Photovoltaics Engineering Science (M.Sc.)

Deadlines

Pre-assessment (strongly recommended for all applicants):

  • for winter semester: June 15
  • for summer semester: December 15

The pre-assessment period starts 3 months before the deadline.

 

Uni-assist (for applicants from abroad, especially non-EU countries):

  • for winter semester: July 15
  • for summer semester: January 15

The application period starts 4 months before the deadline.

To have a realistic chance of getting your visa (if needed) in time, we recommend that you apply as far in advance of these deadlines as possible!

 

SSC application portal (for applicants with a German bachelor's degree):

  • for winter semester: July 15
  • for summer semester: January 15

For applicants from Germany later dates can also be made possible in exceptional cases; in this case please contact the Degree Program Coordinator or the Degree Program Advisor by email.

The winter semester starts on the first working day in October, the summer semester starts on the first working day in April.

 

Preparatory Online Course

Parallel to the summer semester a preparatory online course on basics of mathematics, physics and chemistry is offered for potential applicants free of charge (for contents, please refer to module description under folder "Documents"). The course is intended for perspecitve students who are not sure whether their knowledge in these basic subjects is sufficient for the program.

The course takes place every Monday (except public holidays in Germany) from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. (lecture) and 6:15 - 7:45 p.m. (exercises) Central European Summer Time (CEST = GMT plus 2 hours). Period of summer semester: April, 1st, to July, 12th. Public holidays: Easter Monday (April, 1st),  Whit Monday (May, 20th).

You are invited to join via the link: https://hs-anhalt.webex.com/hs-anhalt/j.php?MTID=m604b85ee60355f6f3c17c39516ba58e7

Alternativey you can send an email to norbert.bernhard(at)hs-anhalt.de Prof. Bernhard will send you a Webex invitation to the whole course (it is not necessary to install Webex at your computer!).

You can, of course, also attend only the lecture, or just parts of the lecture. The first third of the course covers chemistry, the second third mathematics and the last third physics.

 

Fees

A service fee of €90 is charged per semester for the Students Services Agency (Studentenwerk); plus €6 for the Student Union. The Studentenwerk supports you in social aspects free of further charges (e.g. administration of students' accommodation, cheap meals in the students' refectory, free legal advice and other kind of social support).

No tuition fees are charged.

Uni-assist charges a fee of €75 for its assessment of your documents (€30 for every additional application if you apply for more than one program).

 

Prerequisites for the program

- Completed bachelor's degree program of at least 7 semesters (equivalent to 210 ECTS points) in:

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Physics
  • Physics Engineering or equivalent
  • Materials Science or equivalent

Other bachelor’s degrees in engineering sciences are accepted if the program covers the following subjects to a sufficient extent: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry or Materials Science, Basics of Electrical Engineering and Semiconductor Technology.

- Minimum grade of your bachelor's degree: 2.5 (converted to German system by the Bavarian formula (Bayerische Formel) as shown at the end of the page)

- University rating according to Anabin list: H+

- Proven ability to work scientifically and write scientific texts: Usually shown by the final thesis / final project of the bachelor’s degree program

- Knowledge of oral and written English at least of level B2  (according to the European reference framework for languages)

Equivalent scores by other tests are roughly:

  • TOEFL: PBT=600, CBT=250 or iBT=100 points
  • IELTS: 6.0
  • TOEIC, Cambridge Certificate or any other test equivalent to level B2 (according to the European reference framework for languages)

DUOLINGO tests cannot be accepted.

If the bachelor’s degree was awarded by an English language program, an official confirmation of this fact is sufficient.

No knowledge of German is necessary for the program. (However, it can be helpful in daily life.)

 

Applicants from India need a valid APS certificate when applying at uni-assist.
Exemption for application for winter semester 2023/2024: You can upload your certificate until September 30. Uni-assist will check your application even with a delayed APS certificate.

Pre-assessment (not compulsory, but strongly recommended):

We offer an informal pre-assessment free of charge before you apply at uni-assist. Pre-assessment starts 3 months before the deadline for the respective semester (see deadlines above). The purpose is to clarify your chances before you spend the money for the uni-assist process. Another advantage is that you will know about your admission earlier than by directly applying at uni-assist.

