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General Information

International Students at FU

International Students at FU
Image Credit: Michael Fahrig

Are you interested in studying Computational Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin?

Since 2016, students from all over the world can apply to our interdisciplinary Master’s degree program jointly conducted by the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, of Earth Sciences, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and the Department of Physics. The program combines methods from mathematics and computer science with applications across the sciences - with the opportunity to specialize in molecular, geological, or atmospheric sciences. 

Prerequisites for an application are: 

  • Bachelor degree (completed or soon-to-be-completed) as listed in Sec. 3 of the Admissions statutes
Note: German proficiency is not a prerequisite for this program. However students without German knowledge may experience some limitations depending on their choice of specialization. We therefore strongly recommend a pre-semester German course of the Language Centre of Freie Universität Berlin for interested students with limited or no German knowledge. For more information, please see here.

Admission to the Winter Semester 2026

  • Applications for admission to the winter semester 2026/27 will be accepted from mid-April 2026 to May 31st 2026. More information can be found here.

Admission to the Summer Semester 2027

  • Applications are only possible for a higher semester. Applications may be submitted between December and mid-January, 2027. 

Application

  • Students, who have obtained their BSc degree outside Germany require a VPD (which may be applied for at any time at uni-assist and is valid for one year). With this, the application can be submitted directly to FU.

  • Students, who have obtained their BSc degree in Germany need to apply directly at the university (here).

  • If your transcript does not use ECTS and your institution has no official conversion guideline you can For the use this formula for the conversion of credit points into ECTS. Keep in mind that this is a guideline only. 

  • The required level of English is B1. Proof of this may be submitted in various forms - you can find information on this here.

  • Applications to this program are processed by the central Admissions Office. The departments review the subject-related qualifications. 

Links for Applicants

Requirements & Selection Criteria

Degree Requirements

To be admitted to the MSc Computational Sciences, applicants need to hold a completed or soon-to-be completed Bachelor degree fulfilling one of the following conditions:

BSc Physics BSc Chemistry BSc Mathematics BSc Computer Science BSc Geological Sciences BSc Geographical Sciences BSc Meteorology BSc Engineering
  and / including and/ including and/ including   and/ including and/ including and/ including
no further requirements

10 ECTS in Mathematics

AND

10 ECTS in Physics

20 ECTS in

Computer Science

OR

Chemistry

OR

Physics

20 ECTS in

Mathematics

Or

Chemistry

Or

Physics

 no further requirements

10 ECTS in Mathematics

10 ECTS in Mathematics

20 ECTS in

Mathematics

OR

Chemistry

OR

Physics

How to understand the and/ including? The programs sometimes do not cover enough of a specific subject (i.e. mathematics) to give applicants the required background to succeed in the MSc Computational Sciences. The "and/including" requirements are here to make sure applicants have sufficient knowledge. The credits can be part of the degree or earned as extracurriculars. If applicants hold more than one degree, credits earned across degrees are taken into account. 

In case of the "20 ECTS" requirement, credits may also be spread across the mentioned subjects. 

What if your degree is not mentioned? If it is roughly equivalent to one of the degrees named here, but carries a different name, this usually is not an issue. With other programs, we regularly see successful candidates (i.e. bioinformatics), if they selected suitable electives. For degrees outside of this area, applications may be possible if extracurricular coursework about-equivalent to a Bachelor degree has been taken up. 

English Proficiency

The required proficiency for English is level B1 (CEFR). Acceptable forms of proof include:

  • IELTS (4.0, 4.5, 5.0) 
  • Cambridge Examinations: B1 Preliminary (before PET) and higher
  • TOEFL: 
    • TOEFL iBT (71-43); 
    • TOEFL PBT (542-460); 
    • TOEFL ITP Level 1 (542-460) 
  • UNIcert® I 
  • Telc B1-Zertifikat 
  • Pearson PTE Academic 58 – 43 
  • TOEIC: TOEIC Listening and Reading Test (784-550); TOEIC Speaking Test (159-120); TOEIC Writing Test (149-120); TOEIC Bridge Test (180-170) 
  • a completed degree program in English 
  • School-leaving certificate with designated level B1 
  • five years of English instruction at school (only if the language level is not shown on the (school) certificate).

More detailed information on the language requirements and acceptable forms of proof may be found here.

Zulassung_klein

Selection Criteria

If you fulfill the admission requirements, your application will be ranked. Selection criteria determine the ranking. It is possible to gain up to 65 selection points.

  1. Up to 50 selection points are awarded for the final grade of your qualifying degree, ●
  2. 15 selection points can be awarded for specific subjects & contents of the qualifying degree 
    • If you have a BSc in chemistry, physics, geological sciences, meteorology, geographical sciences, or engineering and 10 ECTS in mathematics or computer science, or 
    • If you have a BSc in mathematics or computer science and have 10 ECTS in chemistry, physics, geological sciences, geographical sciences, of meteorology
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