Degree Programme IT Engineering MSc at FH Wedel

Profile of study programme

Key Data:

Degree:: Master of Science (MSc)

Standard Period of Study:: 3 semesters

First-year Students:: 25 yearly

Admission:: free admission (if necessary with selection process)

Types of Study:: full-time, part-time

Language of Instruction:: English

Programme Profile:: application-oriented

Application Deadline:: August 31 for start in winter semester
February 28 for start in summer semester

Beginning of Studies:: October 1st in winter semester
April 1st in summer semester

Semester Abroad:: not scheduled

Tuition Fee:: 2,460 EUR in full-time (Non-EU citizens)

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Course Sections:

IT Engineering at FH Wedel

The demand for computer scientists and engineers is much higher than the number of suitably qualified graduates, and this disproportion will certainly grow in a world which is highly determined by technological progress. Graduates with skills in both fields are in even higher demand.

FH Wedel offers a consecutive programme in IT Engineering. The bachelor's programme is conducted in German and is open to all high school graduates with a dedicated mathematical and technological interest who wish to keep their future field of professional employment as open as possible. The master's programme is conducted in English and provides students with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and build upon their skills. Applicants coming from abroad need good programming skills and good understanding of mathematics and technological basics. They will have the chance to obtain a German master's degree which will enable them to apply for a wide range of jobs in an economically strong and politically stable country.

Master's programme

If you want to enhance the knowledge obtained during your bachelor's programme via a scientific and technological challenge, you may want to undertake our 3-semester-programme in IT Engineering in order to obtain your master's degree. If you prefer studying part-time, it may take up to 7 semesters.

Our master's programme enables you to carry out scientific work and provides you with profound theoretical and analytical skills. You will acquire techniques that enable you to solve complex problems. You will become acquainted with challenging fields such as medical engineering and robotics and you will be trained for leading positions in companies. If you decide to stay in science, you may pursue a PhD thesis as a follow-up step. Our professors will support you in this endeavour.

The programme's contents

In our master's programme IT Engineering, you will acquire advanced skills in computer science and engineering. During the winter semester you will receive further tuition in the fields of dynamical systems, distributed systems, embedded systems, and medical engineering. During the summer semester you will have the choice between more computer science-oriented subjects, such as algorithmics and IT security, and engineering subjects, such as technical optics and modern production methods. Other possible choices are robotics, which combines computer science and engineering, and business intelligence, which will let you gain leadership competence. You are free to choose which subjects you want to focus on - computer science, engineering, or both.

At the end of your studies you will possess an advanced skill set which can be applied to all application domains. You will also have obtained specialised knowledge in some selected areas of application.

Job market and prospects

Germany is one of the world's most export-oriented countries, especially in fields that require IT Engineering. Hosting Europe's second busiest seaport as well as several global players such as Airbus, Hapag-Lloyd, Philips, and Lufthansa, the Hamburg Metropolitan Area offers excellent work opportunities in an international setting, even at entry-level. This particularly applies to jobs that your master's degree in IT Engineering qualifies you for.

Engineers with dedicated IT skills are highly sought after in the automotive sector, the aerospace industry, medical engineering, automation, and a great variety of other sectors in technological production. Graduates will be able to choose whether they want to be involved in the production of large technological objects such as sea vessels, or small devices such as mobile phones. They can also freely choose the size of their employer - from global corporations to garage shops.

Admission criteria

Our master's programme IT Engineering requires a certain proficiency in English. A B2 level (CEFR, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment) is obligatory.

The immediate admission criterion for our master's programme IT Engineering is a bachelor's degree in a related field with a GPA of 2.5 or better. Applicants should have obtained 210 ECTS credits, which is equivalent to seven semesters of full-time studies.

The majority of our applicants graduated in a programme which, according to German authorities, corresponds to only 180 ECTS credits, or six semesters of studies, even if the programme was designed for seven semesters in their home country. To participate in our master's programme, they need to study some of our bachelor's programme's modules. We have therefore designed a four-semester-curriculum (cf. below) integrating six modules from our bachelor's programme. These modules are of course also held in English.

To prove your bachelor's degree's relevance to IT Engineering, your studies need to have included at least 80 credits’ worth of mathematics, information technology, science, and/or engineering. If your bachelor's programme did not contain modules of this kind and value, you cannot be admitted to our IT Engineering master's programme.

For bachelor's degrees with 180 ECTS credits the only other requirement is that your studies have included at least 10 credits in mathematics, and 5 credits in software development lab courses. Any further necessary adaptation to our master's programme will be accomplished by the additional bachelor modules of our four-semester-curriculum.

