Application:Required documents

This page is structured in two main parts:

• Main application documents
• Additional documents

Main application documents

Please check carefully, if you have sent all required documents in due time. The deadline is the 31st of March. Faxes and e-mails are not accepted. The IAS admission board does not inform you of missing documents or late applications. Your application is considered incomplete if one or more of the required documents are not received before the deadline (via postal mail) and/or if your online application form is not submitted online. As a result, your application will not take part in the selection process. You can not submit missing documents after the expiration of the application deadline, there will be no reconsideration.

The documents do not have to be sent as certified/attested copies when applying. You should not send original certificates since the IAS admission board will not send anything back. However, please note that in case your application is successful you will need to send attested/certified copies to the University via postal mail within 2 weeks, so be prepared.

 1. The cover-letter-form as the first page of your application (to be downloaded here shortly before the application period starts)
 2. The printed and signed online application form (STiNE)
 3. A Curriculum Vitae (table version) containing all of your relevant experience (academic, work, international, private …)
 4. A letter of motivation written by yourself in English language (max. 1.5 pages) in which you explain your choice of course and place of study in regard to your academic and professional aims and experience so far.
 5. Proof of English language proficiency
 6. An official transcript of records (and diploma supplement) issued by your university and/or other evidence attested by your university as specified in the formal requirements
 7. A self-made structured table of all core computer science courses you have completed/will complete as specified in the formal requirements
 8. The BSc certificate (if you have completed your studies)
 9. Your overall grade and your university's grading scale stated in an official document(s) attested by your university. Your overall grade can be preliminary. The grading scale has to contain the minimum and the maximum passing grade in numbers 
 10. Additional documents

See below for detailed requirements on some of the listed documents.

1. Cover-letter-form

Please print the cover-letter-form and fill in your details. This page is the first page of your application.

The printed and signed online application form (STiNE)

Once the application period has opened the online application form can be accessed through the STiNE portal. See the official IAS website for the link to the portal. Some parts of the online application form are in German and therefor rather tricky. Please see online application form (STiNE) for detailed information on how to fill out the online application form correctly. After filling out the online application form, print out the summary at the end (Ger: Druckansicht). This print-out has to be signed.

2. Curriculum Vitae, including all necessary certificates

The CV (table version) should include information on your academic and professional career and if you have international experience. It should specifically list information on your background relevant for IAS such as projects on AI or Robotics. Please, evidence such projects through acquired certificates. Project descriptions and outlines on their CS content are especially important if the achieved credits should be counted for the 60 ECTS in computer science. Please, add your average/overall grade (can be preliminary) and your grading scale to your cv next to the information of your degree and provide official evidence for that information.

3. Letter of Motivation

This is the most important document since it accounts for 40% of your ranking score. It has to be written by yourself in the English language. There is a maximum of 1.5 pages that you should not exceed. In this letter, you should explain your motivation to study especially this program. The text should answer the following questions:

• Why are you interested in the field "Intelligent Adaptive Systems" or what parts are most interesting and why?
• Why is this program especially suited to complement the knowledge you already have?
• Why did you choose to study this program at Universität Hamburg?
• How does this program fit into your academic and professional future goals

The admission board will give high ratings to those letters that show that the student has made a deliberate choice to study IAS and can justify their decision well while also explaining how studying IAS will bring the student closer to the desired goal. The board is looking for students that show high motivation and have a good chance of finishing the program with a high impact on the student's life. The ability to present a well-argued and connected chain of argument is a major ability the board is looking for.

Things that affect the rating adversely are, amongst many, generic letters that are written for multiple applications, letters that are written in bad English or do not follow a good structure.

The admission board does not want to read about the history of informatics, the admission board wants to read something relevant and precise about you.

4. Proof(s) of English language proficiency

Please see formal requirements for details on the required language certificates and further information.

• Proof of English language proficiency by (or comparable to)

 CEFR/TELC: Level B2
 IELTS: 6.5
 TOEFL: IBT 90, PBT 575, CBT 230
 Cambridge: CAE or CPE

The following evidence may also be accepted:

• Native English speaker (evidenced by a copy of your ID or passport of a country with English as one of its official languages)
• Living/studying in an English-speaking country for a long period (3 years or longer) (evidenced by confirmation e.g. letter of your company, university)

Recent application periods have shown that most applicants have been directly rejected without English proficiency test due to a very high number of applicants and/or an unclear evidenced English proficiency. Therefore it is recommended to send in one of the internationally established language certificates as listed above.

