This is an explanatory video on how to apply (unfortunately in German).

For details on the application process please see https://www.th-koeln.de/en/academics/digital-sciences-masters-program–how-to-apply_84162.php.

The catalogue of modules that an applicant passed in the undergraduate studies has to be uploaded in the application process. This catalogue is needed for two reasons.

• An applicant will be admitted to the selection process only if he or she has completed sufficient credits in modules that are closely related to the fields of computer science, information science, or data science.
• The selection process considers, among other things, the applicant’s degree of aptitude based on the match between the undergraduate study profile and the intended specialization in the master’s program.

If an applicant has passed more than one university program he or she should consider the one which fits best with the intended specialization. The modules of this study should be entered in the Microsoft Excel template.

This is a video explaining how to fill in the Excel template. The following data must be entered in the template:

• Personal data
• The name of the program, the corresponding university (country) and the total of credits.
• The catalogue of all modules. For each module the name and the number of credits have to be listed. In case of generic module names like “Project I” or “Seminar B”, please specify the topic or specialization of the module next to the module name.

If the transcript of the program does not cover credit points, but uses another measure of student’s effort instead, this measure can be used in place of credit points. (This mainly applies to applicants who completed their undergraduate studies outside Europe.) Check that the sum of the credits for all modules matches the total number of credits mentioned for the program.

After filling in the needed data, please save the worksheet in CSV format. Please use the following filename schema: XYZ-Lastname-Firstname.csv. Substitute XYZ by the abbreviation of the specialization for which you apply: BIS, DIS, ITM, or SAR. An example of the filename could look like this: DIS-Einstein-Albert.csv.

The CSV file has to be uploaded into our Sciebo portal at https://th-koeln.sciebo.de/s/liTF9ZFtecmzTdZ.

Unfortunately, Sciebo only gives a message when the upload fails. A successful upload is not confirmed by a feedback message. If we notice in the application process that an upload of a CSV file has not worked, we will contact you. If you upload the CSV file more than once, we will use the last upload.

Yes. If you apply via uni-assist, you also need to upload the CSV self report in the Sciebo portal.

Yes, that is possible. You can begin your studies with the following cohort and follow the first-semester study path of your specialization.

Unfortunately, this situation affects many international students: enrollment is complete and the semester fees are paid, but long waiting times in the visa process made it impossible to take courses or exams in the first semester. The study program has no influence on the visa process.

Please note: the semester in which you were enrolled normally counts as a subject semester (“Fachsemester”). Formally, you therefore start your actual studies in the second subject semester, even though you begin with first-semester content. This has no effect on your study path, since the program does not prescribe a fixed order of modules. Questions about the subject semester are answered by the student office (“Studienbüro”), not by the head of your specialization.

Partly. We hear this question from almost all international students whose arrival is delayed by the visa process, and we understand the wish. The Master Digital Sciences is basically an on-campus program, and most courses live on project work, case studies and workshops in the room. Some courses, however, allow online participation, either fully or in exceptional cases after agreement with the lecturers. Which courses these are changes from semester to semester.

Valid for the winter semester 2026/27 only: the course overview in the slides of the semester kickoff WiSe 26/27 (ILU login required, slides 5 and 6) shows for each course whether online participation is possible (“yes”, “in exceptional cases”, “no”). For “in exceptional cases”, please talk to the lecturers in advance.

Do not expect to be able to study a whole semester remotely, though: most courses are on-campus only. If you cannot be on site when lectures start, beginning your studies with the following cohort is often the better way, see Can I start with the next cohort?. More on remote participation in general is explained under Can I join courses remotely?.

You do not need CAMS for planning and registering your courses. Course registration is done in the learning platform ILU. The precondition is a campus ID. Without it, you cannot log in to ILU. As soon as you have your campus ID you can register, even before you arrive in Germany.

ILU has an area for the Master Digital Sciences: https://ilu.th-koeln.de/ilias.php?baseClass=ilrepositorygui&ref_id=403610. This is where you register for the courses you want to take, and where you find the information group with general information on all master topics. Do join this group, see How do I get information about upcoming events?.

