Data Science Chemnitz University of Technology

The teaching language is mostly English, but we do have German requirements, so students can take lectures from the undergrad maths curriculum to recap some material and extend their knowledge.

The term "data science" describes a field of increasing importance involving the extraction of information from very large and unstructured data. Its applications include but are not limited to the following:

• in economics for using customer data to anticipate behaviour or predict market share or product life cycles
• in engineering, a field in which autonomous driving and image processing are of increasing importance
• in the humanities, a field in which translation and natural language processing have shown promising results and created new exciting fields such as digital humanities
• in social network analysis
• in medicine for cures that are designed for all kinds of diseases and treatments
• for modelling infectious diseases
• urban modelling

The availability of cheap computing power and the exponential increase in available data have fuelled the design of new algorithms within data science and machine learning that heavily rely on elegant mathematics and sophisticated computer science methodology.

The need for well-educated data scientists is clear. Our students work with many well-known companies throughout Germany and industrial cooperation is already a big part of the degree through jobs, seminars and thesis work.

15 July for the following winter semester
15 January for the following summer semester

All documents have to be submitted by the deadline via uni-assist. Please start your application as early as possible.

International applicants are very welcome!

The programme has several introductory courses such as the following:

• Introduction to Data Science
• Machine Learning
• Data Modelling seminar with industrial partners (Companies include Porsche, Siemens, and more.)

These courses are complemented with courses such as the following:

• Foundations of Big Data Analytics
• Matrix Methods in Data Science
• Optimisation for Machine Learning
• Statistical Data Science
• Deep Reinforcement Learning

Additional courses from mathematics and computer science are also possible as well as lectures from economics and electrical engineering, which allow for seeing the data science algorithms within applications.

Our students regularly participate in the International Data Mining Cup and earn top positions. Most of them are working students in local data science businesses.

No tuition fees

All students have to pay a semester contribution of approx. 330 EUR. This fee also covers the semester ticket, which permits you to use buses and trams in Chemnitz as well as regional trains throughout Germany during the semester. International students will receive the bank account details after admission, with which they can transfer the semester contribution. However, the fee can also be paid after arrival in Chemnitz (by German bank card or transfer).

Approx. 970 EUR per month to cover personal expenses

Our programme has a strong focus on an excellent mathematical education, and as such, we automatically admit graduates with degrees in one of the following:

• mathematics
• computer science
• physics
• electrical engineering

Applicants who have graduated with a degree in one of the aforementioned degrees will be accepted if they have gained a sufficient amount of maths-related ECTS points (roughly 27). People with other backgrounds and enough mathematical credit points are typically also admitted, but their applications are checked on an individual basis. Additionally, the course requires German on the level of telc C1 Hochschule or equivalent, which is crucial for people needing further mathematical modules that are supplemented from the maths curriculum. Almost all data science lectures are given in English.

German C1 or equivalent is required. The following certificates are accepted:

• Certificate of DSH exam - DSH-2, DSH-3
• TestDaF: level 4 on all four examination parts
• telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule
• Goethe Institute – ZOP
• Goethe Institute – KDS
• Goethe Institute – GDS
• DSD II
• Goethe Institute C2

Students need good knowledge of the English language, but a certificate is not required.

15 July for the following winter semester
15 January for the following summer semester

All documents have to be submitted by the deadline via uni-assist. Please start your application as early as possible.

International applicants are very welcome!

Incoming students can apply for different funding opportunities via the International Office of Chemnitz University of Technology: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/international/incoming/stipendien/index.php.en

Students can find offers for part-time jobs, work placements etc. on the job portal offered by the Career Service of Chemnitz University of Technology: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/career-service/jobboerse/

The "Studentenwerk" Chemnitz-Zwickau runs several student residences. International students can apply for a single room in one of the residences. The prices depend on the size and furnishings of the room and vary between 270 EUR and 350 EUR: https://www.swcz.de/en/student-housing/our-halls-of-residence/

The Career Service of Chemnitz University of Technology supports students during their studies as well as graduates entering their professional life. The Career Service provides a platform for companies and institutions to present themselves: https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/career-service/index.php.en

Come study in the European Capital of Culture 2025!

Approximately 8,300 students from about 90 countries study at Chemnitz University of Technology in eight faculties and at the Centre for Teacher Education. International students are supported by the International Office.

Due to the reasonably priced dormitory rooms directly on campus, the distances between accommodation, lecture buildings, cafeteria and student clubs are short. So if you feel like studying at a cosmopolitan university, apply to study in Chemnitz.

Chemnitz University of Technology is a cosmopolitan university with strong regional, national and international networks. It is also home to about 2,300 academic and administrative employees. It is thus the third largest university in Saxony. In terms of the proportion of foreign students, Chemnitz University of Technology occupies a top position among state universities nationwide. Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025, can point to many years of positive development in gross domestic product and a high proportion of highly qualified employees. It also owes this to its university, as Chemnitz University of Technology is the intellectual heart of the city and has developed into an internationally visible research location for future value creation processes and sustainable future security.

The university combines engineering and natural sciences as well as mathematics with humanities, social sciences and economics. At the junctures, unique degree programmes are created alongside pioneering research projects. These include, for example, sensor technology and cognitive psychology, computer science for humanities and social scientists, and the degree programme MINT: Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences with Applications in Technology. As of the 2025/2026 winter semester, the university offers about 100 degree programmes. A particular hallmark is the high degree of interdisciplinarity.

Chemnitz University of Technology considers excellent teaching to be an essential basis for additional lively scientific development of the research landscape as well as for the transfer of new questions, findings and methods to the economy and society. The university has created the necessary framework for this in its "Teaching Mission Statement". Thus, teachers and students jointly shape the teaching and learning conditions at Chemnitz University of Technology in the context of internationality and regionalism. The further development of study programmes is regularly initiated by the TUCpanel student survey as well as by accreditation procedures. This makes student success factors visible, which ultimately helps more students to successfully complete their studies in the standard period of study.

With 32 percent international students and numerous international researchers with cooperative relationships with 120 universities worldwide, Chemnitz University of Technology is one of the most internationally oriented universities in Germany. The university is also part of the Across Alliance. Students can benefit from a wide catalogue of courses offered by eight partner European universities. As a result of numerous exchange programmes, you can meet students from Chemnitz all over the world. It has been pursuing this path for many years with increasing dynamism and at a professional level, as evidenced by the seal of the HRK Re-Audit Internationalisation of Universities.

Chemnitz, European Capital of Culture in 2025 and the third largest city in Saxony, looks back proudly on a history of innovation with which few other cities can hope to compete. With the advent of the industrial revolution, Chemnitz quickly developed into the leading centre of mechanical engineering in Germany. This great tradition has continued uninterrupted to the present day, even through the period in which the city was known as Karl-Marx-Stadt. Today, Chemnitz (population 250,000) is well on its way to becoming one of the most important high-tech locations in Germany. But Chemnitz has much more to offer than just science and technology. Amongst other things, there is the Opera House (built in 1909), the King Albert Museum with its excellent collection of German Expressionist paintings, the Natural History Museum and the German Board Games Museum, the only one of its kind in Germany. And in the Kassberg Quarter, you can see the largest intact area of Art Nouveau architecture in Germany.