Informatics

You have to apply for the Master's degree via TUMonline. After you have created your account in TUMonline, enter personal data and information about your education, and upload the required documents. The application is done completely electronically.

Prospective students with a Bachelor's degree from outside the European Union have to request a preliminary examination documentation from uni-assist (VPD) in advance.

Only in case of admission, you will have to submit some additional documents as certified copies for the enrollment.

Application for a Master's program - step by step

The following documents have to be submitted for the application (the required documents may vary depending on the applicant):

• A statement of reasons explaining why you have chosen this master’s program and TUM specifically (max. 2 pages)
• Your CV/résumé
• A scientific essay of approx. 1,000 words on a specified topic (see below)
• Form "Analysis of the Curriculum" (see below)
• Bachelor's degree certificate, including a list of courses and grades OR an official transcript of records. Documents not issued in German or English must be translated and notarized by a sworn translator.
• Curriculum (module descriptions, course catalog or syllabus) of the underlying university degree
• Proof of your English language proficiency
• GRE or Gate score for applicants with a B.Sc. degree from Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Pakistan (original scorecard or have the score transmitted directly via ETS)
• Preliminary documentation from uni-assist for all applicants with a Bachelor's degree from outside the EU/EEA
• APS certificate for applicants with a Bachelor's from China, Vietnam or India
• Certificates from professional training or additional qualifications related to the program (e.g. participation in research competitions, internships, etc.) (not mandatory)
• A passport photo
• A copy of your passport

International applicants:

Attention: If you did not obtain your Bachelor's degree in a country within the EU/EEA, you have to upload a preliminary documentation from uni-assist (VPD). In order to get the VPD, you must send the required documents (some as notarized copies!) to uni-assist via post! Uni-assist still needs the documents in paper. As the issuance of the VPD can take up to 4 weeks, we highly recommend sending the necessary documents to uni-assist very early. More information on Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist.

Please do check the requirements for Notarization, especially for translations!
Special requirements for documents apply for certain countries.

The admission office checks if your uploaded documents are complete and correct. When this is the case, the department can access your application and forward it to the admission committee. The admission committee will decide whether your application is admitted, rejected or processed to the second stage of the aptitude assessment.

Preliminary documentation from uni-assist (VPD)

Applicants who did not obtain their qualification for postgraduate studies (usually a bachelor's degree) in a country within the EU/EEA must apply for a preliminary documentation (VPD) from uni-assist, additionally to the TUM application.

What documents must be submitted to uni-assist?

• Filled-in application form for VPD (see Downloads)
• a copy of your degree certificate (if available)
• a copy of your transcript of records
• a translation, given that the original documents have not been issued in either German or English
• if necessary: Certificate of the German Evaluation Center (APS)

You don't have to submit an entire application for a specific program to uni-assist, you only have to apply for the general preliminary documentation (VPD).

An application for a VPD via uni-assist alone does not qualify as an application for a degree program at TUM.

GRE and GATE

Applicants with a Degree from Bangladesh, China, India, Iran or Pakistan have to submit a GRE (General) Test. We have defined required minimum scores, lower scores will not be accepted!

The required scores are:
Verbal reasoning: (will not be taken into account anymore)
Quantitative reasoning: 164
Analytical writing: 4.0
The Institution Code: 7806, Department: 5199 ("all other departments").

Alternatively, students can submit a scorecard of the Indian GATE test (Computer Science; for M.Sc. CSE the Mechanical Engineering Test will also be accepted). The minimal qualifying score of the respective year is necessary.

Certificate from the German Evaluation Center (Akademischen Prüfstelle, APS)

Applicants with an undergraduate degree from China, India and Vietnam have to submit a certificate from the German Evaluation Center (APS).

Before filling the form for the analysis of curriculum, you have to do and safe(!) your application in TUMonline in order to get your applicant number.

Please fill in the form for the analysis of curriculum under the following link. Then, upload the generated PDF in your application in TUMonline.

CAUTION: only completed modules/courses can be entered in the form! Modules/Courses which have not been completed yet are not allowed to be indicated!

Link to the form: https://apply.db.in.tum.de/

The scientific essay / paper, submitted along with the online application, should be approximately 1,000 words in length and must be written in English.
Your scientific paper / essay has to introduce the topic, discuss it, and lead to a logical conclusion. Please use relevant data and scientific literature to support your argumentation. Ideas that are not your own must be identified as such! The term "essay" can be misleading - we require a scientific paper with proper citation! Your sources of information must be listed at the end. The essay must be your own work and you have to write it without any assistance. We reserve the right to check the essay for authorship of the applicant and the use of unauthorized tools.