Bachelor's degrees with 210 ECTS credits need to meet the following requirements in mathematics and software development, which can partially be made up by bachelor modules taken at our university:

Your studies need to have included mathematics worth at least 20 ECTS credits, encompassing at least 5 credits in engineering mathematics and at least 5 credits in discrete mathematics. You cannot make up for engineering mathematics via our bachelor modules, unless you are sufficiently proficient in German to partake in our German modules. You can make up for discrete mathematics by taking our English bachelor modules. Five additional credits can be made up by taking our Signals & Systems module.
You also need to have passed basic software development modules worth at least 10 ECTS credits. These modules have to be made up of laboratory courses, not lectures. If your programming modules have been valued at less than 5 credits, there is no way for you to be admitted to the IT Engineering programme. By partaking in our Programming 2 module, you may make up for 5 credits.
You have to provide advanced knowledge in at least one of the object-oriented programming languages Java or C++. This knowledge will be examined in an entry assignment at the beginning of your first semester. You may partake in our module Advanced Object-Oriented Programming to gain this knowledge.

If you, according to these rules, need additional modules, you will most likely need at least 4 semesters, as our three-semester-curriculum is very tight and requires the above-mentioned prerequisites.

If your GPA is worse than 2.5 (higher), you may still be admitted. Your GPA needs to be 2.9 or better, and you will have to provide adequate additional qualifications. With a GPA of 3.0 or worse you have no chance of being admitted into the master's programmes. Note that the GPA in Germany ranges between 1.0 (the best possible grade) and 4.0 (the worst grade that is still sufficient to obtain a bachelor's degree). If your grade needs to be converted into the German grading system by uni-assist, your own grad will then be converted according to this scale.

Overview

Below you will find a survey of our three-semester-curriculum (regular master's programme curriculum) as well as a survey of our four-semester-curriculum (applicable for most international incomings). In addition you will find a detailed syllabus (Modulhandbuch).
The modules of the elective block (5 out of 7) are independently combinable. However, we do suggest that you choose one of the following combination profiles:

Computer Science: Algorithmics, Cryptography Workshop, Security Engineering, plus two additional modules
Engineering: Technical Optics, Modern Production Methods, Robotics, plus two additional modules

Module Manual

Your Application

You can apply for studies at FH Wedel at any time. For an overview on the tuition fees please click here. Your application documents need to be arrived by August 31 for a start in the winter semester and by February 28 for a start in the summer semester. Nevertheless, it is recommended to start the application process six months in beforehand, especially if a visa is required. EU citizens do not need a visa. Nevertheless, a residence permit is required. Students need to apply for the permit within three months after the arrival.

Students who have completed their degree outside of Germany need to register first with our national service provider uni-assist, the international employment and service office. The service provider evaluates your documents and then replies directly to you with the so-called Vorprüfungsdokumentation (VPD). You need to enclose this in your further application.

Please send uni-assist all documents relevant to your Bachelor's degree as well as all language certificates. For the master's programme IT Engineering English language skills at level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) are required. German language skills are not required. If you are not sure which documents to submit, please contact uni-assist. Please ensure that you pay the processing fee to uni-assist. Otherwise they will not process your documents. The preliminary examination documentation can only be accepted if it is issued for a degree programme at FH Wedel. You must therefore explicitly apply to uni-assist for the degree programme of your choice at FH Wedel. The preliminary examination documentation includes a file number with which we can assign your application as well as your GPA (Grade Point Average) according to the German education system. Only if your GPA is lower than 3.0 we will procede your application process.

Once your registration at uni-assist has been completed, you additionally need to apply directly at FH Wedel. Please fill out our registration form and accept our terms and conditions. In order to process your registration, we charge a registration fee. We will only check your documents when the registration fee has been credited to our account. Please transfer the fee of 150 euros to the account mentioned in the registration form. Your application needs to be send to us by postal mail and needs to enclose the following documents:

The registration form and the fully signed contract conditions
The VPD for your course of studies at FH Wedel
Proof of payment of the registration fee

As soon as your application has been approved, you will receive a response by e-mail. If we offer you a place at our university, you will receive a written confirmation. You will need this confirmation for your visa application. Next we ask you to accept the offered place by paying a deposit on your semester fee of 500 EUR. Please transfer the deposit to the account mentioned in the contract conditions. After we have received the payment, you will receive a confirmation from us. The study contract will then be considered closed when the revocation period has expired. This means that you are legally obliged to pay the rest of the tuition fees for the first semester. Within the cancellation period, you can cancel the contract without legal consequences using our cancellation form. If your visa is being denied, we will refund the deposit of 500 euros. Then you need to provide a proof that your visa has been refused. If your visa is late, there is no reason for a refund.

In order to complete your registration, you need to pay the remaining tuition fees and follow some administrative steps after your arrival in Wedel. Only then can you participate in the courses at FH Wedel. The first day of lectures is usually in the mid of October or April. We welcome you to Wedel already one week before the lecture begins. It is indispensable that you have settled in Wedel by that time.

If you have to postpone the start of your studies by one semester, please inform us by e-mail. In this case you will have to pay a further processing fee and will receive a new confirmation of your place for the later starting date. Please note that a postponement is only possible once.

Further information

You are looking forward to starting a master's programme in computer science and engineering with international fellows in the Hamburg Metropolitan Area? Then explore also our website Arriving in Wedel and discover more about the profile of FH Wedel. We have also collected a lot of relevant information for you in this IT Engineering International Students' Guide.