Application Guide
This is the application guide for the master‘s degree programmes in Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics and Computer Science, Embedded Systems and Visual Computing at Saarland Informatics Campus. For other programmes please check this site.
To start the application process, read the material below carefully!
1. Do you meet the basic prerequisites?
Admissions are very competitive and you should make sure you have achieved, or will achieve, at least the minimum graduate admission requirements (items a-c listed below) to apply. Satisfying these minimal standards, however, does not guarantee your admission!
An individual check of eligibility cannot be offered in advance to the application.
a) Eligibility for the master‘s degree programme
Please select the desired programme:
- Computer Science
- Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Embedded Systems
- Mathematics and Computer Science
- Visual Computing
Students seeking admission to the Master’s programme shall have a Bachelor’s degree from a German university (at least 180 CP) or an equivalent qualification from a foreign university in computer science, informatics or a related field:
Sufficient merit in the applicant’s previous academic track record and the appropriate curricular content of the Bachelor’s degree is required. Applicants should demonstrate a level of knowledge and competence that corresponds to that acquired in the Bachelor’s degree programme in computer science taught at Saarland University. Specifically, this requires applicants to show that they have the necessary level of expertise in the following areas:
I. Mathematics (discrete mathematics, real analysis and multivariable calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, stochastics)
II. Theoretical informatics (formal methods, formal logic, computability, understanding of complexity – particularly the complexity classes P and NP)
III. Practical informatics (functional and object-oriented programming, data structures and algorithms, databases, software development methods, system architecture)
Minimal prerequisite is a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (CGPA) of 75% or 3.00 GPA on a 4 point scale and ranking in the top 10% of the graduating class.
Applicants to the DSAI Master’s Program are expected to have a solid background in computer science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Students seeking admission to the Master’s program shall have a Bachelor’s degree from a German university (at least 180 CP) or an equivalent qualification from a foreign university in computer science, informatics or a related field:
Sufficient merit in the applicant’s previous academic track record and the appropriate curricular content of the Bachelor’s degree is required. Applicants should demonstrate a level of knowledge and competence that corresponds to that acquired in the Bachelor’s degree program in DSAI taught at Saarland University. Specifically, this requires applicants to show that they have the necessary level of expertise in the following areas:
I. Mathematics (discrete mathematics, real analysis and multivariable calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, stochastics, statistics)
II. Theoretical informatics (complexity theory, computability)
III. Practical informatics (functional and object-oriented programming, data structures and algorithms, databases)
IV. Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data Mining
Minimal application prerequisite is a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (CGPA) of 75% or 3.00 GPA on a 4 point scale and ranking in the top 10% of the graduating class.
Students seeking admission to the Master’s programme shall have a Bachelor’s degree from a German university (at least 180 CP) or an equivalent qualification from a foreign university in embedded systems, engineering, computer science, mechatronics or a related field:
Sufficient merit in the applicant’s previous academic track record and the appropriate curricular content of the Bachelor’s degree is required. Applicants should demonstrate a level of knowledge and competence that corresponds to that acquired in the Bachelor’s degree programme in embedded systems taught at Saarland University. Specifically, this requires applicants to show that they have the necessary level of expertise in the following areas:
I. Mathematics (discrete mathematics, real analysis and multivariable calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, stochastics)
II. Computer Science (functional and object-oriented programming, formal methods, software development methods)
III. Engineering (embedded systems, mechatronics, signal processing, information theory)
Minimal prerequisite is a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (CGPA) of 75% or 3.00 GPA on a 4 point scale and ranking in the top 10% of the graduating class.
Students seeking admission to the Master’s programme shall have a Bachelor’s degree from a German university (at least 180 CP) or an equivalent qualification from a foreign university either in a subject area that closely combines mathematics and computer science, or a related field:
Sufficient merit in the applicant’s previous academic track record and the appropriate curricular content of the Bachelor’s degree is required. Applicants should demonstrate a level of knowledge and competence that corresponds to that acquired in the Bachelor’s degree programme in mathematics and computer science taught at Saarland University. Specifically, this requires applicants to show that they have the necessary level of expertise in the following areas:
I. Mathematics (analysis, linear algebra, numerical methods, stochastics)
II. Informatics (functional and object-oriented programming, algorithms and data structures, software development methods, theoretical informatics)
Minimal prerequisite is a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (CGPA) of 75% or 3.00 GPA on a 4 point scale and ranking in the top 10% of the graduating class.
