FAQ

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Table of Contents


I want to do a master in biomedical engineering (BME) at TU Wien, how should I proceed?
1. First of all you need a bachelor’s degree. It is NOT possible to hand this degree in later!
2. You need to have at least 30 ECTS of natural science/engineering lectures (mathematics, physics, chemistry, electrical and/or mechanical engineering) in a balanced manner.
3. If you come from an external University (not TU Wien) you have to decide one major topic (A, B, C, D, see below) – details are in the curriculum (Studienplan) available at the TU Wien homepage.
4. If you fulfil pt. 1.-2. and know which major topic you like to select (pt. 3.) please go to the page of the admission office “Studienabteilung”  – all informations are there. If you have any question with respect to the application process, please clarify this directly with the admission office.
5. Finally, hand in all documents in order to apply for the master at the students office.
6. After 4-6 weeks you should get an administrative decision – only this document has a legal nature.
Please note: Information via emails/telephone/personal meetings with the student organization or dean of study do NOT have a legal nature and are only informative.

A … Biomaterials and Biomechanics
B … Biomedical Signals & Instrumentation
C … Mathematical & Computational Biology
D … Medical Physics & Imaging

Is the study completely in English or do I need some German skills?
Most, but not all of the lectures are presented in English – why?
· If you come from outside you might have to do additional lectures. These lectures are in German and, thus, you need some basic knowledge of the German language in this case.
· The lecturers have to provide “English Support”. This means, for example, that the lecture could be held in German, but the lecturer provides you English literature. You can ask the lecturers if they are willing to do the exam in English. But lecturers do not have to give the lecture fully in English. Therefore, it is recommended that you have some basic German knowledge and very good English language skills of course. Please note also that all legal documents (administrative decisions, plan of study, etc.) are in German due to the Austrian law.

How is the application procedure for the master working?
a. Internal students: TU Wien students (there are only a few exceptions like architecture and spatial planning): They are accepted automatically.
b. 1. External students: The admission office is collecting the applications and checks if the bachelor degree from your university is accepted. If you degree is NOT accepted your application is rejected.
2. If your degree is accepted, the documents are forwarded automatically to the dean of study and he checks whether you are accepted from the educational point of view. First, it is checked whether you have 30 ECTS in the field of natural science in a balanced manner. Second, it is checked whether additional lectures have to be done by the student. This decision is sent to the admission office usually within a few working days.
3. The admission office prepares all documents and sends you an official letter which tells you if you are accepted or not and if you have to do additional lectures. These lectures have to be done during the master study and it is meaningful, but not mandatory, to do them at the beginning of a master study. This procedure takes usually 4-6 weeks. During the holidays or at the beginning of each semester it might take even longer. Please apply early enough!

I came from outside and selected a major topic during the application. Can I switch the major topic?
No, you have been accepted only for one major topic. You need to re-apply for another major topic. Only students with a bachelor from TU Wien are allowed to switch the major topic. – This has changed: it is now possible to change your specialisation afterwards. If you had to do extra-courses in order to be admitted to BME, these might change as well. Makes sure to contact Prof. Kaniusas as soon as possible, when you think about switching specialisations.

Who is responsible for what in the master study BME?
At the moment there are several different departments/people/comissions involved. Depending on your question you should select the proper one:
1. Admission office:
· gives you basic information about which documents are needed
· communicates with the students during the application process
· checks if your bachelor degree is accepted
· prepares all official documents
· manages administration issues (grades,…)
· has daily office hours
2. Study commission (STUKO)
· Develops/modifies/releases the plan of study (Studienplan).
· The STUKO is not contacted by students directly. This is done via the HTU (see below).
3. Dean of Study (website):
· checks the scientific background during application
· answers questions to the plan of studies after the application, executes the plan of studies
· decides in case of “special” cases where the plan of studies provides no specific rule
· handles Erasmus affairs (“Ansuchen”)
· handles changes of courses (“Anrechnung”)
· has weekly office hours
4. Student Organization (bme.htu.at):
· communicates interests of students to the STUKO and the dean of study
· informs the students about general study issues from a student perspective
· prepares auxiliary material for students (translations, …) Unfortunately there is no official student secretary or something similar. In the Austrian systems students have to be self organizing. First, read carefully the curriculum, related www pages, etc and after that contact one of the above departments/people depending on your issue.

