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Master of Physics - frequently asked questions
Application Procedure
- Q: Where do I have to apply?
- A: Candidates who hold a Bachelor’s degree from a German university apply directly to the Freie Universität Berlin, through the online portal. Candidates who hold a Bachelor’s degree from a foreign university have to apply through Uni-Assist.
- Q: What are the deadlines for application?
- A: The deadlines for candidates who hold a Bachelor’s degree from a German university are November 30 for the summer semester, and May 31 for the winter semester. Candidates who hold a Bachelor’s degree from a foreign university have to apply through Uni-Assist well ahead of these deadlines in order to allow processing of the applications. Recommended are six weeks; that shifts the deadlines to the middle of October for the summer semester and to the middle of April for the winter semester.
- Q: According to which criteria are the places for the Master course assigned?
- A: This follows a complicated procedure, details of which are published in the Vergabesatzung. Briefly, the most important criterium is the final grade of the Bachelor’s degree. There is no general cutoff threshold for admission; the cutoff grade results from the balance between supply and demand.
- Q: When will I know whether I am admitted?
- A: Letters of admission are typically sent during the second week of January or the second week of July, respectively. The deadline for inscription to the university will be mentioned in the letter of admission. In case this deadline can not be matched because of visa issues, please send an e-mail to the info service explaining your problem and ask for an exception and later inscription.
- Q: Do I need to know German in order to apply?
- A: No, knowledge of German language is not required. All courses offered in the Master program by the department of physics are taught in English. (Some optional elective courses offered by other departments may just be taught in German.)
- Q: Which documents do I have to submit with the application?
- A: In addition to the documents listed in the Uni-Assist and university homepage, respectively, please do not forget to provide the following documents:
- your Bachelor degree with overall grade, if your Bachelor studies are finished;
- a certificate that you have already achieved more than 2/3 of the credits towards the Bachelor degree, if your Bachelor studies are not yet finished; important is that the actual overall grade is contained (if no grade is certified, you will be ranked with just the passing grade);
- a certified transcript of your Bachelor studies;
- proof of English language proficiency.
Transition from Bachelor to Master
- Q: I will not have the Bachelor’s degree issued until the deadline for application. Can I nevertheless apply?
- A: Yes, you can apply if you have certifications for at least 2/3 of the credit points necessary for your Bachelor’s degree. In that case the current transcript of courses can be used for the application. Note that all modules necessary to complete the Bachelor’s degree have to be finished before the start of the Master course, and certificates have to be submitted before the end of the first semester of the Master course.
- Q: Can I take modules from the Master course even while still inscribed as a Bachelor student?
- A: If the docent of the module has no objections and there are no capacity restrictions for that module, as for seminars or practical courses, you may do so. After successful examination, please ask for a paper certificate, which you later can use for your Master studies. Note, however, that no legal claim for admission to the Master course can be founded on that.
- Q: As a Bachelor student at the department of physics of the Freie Universität Berlin, should I do the re-registration ("Rückmeldung") during the last semester although I plan to apply for the Master course at the same time?
- A: It is recommended to re-register. In the case of a successful application to the Master course, the inscription can just be changed from "Bachelor" to "Master". In the case your application is rejected, you can still uninscribe in order to get full or partial refund of the paid fees, depending on the date of exmatriculation.
Financial
- Q: Which kind of fees do I have to pay to participate in the Master program?
- A: There are at current no tuition fees. An enrolment fee of approx. 270 EUR per semester entitles students to use all public transport in the Berlin area. (Details)
- Q: Are there fellowships or stipends available?
- A: There are no fellowships awarded by the Freie Universität Berlin. For stipends and fellowships, please refer to funding agencies such as the DAAD. A limited number of part-time job opportunities (40 or 60 hours per month) for students is available at the Department of Physics.
- Q: Which modules from other departments can I select for the elective part of the Master study?
- A: The Studienordnung, § 3 (6) contains a list of modules from other departments that are suggested for the elective part. Note that most of these modules are taught in German. You may select any of these modules for the elective part, but no more than 15 credit points from modules that are from Bachelor courses of other departments will be accepted.
- Q: Can I select a module from another department that is not listed in the “Studienordnung”?
- A: If the examination committee agrees, yes. You have to obtain written consent from the examination committee. For that, please send a description of the module along with a statement how it would complement your studies to the head of the examination committee.
The following modules from nearby universities are usually acceptable:- "Statistische Physik" from the master course in physics of the Humboldt University Berlin is usually acceptable instead of the module „Advanced Statistical Physics“ in the compulsory elective part;
- "Theoretische Physik V - Quanten II" from the master course in physics of the University Potsdam is usually acceptable instead of the module „Advanced Quantum Mechanics“ in the compulsory part;
- "Theoretische Physik VI: Vertiefung (Theoretische Optik)" from the master course in physics of the Technical University Berlin is usually acceptable as 10 credit points in the elective part.
- Q: Can I select a module that is part of the Bachelor of Physics study at our department? (Example: Solid State Physics from our Bachelor course.)
- A: If you did not have that module during your own Bachelor studies and if the examination committee agrees, yes. (Solid State Physics from our Bachelor course is usually acceptable.) Note that in all, you can not include more than 15 credit points from modules that belong to Bachelor courses.
- Q: I would like to include Bachelor modules in the elective part which together sum up to slightly more than 15 credit points. Is that possible?
- A: No, it is not. However, if you are taking Bachelor modules that sum up to more than 15 credit points, you may include a fraction of one of those modules in order to reach in total the maximum of 15 credit points. Note that no module can be included which is equivalent to a module you already had during your Bachelor studies.
- Q: If I failed in the examinations of the module "Advanced Quantum Mechanics", do I have to wait one year for the next examinations before I can register for the research phase?
- A: That depends. The examination committee has allowed the following exception from the "Prüfungsordnung": If a student has fulfilled the criterium for active participation in the module "Advanced Quantum Mechanics", has completed modules according to the "Studienordnung" worth 45 credit points otherwise, and wants to do the research phase in an experimentally working group, the examination committee can grant the access to the research phase even though the examination of the module "Advanced Quantum Mechanics" has not yet been passed.
Modules in the Elective Part
Registration for the Research Phase
