Higher Education Systems - Germany
Education in Germany is governed and organised by the states (Länder), not by the federal government. Therefore, one has to deal with 16 state university laws that in some respect show slight differences. Nevertheless, the 16 states agree on the general structural properties of higher education. The standing conference of Ministers of Education (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK) releases common regulations that the states are expected to observe.
Higher education in Germany differentiates three types of institutions: Universities (Universitäten), UAS (Fachhochschulen) and Universities of Cooperative Education (Duale Hochschulen).
Universities are the traditional institutions of higher education. They are research oriented and offer Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees. The Universities’ Bachelor’s Informatics programs provide the scientific and methodological foundations of the discipline. Master’s programs are research oriented involving students in the current research activities of the Universities and allow a smooth transition to PhD programs. Qualification for professors is a PhD and the Habilitation or equivalent achievements.
Fachhochschulen are the successors of the previous engineering schools. They have in general a limited scope of topics (mostly engineering and business administration). Education at Fachhochschulen is more application oriented providing knowledge and skills directly needed by the job market. Despite the different profile academic degrees from University and Fachhochschule are formally equivalent which means that graduates from Fachhochschule may continue a Master’s program at a University and vice versa. Qualification for a professor at Fachhochschule is a PhD and five years of practical work experience.
Duale Hochschule is the new name for what was previously called a Berufsakademie (vocational academy). In some states the Duale Hochschulen are recognized as academic institutions. They offer Bachelor’s degrees in cooperation with companies. The education is organised as phases where students work at their company interleaving with phases in classes at the University. The students finish with a Bachelor’s degree, which also formally entitles them to continue with a Master’s program at Fachhochschule or University, if the institution is officially recognized as academic. Students are from the very beginning employees of the company and earn some money. Qualification for a professor at Duale Hochschule is an academic degree and five years of practical work experience.
Students in Informatics are enrolled in roughly equal numbers in University and Fachhochschule. In terms of student numbers, Duale Hochschule does not play a major role. Hereinafter we refer to Universities only, since they represent the members of Informatics Europe in Germany.
The structure of an Informatics program is usually a 3-year Bachelor’s (180 ECTS) and a 2-year Master’s (120 ECTS). Bachelor’s programs may be up to four years, but in this case the corresponding consecutive Master’s program has to be only one year, since the complete Bachelor-Master-cycle has to be five years corresponding to 300 ECTS. Basic entrance requirement for Bachelor’s programs is the school leaving certificate ("Hochschulreifezeugnis"). In recent years, some state University laws also allow students who have finished a vocational training. This type of permeability between academic and vocational education has high priority at the political agenda, despite problems of qualification mismatch.
The German constitution ensures free choice of profession which includes the right to enter higher education programs. A German University can limit the access only if there are more applicants than places. Otherwise, any applicant fulfilling the formal requirements hat to be accepted. There are laws regulating the calculation of places based on the number of teaching personnel and the respective curriculum (Kapazitätsrecht). Some universities limit the number of places (numerus clausus), some don't. If a limitation is in place a ranking has to be calculated based on grades and some other criteria to select the admitted applicants. Students are expected to earn 30 credits per semester. Depending on the state's University law, some universities set an upper bound for the individual study duration or a lower bound for the study progress (ECTS/semester) but in general there is only little pressure to finish in time.
The programs are organized in modules which consist of one or more courses and are finished by one exam. The size of a module is usually between 5 and 12 ECTS. Each program requires submitting a thesis at the last semester. A Bachelor’s thesis is worth 12 ECTS, a Master’s thesis 30 ECTS.
The academic year consists of two semesters and starts at 1 October with the winter semester. The summer semester starts on 1 April. Classes in the winter semester usually begin 15 October and end 15 February, classes in the summer semester run from 15 April to 15 July. Directly after the lectures are finished, there is 2- or 3-week examination period.
The prevailing Bachelor’s program is called "Informatik" (Informatics, Computer Science), but there is also "Technische Informatik" (Computer Engineering) offered. Also common are blended programs like Business Informatics, Bioinformatics, or Media Informatics. At the Master's level there is even more specialization available, e.g. programs like e.g. Embedded Systems, Computer Security or Computational Neuroscience.
The academic degree of the first cycle is "Bachelor of Science" (B.Sc.), at the second cycle "Master of Science" (M.Sc.). At the doctoral level you get either a Dr.-Ing. (Doctor in Engineering) or a Dr.rer.nat. (Doctor of Natural Sciences). This depends on the doctoral regulations of the respective faculty. The usual way to obtain a PhD in Informatics is to apply for a position as a research assistant at a University. This is a full-time position typically for up to 5-6 years that has some teaching obligation (4 weekly hours) but leaves sufficient time to work on a PhD thesis.