Computer Science

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related subjects.

Required ECTS credits: 180.

At least 60 CP must not be significantly different from the entry-level skills acquired in the Bachelor's program in Computer Science (B.Sc.) at TU Darmstadt.

The following describes in detail the expected professional entry competencies for the M.Sc. Computer Science:

1. Theoretical computer science: Applicants should be able to use mathematical notations and methods as a foundation for computer science concepts, especially for formal modeling and verification of software and hardware systems.
   Courses in which these entry-level skills are taught in the reference program at TU Darmstadt are Automata, Formal Languages and Decidability; Modeling, Specification and Semantics; Propositional and Predicate Logic.
2. Applied computer science: Applicants should be able:
   i) to select independently from a problem description the standard algorithms and data structures necessary for the solution according to the functional and non-functional requirements, and/or to construct and assess new algorithms and data structures for the problem solution on the basis of known strategies, if necessary with consideration of parallelism,
   ii) to combine the individual components of a programming language independently and without analogous examples in the context of a programming task to an overall solution,
   iii) to solve programming tasks in different, also parallel, programming languages, which follow different paradigms, have different application areas, and are located on the whole range of abstraction levels,
   iv) to ensure the quality of the created implementations through formalized testing procedures and design methods,
   v) to apply the aforementioned knowledge in practically relevant areas of computer science themselves. In doing so, non-functional aspects, in particular the security of the IT systems created, should also be taken into account.
   The competencies in practically relevant areas of computer science are acquired in the Bachelor's program in Computer Science at the TU Darmstadt in the courses: Algorithms and Data Structures; Computer Networks and Distributed Systems; Computer System Security; Formal Methods in Software Design; Functional and Object-Oriented Programming Concepts; Information Management; Introduction to Artificial Intelligence; Introduction to Compiler Construction; Operating Systems; Parallel Programming; Probabilistic Methods of Computer Science; Scientific Computing; Software Engineering; Visual Computing.
3. Technical computer science: Candidates should have the ability to:
   i) independently combine the individual design principles and basic elements of digital circuits, as introduced separately one after the other in the lectures, into an overall solution within the framework of a hardware design task without using an analog example,
   ii) solve design tasks at different levels of abstraction and from different application areas by means of structured design methods in different description languages and using a spectrum of design tools and evaluate them with regard to suitable quality measures,
   iii) understand the interaction of computer, processor, and microarchitectures and make appropriate implementation decisions from this for the system and application software level.
   Courses in which these entry-level skills are taught in the reference program at TU Darmstadt are Digital Design and Computer Organisation.

If, after the entrance examination, it is found that the applicant lacks entry-level skills that can be compensated for by making up achievements in the amount of no more than 30 CP, admission can be made subject to remedial coursework. This must be completed within the first two semesters. Which modules or subject examinations are chosen as remedial coursework and by when they must be completed will be listed in the admission notification.