MSc Sustainability Management: Technology, Analytics & Transformation (SMA) RWTH Aachen University

Courses are held in English (100%). Additional German language courses are provided at no extra cost.

Our Master of Science in Sustainability Management transforms highly sought-after sustainability enablers who have all the necessary expertise & management know-how to guide a company on its path to sustainable and responsible operations. Young professionals will learn how to lead sustainability projects, drawing on deep expertise in sustainable technology, climate change, social science, innovation & analytics.

The high relevance of the programme attracts talented participants from around the world with a wide range of professional backgrounds. Enrolling will not only allow you to gain a distinct set of skills needed to succeed in today’s economy. It will also enable you to gain a truly comprehensive perspective on sustainability management and to build a vibrant network that will last for a lifetime.

After successfully completing this programme, graduates have obtained a variety of competencies that enable them to pursue a career in sustainability, corporate responsibility, and other related fields. 

Examples of possible career opportunities for graduates of the SMA include:

• Project Manager Sustainability
• Climate Protection Manager
• Manager Sustainability Metrics

Our Master of Science in Sustainability Management has a scope of three semesters and 90 CP.

Application for the SMA is possible from 1 October until 31 August for EU applicants and international applicants who hold an academic degree from a European university. For non-EU applicants, our application portal is open from 1 October until and including 1 March. There is no application fee.

Benefit from our early bird discount of 3,000 EUR by submitting your complete application by 15 January!

30,000 EUR for the entire programme

A diverse combination of modules will provide students with cutting-edge knowledge to meet the challenges of climate change, changing consumer behaviour, and resource scarcity as well as tightening political, environmental, and climate targets in a business-oriented context. Compulsory modules give a global overview of the subject. Students step into energy systems and markets, related data analysis and data management, technological innovations, and scientific contexts. In our exciting labs and elective modules, students have the opportunity to focus on their personal interests and dive deeper into the fields of data or innovation and technology.

Examples of courses include:

• Sustainable Technologies and Innovation
• Earth System Science
• Life Cycle Assessment
• Ethics and Behaviour in Organisations

10,000 EUR

30,000 EUR for the entire programme

All students at RWTH Aachen University are subject to the current semester fee of approx. 300 EUR per semester. It includes, among other benefits, a semester ticket covering public transport in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

A student's average monthly budget amounts to approx. 988 EUR. This includes rent, food, clothing, study material, health insurance, phone, Internet, and radio and television fees as well as expenses for leisure activities. It does not include the semester fee, which must be paid before each semester as part of re-registration. This means that further costs will be incurred at the beginning of the semester.

RWTH Business School is looking for applicants who have a high interest in sustainability related topics as well as enthusiasm about technology and data management.

Work experience:

• At least one year of professional work experience

Academic requirements:

• A completed first degree
• A minimum of 10 CP in mathematics and statistics

Certified proof of your competence in the English language is required through the completion of one of the accepted examinations listed below:

• TOEFL Internet-based minimum of 90 points
• IELTS test, minimum overall band score: 6
• Cambridge Test – Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)
• First Certificate in English (FCE), completed with a B
• Placement test of RWTH Aachen University's language centre (B2)

For German applicants: English at level B2 (can be proven by the "Abiturzeugnis")

Application for the SMA is possible from 1 October until 31 August for EU applicants and international applicants who hold an academic degree from a European university. For non-EU applicants, our application portal is open from 1 October until and including 1 March. There is no application fee.

Benefit from our early bird discount of 3,000 EUR by submitting your complete application by 15 January!

RWTH Business School offers various scholarships to support particularly suitable candidates. Please note that the committee's decision will be final and is not subject to legal recourse. Information on our scholarships and the application process as well as external scholarship opportunities can be found on our website.
Exclusively for the SMA, the scholarship "Green Thinking & Acting" is offered.

International students may take up work in the private sector during the semester or the semester break for up to three months without having obtained a work permit. Therefore, students may take up full-time work for 120 days or part-time positions for 240 days. This regulation is also stated on the residence permit. During the semester, students are allowed to take up jobs with working hours of up to 19 hours a week.
Student assistants are more flexible regarding working hours.

Availability of university accommodation in Aachen is limited. Therefore, participation in individual allocation procedures is usually required. Because of the demand for university accommodation, it can be necessary to switch to the private accommodation market.
Especially apartments for families and couples are very high in demand, so that accommodation from the private market is seemingly mandatory. The majority of RWTH Aachen University's students are committed to the private accommodation market.
There are a number of options for finding private accommodation in and around Aachen. Accommodation on the private market is priced between 290 EUR and 550 EUR per month, of course depending on the size and the number of rooms.
For short-term accommodation, there are many hotels, a few youth hostels, and a boarding house located in and around Aachen (reservation is recommended).

RWTH International Academy and RWTH Business School provide some rooms for international students in a flat-sharing community.

Our Career Service offers support in the form of advice, events, contacts, or our very own job portal. For instance, it gives students access to a broad network of business contacts and co-operation partners in all sectors of the economy – from start-ups to SMEs and global players – both nationally and internationally.

For more information, check out our homepage.

At the heart of one of Europe's leading technical universities, RWTH Business School combines the disciplines of management and technology in a wide range of continuing education programmes for professionals and executives. The offering includes a total of five MBA and Master's programmes as well as customised exclusive programmes for companies. In all programmes, current findings from engineering and natural sciences are applied to business problem areas to develop innovative approaches to solving future global challenges.

RWTH Aachen Business School gGmbH was opened in 2017 and since then has welcomed around 100 new students from over 30 nations each year. The renowned teaching quality of the AASCB-accredited Faculty of Business and Economics at RWTH Aachen University flows into all programmes.

Key facts:

• year founded: 2016 (first programmes offered in 2004)
• number of students: about 320
• percentage of international students: 75
• number of degree programmes: six
• alumni: more than 500
• number of staff: 15

One of the highlights of our Business School is its location on the RWTH Aachen campus. Research and teaching in Aachen are first and foremost application oriented and targeted at finding practical solutions to real-world challenges. Visible evidence of this is the RWTH Aachen campus, which is being developed in close cooperation with industry and will form one of the largest research parks in Europe.

The RWTH Aachen campus creates a unique symbiosis between the world of research and the world of business. On the campus, interdisciplinary teams of researchers work closely with industry consortia in state-of-the-art buildings that have been explicitly designed and constructed for that purpose. The companies involved share resources with university institutes, exchange knowledge directly on site, and collaborate on innovations for the future. More than 280 companies are currently represented on the RWTH Aachen campus.

Research activities on the campus are structured into long-term clusters, with each cluster located in a different building. A total of 16 clusters are under development, the six initial clusters include the Bio-Medical Engineering cluster, the Sustainable Energy cluster, the Photonics cluster, the Production Engineering cluster, the Heavy-Duty Drives cluster and the Smart Logistics cluster.

The campus project at RWTH Aachen University expands the traditional sphere of pure academic research and provides an ideal environment for innovation. The university will therefore be able to face future global challenges on a much broader scale.

All central facilities and most classrooms of the Business School are located on the RWTH Aachen campus, allowing students to experience the exciting intersection of management and technology first-hand and on a daily basis.