Technische Universität Darmstadt

Bachelor and teaching degrees

Study requires a university entrance qualification (Hochschulzugangsberechtigung): the Abitur (general entrance qualification), subject-specific entrance qualification or Fachhochschulreife for Bachelor degrees (not Staatsexamen teaching degrees), or an equivalent vocational qualification. Applicants with a foreign entrance qualification must show sufficient German language skills whatever their nationality. Some programmes are open, some have a numerus clausus (NC) and some use an aptitude procedure (Eignungsfeststellungsverfahren) set by the department.

Application route and deadlines

All applications, from Germany and abroad, go through the online portal TUCaN with the same deadlines. For winter semester the portal opens normally on 1 June and for summer semester on 1 December. For winter semester 2026/27 most Bachelor programmes run from 1 June to 31 August 2026, while NC and aptitude-procedure programmes such as Architecture (first semester), Medical Engineering, Psychology, Business Informatics and Biomolecular Engineering close on 15 July 2026 as an exclusion deadline. The Studienkolleg application window is 15 March to 15 April for winter semester and 15 September to 15 October for summer semester. Master applications take about 6 to 8 weeks to process because each is checked by the department.

International applicants: documents

Required are the school-leaving certificate and transcript with certified translations, any university entrance examination certificate, a passport copy and proof of language skills; prior study requires degree certificates and semester transcripts. Documents may be in German or English, and notarisation is not required. Applicants with Chinese, Vietnamese or Indian school or university degrees need an APS certificate (not for doctoral applications); applicants who passed the Feststellungsprüfung at a Studienkolleg are exempt. Master applicants submit the online form and then post the printed application with copies of documents to TU Darmstadt, Zulassung International, Karolinenplatz 5, 64289 Darmstadt.

German language

Programmes taught in German require the DSH-2 examination. Participation in the DSH requires conditional admission and one of DSH-1, TestDaF TDN 14 or 15, Goethe B2, ÖSD B2, telc B2, DSD I or UNIcert II. Exempt from DSH-2 are holders of TestDaF TDN 16, DSD II, Goethe C1 or C2, ÖSD C1, telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule or C1 Beruf, a Feststellungsprüfung, UNIcert III, or a German-taught degree from a country where German is an official language. The Studienkolleg (T and G courses) asks for German at B1 or B2 level, for example Goethe B1/B2, telc B1/B2 or TestDaF TDN 12.

English language

For English-taught Master programmes accepted proof includes IELTS 7.0, TOEFL iBT 95, TOEFL paper 550, PTE Academic 76, Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English, UNIcert III, or confirmation that English was the language of instruction of the previous degree. The Mechanics MSc, Mathematics MSc and Particle Accelerator Science MSc accept a lower level, for example IELTS 5.5 and TOEFL iBT 72.

Master admission

A Master programme builds on a Bachelor degree in the same subject or an equivalent degree. The Bachelor certificate can be submitted later, within two semesters of enrolment. There is no numerical admission limit when formal and subject requirements are met, and the department's examination board decides on subject suitability. Programme-specific entry requirements, and sometimes a motivation letter, CV or equivalence table, are listed in the online application.

Doctorate

A recognised university degree, usually Master, Diplom or equivalent, is required, with an equivalence check for foreign degrees. Doctoral places are not allocated centrally: applicants approach a professor as supervisor with a formal application describing study results, the Master thesis topic and the planned research topic. Doctorates are either traditional, under individual supervision, or structured within a doctoral programme, and some departments allow an English-language doctorate.

• Stadtmitte (S), Darmstadt: the oldest site, in the city centre, in four sections S1 to S4. It holds the karo 5 entrance and university centre with the Audimax, central administration and student services, the Old Main Building (Law and Economics, Language Centre), the Mensa run by the Studierendenwerk, Psychology, Pedagogy, Sports Science, the Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek (ULB Stadtmitte) and the Darmstadt Residenzschloss buildings.
• Lichtwiese (L), Darmstadt: built in the 1960s on the south-eastern edge of the city in sections L1 to L6, home to natural science and engineering departments including Mechanical Engineering with its workshop halls and labs, Chemistry, Materials Science and Architecture, plus the Hörsaal- und Medienzentrum with ULB Lichtwiese, the ETA Factory and the process learning factory CiP.
• Botanischer Garten (B), Darmstadt: Biology and the Institute of Geosciences, with the botanical garden of about 200 years at its centre.
• Hochschulstadion (H), Darmstadt: sports halls, the university pool and sports grounds of the University Sports Centre, the unifit studio, the uniKITA forest kindergarten and the Otto-Wolfskehl-Haus international guest house with the Welcome Centre.
• Windkanal / August-Euler-Flugplatz (W), Griesheim: an experimental site and wind tunnel used by more than ten departments for research, teaching and practicals.

The campuses total 175 buildings (14 rented) and about 311,577 square metres of main usable space (December 2025).