5. Transcript of Records

Please see formal requirements for detailed information on the requirements for your transcript of records.

6. Self-made structured table of all core computer science courses

Please see formal requirements for detailed information on the requirements for the self-provided structure table of all core computer science courses you have completed/will complete. Please also refer to the listed information under formal requirements regarding questions about the ECTS credit system, the calculation of the required 60 ECTS, modules/courses counted as CS by IAS admission board.

7. BSc certificates/diploma supplement

If you have finished your degree send a copy of your degree certificate. You can also apply if you have finished 5/6 semesters and can evidence 150 ECTS credits (or comparable) of your first degree and at least 60 ECTS in computer science. This must be detectable in your official transcript of records showing the amount of already acquired credits and the number of minimum credits required for completion. The final transcript and graduation certificate have to be handed in for enrolment if you are admitted.

8. Overall grade

In regards to your overall average grade (preliminary) and/or final grade, please provide a document with a (preliminary) final grade calculated by your university, even if only 5/6 semesters of the studies have been completed. It can be in GPA or the system used in your university, but it should be submitted in numbers. Make sure you send an official document attested by your university as the IAS admission board does not accept self-calculated final grades nor does the IAS admission board calculate final grades for you. If this information is listed in your transcript of records, then you don't need to provide this extra document.

9. Grading scale

IAS admission board needs detailed information on your university's grading system (alternative names: grading scale/scheme of evaluation/grade classification/range of marks ...) as it is important in our selection process. As the IAS admission board will evaluate and rank all applications, we need the grading scale of ypur university to make your average or final grade comparable to others. In a lot of cases, official transcripts of records display the university's grading system. Usually, this is a table with all the degree's grades and corresponding information like minimum passing grade and maximum, outstanding or excellent grade, etc. However, if this is not the case for your transcript of records, then please provide this information attested by your university.

10. Additional Documents

Generally, all possible documents that support your application (especially as evidence for the arguments used in your motivation letter) can be included and will be taken into account in the selection process. Please include only documents that are relevant for this application. The selection of documents already shows your ability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant content and a large amount of uncritically added certificates or documents may have a negative effect on your ranking.

Desired documents

• Documents that add to the evidence needed for the requirements, e.g. additional proofs of language proficiency or higher education courses with computer science content
• Evidence for international or professional experience relevant to IAS studies. International experience, e.g. a study exchange, shows your ability to adapt to different learning and living environments and should be listed and described as part of our CV. The same holds for professional experience that may show your ability to work in a computer science context. Training courses or extensive experience that shows deep understanding of computer science concepts may be taken into account for the required CS credits.
• Abstracts or short descriptions of projects, both from your degree(s) or professional career (if relevant to IAS). These are rarely mentioned in transcripts and the admission board will only count credits from projects if it is clear that they were chosen from the CS field.
• A print-out of your university's Anabin page.
• Uni-Assist

Suitable additions

• GRE test or other academic tests showing your ability to study in higher education. Such tests are not required but may be taken into account if provided and if they add to the general story of the application.
• Certificates of contests and competitions can be added if relevant. Please carefully decide whether the certificate can add any additional value to your application.

Undesired documents

• Full module handbooks. To show that you fulfill the requirement of the sufficient 60 CS credits, you have to send the self-made structure table. Please don't send full module handbooks as the IAS admission team will not have the time to search for core CS courses in those handbooks for you.
• Certificates that don't add additional information or are not relevant at all. More is not always better since it may show that you are not able to decide what is relevant for the subject and what is not. Select the certificates that best show your abilities.

Please send all documents to:

 Dr. Annika Peters
 Universität Hamburg
 Department of Informatics / WTM / F-214
 Vogt-Kölln-Straße 30
 D-22527 Hamburg
 Germany

One final note from the admission board: There are more than 450 applicants and only 20 spaces on the program. We like a neat, well-structured, precise, and complete application. The application team does not inform you about missing required documents or late applications. There will be no acknowledgment whether the application was received in time or not. Please ask your mail provider. The admission board and team consist of professors, lecturers, advisors, Post-docs who will also teach you once you are accepted.