With over 370 universities offering a wide variety of courses in various disciplines to over 240,000 international students among others, Germany has become an attractive destination for student pursuing higher studies abroad.
German university system...
There are mainly two types of institutions of higher education in Germany:
Universities (including Universities of Technology, abbr. TU) are research-oriented and offer a wide variety of subjects. These can award doctorate degrees.
Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen, abbr. FH), on the other hand, are practice-oriented and offer courses mainly in engineering, business administration, social sciences and design. These have strong links to the industry and offer possibilities like joint supervision of the professor and a company for a master thesis.
Fachhochschulen do not award doctorate degrees, however as a master degree holder from a Fachhochschule, one is in principle eligible to apply for a doctoral position at a University.
Bachelor Studies in Germany
There is wide range of Bachelor study programmes with
i.German as medium of instruction
ii.English as the sole or primary medium of instruction, called International Degree Programmes (IDPs). A database of such programmes is available at https://www.daad.de/international-programmes
Eligibility criteria for a bachelor degree course
In Germany, every university is autonomous. This means that every university / study programme has its own set of criteria for admitting students. So check the university website, and specifically the course you are interested in to find out the exact admission requirements.
Universities will ask for very good German language skills in case you want to take up a programme / Studienkolleg in German medium. In such cases, your knowledge of German needs to be certified through examinations like the TestDaF (https://www.testdaf.de).
In principle you are eligible to apply for a bachelor programme if you fulfill one of the following criteria:
I.Successfully completing the first year of a bachelor programme from a recognized university in India in the relevant subject field.
II.Successfully clearing the IIT Joint Entrance Examination for admission to courses in technology and natural sciences.
III.Passing the qualification assessment examination in Germany, called Feststellungspruefung
The Feststellungspruefung is an examination conducted by universities that assesses your proficiency in subjects that are crucial to your chosen degree programme and also in German language. A foundation course (Studienkolleg) in Germany can help you prepare for this examination. This is a full-time course with about 32 hours of instruction per week and usually takes upto two semesters to complete. The two components of the course are German language and subjects relevant to the study programme you want to register for later.
The minimum eligibility criteria for enrolment in a Studienkolleg are a valid school leaving certificate (12th) with relevant subject combination and proficiency in German language (approx. B1 level based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
Your subject knowledge and if applicable German language proficiency will be tested in an entrance exam (Aufnahmepruefung) by the course coordinators before you enroll yourself in foundation course.
On successfully taking the Feststellungspruefung, which has a written and an oral component, you are eligible to apply for a bachelor degree course. Remember that success in this examination does not automatically lead to an admission to a University or FH.
Application Procedure:
Step 1:
Collect general information about the courses from Internet and other sources
Step 2:
Contact the selected university. This will be your most important source of information as far as exact details about eligibility, course duration, fee, application procedure etc. are concerned.
Check the application deadline for courses chosen.
Step 3:
Send the application packet.The website of the course / university you have chosen will carry details about application procedure to be followed. Accordingly, send your application either to the university or to UNI-ASSIST.
UNI-ASSIST is a body that accepts your application, screens it and forwards it to its member universities of your choice against payment.
The fee for applying to one university through UN I-ASSIST is 55 Euro and then 15 Euro for every additional university.
Member universities of UNI-ASSIST often do not entertain direct applications. So please check well before you send in your papers. For detailed information and list of member universities, visit https://www.uni-assist.de
If you have chosen a university that is not a member of UNI-ASSIST, send your application directly. In any case, the webpage of the course you have selected will always give information about the application procedure.
Step 4:
Apply for a student visa as soon as you have the admission letter, as the procedure can take around two months. The German Embassy and the Consulates require proof of funding for the first year of studies (approx. INR 4-5 lakh).
Apply for a place in a hostel. In some cases the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of the university will help you.
Step 5:
Arrive in Germany at least a week before your course begins.
Contact the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of your university for guidance.
Step 6:
Get your residence permit within the first three months of your stay in Germany from the Foreigners' Registration Office (Auslaenderamt).
