General Information

Examination Regulations, Module Handbook and Course Catalog

Three important documents inform you about study requirements, modules and courses. Please make yourself familiar with these documents. The course catalog might at first sight be most interesting to read, yet the Examination Regulations and the Module Handbook specify important examination matters that you need to be aware of for succeeding in your studies.

• The SSE Examination Regulations (Prüfungsordnung) define all formal and legal aspects of the study program and establish the student's rights and duties. They include information on the content and structure of the SSE program, the types of assessments, the number of re-sit exams that are allowed, and specific graduation requirements. SSE students are responsible for complying with these regulations and expected to have carefully read them.

• Whereas the Examination Regulations provide general information on the required modules to complete the SSE degree program, the SSE Module Handbook gives detailed information on each module.

• The courses that are offered and the corresponding modules are published every semester in the SSE Course Catalog. In addition, the Course Catalog provides information on course registration procedures and important dates and deadlines during the semester.

ECTS credits

The “European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System” (ECTS) helps to organize study programs and award and compare higher education qualifications. 

The SSE bachelor's program is a three year or six semester degree program and consists of coursework equivalent to 180 ECTS credits. The SSE master's program is a two year or four semester degree program and consists of coursework equivalent to 120 ECTS credits.

If you would like to keep up with the regular study length, you should take courses equivalent to 30 ECTS credits per semester. One ECTS credit within the SSE program is equivalent to an average workload of 30 hours. Most SSE courses carry a 6 ECTS workload. This means that you will spend 180 hours on activities related to the course, of which a minimum of 40 hours will involve active class participation. Please note that “ECTS” and “credits” are often used interchangeably.

However, it is totally up to you, how many credits you want to earn each semester. There is no minimum or maximum per semester.

Course registration

Booking periods and deadlines for course and exam registration at the Faculty of Engineering are published here.

Please always deregister from courses once you know you are no longer interested – particularly if they have limited capacity or are laboratories.

Other faculties than the Faculty of Engineering may have other deadlines and rules; some faculties have not shifted their administration to HISinOne yet, so that "manual" registration (via e-mail or via a form) might be necessary. Please always check out their websites, too, if you consider taking a course from another faculty (e.g. in the interdisciplinary profile).

Exam registration

Find all the important information about exam registration on the Faculty of Engineering website.

Difference between Studienleistung / Prüfungsleistung

 Studienleistungen (SL)

• can have any format (written supervised exam, oral exam, presentation, exercise sheets, poster, term paper, experiments, class attendance…)
• May be graded but do not need to be. If graded, the grade will not be part of your final overall grade! (But will sometimes be shown on your transcript!)

Prüfungsleistungen (PL)

• can have any format as the SL, except class attendance.
• common PL formats are written supervised exams, oral exams, oral presentations, term papers/reports or posters
• are always graded and will be part of your final overall grade

Exam registration Interdisciplinary Profile

An exam registration is legally binding.The students have to register for exams via the platform HISinOne. Exam registrations in case of courses taken at other faculties are often not possible via HISinOne for technical reasons. Therefore we have created a form specifically for the M.Sc. SSE that you may (and must) use for the registration of exams in the framework of the Interdisciplinary Profile at OTHER faculties. Please use the form only for those exams that you cannot register for in HISinOne and which you have taken in the framework of the Interdisciplinary Profile.

Please note that all other registration and de-registration rules apply as usual. That means you must also de-register via this form and you need to submit the form on time to the Examination Office (Prüfungsamt).

Form in German and English.

For more information, please read through the M.Sc. SSE module handbook.