How to choose your courses is described under Planning your studies and choosing modules.

Join the Digital Sciences information group in ILU: https://ilu.th-koeln.de/ilias.php?baseClass=ilrepositorygui&ref_id=403610. This group is the channel through which we send messages and announcements to all students of the master: the kick-off at the start of the semester, the presentation of the Guided Projects, deadlines, changes in the course offer. If you are not in the group, you will not receive these messages.

The second channel is this website. Important dates, in particular the Guided Project presentations and the semester kick-offs, also appear as news on the start page.

Registering for courses is a multi-step process. The normal way is:

1. Use the module list to pick the modules you want to take. The module description states the semester, the location, the exam type and the preconditions.
2. Put together your personal curriculum across all semesters with the Study Planner.
3. Check with the scheduling tool MATE (https://mate.gm.th-koeln.de/) whether the combination can be studied without time conflicts (see also Avoiding schedule conflicts).
4. Ask the module supervisors if it is unclear whether a module has special preconditions.
5. Register for the courses in ILU (https://ilu.th-koeln.de/ilias.php?baseClass=ilrepositorygui&ref_id=403610). You need a campus ID for this, see Getting started.

The question “Which modules should I take in the first semester of my specialization?” cannot be answered in general, because the program is designed for individual study plans. Follow the steps above, and book a consultation if questions remain.

No. The Master Digital Sciences is deliberately designed so that you assemble your own curriculum. There is no binding order in which the modules of a specialization have to be taken.

For orientation, the page of each specialization shows alumni profiles (“personas”) with example curricula across all semesters:

• Business Information Systems (BIS)
• Data and Information Science (DIS)
• IT Management (ITM)
• Software Architecture (SAR)

You can load these examples in the Study Planner and adapt them to your own goals. The next steps are described under How do I put together my semester?.

No. Every module in the catalogue is offered once a year, either in the winter semester or in the summer semester. The only exception are the Guided Projects, which take place every semester.

The semester in which a module runs is stated in the module list and in the respective module description. Therefore, plan your sequence across all semesters so that a summer-only module does not end up in a winter semester of your plan.

Use the scheduling tool MATE: https://mate.gm.th-koeln.de/. It shows whether the dates of your chosen courses overlap.

Two things to keep in mind:

• The program has a large module catalogue, run by two faculties at several locations. We therefore cannot guarantee that every combination of modules is free of conflicts. Checking that your combination works time-wise is your responsibility.
• MATE only contains the courses of the current semester. If you are already planning the following semester, ask the module supervisors on which weekday their courses are usually scheduled. That allows you to plan in advance.

Your first contact is the head of your specialization. Contact details and office hours are on the linked TH Köln person pages:

• Business Information Systems (BIS): Prof. Dr. Markus Linden
• Data and Information Science (DIS): Prof. Dr. Philipp Schaer
• IT Management (ITM): Prof. Dr. Irma Lindt
• Software Architecture (SAR): Prof. Dr. Stefan Bente

A meeting is most useful if you have already drafted your curriculum in the Study Planner beforehand (see How do I put together my semester?). Then your plan can be discussed in concrete terms.

Please direct questions about individual modules, such as preconditions or dates, to the module supervisors. Questions about enrollment, subject semesters and re-registration are answered by the student office (“Studienbüro”).

You need both, but the two registrations serve different purposes.

ILU: By joining a course in ILU, you show that you are sincerely interested in the course, and the lecturers get a communication channel to you. Please join only courses you really plan to attend. The ILU registration is not binding, but it is also not sufficient to complete the course.

PSSO: If you want to complete the course and take the exam, you must additionally register for the exam in PSSO. Only this registration counts formally, and it is binding. The deadlines are listed under When can I register for exams in PSSO?.

The following dates apply to the winter semester 2026/27. Other semesters have different dates.

