Study Electrical Engineering in Germany — Universities, Prospects

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Study Abroad

9 min readMar 17, 2020

How does an average annual salary of USD $109,000 along with a place on any skilled visa list in the world sound? Or how about studying in one of the greatest engineering nations on the planet, the name of which is synonymous with excellence? All of this may sound too good to be true, but 139,559 international students enrolled in engineering courses for 2017/2018 in Germany can back this up!

Germany has a stellar reputation globally for excellence in the fields of research, invention and innovation. In 2013, a team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology broke the speed limit of Wi-Fi by delivering 40 GB of data per second over a distance of more than a half a mile!

This article seeks to shed light on some of the best electrical engineering colleges in Germany and the programmes they offer, along with the career prospects for students after graduation.

Study Electrical Engineering in Germany — Popular Universities

1. TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH

QS Global Ranking — #55 QS Subject Ranking (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) — #20 International Students — 11,364 About TUM

Known as ‘The Entrepreneurial University’, TUM combines top-class learning and research facilities with an emphasis on teaching its students how to take their ideas to the market and make a positive impact on society. TUM embraces the idea of science-driven enterprises and to this extent they have:

Provided Start-up Consulting — TUM supports university graduates/researchers who have come up with valuable ideas for high-tech start-ups. The university provides advice on setting up a new company and prepares new entrepreneurs for the challenges they will face in the market.
Marketed Technology — TUM spends a lot of resources to actively market the inventions of its researchers and students across a wide variety of tech sectors.

Electrical Engineering Faculty at TUM

The TUM Department of Electrical Engineering is highly focussed on providing the best quality of education to its students, regardless of their nationality. Each year, around 40% of the students in the department come from overseas.

If you have received an offer letter of admission from a German institution, next step is to apply for German Student VisaThe core course areas cover the following topics: . Note: The medium of instruction for this programme is German, so you will need to be proficient in the language before you apply for this course. Students also have the option of taking a preparatory German language course before the start of their degree at the Note: The language of instruction for this programme is German or EnglishQS Global Ranking — #124 QS Subject Ranking (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) — #43 International Students — 5,403 About KIT . However, you will have to prove proficiency in German at a high-enough level for the application submission process. To learn more about the language of instruction for each module, you can contact the administrators of this programme directly. Language Centre at TUM Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at KIT

This programme is based on combining the knowledge of specialist and methodological fundamentals with options to select specialisations based on personal preference.

The course is also focused on interdisciplinary integration of subjects to produce graduates that have a broad repertoire. This allows them to keep pace with the continuously changing landscape of the field of electrical engineering. The following are the other interdisciplinary components of the course:

Courses Offered — M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
Important Date/s — Winter and Summer Semester (application deadline for winter semester is in the last week of May, and for summer semester is in the last week of November)
Fee — Semester fees of approximately EUR 130

This programme deals with all facets in the spectrum of electrical and computer engineering and offers the choice of following core areas for students to choose from:

Automation and Robotics
Bioengineering and Life Science
Communications Engineering and Signal Processing
Electric Circuits and Systems
Electromagnetics, Microwave Engineering, Measurements
Embedded and Computer System

2. KARLSRUHE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

QS Global Ranking — #138 QS Subject Ranking (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) — #34 International Students — 10,455

With an annual research budget of EUR 785 million and 9,000 employees on their payroll, KIT is one of the biggest education and research institutions in the world, and is well on its way to reach the top position amongst STEM universities.

The university is committed to maintaining cultural diversity as well by attracting more than 5,000 bright young minds yearly from all over the world to study and research at KIT.

The department enjoys a strong international presence in research and training, with several professors working as members of international committees and conferences or contributors in international research projects, or even co publishers or consultants for reputable scientific magazines around the globe. KIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering boasts more than 30% international students.

The first 2 semesters of the bachelor’s programme at KIT are spent with students working on fundamentals. Towards the 3 rd semester, they get to choose their area of concentration from the topics given below:

Automation and Information
Electrical Energy Technology
Information and Communication
Micro, Nano and Optical Electronics

Master’s students are taught based on current scientific standings and the course structure is tailored towards industry and research. In addition to the scholastic modules in the classroom, students will also get a chance to attend an industry internship of at least 3 months before the completion of their programme.

Note: The language of instruction for this programme is German and students will be required to provide proof of their language proficiency during the time of application.

3. RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY

The RWTH Aachen Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology is renowned for offering its students research and practice-oriented training with the final goal being the development of highly qualified and employable graduates in the global market.

QS Global Ranking — #147 QS Subject Ranking (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) — #42 International Students — 5,384 About TU Berlin

The RWTH Aachen university provides 157 courses at the graduate and postgraduate levels and is home to more than 10,000 students from 135 countries. RWTH is also a beneficiary of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments which have provided EUR 180 million to fund research into various fields at the university.

