FAQs Master Scientific Computing

By decision of the study committee, of the four mandatory modules in the master program Economics the modules Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Econometrics cannot be picked for the application area. They are too close to our master's program and students from the master Scientific Computing should already know most of the content. The other two Advanced microeconomics and Advanced macroeconomics as well as all elective modules and the seminars – if you get a seat in them! – can be picked.

Many faculties are offering own courses to teach basics in mathematics and computer science. These courses are off limits for our students: They do not count towards the application area. However, some “package deals” include single modules from this group. This is a compromise to make the package deals self-contained and manageable. The course combinations in the package deals are confirmed in this exact combination. Picking several courses from different package deals (modules near to maths and computer science) will not be confirmed by the study committee. 

General advice: Select courses from the application area itself: Real physics courses in physics, real economics courses in economics. Granted, many of these courses also teach maths, but this is the natural effect of maths as a language of models.

The master's program has a rather direct approach to define specializations. The specialization is usually difficult to define beforehand. Instead, all modules directly influencing your master research project are part of your specialization. The selection is defined by the thesis advisor. When you start your research project, the thesis advisor will check your modules and compile a list of those modules that he/she sees fitting as directly linked to your research. Any of these modules (from Maths and Computer Science) can count towards your load in the specialization. This is one of the reasons why you should contact possible thesis supervisors early.

Remark: The specializations listed on the web pages for the master's program can be regarded as examples for specializations. Usually it is not a problem for a student to fill the mandatory specialization credits.

For master students of Scientific Computing two options are available to get access to GPU Clusters.

• The faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science established two compute servers for projects of master students. The faculty handles access to these two servers. Please contact the Dean's office for access to the servers.
• As a member of an IWR research group, please contact the head of your research group. She resp. he can register you as an IWR student member and then you can access the IWR compute servers. These servers are for IWR members only.

The early membership option for master students is meant for students who start their master research project and have an above-average grade score. The application is done through your supervisor: She resp. he has to write an application letter to the graduate school stating that

• your grades so far are exceptional (CV and transcript),
• your master topic can be a basis for a PhD project,
• should you continue to develop in the same track, she resp. he will offer you a PhD position in the work group.

Based on such a recommendation, the coordinators of the graduate school will decide on your master student membership within 4 weeks. Optionally, the school will also offer you a scholarship to fund your research period.

Finding a thesis supervisor is an important task for a student. You should talk to potential supervisors already during your second semester and make sure to find a supervisor as early as possible. The supervisor might ask you to complete additional courses before you start your thesis. To work on your thesis, you usually will start with defining the current state-of-the-art in the topic of your research. This will be done by reading relevant publications to familiarize yourself with the research topic. Once you start your research, you have to register your master's thesis with the faculty. For this, please collect the relevant document at the examinations office, complete the form and hand it back in.

Remark: According to the examination regulations, §14.2, you can register your master thesis once you have completed and registered 45 credits towards your degree.

All students in the Scientific Computing master's program have to complete three regular seminars at the faculty of mathematics and computer science listed as seminars for this master's program in LSF:

• a seminar in mathematics,
• a seminar in computer science (can be replaced by an advanced practical),
• a master seminar.

The master seminar is a regular seminar in mathematics or computer science. However, you cannot select freely what seminar to attend, but you have to follow the guidelines of your thesis supervisor when choosing the master seminar. Usually she resp. he will ask you to attend one of his regular seminars or point you to a suitable other seminar. The topic of this seminar should be chosen in preparation of your thesis, but the master seminar is not a seminar about your thesis research.

Remark: At the end of the thesis, the student gives an open presentation on the finding of their thesis research. This presentation is part of their thesis. It has nothing to do with the above mentioned master seminar. Note that the master's program Data and Computer Science has different regulations!