Biology

The TUM's Master’s program in Biology offers a wide range of subjects covering almost all areas of modern biology, from basic research to applied research. The field ranges from biochemistry to ecology. The approach always focuses on connecting factors: going, for example, from biological principles for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases like cancer and neurogenerative alterations to the biotechnology associated with them; from systematic approaches to individualized diagnostics and medication and the bioinformatics methods required for this; from securing the world's food supply through, for example, development of drought-resistant crops using modern methods of molecular plant breeding.

Of course, there are also many organism-based tasks to be performed, such as recording and maintaining biodiversity and ecosystems and dealing with neophytes and neozoans. Exciting topics include, for example, research into the human microbiome and the physiological consequences associated with it; the challenges of neurobiology at the interface between the senses, processing and control and the connection to psychophysics and human-machine communication.

The big scientific strides are more often taken in interdisciplinary areas than within the traditional subjects. That's why you choose a focus of three individual study specializations. The degree program offers great freedom in your choice of modules. You can choose from a catalog of more than 200 elective modules from the TUM School of Life Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine and Helmholtz Zentrum München, and build your profile accordingly. You can freely combine focus areas and modules to build a unique competence profile.

The program is primarily research-oriented – but there are also fields of activity with particular practical relevance, for example, in pharmacy, pharmacology, animal and plant production, or the food and brewing industry, as well as clinical laboratories. Graduates of the TUM Master’s program in Biology are well prepared to master the challenges of the 21st century in the life sciences.

The career opportunities for biologists are diverse. Depending on your choice of specialization, you will find jobs in university, applied, medical and industrial research, in the food industry, quality control, product marketing as well as in offices, authorities, and public institutions. The fields of activity that particularly relate to research are broad and can be found, for example, in molecular biology, biochemistry, immunobiology, virology, oncology and tumorigenesis, microbiology, genetics, cell biology, neurobiology, taxonomy, animal and plant physiology, and ecology. For certain positions a doctorate is recommended, which you can take following your Master's degree.

For the Master’s in Biology, you can choose from seven possible majors:
•    Biochemistry / Cell biology
•    Genomic / Biostatistics
•    Medical biology
•    Microbiology
•    Ecology / Environmental Management
•    Plant sciences
•    Animal sciences

You must complete at least three of these specializations with 25 credits each. You are free to combine the specializations as you wish, resulting in over 35 possible and very different qualification profiles. You can therefore develop according to your interests and prepare for your desired profession. It makes sense to combine related subjects (for example microbiology, cell biology/biochemistry, and medical biology), but in individual cases an unusual combination can also lead to a profile suited to a specific role.

If you complete at least 35 credits as well as your Master’s thesis in one of the main areas of study, you can expand this into your main area of qualification. Specialization in this main area provides the broad approach and networked knowledge of different areas that are characteristic of biologists. Additional modules outside of your specialization and one general subject complement your profile.

Interest aroused? Just take a look at an example curriculum!

As a graduate of the Master's program in Biology, you will be able to understand and analyze complex biological relationships. You will have deepened and expanded the knowledge acquired in your bachelor's degree and, by choosing your specialization, you will now have more specialized knowledge, while being able to work across disciplines. Your competence profile will reflect your inclinations, interests and abilities. The various internships during your studies will enable you to plan and carry out experiments independently, to process and evaluate the data acquired from them, and to put that data into a larger context. Besides this, you will be able to plan entire research projects and develop solutions for complex biological questions. The knowledge you acquire in the Master's program, together with professional and methodological competences as well as personal and social skills, will enable you to conduct basic research, to work on applied problems, and to deal confidently with as yet unknown topics. You are thus ideally prepared to make your mark in the dynamic and interdisciplinary field of the life sciences.

Application requirements and admission requirements

The prerequisite for admission to a Master's degree course in Biology is a qualified Bachelor's degree of at least six semesters or an equivalent degree in the fields of Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Biochemistry, or a comparable course of study, which you have obtained at a university in Germany or abroad.

At the time of application, you must submit a transcript of records with modules amounting to at least 120 credits [ECTS], modules amounting to at least 150 credits for a seven-semester Bachelor's degree program, and modules amounting to at least 180 credits for an eight-semester Bachelor's degree program.
 

Language certificate

The Master's degree program in Biology can be studied in German or English.

Applicants who have completed their education at a German-speaking institution do not require a separate language certificate.

Applicants whose education was completed at an English-speaking institution do not require a separate language certificate.

