Aerospace M. Sc.

Increasing demands regarding environmental and noise protection require new scientific and technical developments for example in automation and drive systems. These developments allow completely new aviation concepts like unmanned and electrical aircrafts. Highly qualified engineers with a profound knowledge and understanding about the total system in aviation as well as in interdisciplinary and international cooperation, push these developments in companies and universities.

Students in aerospace learn everything about concepts and the development of space vehicles, satellites and their subsystems and components. With a broad range of modules offered in English, the students can extent their English skills. The Master’s Degree Program can be studied completely in German, English or in both languages.

The Master Degree in Aerospace will enable graduates to develop a strong process-led, verifiable, both international and interdisciplinary way of working which is particularly essential in aerospace.

The graduates will gain competence in the field of flying total systems which they can apply, dependent on their individually chosen direction, to the field of transport systems, endo- and exo-atmospheric flight systems, as well as to the disciplines of aerodynamics, lightweight construction, flight system dynamics, flight power units, control technology, aircraft design or aerospace technology. In addition, the graduates will have significant knowledge of production methods, as well as material science from development to application.

Further, graduates will be constantly confronted with problems areas which require optimization with regard to economic and ecological considerations, as well as specific restraints concerning design, construction, licensing and operating flight systems.

Opportunities arise for graduates in the areas of aerospace systems, propulsion technologies and armaments, as well as materials technology or components. Civil aviation, defense and security and space travel are all potential fields of employment.

The formal requirements for admission to this Master's program are as follows:

• entrance qualification for Master's degree program (see TUM glossary of documents)
• specialist knowledge from basic areas of mechanical engineering
  • higher mathematics
  • engineering mechanics
  • materials science
  • thermodynamics
  • fluid mechanics
  • automatic control
  • CAD/design
• German or English language skills: The degree program can be studied entirely in German or English. Information on language certificates is provided centrally by TUM on this page: language certificates accepted by TUM.

The prerequisite for admission to the program is a successfully completed aptitude assessment test based on a complete application. All prospective students who prove their aptitude during the procedure will be admitted to the program. If your degree certificate is not yet available at the time of application, you may only apply if you can prove that you have earned at least:

• 140 credits from a bachelor’s program with a standard duration of 6 semesters
• 170 credits from a bachelor’s program with a standard duration of 7 semesters
• 200 credits from a bachelor’s program with a standard duration of 8 semesters

Please submit your bachelor’s degree certificate immediately upon receipt, but no later than one year after starting the master’s program, to the Admissions and Enrollment Department of the TUM Center for Study and Teaching.  If you did not obtain your master’s entry qualification (e.g., bachelor’s degree) in Germany, you must have your application documents pre-checked by the University Application Service for International Students (uni-assist e.V.). You will then receive a preliminary review documentation (VPD).

Admission to the aptitude assessment procedure - professional qualification

In the first step, your specialist knowledge from your first degree course will be tested. The basic modules from the Bachelor's degree program in Aerospace at Technical University of Munich listed in the table below provide the benchmark for the competencies to be demonstrated in each subject group. You can find the module description of all modules under the tab “Documents” → “Module handbook as study program tree in TUMonline”.

The assessment is carried out in individual categories, which are listed in the table below. Categories 1 to 7 relate to a subject area from your qualifying degree program (i.e. your first degree course). An upper limit of the assessed credits (Cmax) is set in each case. If you achieve or exceed the maximum number of credits in a category, you will be awarded the maximum number of points (Pmax) to be awarded in this category. Otherwise, your score for the respective category is calculated in proportion to the credits achieved in the qualifying degree program (see formula), whereby zero points are awarded for zero credits:

Formula (conversion of course-specific credits into points):  P = P_max * C / C_max

In the formula the designations have the following meaning, see table:

• P: Score of the applicant in the respective category
• P_max: Maximum score achievable in the respective category
• C: Number of credits of the applicant in the respective category
• C_max: Maximum number of credits achievable in the respective category

 Categories curricular analysis

The number of points in categories 1 to 7 are added up and the total rounded up to the nearest  full point. If it is established that there are no significant differences in the competencies acquired  (learning outcomes), a maximum of 60 points will be awarded. Negative points will not be awarded. The resulting points are used as the base score in the subsequent aptitude  assessment. Students with less than 33 points in total will not be admitted to the aptitude  assessment. Students will also not be admitted to the aptitude assessment if they have not  acquired at least 9 points in each of the subject groups “1. Mathematics” and “2. Technical  Mechanics”, at least 2 points in each of the subject groups “4. Thermodynamics” and “5. Fluid  Mechanics” and a total of at least 5 points in the subject groups 3, 6 and 7 (Materials Science, Control Technology and CAD/Design).

