Science and Technology of Materials M. Sc.

The program is interdisciplinary and focuses on the production, characterisation and knowledge-based further development of structural and functional materials in the laboratory and in nature. The importance of material cycles and resource efficiencies will also be taught, as well as approaches to solving the resulting scientific and engineering challenges.
The degree program provides an insight into the current methods of material production and material characterisation and introduces a broad spectrum of technical application possibilities.

At TUM, the materials are further treated with regard to their use in a technical application. In particular, the materials are to be analysed with regard to their stability under operating conditions as a function of various operating modes (e.g. pressure, temperature, fields, humidity). This is supplemented by the life cycle analysis of the material under different operating conditions. The students also expand their knowledge of the fields of application and associated trends of various materials.

From a technical point of view, knowledge in the disciplines of chemistry, physics and materials science is initially expanded to master's level. Furthermore, knowledge in materials engineering as well as mineral or biogenic materials is expanded. Building on this, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering offers a series of basic (e.g. process engineering/thermodynamics) and production-oriented (e.g. manufacturing technologies) modules as the technical, application-oriented engineering component of the degree.

Students are familiar with state-of-the-art methods of manufacturing, processing and characterising structural and functional materials, know current areas of application and trends and can conduct both basic and applied research in these areas.

Graduates of the degree program possess the followingProfessional competences: They are able to produce a desired material (a desired product) with defined properties. In doing so, they apply state-of-the-art analytical methods, which enable them to understand and optimise the structure-property relationships of the materials in connection with the process parameters during their production. The latter enables them to record and evaluate the performance of a material with regard to its application profile in order to be able to use it consequently, economically and sustainably.

In addition, the students are put in a position to develop a new type of material and material design that is in line with the requirements of the students. Material design that follows the principle of "reduce, reuse and recycle".

After completing the joint degree program Science and Technology of Materials, graduates have a particularly broad spectrum of professional opportunities open to them. Typical occupational fields include work in the chemical industry and in the construction industry, in biotechnology and medical technology, in energy and environmental technology, in sectors of the electrical and electronics industry, in the vehicle and aircraft industry, in research at universities and at non-university scientific institutes.

Prospective students apply via University of Salzburg

You can find the admission requirements on the website of the University of Salzburg.

Information on the required documents can be found on the website of the University of Salzburg.

• Aptitude Assessment for Master
• Information on the Aptitude Assessment (German) (PDF 1 MB)

Information on the required documents can be found on the website of the University of Salzburg.

All information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.

Find the general dates and deadlines at TUM here.

You can find the binding exam dates for your degree program in TUMonline (note the selected semester).

Further information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.

• Curriculum with module descriptions

Further information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.

All relevant dates relating to exam registration can be found under Dates and Deadlines. You must register for all TUM exams via TUMonline. Instructions for exam registration can be found in the central IT Wiki. For your own security, we recommend that you print out a confirmation of registration from TUMonline after registering. Registrations after the official registration period are not possible. If you encounter any problems with registering for, assigning, or withdrawing from exams, please contact the relevant examination board immediately.

Note:

The current and valid list of modules available at TUM in the M.Sc. Science and Technology of Materials program can be found at (note the selected semester):
https://campus.tum.de/tumonline/ee/ui/ca2/app/desktop/#/slc.tm.cp/student/courses?$ctx=&$filter=&$skip=0&curriculumVersionId=4833&objTermId=206&orgId=1

Please note that the modules listed in the curriculum are not updated regularly and may therefore be out of date.

Further information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.

All relevant information regarding the recognition of academic achievements can be found here: Recognition of Credits. 

Further information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.

All information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.

Students enrolled in the joint degree master's program in Science and Technology of Materials have the opportunity to spend a semester abroad at another university. Semester 2 of the program is particularly suitable for this. Courses completed abroad are recognized by the relevant academic authority. The applicant must submit the documents required for assessment. The International Relations Office (https://www.plus.ac.at/international-relations-department/international-relations-office/?lang=en) in Salzburg provides information about the available opportunities for studying abroad, eligible countries, universities, and funding. At the School of Engineering and Design in Garching, Ms. Ammon (https://www.international.tum.de/en/global/going-abroad/) provides information to students about this degree program.