All other applicants must either provide proof of English by means of a recognized language test such as the “Test of English as a Foreign Language” (TOEFL; at least 88 points), the “International English Language Testing System” (IELTS, at least 6.5 points) or the “Cambridge Main Suite of English Examinations” or provide proof of German, e.g. level DSH II or comparable.
 

Preliminary Documentation (VPD)

For applications for studies starting from winter semester 2025/26, all applicants with a entrance qualification for Master’s degree programs that was not obtained at a German university must apply for a preliminary Documentation (VPD); this also applies to entrance qualifications obtained in EU/EEA countries. The VPD must at first be applied for at uni-assist before it is uploaded together with the application at TUM. 

Semester fees and tuition fees at TUM

All students have to pay a semester fee for the student union (Studierendenwerk).

++ NEW ++ International students from third countries, i.e. countries that do not belong to the European Economic Area, will be charged tuition fees as of winter semester 2024/25. All information on fee levels, waivers and scholarship programs can be found on the website on tuition fees for international students.
 

Application period and start of studies

The application period is from 01 January to 31 May each year for the following winter semester. The start of the degree program is only possible in the winter semester. See here for semester dates.

Online application

The application is only possible via our online application portal, for which an applicant account must be set up. The instructions for the online application can be found here. All documents must be uploaded to the TUMonline portal by the end of the application deadline! Documents submitted by e-mail cannot be processed.

Depending on the nationality and the country in which the Bachelor's degree was obtained, different documents may have to be submitted via our TUMonline portal. Documents issued in German or English do not have to be translated. Documents that are not issued in German or English must be translated into German or English by a sworn translator. Both the original and the translation must be uploaded to as one PDF file. The documents required for the application can be found in the country-specific regulations and in the glossary of documents.

Please note: We can only consider applications that have been uploaded in full and within the application deadline!
 

Qualification test (TUM-Test) 

++IMPORTANT ++ Applicants with an undergraduate degree outside the area of applicability of the Lisbon Convention (Countries of the Lisbon Convention) must take an electronic qualification test (TUM-Test) before the application deadline in order to participate in the aptitude procedure.

At the latest one week before the date of the online aptitude test, we will automatically send you an email with the Exam-TUM-Moodle Login and access data. This means that you can access the Moodle course one week before the online aptitude test to get an overview of the system and read all the information. 

Participation in the TUM-Test requires an application in the online application portal (TUMonline). This means that the application must be sent electronically! Documents (such as proof of participation in the TUM-Test) can be uploaded later without any problems.

The date for the TUM-Test can be found here .

Applicants with an undergraduate degree within  the area of applicability of the Lisbon Convention (countries of the Lisbon Convention) do not have to take a qualification test (TUM-Test).

The TUM-Test for the Master's program in Biology is offered once per application phase. The TUM-Test takes place in written form and in English as an online test.

It lasts 30 minutes and comprises approx. 20 questions on the following topics:

• Genetics and biochemistry
• Microbiology
• Ecology
• Plant sciences
• Animal sciences
• Natural science basics

If you have achieved at least 70 points in the TUM-Test you will be assessed in the aptitude process. You will receive a confirmation of your participation in the TUM-Test Biology with the achieved score. You must upload this confirmation with your application documents.

The results of the TUM-Test are valid for a maximum of two years.
 

Aptitude assessment procedure

In a subsequent aptitude assessment process, we will check whether you have the appropriate qualifications and skills for the Master`s program.

(1) For applicants with an undergraduate degree within  the area of applicability of the Lisbon Convention (countries of the Lisbon Convention), in the first stage of the aptitude assessment procedure, the qualifications acquired in the first degree course will be assessed on the basis of the existing grade and the existing specialist knowledge on the basis of a curricular analysis derived from the transcript of records. 

The link and Application number/Antragsnummer (1-00xxxxxx) to register for the curricular analysis can be found in your TUMonline application account.

On the basis of the curricular analysis, the commission evaluates and grades your basic competencies in the following fundamental subject groups:

• Fundamentals of natural sciences (e.g., mathematics, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, computer science, statistics)
• Biosciences (e.g., genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, ecology, plant sciences, animal sciences)
• Credits from modules belonging to the natural sciences and/or biosciences or a related field

The overall assessment of the first stage is the sum of the calculated score of the curricular analysis and the calculated score for the grade.

Applicants who have achieved at least 80 points have passed the aptitude test.
Applicants who have achieved less than 70 points have failed the aptitude test.

