Creating a Curriculum Vitae (CV) for German Universities: Guidelines for International Students (2026)

The Curriculum Vitae (CV), or Lebenslauf in German, is a mandatory application document for German universities. It provides a structured overview of your academic background, work experience, extracurricular activities, and skills. A well-prepared CV following German standards is crucial for making a strong first impression on admissions officers.

German universities often use CV, Curriculum Vitae, Resume, or Personal Data Sheet interchangeably. Don’t be confused if different study programs list varying terms—they all refer to the Lebenslauf in German. While “CV” is the most commonly used term in Germany, “Resume” appears less frequently. The choice of wording depends on the cultural and linguistic background of the university staff.

You may be wondering how important this document is for your German university application, and you are on the right track! In fact, a CV is usually the first of many application documents that German universities will look at. It is therefore crucial in terms of making a first impression.

Interestingly, unlike the cases of the Grade Point Average or the Letter of Motivation (LOM), German study programs do not assign any specific weight to the CV. Instead, a CV serves more like a "pass/fail" test. In particular, depending on the quality of your CV, you can either just retain the "status-quo" or make things worse. Put differently, with a high-quality CV, you can make a good first impression on the examiners, which will keep you in the competition for a place in the program. However, if your CV is of low quality, the admissions officers will have a bad first impression, which might even cause your application to be rejected. Hence, although a good CV will not strengthen your application as much as the LOM can, it is still crucial as a CV that meets high German standards will keep your chances for a successful application to a German university alive.

When writing a CV for a German university application, start by checking if your chosen program has specific guidelines. If it does, follow them strictly. However, many universities don’t specify CV requirements—and that’s not a problem! Germany follows standardized CV expectations regarding content, format, and structure, which you can confidently adhere to. Here are the seven most common questions we receive at MyGermanUniversity about German CV standards.

In your CV, German universities seek to determine whether your background, interests, and skills align with the expectations of the Bachelor’s or Master’s program you’re applying to. 

The key elements admissions officers focus on are:

• Education: Degrees, schools/universities attended, and academic achievements.

• Work experience: Internships, jobs, or research relevant to your field of study.

A structured and concise CV that highlights these aspects increases your chances of a successful application.

The question of "what should a German CV look like" can be reformulated as "what is the structure of the German CV". Basically, your German CV should consist of four core sections, which are:

• Header. In this section, you should provide your personal details, like your first and last names, physical and email addresses, phone number, etc.

• Education. This is THE most important section of your CV for a German university application. Here you should provide information regarding your academic background. For example, it can be a high school diploma and a Bachelor's degree. Among others, you should include the date when you attended the school/university, the names of the institutions, location, etc.

• Work Experience. This part should encompass information regarding your professional experience, including internships and volunteerships. And again, you should specify the dates, the location, names of the organizations/institutions, your position, etc.

• The Rest. This is a broad section, which you can break down into several parts. For instance, if applicable, it should include the parts on extracurricular activities (e.g., workshops, summer schools, etc.), scholarships and awards, memberships (e.g., in case you are a member of any societies or clubs), skills (e.g., language skills, digital skills) and hobbies.

When it comes to the formats of German resumes, you might often hear the following words: Tabellarische, Lückenloser Lebenslauf. This can be translated as "Tabular CV without gaps". These are one of the main requirements with respect to the German CV format. Other popular CV format-related requirements are reverse chronology and using the same script. So, what does each of these mean? 

• Let's start with the first word "Tabular". To put it shortly, when German universities ask you to provide a CV in tabular form, they mean that you should have the CV structured like in table format rather than a narrative. Besides, the dates (of academic or professional experiences, winter schools etc.) should be on the left-hand side, while the titles and descriptions on the right-hand side.

• As for "without gaps", let us provide you with the following example. For instance, if in your German CV you state that you completed your Bachelor's in 2016, and then there are no more entries in any section until 2019 when you started working in company "X", it means that you have around a 3-year gap in your CV. This is something that admissions officers of the German university you applied to will not like. In other words, by having an unexplained gap, the quality of your German CV will be worsened. Consequently, you should try your best to avoid causing this kind of confusion and not leave any gaps in your CV. 

• Another important requirement of the German CV format is reverse chronology. This means that you should start with the most recent experience instead of the oldest. For instance, you should first mention your Bachelor's degree and then your high school diploma.

• Last but not least, you should use the same script type throughout your German CV, preferably a standard script like Times New Roman or Arial. The font size can be 11-12pt for general text and 14-16pt for headers/titles.