After 26.10.2026 you can no longer register. How long you can still deregister is explained under Until when can I deregister from an exam?.

(*): Courses often include assessments that take place throughout the semester. This means that if, for example, you are working on a case study or a project as part of the course, you are essentially working on the assessment throughout the entire course. Nevertheless, for legal reasons, a formal exam period must be designated. In such a case, the only practical implication of this exam period for you as a student is that you can drop the course up to one week before the start of this formal exam period.

The registration in PSSO is binding. If you do not deregister in time and do not take the exam, the exam counts as failed.

The following rules apply to the winter semester 2026/27.

• Rule of thumb: you can deregister until one week before the exam.
• The default exam date relevant for deregistration is 18.01.2027.
• Special deadlines apply to the Guided Projects and possibly to individual modules. These are stored in PSSO. Please check the deadline there for every exam you are registered for.

Beyond the formal deadlines, we ask you for one thing: most courses in the program consist of project work, case studies and seminar-style work in groups. When someone leaves in the middle of a course, it always hits their fellow students in the team and the lecturers as well. So think carefully when registering which courses you can really see through to the end. And if you do have to leave, tell your team and the lecturers as early as possible.

This situation affects many international students every semester: enrollment is complete, but the visa takes a long time, sometimes until the middle of the semester or longer.

You can register for exams in PSSO during the registration period (winter semester 2026/27: 05.10. – 26.10.2026), even if you are not in Germany yet. If it then becomes clear that you cannot arrive in time, deregister before the deadline. Rule of thumb: until one week before the exam; special deadlines apply to the Guided Projects and some modules, see Until when can I deregister from an exam?. Exams you have not deregistered from and do not take count as failed.

Please keep in mind:

• Some courses allow online participation, fully or in exceptional cases after agreement with the lecturers. Valid for the winter semester 2026/27 only: which ones is shown in the course overview in the slides of the semester kickoff WiSe 26/27 (ILU login required, slides 5 and 6). See also Can I start my studies remotely?.
• Most courses, however, are on-campus only. If you only arrive in the middle of the semester, you have missed a large part of the project and group work there. Consider realistically whether you can still complete the course successfully.
• Deregister as soon as it is clear that it will not work out, not just before the deadline. Your team and the lecturers are planning with you.
• If it becomes clear that you cannot arrive at all this semester, starting with the next cohort is usually the better way, see Can I start with the next cohort?.

For some courses yes, for most no. The Master Digital Sciences is basically an on-campus program. The courses are seminar-based and consist to a large degree of project work, case studies and workshops. These formats work best when the participants are present.

Some courses nevertheless allow online participation, either fully or in exceptional cases after agreement with the lecturers. This is decided by the respective lecturers and can change from semester to semester.

Valid for the winter semester 2026/27 only: the course overview in the slides of the semester kickoff WiSe 26/27 (ILU login required, slides 5 and 6) shows for each course whether online participation is possible (“yes”, “in exceptional cases”, “no”). For “in exceptional cases”, please talk to the lecturers in advance.

Guided Projects follow a slightly different rule, see Attendance in Guided Projects.

The Master Digital Sciences is run by two faculties, and the modules take place at several locations: Campus Gummersbach, Campus Köln-Südstadt and (for two modules) Campus Köln-Deutz. The location is stated in every module description (field “Location”, see module list). How often you have to travel to Gummersbach therefore depends on your choice of modules. With a combination of AI and data science modules, for example, it may be that only one of four modules takes place in Gummersbach and the others in Cologne.

We are aware that travelling between the locations takes time, especially to Gummersbach. From Cologne you should reckon with about 90 minutes by public transport. Most master courses therefore run as half-day or full-day sessions, so that the trip is worth it.

In Guided Projects you need to be on site for the kick-off and for the major milestone meetings. By the nature of project modules, however, most of the work happens in the team outside fixed on-site sessions. Brief status meetings are usually held via Zoom.

The details of attendance are set by the respective project supervisors. If in doubt, ask when the projects are presented.