are combined in such a way that they become really useful.
It鈥檚 good. Most graduates get a job quickly. There are not very many of us, and we have special expertise. Only 20-25 people graduate each year.
Graduates from the Mathematics-Economics programme can go on to work in the public sector or the private sector. I personally would like to work in the financial sector. Preferably in a bank, a pension company or an investment fund.
We usually land jobs working with advanced mathematics and developing and programming models for use in the company.
Many don鈥檛 realise how mathematical the programme is. There鈥檚 a very high level of abstraction. Most of the students who drop out during the BSc programme are surprised by this.
About half drop out before they get to the MSc programme. Because the mathematics IS advanced. In upper secondary school you do numeric calculations, but we don鈥檛 do much of that here. We do calculations involving Greek characters and learn a lot of mathematical theory. We do a lot of probability calculations and statistics and solve lots of integrals and differential equations.
When you have to decide on a bachelor鈥檚 programme, it鈥檚 a good idea to become a student for a day, so you can get a sense of whether a programme is right for you. You will be paired up with a bachelor student and attend a lecture, among other things.
Lectures are open to the public, so if you are curious, you can just turn up.
On my first course in University of Copenhagen I was the only international student who wasn't able to speak Danish. But when the teacher and the rest of the class realized this, they did all the lectures and discussions on English. That's one major reason why I decided to do Mathematics-Economics at the University of Copenhagen.
I had also been to Norway, Sweden and Denmark before. And I had no doubts: in Denmark I felt most comfortable, and I knew that University of Copenhagen provides high-quality research and teaching. Now I can say that the teaching is brilliant and every semester you can choose loads of different courses and functional lectures. And the students and staff cooperate very closely. You can always get in touch with them if you need to, in connection with your course material or to understand more deeply the subject you are interesting in.
I really benefit from the Masters course in Copenhagen. I have to say that my expectations have all pretty much been fulfilled. I am just so happy I chose Copenhagen! Another big advantage of the University of Copenhagen is the library. It is open almost round the clock. There is a student "life" there, students are not only preparing for exams in silence but enjoy each other's company in nice atmosphere. You can download articles and other materials free of charge, and if you need to reserve books they come quickly, so you don't fall behind in class.
When I arrived, I was welcomed by Danish mentors who gave me good advice about studying at Copenhagen and about the city life. It's a lovely green place with so many cyclists and beautiful surroundings! There are even quiet green spots in the very centre of town like University Park where we chill between lectures.
I have never felt lonely in Denmark. On the contrary, sometimes I work at the Student Bar and that's helped me to get to know loads of people. And there are quite a few Lithuanians studying here. We get together and hang out. Meeting the Danes has been a very positive experience. Just after I got here Danish family took me to the horse racing, and guess who was sitting two seats next to me? The Queen of Denmark! That felt really fortunate!
Another special experience of a less royal kind was my first lectures at the university. Danish eating habits!!! Right in the middle of the lecture somebody pulled out some carrots and ate them! It wasn't at all like at home, where we put carrots in other dishes. We don't eat them as separate foods. But all in all, I love to be one of international student here. I am so happy I chose Copenhagen!
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