Application:Minimum requirements

Applicants should have a strong background in computer science or a related field since programming and mathematical knowledge is assumed. Moreover, applicants need to have a very good comand over the English language in order to follow the lectures and exams. Therefore, you have to fulfil the following formal requirements in order to apply to the Master in Intelligent Adaptive Systems. If not, your application will not enter the application process.

• A Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field insofar as 60 ECTS credit points were acquired in the core field of computer science.

• 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

If you are not sure please ask the IAS Team (ias-team ‚At‘ informatik.uni-hamburg.de ) before the application period starts.

Requirement: 60 ECTS credits or comparable from computer science

The requirement for the MSc IAS is a Bachelor’s degree with 60 credit points (ETCS) from core Computer Science courses/modules. This excludes math, engineering, mechatronics, electrical engineering, economics or soft skill subjects unless it is shown that they specifically focused on CS centred content.

What are 60 ECTS and how can I compare it with my degree/transcript?

At Universität Hamburg a BSc in Informatics/Computer Science has a regular length of 3 years and requires 180 ECTS credits. Each regular semester of a full-time student contains 30 ECTS credits which means that you have to evidence that 1/3rd of a 3-year BSc degree was composed of computer science (CS) courses.

What modules will be counted towards the 60 ECTS?

Without additional information, the admission board can only count modules in which computer science content is evident from the module's name (e.g. a module named "Object-oriented programming" will surely be counted). To enable the board to make an informed decision, please provide a short description for all modules with a majority of computer science related content, including projects or practicals. Here are some examples of module names which might be counted: digital signal processing, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, software engineering, programming in ..., human-robot interaction, neural networks, introduction to computer science, data mining, image processing, algorithms, and data structures, data bases...

You can have a look at the courses of the Bachelor of Informatics at the University of Hamburg.Course info in German

How should I display and evidence my 60 ECTS?

Make sure to provide evidence of modules with computer science content. A good idea to display your 60 ECTS or comparable is to create a neat, precise, and short table of your own with the courses, you think, are core computer science courses. Of course, the admission board needs your official transcript of records (required document). to help the admissions board to decide whether a module can be counted towards the requirement. Please note the admission board will not search for info in an entire module handbook. All courses you list and explain have to be found in your transcript of records.

You have not finished the BSc or do not have the official certificate yet:

you can apply if you have finished and can evidence 150 ECTS credits (or comparable) of your first degree. At Universität Hamburg a BSc has a regular length of three years and requires 180 ECTS credits, thus you are required to evidence 5/6th of a degree. This has to be done through an official transcript showing the amount of already acquired credits and the number of minimum credits required for completion. The final transcript has to be then handed in for enrolment if you have been made an offer.

===You do not have a BSc degree in computer science:=== The formal requirement is "60 ECTS credits or comparable from computer science". At Universität Hamburg, each regular semester of a full-time student contains 30 ECTS credits which means that you have to evidence that 1/3rd of a 3-year BSc degree was composed of computer science (CS) courses. Please note that only core computer science modules will be counted which generally excludes math, engineering, mechatronics, electrical engineering or softskill subjects unless it is shown that they specifically focused on CS centred content.

What does this mean for your documents that you should prepare?

If you are not sure whether your degree can fulfil the requirement, please add information on modules that you have completed and that contained CS related content, e.g., in a table. Optimally this is a selected list of courses with a short description of what the covered CS content was. Please make sure those courses can be found in your transcript easily. (The admission board will not sort through your mess) If the module was based on specific literature, please add the name of the book as well. The given information should be short and precise (Name as given in transcript, number of credit hours spent, short description) but contain enough information so that the admission board can make an informed decision. Please do not send full module handbooks of your University since the admission board does not have the time to work through whole handbooks to find the required information.

You do not have "standard" BSc but a comparable degree:

Please submit all documents that together can be counted as comparable to a BSc degree (e.g. associative + 2y-BSc degree in some countries)

Your degree does not fulfil the requirements:

The admission board might add together courses from several degrees or professional training to reach the required amount. This will be decided on a case to case basis but only incorporate courses that are taught on a B.Sc. level and of an extent comparable to a course in higher education. You should, therefore, include evidence of all your degrees and training courses that can fulfil these criteria. Please state precisely that you would like the admission board to accept extra courses and which. A table and a short abstract is a good idea + evidence. (The admission board will not sort your mess.) However the last years have shown that - it is very unlikely to be accepted with a degree that does not fulfil the requirements.

