Social Protection (MSc)

MSc Social Protection Insights: September 2023

Saturday 28 October 2023

September 2023: Social Protection Insights

We are thrilled to publish the second edition of our monthly newsletter, "MSc Social Protection Insights," dedicated to providing valuable and engaging content to our esteemed community of social protection professionals, students, lecturers, and enthusiasts. This newsletter aims to provide insights into the life at H-BRS, and is a platform for sharing news around the Master's programme.

📢 Welcome Week Kick-Starts MSc Social Protection Journey

September 5 marks the start of the Welcome Week for our 2023 intake. Each year, we are sending about 25 students with diverse work experience and cultural backgrounds on their social protection journey at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. A very warm welcome to Batch 2023!

The Welcome Week and two weeks of in-person preparatory courses are meant to make our students feel right at home in our vibrant community of learners, and prepare them for the start of their studies on September 25. Throughout this special week, we have arranged a series of engaging orientation activities, interactive workshops, and informative sessions led by our faculty and experienced senior students.

Welcome Week: Our primary focus is to introduce our students to the programme's structure, academic expectations, and the support services available on campus. Equally important, the Welcome Week presents the perfect occasion for students to network and build connections with their peers. We firmly believe that fostering a sense of camaraderie and collaboration among our students will create a supportive and conducive environment for learning and advancing social protection together.

Preparatory Courses: During the two-week instructor-led courses in Economics and Statistics, our students with different academic and professional backgrounds are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to follow the courses of the regular curriculum.

📢 MSc Social Protection Alumni Have Come Together in Tanzania to Discuss Smart Solutions for the Social Insurance Sector

25 alumni and 4 staff members met in Dar es Salaam for a seminar on “Advancing Social protection in Sub-Saharan Africa – Smart Solutions for the Insurance Sector Developed by H-BRS Alumni” from August 23 - 27.

Alumni and international experts discussed the overarching topics of informality and digitalization for social insurance in various panel discussions, group sessions, keynotes and an excursion to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF, see picture above).

The seminar was fully financed by the DAAD German Academic Exchange Service with funds from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and organized with the help of our Tanzanian partner university, the The Institute of Finance Management (IFM).

Get to Know Our Students, Lecturers & Alumni

Students of the Month

Name: Marco Ettelt

Batch: 2022/23

Country of Origin: Germany

Social Protection Experience: Project and public relations work for Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB) (Institute for Vocational Education and Training), Internship at the sector initiative social protection at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

„The master's program in Social Protection is a daily learning experience. It brings together people from all over the world who share a common interest in social protection, but may have very different perspectives on the topic. By interacting and collaborating with people from such diverse backgrounds, I've been able to broaden my own thinking and gain valuable insights.”

Marco Ettelt - 2022/23 Batch

Alumni Spotlight

Name: Paul Simfukwe

Batch: 2019

Country of Origin: Malawi

Social Protection Experience: Principal Welfare Officer Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare overseeing the implementation of the Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) in Malawi

Master's Thesis Topic: Towards Integrated Social Protection Systems: Institutional Challenges in Building Comprehensive Social Protection Systems: An analysis of the Malawi National Social Support Programme I & II

„The master's program in Social Protection has been immensely beneficial to me. It has put me on the map, as I am the only one with this specific qualification in social protection in my department. Thanks to it, I have been able to become more involved in policy and process issues rather than just the implementation of social transfers.”

Paul Simfukwe - 2019 Batch, Alum

Meet Our Lecturers

Name: Prof. Dr. Simona Helmsmüller

Position: Head of Master's Programme "MSc Social Protection", Professor for Economics of Social Protection

Teaching since: 2019

Course(s) in 2023/24: Econometrics, Evaluation, Actuarial Practice, Public Finance

Country of Origin: Germany

Expertise: Development economics, Health economics, Applied econometrics, Impact evaluations, and Microfinance

Simona Helmsmüller is not only leading the Master's programme but also teaching courses at Bachelor's and Master's level and leading a research project evaluating the impact of social health protection in Pakistan.

Thanks to her practical and compassionate way of teaching, Simona motivates students for quantiative subjects and helps them understand their value for future social protection work.