Frequently Asked Questions

Course Guidance and Information

Please send your questions to:
Nancy Reichel
E-Mail: scientific-instrumentation@eah-jena.de

Application

The amount to be transferred is 75 Euro. Please use OUR (Outward remittance) in order make sure that the full amout reaches our account.

Starting from 2023 application period, posting hard copies will not be required. Please send your documents through email as described on the course page.

Yes, you may apply without the APS-certificate. Since the appropriate certificate is a mandatory part of the application documents, the letter in case of admission will be of conditional type. Please submit the APS certificate as available.

No, applicants reseiding in Germany already will be excempted for this application period. We assume that your application documents are genuine. Generally, misleading statements during the application process can lead to a de-enrolment later.

Your application will be evaluated by the admission board. The board will look not only at your aggregate marks but also on the marks in some most important subjects, the quality and adequacy of your Bachelor's programme completed as well as research done in a field of relevance or work experience. It is therefore not possible to tell your chances in advance. The full application is needed before the evaluation can be performed.

According to the regulations admission can be gained by getting 50 out of 115 points using following calculation:

  1. You need to re-calculate your grade into a German grade using the modified Bavarian Formula available here.
  2. With your German grade (1 to 4) you can calculate the points using the formula: points = (4-Grade) x 25 points.
  3. If your previous course is a good fit, the admission board can add up to 25 points.
  4. If you have scientific results or publications in a relevant field, physics, instrumentation and so on, the admission board can add another 15 points maximum.

Please consider that in some cases we use percentage rather than GPA. It is therefore important to include a conversion paper in your application documents, if available.

A valid IELTS or TOEFL certificate meeting our requirements will be required for application if you are not a native speaker. If you originate from a country, having English as its (first) official language, you can be exempted. Certificates issued by other institutions will not be accepted.

You may apply without IELTS or TOEFL certificate first. In case of admission, the letter will be of conditional type. The certificate meeting our requirements has to be provided upon enrolment at the latest.

You can apply without your provisional or final degree certificate. Please provide us with as many marksheets as available. In case of admission, the letter issued will be of conditional type. The appropriate certificate has to be provided upon enrolment at the latest. 

All compulsory modules of the course are fully taught in English language. Included in the Master course are introductory modules "German as a foreign language". Nevertheless, a good command of German helps a lot in daily life. Furthermore, your career prospects will be dramatically increased.

Citizens from most countries outside the European Union need a Student Visa. Please contact the German Embassy or a German Consulate General in your country for the details and the processing time. You will need various documents and also a financial proof for your entire period of studies in Germany (usually based on expenses of about 861 Euro per month).

For some countries there are also "Study Applicant's Visa", but Tourist Visas may not be modified after arrival in Germany. Ask the German Embassy or Consulate in your country for the regulations before or directly after you send us your application.

For more information on this topic, please refer to our website.

There are students halls of residence (dormitories, Wohnanlagen) which are operated by the "Studierendenwerk". The Studierendenwerk is a non-profit organisation which provides various services to students. You can find information on the dormitories at the Studierendennwerk website. The number of rooms is limited and often does not cover the demand. Therefore, please apply for a room with the Studentenwerk as soon as possible. Applications will be accepted from April 1st. The application for the room can be cancelled free of charge, in case you should not get an acceptance. Do not wait for the acceptance letter to reach you. If you have booked a room with the Studentenwerk, please do not forget to confirm the reservation as indicated in the message(s) from the Studentenwerk. Please consider that several messages asking for confirmation might be sent prior your arrival. Please also check your spam folder.

There are also private rooms and flats for rent in Jena, of course. However, it would be rather difficult to find and rent a private flat from abroad. Furthermore, it will be difficult and expensive when you arrive in Jena without having reserved a room. If you like so, you can of course look for a private flat after you have become familiar with Jena.

For more information on this topic, please refer to our website.

It is mandatory for a student to take up a German health insurance. The monthly fee is about 107 Euro. A foreign health insurance is not accepted. Therefore, it is sufficient for you to cover the trip to Germany and the first one or two weeks by a health insurance from your country. Our student tutors will help you to register with a German health insurance after your arrival.

Payments like semester fee, rental fees etc. can usually be performed only by bank transfer. Therefore you will have to open a bank account in Germany. There are banks which offer accounts free of charge to students. Our student tutors will help you opening a bank account after arrival.

The course starts once a year with the winter semester. Within the month of October enrolment and other administrative tasks will be taken care of. After finishing this introductory part, the lectures and lab courses will start. Important dates will be mentioned in the admission letter. For the recent semester dates, i.e. the lecture and examination period, you may also refer to our website.

The application process requires sending soft copies only. There is no point in certifying sof copies.

  1. You may check the status of your application through http://onlinebewerbung.eah-jena.de . Missing documents will be listed under Bearbeitungsstatus. For the login you require the following details:
    1. Benutzerkennung/Username: <Your Application Number>
    2. Passwort/Password: <Date of Birth> (TT.MM.JJJJ) – The dots in-between the numbers are required.
  2. Depending on the number of applications received, the quality and completeness of the documents as well as other factors, processing your application can take a significant time. We want to make sure, that everyone fitting our requirements is granted admission. Therefore, we would like to ask you to refrain from making individual enquiries on your application status.

We will not individually acknowledge the receipt of the application fee. Applicants will be informed on missing payments instead. Please provide a transfer receipt as requested for application. That might help us tracking payments with a faulty or missing payment reference.

The admission process is of comprehensive nature. Each application receives an indepth review, which reflects the importance of each individual applicant to us. Nevertheless, we are aware of visa procedures, their complexity and their lengt. Therefore, we finish the admission procedure in July with sending the final set of admission letters.

No. At the moment we accept transfers only. For the transfer details, please refer to the application section of this page. You may also ask family or friends to transfer the money on your behalf. In case of the letter, please make sure the use the reference line as sprecified in the application details.

Fees and expenses

There is no tuition fee! We have had discussions if a service charge must be introduced from winter semester 2014/15, but that has been rejected. The course will remain free.
There is a semester fee (administrative fee) of currently 243,33 Euro (please refer to our website for the exact amount). Among other benefits the semester fee fully covers local transportation by bus and trains. The semester fee must be paid before the enrolment. This can be done at a post office in cash when you are in Germany or by money transfer after you have opened an account with a bank in Germany (the student tutors will help you). Please do not bring a cheque drawn by a foreign bank or transfer money from your home country before arriving in Germany.

The costs of living are of course very much depending on the individual lifestyle. To be on the safe side we recommend to anticipate an amount of 861 Euro per month to cover all expenses (room, meals, health insurance, transport, etc.). The average amount of 861 Euro per month might consist of: Accommodation 325 Euro, medical insurance 107 Euro, food 320 Euro, monthly fraction of the semester fee 39 Euro, miscellaneous expenses 70 Euro.

While we do not possess funds for full study grants, there are limited resources for financial aid during your studies. For more information, please refer to our website. For full study grants, you may try contacting funding institutions of your country. Some countries provide funds to support studies abroad. There is also a data base for funds from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to be found at http://www.daad.de/en. Usually there is not too much chance to find fundings for studies on the Master's level. Most grants are restricted for PhD or postdoctoral studies only.