If the German university or the German study program does not explicitly ask you to use the Europass CV, you should not do that, as Europass is not a very commonly used format in Germany. In fact, most German universities prefer the German-style CV over the Europass CV. When you find out in the application requirements that your desired German study program asks you to submit the CV without specifying the format, it automatically means that the admissions officers expect you to submit the standard German CV.

Only rarely will you find a German university asking for the Europass CV. Below are some examples of those German universities and study programs that are fine with or even require a Europass CV.

Yes, German universities usually require you to have your photo in the CV. The headshot should be professional, LinkedIn-style. In general, a photo in a CV for any purpose is a standard in Germany. So, even if the German study program that you are applying to does not mention that you need a photo in your CV, you still need to include the headshot. The only case where your CV should be without a photo is when the German university explicitly asks for that, which happens quite rarely. 

Here are some examples of some German universities and programs which do not specifically request a photo in your CV:

Your German CV should be neither too short nor too long. In general, German universities and study programs expect your CV to be 1-2 pages long. Put differently, ideally, your German CV should not be less than 1 page or more than 2 pages. 

And again: this is a standard "formula" which you should follow unless your desired German university/study program has different requirements. For instance, the Master's program in Software Engineering for Industrial Applications offered by the Hof University of Applied Sciences will be fine with you sending in a 3-page long CV.

According to German standards, a signature is generally required in your German CV. Although most of the programs do not render that explicit, unless specifically mentioned otherwise, you should always sign your CV for the German university application. Some of the German study programs, such as M.Sc. Intelligent Systems at Ulm University of Applied Sciences, M.A./M.Sc. Mind and Brain at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin etc., specifically put an emphasis on this requirement.

In general, German universities and organizations do not provide specific CV guidelines. Finding official recommendations can often be challenging. But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! Our team has compiled guidelines from various German universities and organizations to help you structure your CV according to German standards. You can explore these official recommendations in the tables below.

If you plan to study in Germany, your CV (Lebenslauf) will likely be needed for more than just your university application. 

A CV (Lebenslauf) is a crucial part of a Master’s application at German universities. Almost all Master’s programs require applicants to submit one, making it an essential document in the admission process.  The CV provides admissions officers with a concise overview of your academic background, work experience, extracurricular activities, and skills, helping them assess whether you are a good fit for the program. If you’re wondering how to structure your CV for a Master’s in Germany, this article provides clear guidelines and best practices to ensure your application meets German university standards.

If you're planning to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Germany, having a well-crafted CV (Lebenslauf) is essential. Surprisingly, approximately 90% of German Bachelor's programs require a comprehensive resume as a standard application document. Whether you're not yet ready for a Master's or are targeting undergraduate studies, understanding how to create an effective German CV can significantly boost your admission chances.

In case you are planning to come and study in Germany with a DAAD scholarship, you will need to prepare a separate application package, which also includes a CV. 

Depending on the DAAD program you want to apply to, there might be some slight differences with regard to CV requirements. For example, the EPOS program specifically asks for the Europass format, while the Study Scholarships - Master Studies for All Academic Disciplines program does not.

By the way, the CV for DAAD should also be in tabular form. For more information about a resume for a DAAD scholarship, check out our article.

In fact, there are numerous ways of getting a scholarship to study in Germany! Here you can find some of the most popular ones (e.g., the 13 German public scholarship foundations or "Begabtenförderungswerke" in German). It is noteworthy that the German organizations offering scholarships usually require you to submit a CV. Keep in mind that specific requirements might vary slightly from organization to organization.

Students preparing to apply to German universities often seek CV (Lebenslauf) examples online, particularly in PDF format, to guide their application process. However, this approach comes with significant risks. The internet is saturated with low-quality German CV templates that can potentially undermine your university application. However, it is noteworthy that, in general, there is nothing wrong with using templates as long as they are good. In fact, unlike the case of the Letter of Motivation, using a CV template is even recommended. Why? Because the LOM is an essay where the risk of plagiarism is extremely high, while in the CV, you just provide facts related to your own biography in a structured manner - this cannot be plagiarized. One of the examples that can serve as proof of the fact that using templates for your German university application is fine comes from the Bachelor's study program in International Business offered by Karlshochschule International University. They specifically underline that you are free to use Europass as a sample.

When applying to German universities, your CV (Lebenslauf) can make or break your admission chances. Understanding and avoiding common pitfalls is crucial to creating a compelling application. Here are the most critical errors that could potentially derail your university admission prospects: