Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning

The Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning degree program combines art and science, i.e. social, cultural, natural and engineering sciences. You will be able to develop your artistic creativity and conduct scientific research. You will examine and design landscapes, whether they are nature reserves, city parks or squares, gardens, energy parks, or brownfield sites. Your goal is to improve the quality of life for people and nature. This requires sociological knowledge, social commitment and artistic intuition. Planning and designing landscapes also requires knowledge of the physical conditions of the environment – ecology, geology, climatology, soil and vegetation science. You will cooperate with a team on a variety of project work and with little lecture-style teaching, and during your obligatory semester abroad you will learn that your work is also relevant internationally.

The main focus of landscape architecture is on creative and scientific fields of design, closely related to urban planning and architecture. Within the focus of landscape planning, the ecological and scientific planning aspects are in the foreground. The Bachelor's program is interdisciplinary and combines both disciplines. In the four-semester basic studies, the stay abroad and the three-semester main studies including your final thesis, you can choose relatively freely between the specializations or follow one specialization completely.

Graduates in Landscape Planning and Landscape Architecture are in great demand. "Landscape architect" is a protected professional title in Germany, secured by the federal states’ Chamber of Architects and the laws of the Building Chamber. With the additional proof of professional experience, you are already entitled to enter the lists of the Chambers of Architects or Planners after completing your Bachelor´s degree. 

On the job market, you can aim for independent landscape architecture and planning offices as well as building and environmental administrations. Do you prefer to prepare ecological reports or to work in governmental and non-governmental nature conservation? How about environmental education, journalism, real estate, or project development? You are well prepared for these activities as well with the Bachelor's program in Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning.

As a graduate of a university for which the master's degree is the standard degree, we recommend our advanced master's programs in Landscape Architecture, Ecological Engineering, Urbanism, or Conservation and Landscape Planning.

During the first two semesters of project studies, you will focus on fundamental technical and methodological knowledge and get to know the specializations of landscape architecture and landscape planning. You will acquire essential knowledge in the fields of design, botany and the basics in natural and engineering sciences as well as in architecture and urban planning.

From the third semester onwards, you will expand your knowledge in complex project studies and core subjects. Further specialized required modules cover urban planning, ecology, technology in landscape architecture, geographical information systems and computer-aided design. Through various elective modules, you can set priorities according to your individual interests and thus build your own professional profile. You can choose between fields such as soil science, organic agriculture, environmental sociology, plant use, hydraulic engineering, limnology, traffic planning, land management, forestry and agricultural sciences.

In the fifth semester, you will complete the obligatory stay abroad. During your internship, you can expand your skills and try out job responsibility in a planning office, national park or other public authority during an internship, or take interesting modules of your choice while studying abroad at an established partner university. Are you looking forward to broadening your horizons in an exciting intercultural working and learning environment? Thanks to TUM’s multitude of international contacts with foreign institutions, almost all options are open to you.

After your return from abroad in the main study program from the sixth semester, you will be able to return to intensive project studies and in-depth discussion of current issues in science and research. Numerous seminars will expand your theoretical and methodological repertoire and train you in landscape ecology, science theory, modeling or research design. We also offer access to special fields of landscape architecture and landscape planning, for example in green technologies, land conversion, energy landscapes or urban redevelopment.

Your studies end with a bachelor’s thesis on a topic of your choice. Combine personal skills and preferences with the knowledge you have acquired and demonstrate your professionalism!

With a degree in Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning, you will be able to design open spaces, develop landscapes and master challenges for the protection of nature and landscapes. During your interdisciplinary university studies, you will learn many methods for analysis, evaluation, planning and design, and be able to apply them. Your knowledge of urban planning, botany, ecology, construction technology, plant use, CAD, garden design, design methodology and planning theory, instruments and law as well as project management will characterize your professional competence.

Depending on your individual interests and the focus of your studies, you will be particularly well experienced in architecture and urban planning or soil science and landscape development. Besides, you will be able to develop planning approaches, design solutions for complex problems, and check their structural feasibility. Alternatively, you could prepare expert reports and assess the condition and development goals of landscapes.

Overall, you will always aim to create sustainable living spaces for people and nature and never lose sight of the social, ecological and economic interrelationships.

Application requirements and admission requirements

The prerequisite for applying for a place in the Bachelor's degree Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning is a higher education entrance qualification. This can either be a school-leaving certificate or a sufficient professional qualification. More information on higher education entrance qualifications.

A further requirement is passing the two-stage Aptitude Assessment Procedure (AAP), in which it is determined whether you fulfill the qualitative requirements of the Bachelor's degree Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning in addition to obtaining a higher education entrance qualification.

Verification of language skills

The language of instruction in this degree program is German. Therefore, it is necessary to prove sufficient German language skills with your application. Please check whether you need a language certificate and which types are accepted.

Preliminary examination documentation 

All applicants for a Bachelor's degree program who have not obtained their university entrance qualification in the German school system in Germany or at a school with German Abitur examination regulations require a pre-examination documentation (VPD) and must apply via uni-assist e.V.. The VPD must first be requested from uni-assist before it is uploaded with the application to TUM.

Semester fees and tuition fees at TUM

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

Tuition Fees for International Students 

International students from third countries, i.e., countries outside the European Economic Area, are charged tuition fees. All information on fee amounts, waivers, and scholarship programs can be found on the tuition fees for international students website.

Application period and start of studies

The application period for admission-restricted Bachelor's degree programs at the TUM School of Life Sciences is from May 15 to July 15 of each year for the following winter semester. In the first semester the program can only be started in the winter semester.
Here you can find an overview of the semester dates.

In the Bachelor's degree Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning, it is only possible to apply for the summer semester at a higher semester.

Online application

You can only apply via our online application portal TUMonline, for which you must set up an applicant account.
Instructions for your online application
Please upload all documents to TUMonline before the end of the application deadline. Documents submitted via e-mail cannot be processed.

Aptitude Assessment:

Admission to the Bachelor's degree Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning requires special qualifications. Our first-year students are therefore selected via a two-stage Aptitude Assessment.
Below you will find a brief summary of the key points for the aptitude assessment procedure. Detailed information on the exact calculations and regulations can be found in the statutes on the aptitude assessment  for the Bachelor's degree course in Landscape Architecture and Landscape Planning. 

First stage of the procedure:

Based on the application documents received, the first stage involves an assessment according to established selection criteria using a points system. In addition to the average grade of the higher education entrance qualification (HZB), the grades listed in the HZB in the subjects German or English and one of the subjects biology, social studies, geography or art, which were acquired in the last four semesters before the HZB, are included in the assessment. Proven extracurricular qualifications or additional qualifications relevant to the course of study, such as vocational training, practical work experience or a voluntary social or ecological year, can also be taken into account. The aptitude committee decides on the recognition of additional qualifications.
The weighting of the three reference values for awarding points in the first stage of the procedure is: HZB average grade 0.55, subject-specific individual grades 0.3 and additional qualification 0.15.
Applicants who achieve the specified minimum score of 72 points receive direct admission in the first stage. If the assessment in the first stage results in 54 or fewer points, the applicants are deemed unsuitable and receive a rejection. If at least 55 but less than 72 points are achieved in this first stage of the procedure, this leads to participation in the second stage.

Second stage of the procedure (aptitude assessment interview):

The remaining applicants who are neither admitted nor rejected on the basis of their score in the first stage take part in a short (approx. 20-minute) aptitude assessment interview with members of the aptitude committee.

The interviews for students starting in the winter semester take place every year between June and August.
You will receive an invitation by email at least one week before the date and all the important information about attending the aptitude assessment interview. The aptitude interview is usually conducted online as a video conference.
The main purpose of the interview is to assess the applicant's personality and motivation and to find out their specific ideas about the degree program as well as their expectations and career goals.

Portfolio

During the aptitude interview, a portfolio compiled personally by the applicant must be presented, usually in digital form, at the beginning of the video conference. Further information on the type and scope of the portfolio can be found in the statutes on the aptitude assessment for this degree program. 

The compilation of the portfolio is usually sufficient as preparation for the aptitude interview, as it already provides an in-depth discussion of the desired course of study. At the same time, the course of the interview can be influenced by the documents submitted by applicants. The portfolio must contain an assurance that it was prepared independently and without outside help and that the ideas taken from outside sources are marked as such.

The total number of points in the second stage is the sum of the HZB points multiplied by 0.5 and the points from the aptitude interview multiplied by 0.5. 
Applicants who have achieved 70 or more points in the second stage have passed the aptitude assessment procedure. Applicants with a total score of less than 70 points have not passed the aptitude assessment procedure. You will be notified of rejection or admission to the program via your TUMonline account. 

Enrolment

Once you have been admitted to the program, you must accept your place in the applicant account, sign the application for enrollment and upload it with the missing documents for enrollment, and pay the semester fees. All relevant information is displayed in the TUMonline applicant account. 

Details on the enrollment procedure

Glossary of documents

Instructions for setting up the e-mail address at TUM

• Curriculum
  The degree chart 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

• General Academic and Examination Regulations at TUM (APSO)
• Academic and Examination Regulations (FPSO)
  • Regulations on the aptitude assessment
  • Academic and Examination Regulations 20231 (from start of degree program WS 23/24) only in German
  • Academic and Examination Regulations 20181 (from start of degree program WS 18/19) only in German

• 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 board of examination is a committee consisting of university professors and lecturers of the degree program. The chairperson of the board of examination of your degree program is Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ferdinand Ludwig. Applications to the board of examination are received by the secretary and submitted to the board of examination for decision. You can reach the secretary by sending an email to examination.co(at)ls.tum.de.
   

Diploma Supplement 

The Diploma Supplement is an English-language addition to the university degree certificate. It describes the qualifications associated with the study program according to uniform criteria. Diploma Supplement: Activity List and Log Sheet

A subject-specific stay abroad is planned for the 5th semester. This can be a course of study at a foreign university, a research stay or an internship. Thanks to a variety of contracts and partnerships with foreign institutions, as well as specific support and advice, there is a worldwide selection.

• Information about the stay abroad (with TUM login only)
• To the map with the partner universities
• Internship database of the TUM School of Life Sciences

The internships of the Vocational Field Orientation module can be completed in Germany or abroad. There are numerous support possibilities for the stay abroad. Just ask at our International Center.

The Weihenstephan Internship Office can offer further information and support in your search for internship companies.

More information about

• Internships
• Excursions