The remaining applicants will be invited to an aptitude interview (second stage of the aptitude assessment process). The interview lasts 20 to 30 minutes and takes place via Zoom. The date for the interview will be announced at least one week in advance.

(2) For applicants with an undergraduate degree outside the area of applicability of the Lisbon Convention (Countries of the Lisbon Convention), the qualification acquired in the first degree course will be assessed in the first stage of the aptitude assessment procedure on the basis of the result (score) of the TUM-Test Biology.

Applicants with at least 80 points in the test have passed the aptitude test.

The remaining applicants will be invited to an aptitude assessment interview (second stage of the aptitude assessment process). The interview lasts 20 to 30 minutes via Zoom. The date for the interview will be announced at least one week in advance.

The application procedures are described in Appendix 2a (without TUM-Test) and 2b and 3 (with TUM-test) of the latest Fachprüfungs- und Studienordnung des Studiengangs of the program.
 

Enrollment

After admission to the program, the study place must be accepted in the applicant's account, the application for enrollment has to be signed and uploaded together with the missing documents for enrollment. And also the semester fees must be paid. All relevant information is displayed in the TUMonline applicant account. See here for details on the enrollment process and here for the glossary of documents.

Please note: From the time of admission, we will only contact our students via the tum.de or mytum.de email address, which can be found in the applicant account. Instructions for setting up the e-mail address at TUM can be found here.

• Curriculum
  The curriculum gives you an overview and recommendation, which modules you should take in which semester according to academic and examination regulations (FPSO).
   
• Timetable (TUM ID required for login):
  This timetable is intended to give you an overview of the planned compulsory and elective modules of a semester. It is for orientation purposes only and will not be updated during the semester! 
  
  Via TUMonline you can have a timetable created for each semester according to FSPO.
  
  You can also create your own individual timetable, which can contain not only the dates of the selected courses, but also your personal appointments.
  
  First steps with TUMonline

Your individual curriculum is for your statutorily correct study planning. To be used ONLY for the start of studies until summer semester 2022/23.
The statutes from incl. winter semester 2023/24 (start of studies 2023W) are completely mapped via TUMonline, a study plan is no longer necessary. Please edit only with Windows-PC and only with MS-EXCEL!

• General Academic and Examination Regulations at TUM (APSO)
• Academic and Examination Regulations (FPSO)
  • Academic and Examination Regulations 20231 (from start of degree program WS 23/24) - Amending statute 17.01.2024
  • Academic and Examination Regulations 20211 (from start of degree program SoSe 2022)
  • Academic and Examination Regulations 20211 (from start of degree program WS 21/22)

• Examination dates & registration via TUMonline
  In TUMonline you can register for the module examinations that accompany your studies. 

  Important: You can only take most of the exams if you have actively registered yourself via TUMonline within the registration period. The registration and deregistration period will be displayed at the exam date.

• Further examination matters
  • Academic progress check
  • Examinations
  • Recognitions
  • Theses
• Board of Examination
  The examination board is a committee of university lecturers including  lecturers of the degree program. The chairperson of the examination board of your degree program is Prof. Dr. Philipp Benz. Applications to the examination board are accepted by the secretary and submitted to the examination board for decision. You can reach the secretary via e-mail examination.co(at)ls.tum.de.

Scientific Project Planning (WPP) (ger: „Wissenschaftliche Projektplanung“, short: WPP)

For students starting the Master's program in the WS 23/24 or later:
The WPP is part of the thesis and should be successfully completed before starting work on the thesis. It will be graded as "pass/fail" using the form linked below.
A separate registration is not necessary, as your Master's thesis examiner is also the examiner of your WPP.

For students starting the Master's degree program before WS 23/24:

Scientific Project Planning (WPP) is a mandatory module for Master's students of Biology. It must be successfully completed before the start of the Master's thesis. The WPP must be registered with the examination board and approved by them together with the thesis. This means that the thesis must be registered in the portal around the same time. Registration of the WPP takes place using the form linked below. Thesis and WPP must be registered at least 4 weeks before the WPP.

Your examiner must report the WPP examination to the Campus Office using the form linked below. 

Information on the WPP can be found in the module description in TUMonline, as well as in §46a of your FPSO.

• Registration form for the scientific project planning (WPP)
• Grade notification form for scientific project planning

Important information on the submission of theses

A pre-study internship before the start of the course is not required for admission.

Bus connection Weihenstephan – Garching

More information about

• Internships
• Excursions