I do not have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, can I still apply?

Yes, but still you need to evidence 60 ECTS in core computer science courses.

The ECTS credit system is not used in my country, how can I calculate the correct amount?

There is no easy or direct way to compare different credit systems. ECTS (= European Credit Transfer System) credits are a measure of estimated workload for a student per module. One ECTS credit corresponds to about 25-30 hours of work and the amount of credits a module gives is set by the lecturer. The BSc programmes in Hamburg consist of 180 ECTS points for three years, so in order to judge the amount of computer science content the admission board will be looking for, you can use 1/3rd of your BSc as a rough estimate (60 credits equal one year of full time study).

I do not have enough credits on the BSc transcript, what else might be counted?

The admission board will be looking for finished university courses obtained in one bachelor or master in CS or a related field. These courses should be in total compared to 60 ECTS credits obtained in the Bachelor of Science in Informatik at the University of Hamburg. Everything else will be a case by case decision by the admission board and might lead to rejection. The advice here: make it as clear as possible what you would like the admission board to accept and where the course came from. In some borderline cases*, online courses, courses from a different bachelor/master or work experience might be counted if it is evident that you have learned concepts and gained experience that is comparable to modules on at least Computer Science at BSc level (and that your had exams). You still need 60 ECTS but it will help your case verifying that you are really interested in the field of IAS. In any case, provide as much evidence about the content and the nature of the courses/experience as you can - in order to help the admission board to come to an informed decision. Please note the admission team does not have endless time to sort your mess.

• borderline cases means = students with exactly 60 ECTS (not less) in a (CS related) study program or a study program in which you were able to take CS courses and their exams.

Can I complete courses after application to make good for missing credit points in computer science?

No, unfortunately not. The requirement of 60 credit points from computer science modules, which have to be comparable to modules from the “BSc Informatik” at the University of Hamburg, will be checked at the beginning of the admission process. If you do not fulfil this requirement, your application will be rejected by the admissions board before entering the selection process. Missing credit points have to be obtained before application through additional courses, e.g. at your current university

Requirement: English language proficiency

I have a language certificate that is not listed on the website, can I send this as proof?

Only sending a language certificate that is listed on the website with a sufficiently high score will lead to an automatic acceptance as proof of language proficiency.

You can also send a language certificate that is not listed, which then will be handed to the admission board that has to decide whether this is comparable to the listed certificates. It is always a good idea to provide information about the certificate and why you have acquired a different language certificate than listed. Please understand that only internationally established certificates can be counted. Certificates from local language schools and universities cannot be easily verified and therefore have to be rejected.

I am a native English speaker. Do I still have to send a certificate?

If you are born and living in a country with English as its native language, you do not have to provide further evidence. This might also apply if you have been living, studying or working in such country for a long time, but this will be decided on a case to case basis by the admission board. If the admission board decides that it is not sufficient proof, it can still be counted in addition with other evidence.

My previous degree was taught fully in English, does that count as sufficient proof?

No. However if your certificate/transcript explicitly states that English was the medium of instruction within your entire degree (=3+ years) or you provide a letter by the University stating that all modules were taught and assessed in English, the admission board may accept this as proof of proficiency. Again this will be decided on a case to case basis depending on country and institution. Over the last years - it was more likely to be rejected than accepted without language proficiency test. If you have studied in a country where English is the native language, the evidence carries more weight since you were fully immersed in an English speaking environment.

I have a TOEFL certificate but can't find the institution code of Universität Hamburg?

If you want to submit the TOEFL scores through ETS, the departmental code is B406. Since there usually is a considerable delay between test and the arrival of the score card, please ALWAYS add a copy of the scorecard or the results page to your documents. If your documents do not arrive in time or never your application will be rejected. Only by adding a copy to your application - you can be sure that the admission board has the information by the time a selection decision has to be made.