Applicants who have fulfilled these requirements will be assessed in the aptitude procedure.

An internship is mandatory. Applicants who have completed a discipline-specific, program-related professional training or alternatively a discipline-specific practical course of at least eight weeks will be awarded 5 points in the admissions process.

• Degree Certificate and Diploma or Subject and Grade Transcript of Studies to Date
• Transcript of Records
• Proof of German or English Language Proficiency
• Curriculum (e.g. module description)
• Academic Achievement Overview Form
• Complete and Current Résumé
• Passport
• if applicable: Proof of Internships or Professional Experience (optional)
• Preliminary Documentation (VPD) if the qualification for graduate studies (e.g. a Bachelor’s) was obtained outside Germany)

We may require additional documents depending on your educational background and your country of origin. Complete the online application to receive a comprehensive list of the required documents. 

Please consider the specific requirements for documents for application and enrollment at TUM.

• Application for Enrollment (signed)
• Degree Certificate and Diploma (authentic document)
• Transcript of Records (authentic document)
• Most Current Photo (as for ID)
• Digital notification of your health insurance status from a German public health insurance provider (requested by applicant)

We may require additional documents depending on the type of educational background you earned and your country of origin. After accepting an offer of admission in TUMonline, you will receive a list of documents you must submit to TUM in hardcopy for enrollment.

Please consider the specific requirements for documents for application and enrollment at TUM.

Here you can find the general dates and deadlines at TUM.

Binding examination dates for your degree program can be found in TUMonline.
The exam registration for your degree program usually takes place during the following periods:

November 15 – January 15 for exams following the winter semester
May 15 – June 30 for exams following the summer semester

Statutes and Regulations

All latest and previous version of statutes and regulations can be found here https://www.tum.de/en/studies/during-your-studies/organizing-your-studies/statutes-regulations.

Academic and Examination Regulations (FPSO) incl. aptitude assessment:

• For students who started their studies in or after summer term 2024: FPSO SoSe2024
• For students who started their studies before summer term 2024: FPSO WiSe21

Module handbook 

• Module handbook, status winter term 2025/26: MHB WiSe25/26
• Module handbook as study program tree in TUMonline

Further documents

• Latest degree program documentation (only German version available)
• Guidelines for safeguarding good scientific practice (only German version available)

Examination Dates

The examination dates for each semester can be viewed in TUMonline.

• Winter semester 2025/26:
  

  The dates for the individual examinations will be published in TUMonline until 24 October 2025. Then, you can view them there.

• Summer semester 2026:

  The dates for the individual examinations will be published in TUMonline until 24 April 2026. Then, you can view them there.

Please also follow TUMonline for possible room and date changes.

Registration and Deregistration for Examinations

The cancellation of your participation (de-registration) in an exam is possible until one week before the exam.

In order to take part in examinations, you must register independently via TUMonline. The registration takes place via your study status/curriculum. How to register for an examination in TUMonline.

The de-registration from examinations works the same way.

Please note:

• The examinations office ASG does not register you for exams once the registration period has closed. If you have failed to register for one or more exams, you will not be able to take these exams.
• No exams may be taken for the first time during a leave of absence. An exception is leave on grounds of maternity leave, parental leave or for the care of close relatives.
• However, repeat exams can be taken.

Repeating examinations:

• Module examinations can be repeated as often as required, taking into account the academic progress check (see § 10 (3) and (4) APSO, resp.).
• Only exams that have been previously failed can be retaken. It is not possible to retake an exam that has already been passed for the purpose of improving your grade.
• Please note that you must also register for a retake exam in TUMonline.

Disadvantage Compensation in examinations

Students are entitled to compensation for disadvantages in examinations if they have an impairment that impairs their studies and can be compensated for.

Compensation for disadvantages must be applied for from your board of examiners in good time before the start of the relevant examination phase. The application must be made informally in writing by e-mail to the examinations office ASG: examination.asg@ed.tum.de.

The application must be accompanied by meaningful (specialist) medical certificates or reports stating which impairment is involved and which measures are required to compensate for the disadvantage.

Please note that the board of examiners is not bound by the measures to compensate for disadvantages stated in your application or in the certificate or expert opinion.

The following deadlines apply for the application:

Winter semester and summer semester: By the end of the registration period for the respective semester's examinations at the latest.

Please note: If an application is submitted after this deadline, any approval of compensation for disadvantages will apply from the examination phase of the following semester at the earliest.

You can find further information and information sheets on the subject of "compensation for disadvantages" on the pages of the TUM Center for Study & Teaching.

You will also find an application form that you can use under the link above.

Withdrawal from an Examination

Withdrawal from an examination is only possible for valid reasons for which the student is not responsible. Such reasons include illness, accident, death in the family etc.

Please be sure to read the TUM's information on withdrawal regulations in the event of illness.

If you cannot participate in an examination, a written withdrawal application must be submitted immediately to the responsible examination board. This notice should be submitted by e-mail to: examination.asg@ed.tum.de

You can download the withdrawal application form here.
 

In addition to the application, proof of the reason preventing your participation in the examination must also be submitted without delay, e.g. a medical certificate in the event of illness.

The certificate must meet the following criteria:

• It must be issued by a qualified doctor.
• Generally, it must be based on an examination carried out on the day on which you claim to be unable to take the exam.
• It must state the start and end dates of your inability to take the exam due to illness.
• It must clearly state why you are unable to take the exam so that the board of examiners can determine whether you were actually unable to take the exam on the day of the exam (e.g., necessary bed rest or inability to travel to the exam location and/or take the exam there without significant discomfort).

Important:

• Confirmation of inability to take the exam alone is not sufficient.
• The certificate does not need to contain a medical diagnosis.
• If you are being treated as an inpatient in a hospital on the day of the exam, a certificate from the hospital must be submitted.
• Certificates of incapacity for work (Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung)  are not sufficient.

Academic progress (hardship application)

If you can prove (with a valid medical certificate or other supporting documentation) that you were unable to complete your studies properly over a long period of time (possibly even an entire semester) for reasons beyond your control (illness, etc.), you can apply for an extension or suspension of the deadline of the academic progress check (§ 10 para. 7 APSO).

The reasons must be reported to the responsible board of examiners immediately. If you fail the academic progress check, you cannot retroactively cite long-term illness or other reasons if you did not report these to your board of examiners immediately.

As a rule, the study progress check can only be suspended once.

If the restrictions continue, you must inquire with the TUM Center for Study and Teaching - Application and Enrollment Department about the possibility of taking a leave of absence or interrupting your studies. You can also seek advice from the student advisory service or the secretary to the board of examiners of your degree programme.

The immediate notification of valid reasons has to be be sent informally to the ASG Examination Office: examination.asg@ed.tum.de

Important:

Medical certificates must comply with TUM's legal requirements. Information on the formal and substantive criteria for certificates can be found above under “Withdrawal from an examination.”

If a certificate does not meet these criteria, a corresponding hardship application must be rejected.

Please note that you can only apply for a suspension or extension of the deadline if you were actually unable to meet the requirements of the academic progress check. You can see this by the notification “DF” in your study tree in TUMonline.

In this case, please send the appication informally by e-mail together with all necessary supporting documents (see above) to the examinations office ASG: examination.asg@ed.tum.de.

The board of examiners responsible for your degree program will decide on your application at its end-of-semester meeting. The decision will then be communicated to you in writing by the examinations office  ASG as soon as possible.

Please refrain from making any prior inquiries regarding the status of your application.

Boards of Examiners Aerospace and Geodesy

 According to § 29 APSO, the boards of examiners are responsible for conducting the examination procedure. They make all necessary decisions, unless the general academic examination regulations of TUM have assigned this responsibility to the respective examiners.

The boards of examiners' decision-making authority includes, in particular, applications for withdrawal from examinations, applications for suspension and extension of deadline, applications for recognition of credits as well as applications for compensation of disadvantages in examinations.

The degree programmes of Aerospace and Geodesy has the following boards of examiners with their respective responsibilities:

If you have completed parts of or an entire degree program at a university other than TUM, you can apply for recognition of credits. A prerequisite for the recognition of credits that were not achieved at TUM is the equivalence of the gained competences. This means that the knowledge and skills acquired outside of TUM must not be fundamentally different from the knowledge and skills conveyed in the corresponding modules at the TUM (basis for this is Art. 86 BayHIG and § 16 APSO).

Procedure of the recognition process:

1. Submit the completed recognition form to the examinations office ASG. All additional documents required must be enclosed in accordance with the form (page 1) and checked for completeness by the student. Only complete documents can be processed.
2. Your application with the documents will be forwarded to the module coordinator/subject examiner. They will decide on the equivalence of the already achieved credits with the credits to be achieved in your degree pgroamme at TUM.

You can find the recognition form in the wiki of your degree programme under "Documents and Forms".

Please note:

• You can apply for recognition of credits only after you have enrolled.
• An application for recognition of credits can only be made once and must be made within the first academic year. In order to ensure an appropriate planning of your studies, you should submit your application as soon as possible.
• In the case of credits from a semester abroad, recognition must be applied for within the semester following the stay abroad.
• The recognition procedure ends with the signing of the application by the responsible module coordinator. Information on recognition or rejection will be sent by e-mail. Applications cannot be re-submitted after the recognition procedure has been completed.
• Once recognition has taken place, a new application for recognition of credits claiming equivalence with a module other than the recognized competences is no longer possible. If the student claims equivalence of the competences to multiple different modules, this must be checked in the same application/recognition process. In this case, please use a separate form for each recognition process.
• If at least 30 credits are recognized as equivalent, you will be upgraded by one semester. If 52/82 credits are recognized, you will be upgraded by two/three semesters respectively.