For this purpose, please send an email to mpv(at)hs-anhalt.de before the deadline (see above), but not more than 3 months before that deadline.

The sender email address should have the format: given_name.surname(at)organisation.xx (if your name is very common in your home country, an additional identifier may be added after your surname). The email should contain a short address in business style, ending with your name, address and phone number and must have attached the following documents in one single pdf-file named "pre-assessment_given_name_surname":

- CV: It must be fully up-to-date, i.e. up to the day of sending; and it must not contain any gaps (if there are periods of unemployment or similar, please add them with start and end date). It should also contain a photograph, your date of birth, your skills level of foreign languages and computer programming languages.

- Motivation letter (at most one A4 page, font size 11, line spacing 1.2, margin 2.5 cm, in a well-structured fashion): It should clearly state why you want to study Photovoltaics Engineering Science and why you have chosen Anhalt University. Please do not write a second narrative CV! Please avoid general formulations, platitudes and anything which is not related to your motivation with respect to the master's degree program in Photovoltaics Engineering (M.Sc.) or the choice of Anhalt University.

- Transcript of your bachelor’s degree certificate including grades: If not available at application, please provide a preliminary document. Please add your total final grade converted to the German grading system in a comprehensible way (by using the Bavarian formula, see at the end of the page).

- Summary (one A4 page, font size 11, line spacing 1.2, margin 2.5 cm) of your final thesis / final project: written in scientific style (as you would write a scientific summary), well-structured, showing your investigation objective, your scientific methodology and your results. Add a second page with the most important references in correct scientific citation (which all must be referred to in your text on the first page). If your final project was done jointly by more than one student, please include an explanation of your part at the bottom of the second page. This summary is very important for the assessment of your abilities of doing research and writing a scientific paper, therefore it is worth to put some effort into it.

Please don't add any further documents! Please send one single mail with one single attachment. Check the mail and the attachment whether it complies with above requirements before sending. Please avoid to send multiple mails with varying content or attachments!

Every applicant who submits the requested documents to the required standard will be invited for an online interview, in which we check his/her motivation and basic knowledge in math, physics, chemistry and electrical engineering. For those who perform well in this interview we will give a recommendation to apply at uni-assist afterwards. Everybody who passes the formal uni-assist check will then be accepted automatically as a new student.

Application via uni-assist

We recommend submitting your application as early as possible, but not before you have the results of your pre-assessment. According to uni-assist the evaluation process usually takes 28 to 42 days, in exceptional cases up to 56 days.

The application must contain the same documents as for the pre-assessment (see above) plus the language certificate (and possibly further documents, if requested by the uni-assist portal). The process is fully online by uploading your documents. The transcript of your university certificate (and possibly further documents – check the uni-assist portal) must be officially notarized. No reference letters or similar are necessary.

Check the uni-assist portal as early as possible for your country-specific requirements!

Uni-assist will perform a formal check of your documents. For students from most universities of some countries (especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but also others) usually an 8-semester bachelor’s degree program is assessed to be equivalent to only 6 German semesters. Since our program requires at least 7 semesters (according to German standard), an admission is then only possible with one additional bridging semester. For electrical engineers we can offer such a bridging semester in English, for other applicants only in German. Only in this case is knowledge of German at level B2 necessary.

You can also apply at uni-assist without pre-assessment, but we do not recommend doing so.

 

Application via SSC portal

Applicants with a bachelor’s degree from a German university do not have to apply at uni-assist, they can directly apply via the SSC portal free of charge (online upload of documents).

The same might be the case for EU applicants (or applicants from other European countries such as Switzerland, Norway or the UK) with a bachelor’s degree from their home university or another EU university if it is clear that their bachelor's degree is equivalent to a German bachelor’s degree. In such a case, please contact the Degree Program Advisor or the Degree Program Coordinator.

The same documents as for the pre-assessment have to be provided (plus further documents if requested in the portal). The bachelor’s transcript must be officially notarized. Participation in the pre-assessment process is also recommended for such applicants.

Bavarian formula (Bayerische Formel)

A grading in letters A, B, C, ... must be converted to numbers: A=1, B=2, C=3, ...

If the total worst passing grade is different from the worst passing grades of individual subjects, the total worst pass grade has to be used.