Those of us who work in higher education count time in academic years rather than calendar years. The start of each academic year is therefore always special for us, as it gives us the opportunity to welcome new student intakes to our universities, for whom the first few days and weeks are always overwhelming.

This was also the case for our 2024/25 student intake of the Joint International Master in Sustainable Development last Friday. We officially welcomed a very international and enthusiastic group of young postgraduates who not only share the same interest in our Masters but also similar views on climate change, sustainability, circular economy and environmental change.

Their aim is not only to gain valuable insights into the latest scientific approaches in the field of sustainable development, but also to further specialise in their chosen focus areas of climate change, corporate sustainability management, innovation and transformation management, environmental and resource economics, environmental change and ecosystems or global development policy, which the Master's programme enables them to look at from different academic (inter)national perspectives thanks to the bundled expertise of our partner universities in the programme.

Once again, a warm welcome to the Joint International Master in Sustainable Development and welcome to the University of Graz.

Anja Hoffmann