Grade conversion:

If the grading system of examinations completed at universities or equivalent institutions of higher education and recognized by TUM does not match the TUM grading system, the grades of the other institution will be converted according to the so-called "Bavarian Formula". If such a conversion is not possible, the examination board will determine a corresponding ratio for the grade conversion.

About the Bavarian formula

Contact for credit recognition: examination.asg@ed.tum.de

Registration:

For final theses (= Bachelor’s thesis und Master’s thesis) registration and all administration take place in the ED portal at https://portal.ed.tum.de/en/Theses/

 You find all important information in the wiki of the ED portal.

The supervising chair will register you for the thesis. You will then receive an e-mail asking you to confirm the registration of the thesis and the data provided in the portal. Only then will the registration be reviewed by the examination board and you will then receive the approval or rejection of the topic by e-mail.

All e-mails from the portal will be sent to your TUM e-mail address.

Submission:

The Bachelor's/Master's thesis is handed in digitally via the ED portal. For more information, see wiki of the ED portal.
 

Extension:

In the event of valid reasons for which you are not responsible (e.g. longer waiting time for technical equipment or software), you can apply to the respective examination board for an extension of the processing time. This is also done via the ED portal. For more information, see wiki of the ED portal.
 

Suspension due to illness:

The processing time is suspended for the duration of an illness. You are obliged to report an illness to the respective board of examiners immediately and to provide credible evidence of this in the form of a medical certificate. The report is also made via the ED portal in the same way as when applying for an extension (see above).

Please send the medical certificate in PDF format to examination.asg@ed.tum.de. The certificate must meet the same criteria as those set out above under “Withdrawal from an examination.”

Important: If the illness is not reported immediately—i.e., as soon as you realize that you are ill—the respective board of examiners must reject the suspension of the processing time.

When the grading process is complete, you can view the grade in TUMonline.

As soon as the assessment has been finally confirmed by the examiners, you receive the grade by e-mail. The grade and other details are then transferred from the School Office to TUMonline.

According to § 18 (11) APSO, the thesis has to be graded within two months.

Please note: You may not be on leave of absence during the entire time you are working on the thesis and must be duly enrolled by the time you hand in your thesis.

Important: Please read the guidelines for ensuring good scientific practice at TU München. Their knowledge is assumed when registering the thesis.

This applies to the following modules from the elective area of research practice:

LRG0002 Term Project

LRG0003 Team Project

LRG0004 Practical Research Course

Registration:

From 10.04.2025, papers from the field of research practice will be registered and managed via the ED portal.

 You find all important information in the wiki of the ED portal.

 Your supervising chair will register you for the paper and you will receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your registration.

The general process is similar to the administration of final theses. You can find detailed documentation on this in the wiki at https://collab.dvb.bayern/spaces/TUMedschooloffice/pages/885986490/Final+Theses+in+the+ED-Portal?showLanguage=en_GB

 Submission:

The paper is submitted digitally via the ED-Portal. For further information, see the ED portal wiki.

 Extension:

In the event of valid reasons for which you are not responsible (e.g. longer waiting time for technical equipment or software), you can apply to the respective examination board for an extension of the processing time. This is also done via the ED portal. For more information, see wiki of the ED portal.
 

When the grading process is complete, you can view the grade in TUMonline.

Elective Research Practice at a company:

It is possible to do the term project (LRG0002) at a company (NB: This is not possible for team project and practical research course). In this case you still have to find a chair at TUM to supervise your work. The registration and submission procedures remain the same as mentioned above.

There is no mandatory internship in your degree program (unless it was assigned as a requirement). Voluntary internships can be completed. Under certain circumstances, a leave of absence may then make sense. 

Statement for a Leave of Absence Semester

If you wish to take a leave of absence for an internship, you will need a so‑called “Statement from the School.” You can obtain it as follows:

• If it is a voluntary internship, please also contact the Internship Office and obtain confirmation that the School approves the internship due to its subject-related relevance to your studies. To verify this relevance, please forward information about the company and your expected tasks to the Internship Office.
• If it is a voluntary internship abroad, please contact the international advising office of your degree program (see contact details: International Exchange).

There is the possibility of a stay abroad at one of 15 European partner universities in eight countries. In addition, a large number of non-European partner universities are available. Finally, students of the M.Sc. Aerospace can apply for the double-degree program with ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse.

More information about the different possibilities of a stay abroad can be found on the website of the TUM Global & Alumni Office.