Students seeking admission to the Master’s programme shall have a Bachelor’s degree from a German university (at least 180 CP) or an equivalent qualification from a foreign university in visual computing, computer visualization or a related field (particularly computer science, mathematics, physics, electrical engineering or mechatronics):
Sufficient merit in the applicant’s previous academic track record and the appropriate curricular content of the Bachelor’s degree is required. Applicants should demonstrate a level of knowledge and competence that corresponds to that acquired in a Bachelor’s degree programme in a related subject area taught at Saarland University. Specifically, this requires applicants to show that they have the necessary level of expertise in the following areas:
I. Mathematics (discrete mathematics, real analysis and multivariable calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, stochastics)
II. Computer science, particularly programming, algorithms and data structures
III. A number of core topics in the field of visual computing (imaging techniques, image processing, computer vision, pattern recognition, computer graphics, scientific visualization, geometric modelling)
IV. A number of areas with a connection to visual computing (e.g. machine learning, data science, artificial intelligence, telecommunication, robotics)
Minimal prerequisite is a cumulative undergraduate grade point average (CGPA) of 75% or 3.00 GPA on a 4 point scale and ranking in the top 10% of the graduating class.
b) Necessary language skills
The teaching language of the master’s degree programme is English. All applicants from all countries must provide a proof of advanced proficiency in English (level C1 of the Common European Framework).
The following certificates will be accepted:
_ IELTS (academic test): min. 7.0 out of 9
_ TOEFL (internet based): min. 95 out of 120
_ TOEFL (paper based): min. 600 out of 677
_ Cambridge English Certificate: C1 Advanced (CAE) or C2 Proficiency (CPE)
_ PTE Academic: min. 76
The English certificate is a mandatory part of the application. A confirmation of your university or a MOI (Medium of Instruction) is not a sufficient equivalent.
Only native speakers from Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA, or applicants who have studied in one of the above mentioned six countries are excluded from this rule. In these cases, please enter native speaker from [country] or studied in [country] into the form and upload a high school and/or bachelor’s degree certificate from that country as proof.
For German applicants, a basic English course up to the general qualification for university entrance (Abitur) is sufficient. In that case, please enter Abitur in the form.
Knowledge of proficiency in German is not required.
c) Recommendations by academic members in the subject
Two letters of recommendation written by referees who know the applicant academically (ideally one from the supervisor of your Bachelor thesis, letters should be from faculty members or members of research labs).
The criteria listed above will be used to assess the aptitude of the applicant in terms of the academic profile and requirements of the respective Master’s degree programme. The decision whether the programme admission requirements have been met is made by the Examination Board.
2. Fill in the online application form
Applications for our postgraduate programmes have to be submitted online in the application system of the computer science department! You’ll find the link to the application system at the end of this section.
Incomplete applications cannot be considered. You are responsible for making sure that all required documents, including references, are submitted on time and meet the university’s requirements. Complete applications that are received after the deadline will be considered automatically in the decision making round for the next semester. Do not register more than once in the application system!
Please check all documents you upload carefully, as you will not be able to upload revised versions after submitting your application.
Required Application Documents
During the application process, you need to submit the following documents with your application in order to be considered for admission. Please note that we only accept files in the PDF file format.
Transcripts (Academic Records):
_ a copy of your university entrance diploma
_ copies of your 3 most recent degrees (with certified translation, if the original language is not English, German or French)
_ a certified list of all attended courses with the respective grades, including an explanation of the grading system
Minimal prerequisite is a cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 75% and ranking in the top 10% of the graduating class. Do not apply if you do not satisfy this requirement!
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
including information on your areas of interest in research, as well as any projects or publications
Letters of Recommendation
A complete application must have two letters of recommendation. These will be uploaded by the referees. It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees have the information they need to provide a reference and submit it by the deadline.
It is extremely important to enter valid email addresses of your referee! An email will be sent to your recommenders with information on how to proceed. Please check them before submitting your application.
We do not accept letters sent by mail.
APS certificate
Applicants who have obtained their university degree in China, India or Vietnam are required to submit the original APS Certificate issued by the Academic Evaluation Center (Akademische Prüfstelle) in the corresponding country with the application.
Additional Certificates:
Please list other qualifications that may be relevant to your application here. Other documents could include among other things:
_ GRE test: To better assess your skills, we advise a GRE Test (general and/or computer science). However, proof of participation in this test is not mandatory.
Ready to apply?
Click on the following button to open the online application system and start filling out your application for one of our Master’s degree programmes.
If you have more questions, please take a look at our FAQ.
3. Your application will be evaluated in the admission procedure
After the application deadline, the committee needs a few weeks to evaluate the applications in detail. You can check the status of your application online. Please refrain from asking by mail on the status of your application.
You will be automatically notified by email when a decision has been made.
If you have applied for more than one degree programme you will receive a separate decision for each. If you have been admitted to the program, you will need to present your documents for enrollment in the Office of Student Affairs. These will be compared to the electronic documents from your application.
4. Contact
Due to a large number of applicants, please make sure that you have read the given information in this application guide and in our FAQ carefully before contacting us.
Please use only the following email address for additional information concerning your application: master@cs.uni-saarland.de