TU also maintains a highly developed business network, domestically as well as internationally. Some of the top partners at the university are:

Courses Offered — B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Computer Engineering
Important Date(s) — Apply by early August to late-October for the Winter semester and early February to late April for the Summer semester
Fee — 50 EUR per month (university fees) and 1000 EUR per month (living costs including utilities and accomodation)

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty at TU

The bachelor’s degree programme is designed to provide students with the fundamental knowledge of mathematics, electrical engineering, IT and physics that will allow them to become successful electrical engineers in the future. The degree is designed for you to be able to join the workforce after its completion, however the full-education is only completed if you opt for the corresponding 4-semester master’s degree programme.

The programme is split in a modular fashion with the first few semesters providing a mix of theoretical and practical lectures. At the start of the 4 th semester you can choose any one of the following specializations:

Energy Engineering
Micro and Nano electronics
Information and Communications Technology
Computer Engineering
Biomedical Engineering (Launched during winter semester 2018–2019)

The master’s degree is designed to provide the final rounding-out of a student before they begin their professional career as an electrical engineer. The standard period of study is for 2 years full time, which includes the time you’ll take to work on your thesis. The theoretical component of the programme is augmented by a large number of laboratory work, projects and seminars.

Some of the career options after this degree are:

You will also be taking part in an industrial internship of 18 week where students are trained to solve current engineering problems at renowned industry partners.

The range of modules in the master’s degree course at TU is divided amongst the following fields of study:

Biomedical Systems Engineering
Communications Engineering
Computer Engineering
Electrical Power Engineering
Micro and Nano Electronics
Systems and Automation

4. TU BERLIN (TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN)

With over 30,000 students and more than 100 course offerings split between 40 faculties, the Techische Universitat Berlin or TU is one of Germany’s largest and most internationally renowned technical universities. According to the data provided by TU Berlin’s research department, they receive an annual funding of EUR 179 million from external sources to promote research and development within the university!

Along with the names mentioned above, a lot of other organizations are involved in co-operative projects with TU and give students a chance to secure employment after the completion of their degrees at these companies.

QS Global Ranking — #179 QS Subject Rank (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) — #51 International Students — 5,000 About Technische Universitat Dresden or TUD

Spread across 6 institutes with 60 professors and over 500 scientific research staff members, the electrical engineering and computer science faculty at TU is truly one of a kind. They are renowned worldwide for their research, publications and the external funding they attract, which reached a record of EUR 39 million in 2012. More than 70 PhD scholars are produced annually with the students going on to have stellar careers in their chosen fields. The faculty also prides itself on its diversity with 30 percent of the total students coming from other countries outside Germany.

The bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering provides extensive scientific training and focuses on a wide range of topics which include:

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Energy Technology
High Voltage Supply Networks
Electrical Drive Technology
Power Electronics
Communications Networks and Technology
Micro-Electronics
Microwave Technology

The topics listed above are a mix of core modules and electives that you can mix and match to create a tailor-made learning experience that will allow you to specialise in the exact field you wish to work in.

Energy supply industry
Telecommunications companies
General medical technology
Power generation industry

Electrical Power Engineering
Automation Technology
Electronics, Photonics and Integrated Systems
Communication Systems

The following are the fields of study available within this degree program:

At the end of the 3 rd semester, students have the option of joining a professional internship that lasts for 9-weeks and is full time. The following are some of the industries/areas within them that you can find employment in after the completion of your degree:

Communications Technology (research and development)
Information Technology (planning and project management)
Microsystem Technology (commissioning and operating)

5. TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DRESDEN

TUD is one of the largest technical and research universities in Germany. It offers over 121 disciplines to the students to choose from and covers a wide spectrum of research. Since 2012, it’s been voted as one of the ‘Universities of Excellence’, a collection of higher education institutions in Germany recognized for their exceptional research and other contributions to the academic landscape of the country.

Internationally, TUD has a solid reputation with around 5,000 international students from over 70 countries currently enrolled in the university.

With 28 full-time professors, 400 research staff and an annual third-party funding of 24.4 million EUR, the faculty is one of the main contributors to the university’s scientific performance and reputation. The main focus is on the following areas:

Automation, Measurement and Control
Communications Engineering
Electrical Power Engineering
Electromechanical and Biomedical Systems
Information Electronics
Micro-opto Nano Electronics

At TU Dresden, the electrical engineering programme is an integrated 5-year programme that leads to a Diplom-Ingenieur degree. The programme is a combination of bachelor and master level courses with the degree being equivalent to the master’s degree upon completion.

The course consists of two sections: a basic course with orientation year common to all fields of study and a selective main course. In the main course, students choose a field of study with a specific compulsory area, which includes a full-time corporate internship and an elective subject area to specialize in their chosen fields.

Automation
Measurement and Control Technology
Micro and Medical Technology
IT
Microelectronics

Study Electrical Engineering in Germany — Career Prospects

A person working as an Electrical Engineer in Germany typically earns around EUR 11,400 per month. Salaries range from EUR 5,230 (lowest) to EUR 18,100 (highest).

This is the average monthly salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Electrical Engineer salaries vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location.

The most important factor that impacts the earning potential of an electrical engineer is experience.