You have to choose one of the following topics:

Topic 1:
The role of Artificial Intelligence in future technology

Topic 2:
The influence of social networks on human society

Topic 3:
The characteristics of Big Data platforms and their importance for data exploration

Topic 4: 
Can computers think?

Topic 5: 
The importance of digitalization

The statement of reasons, submitted along with the online application, should not be longer than two DIN-A4 pages and must be written in English.
In your statement of reasons, you should explain your specific qualification and exceptional commitment for this particular Master's program. This may include demonstration of qualifications which exceed the knowledge and qualifications obtained at undergraduate degree level, e.g. program-related vocational training, internships, stays abroad, research papers etc. You should make clear the connection between your specific qualifications and the contents of the program.
The statement of reasons must be your own work and you have to write it without any assistance. We reserve the right to check the essay for authorship of the applicant and the use of unauthorized tools.

The written test takes 90 minutes and includes approx. 20-30 questions (in English). The content of the test is based on the contents of the B.Sc. Informatics and includes the following topics:

a) General Foundations (max. 12 points):
Ability of abstract, logical and system-oriented thinking and of formalizing approaches to solutions.

b) Mathematical Foundations (max. 13 points):
Knowledge from undergraduate studies in the areas of Stochastics, Combinatorics, Calculus, Linear Algebra.

c) Foundations in Theory of Computation (max. 13 points):
Knowledge from undergraduate studies in the areas of Automata Theory, Complexity Theory, Algorithms and Data Structures, Verification.

d) Practical Foundations of Informatics (max. 13 points):
Knowledge from undergraduate studies in the areas of Databases, Computer Architecture, Programming in Java.

If you are invited to the test, we will send you well in advance an email with detailed information about procedure, schedule and arrival.

In the electives area, 53 credits must be earned. You will select one specialization area with at least 18 credits and two supplementary areas with at least 8 credits each from the specializations offered. You may take an additional 9 credits in any subject areas. Excess credits in the three chosen subject areas automatically count towards the "free elective".

For the remaining 10 credits, choose one of the following profiles:

• Research: the guided research module will be taken.
• Practice: a second Master's practical course is completed. 
• Practice in depth: An Advanced Master's practical course will be completed.
• Fundamentals: The total remaining credits are earned through elective modules from any subject area

In the Guided Research module, you will learn basic skills to conduct independent research. This is done by working on a research question under supervision.

• Registration: Submit the form to the Board of Examiners within the first week of lecture of the semester in which you will conduct the research.
• In order to complete your Guided Research, you will need to:
  • Successfully complete your research work 
  • Participate in regular meetings with your advisor
  • Present your results to the chair or at a scientific event
  • Submit a brief scientific profitability report (8-12 pages) in English to your advisor (due no later than the first week of lecture of the following semester)
• Submission: At the latest at the beginning of the following semester: The results report must be submitted to the advisor at the latest in the first week of lectures of the following semester. You will receive your evaluation by the fifth week of lecture of the semester after you submit your report.

To fill out the Online application form for a guided research project, you have to log in with your TUM ID.
Complete the Guided Research Registration Form with your advisor. Please submit the application and the project description as hard copy or a signed copy.

How to submit your registration:

1. Online Registration via the form above. Deadline for winter semester 2023/24: October 22, 2023.
   Registration window opens two months prior to the first lecture week of the upcoming semester.
2. Print (1) the project description and (2) your printed registration form (= email you recieve after submitting this form).
3. Submit the two printed documents (see step 2.) to your supervising professor.  
4. The supervising professor signs the registration form.
5. Then the professor or their chair respectively will forward the printed and signed registration form to CIT ASA Office for TUMonline entry. The professor has about 2 weeks to submit the hard copies to CIT ASA Office until November 3, 2023.
6. CIT ASA Office will enter the data of your registration into your TUMonline account. You won't get a confirmation email.
7. Please check your TUMonline account regularly from November or May on respectively. Registration data will be entered in TUMonline after the deadline November 3, 2023 until the end of November

The Interdisciplinary Project (IDP) involves a practical activity in the field of an application subject and builds a bridge from computer science to the application subject. It can build on previous knowledge in an application subject from the undergraduate degree.

For detailed information on examinations, please check the website Exams Informatics.

The General Examination and Study Regulations (APSO) of TUM and the respective Subject specific Examination and Study Regulations (FPSO) apply to all students.