Master Studies in Germany
There is wide range of Master programmes with
i. German as medium of instruction
ii. English as the sole or primary medium of instruction, called International Degree Programmes (IDPs). A database of such programmes is available at https://www.daad.de/international-programmes
In Germany, every university is autonomous. This means that every university / study programme has its own set of criteria for admitting students. So check the university website, and specifically the course you are interested in to find out the exact admission requirements.
Some universities may ask for your TOEFL/IELTS/GRE/GMAT scores, depending upon the subject you choose to study. For example, GMAT may be asked for if you want to study economics or law.
Universities will ask for very good German language skills in case you want to take up a programme in German medium. In such cases, your knowledge of German needs to be certified through examinations like the TestDaF (https://www.testdaf.de ) or DSH.
Application Procedure
October – November: Collect general information from internet and brochures.
January — March: Contact the selected university. This will be your most important source of information as far as exact details about eligibility, course duration, fee, application procedure etc. are concerned.Check the application deadline for courses chosen.
March — June:
Send the application packet.
The website of the course / university you have chosen will carry details about application procedure to be followed. Accordingly, send your application either to the university or to UNI-ASSIST.
UNI-ASSIST is a body that accepts your application, screens it and forwards it to its member universities of your choice against payment. The fee for applying to one university through UNI-ASSIST is 55 Euro and then 15 Euro for every additional university. Member universities of UNI-ASSIST often do not entertain direct applications. So check well before you send in your papers. For detailed information and list of member universities, visit https://www.uni-assist.de
If you have chosen a university that is not a member of UNI-ASSIST, send your application directly. In any case, the webpage of the course you have selected will always give information about the application procedure.Application forms and other relevant material can be downloaded from the internet.
Apply for a student visa as soon as you have the admission letter, as the procedure can take around two months. The German Embassy and the Consulates require proof of funding for the first year of studies (approx. INR 4-5 lakh).
Apply for a place in a hostel. In some cases the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of the university will help you.
September— October
Arrive in Germany at least a week before your course begins.Contact the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of your university for guidance.
October— December
Get your residence permit within the first three months of your stay in Germany from the Foreigners' Registration Office (Auslaenderamt).
PhD in Germany
In Germany, every university is autonomous. This means that every university / study programme has its own set of criteria for admitting students. So check the university website, and specifically the programme you are interested in to find out the exact admission requirements.
Some generalisation is, however, possible and one can say that as a Master degree holder from India, your degree is treated at par with a German Master or Magister degree and most universities will consider you eligible for their doctoral programmes provided you fulfill other criteria. In some cases, a further examination to assess the eligibility will be required.
Some universities may ask for the proof of your English language proficiency in form of TOEFL or IELTS scores, while most universities will ask for very good German language skills in case you have to write your thesis in German. In such cases, your knowledge of German needs to be certified through examinations like the TestDaF (https://www.testdaf.de ) or DSH.
Application Procedure:
Step 1:
Collect general information from the internet and brochures.
Decide which field of research you want to pursue and shortlist potential universities and professors if you want to follow the traditional approach or the appropriate structured doctoral programme.
Step 2:
I.Traditional Approach: Find and convince a supervisor.
Make sure that you approach a potential supervisor the write way and in good time — a brief and well-structured synopsis of the doctoral thesis is more likely to get you the right kind of response than a simple email stating that you are interested in doing a PhD! Communicate information about your background, academic performance and academic goals.
Get a letter of acceptance from your supervisor.
II.Structured doctoral programme: Identify a programme.
Contact the selected university. This will be your most important source of information as far as exact details about eligibility, programme structure, fee, application procedure etc. are concerned.
Check the application deadline for the programme chosen.
Application forms and other relevant material can be downloaded from the respective university website.
Send the application packet.
Get a confirmation of admission.
Step: 2
Check about these with the university of your choice or your supervisor.
Step: 4
Apply for a student visa as soon as you have the admission letter, as the procedure can take around two months. The German Embassy and the Consulates require proof of funding for the first year of studies (approx. INR 4-5 lakh).
Apply for a place in a hostel. In some cases the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of the university will help you.
Step 5:
Arrive in Germany at least a week before your course begins.
Contact the International Office (Akademisches Auslandsamt) of your university for guidance.
Step 6:
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