I did lectures at TU Wien in my previous studies which are required for BME, what should I do?
Please note we are talking here about lectures which you did at the TU Wien (not outside) and are of the same type, ECTS, content as required for BME (usually these are the same lectures as needed for BME but done before you study BME). There are 2 important cases.
1. You did not use these lectures to get the bachelor degree (usually it means that you finished your Bachelor with more than 180 ECTS in the European system).
· You can use these lectures for the master study BME (Note, only if they are required for BME)
· Visit the dean of study if there is a need to change the “Studienkennzahl”.
· In other words you finish the master also with 120 ECTS but you did already lectures before which you did not “use” in another study.
2. You need these lectures to get the bachelor degree.
· The rule: You must choose other lectures instead of them. At the end you finish the master with at least 120 ECTS.
· In this case you have to select other lectures. Details how to select are in the individual plan of studies.
· Visit the dean of study (website) if things are unclear. Otherwise you have to hand in the additional documents at the end of your study.

I did lectures outside TU Wien which do not show up in the plan of study. Can I use them?
A preliminary is that you did not use these lectures to get the bachelor degree (usually it means that you finished your Bachelor with more than 180 ECTS in the European system) or you did these lecture during your master study BME at an other University. Note that you could use these lectures as free electives or soft-skills if they fulfill the rules given in the plan of study without asking the dean of study.

I finished all lectures and my master thesis. Now I am for the master exam – what should I do?
Please contact the deans office “Dekanat” which is responsible for you. This responsibility is based on you selected major topic:
A…Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
B…Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
C…Faculty of Mathematics and Geoinformation
D…Faculty of Physics
It is also possible to go to the deans office of your master thesis supervisor if he/she or you feel more comfortable with this.

I finished a bachelor study outside Austria and want to study BME. How do I proceed?
Please note, that applicants without an Austrian certificate of eligibility for university entrance have to submit a written application for admission for this master (can be done via letter or in person at the admission office). All required documents have to be included as to be seen here. Once you have received the notification for admission, you have to pre-register online. The last step is to come to the admission office in person. Here the admission for the master is finalized and you will be immatriculated.

I got an Erasmus place, what do I have to do?
Students of the master study BME are encouraged to do part of there study at other universities outside Vienna e.g. within the framework of an Erasmus program. The major administration is done by the international office at TU Wien. You have to fill out an Erasmus agreement which has to be signed by the dean of study who confirms the equivalence of the lectures with respect to the plan of study in Vienna. Therefore, you need to plan your stay i.e. prepare a list of lectures including an official description (similar to our TISS) you like to do abroad which are equivalent to lectures form you plan of study here in Vienna. After that you come to the dean’s office who checks the equivalence and signs the corresponding from. Please choose always more lectures than you needed in case lectures are canceled. Please also inform your dean of study immediately (via email) if you decide to do other lectures instead of those the dean confirms. After you return from you stay abroad please go again to the Dean’s office to get the finally signatures.

How do I find a project for my specialisation?
It is your own responsibility to find a topic and an advisor for your project specialisation. The people who are allowed to give you a grade for you specialisation are listed in TISS. Here are some tips: – Look up homepages of institutes of interest – Ask a professor whose subjects/projects you find interesting – If the project you want is led by a professor not in your specialisation, you have to ask a professor from your specialisation (TISS list) whether he will officially recognize your project work.

How do I find a master’s thesis?
1. Look in TISS (Offered Theses)
2. Ask a professor whose subjects/projects you find interesting

How about student fees?
Usually students from the European Economic Area Countries are treated differently from students from other countries. The laws change quite often. Therefore, this information is not provided here and should be checked out for every semester.

Who do I contact if I should have a problem concerning a lecture?
1. Contact the lecturer or the responsible person for this course. Most of them are very cooperative.
2. If he/she is not willing to solve the problem please contact bme(at)htu.at.

Where can I find information about study grants and scholarships?
A list of different institutions which offer scholarships and grants can be found here.

Can I start in the spring term?
Yes, you can start in the spring term. The master does not have a mandatory chronological curriculum. The content of some lectures bases on other lectures from the fall term, but no lecture has a mandatory prerequisite. However, there is a helpful exemplary curriculum which could serve as a rough guideline (last pages of the curriculum). Generally it is useful to complete the basic courses (Life Sciences and Core Subjects) in the beginning.