It is ensured that semesters abroad are possible without delays in study progress if the following conditions are met:

• for each semester abroad, courses worth at least 30 ECTS credits are completed;
• the courses completed during the semester abroad do not correspond in content to courses already completed at the University of Salzburg;
• before the start of the semester abroad, it has been officially determined which of the planned examinations will be recognized as examinations required by the curriculum.

In addition to subject-specific skills, studying abroad allows students to acquire the following qualifications, among others:

• Acquisition and deepening of subject-specific foreign language skills;
• Acquisition and deepening of general foreign language skills (language comprehension, conversation, etc.);
• Acquisition and deepening of organizational skills through independent planning of everyday student life in international administrative and university structures;
• Getting to know and studying in international study systems and broadening one's own subject perspective;
• Acquisition and deepening of intercultural skills.

Students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses receive active support from the university in finding a place for a semester abroad and planning their stay.

As a central component of research-led teaching, the master's thesis helps students to apply, expand, and deepen the skills they have acquired. As part of the master's thesis, students also work on an interdisciplinary engineering or natural science project, which is clearly more extensive and demanding than the corresponding bachelor's projects. Although an examiner is available as a supervisor, emphasis is placed on working on the project as independently as possible. In the course of writing the master's thesis, it must be presented and discussed in the Materials Seminar at PLUS. Other requirements include a scientific paper, the presentation and discussion of the results in a final lecture, and the master's examination (a closed oral examination by an examination committee following the presentation).

Excerpt from the curriculum:

§ 8 Master's thesis

(1) The master's thesis serves as proof of the student's ability to independently work on scientific topics in the field of science and technology of materials in accordance with current scientific standards in terms of content and methodology.

(2) The topic of the master's thesis must be chosen in such a way that it can be completed within six months (cf. § 81 (2) UG).

(3) Topics for the master's thesis must relate to the natural sciences and engineering content of the modules defined in § 3 and Appendix I of the curriculum and are coordinated by PLUS.

Topic suggestions can be submitted by the departments, institutes, and chairs of both universities involved in the joint degree master's program in Science and Technology of Materials, as well as by students.

The proposed topics must be sufficiently developed to allow for an assessment of the following criteria:

a) Relevance to the module content or teaching content of the curriculum;
b) Fulfilment of the general requirements;
c) Feasibility within the specified time frame;
d) Supervision by university lecturers (usually with teaching authorization) from the
e) departments, institutes, and chairs of PLUS or TUM participating in the joint degree master's program in Science and Technology of Materials.

The topic chosen by the student for their master's thesis is formally approved by the dean after consultation with the chair of the curriculum committee.

(4) The master's thesis is worth 27 ECTS credits.

(5) When working on the topic and supervising students, the provisions of the Copyright Act, Federal Law Gazette No. 111/1936, must be observed (cf. Section 80 (2) UG).

(6) The master's thesis can only be registered after completing at least 80 percent of the required ECTS credits for the compulsory and compulsory elective modules and, if applicable, all additional requirements imposed.

(7) The results of the master's thesis must be presented in a Materials Science seminar.

§ 13 Commission-based master's examination

(1) The joint degree master's program in Science and Technology of Materials is completed with a master's examination worth 2 ECTS credits. 

(2) The prerequisite for the master's examination before the examination board is proof of successful completion of all prescribed examinations and assessment of the master's thesis.

(3) The master's examination before a commission consists of the following components:

a) Presentation of the master's thesis;
b) Defense of the master's thesis;
c) Examination interview on a compulsory module or a specialization module/focus module in accordance with § 6 of the curriculum that is related to the topic of the master's thesis;
d) Examination interview on other interdisciplinary content relevant to the curriculum.

Points c) and d) are carried out in relation to the master's thesis and establish curricular cross-links, resulting in the overall characteristic of a defense.

(4) The examination board, consisting of representatives from both PLUS and TUM, comprises a total of three persons, one of whom is the supervisor of the master's thesis.

Further information can be found on the website of the Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg.