Faculty of Life Sciences

Bachelor's level

Foundation study at this faculty is strongly discipline-rooted but deliberately cross-linked. Core Bachelor programmes in Biology, Chemistry, Food Chemistry, Pharmacy (Staatsexamen), and Psychology are complemented by applied interdisciplinary tracks in Biotechnology and Biochemistry/Chemical Biology. All programmes are taught in German, so prospective students should plan for at least B2–C1 German proficiency before admission. The Pharmacy track leads to a German state examination (Staatsexamen), the standard route to licensed pharmacist status in Germany and the EU.

Master's level

At Master's level the faculty leans into applied and interdisciplinary specialisation. The Pharmaceutical Engineering (Pharmaingenieurwesen) programme bridges drug development with process engineering — rare in Germany. The Sustainable Energy Technology (Nachhaltige Energietechnik) programme links chemistry expertise to the energy transition. The newest addition, Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Sciences (AIMS), integrates machine-learning methods directly into chemistry and biology research workflows. Master thesis projects can be embedded in partner institutions such as HZI or DLR, giving students publication-ready research experience before graduation.

PhD / Doctoral studies

Doctoral candidates are admitted by identifying a supervisor within the faculty's research institutes and applying directly. Upon acceptance, PhD students register with the GradTUBS Graduiertenakademie, TU Braunschweig's graduate academy, which requires demonstrated participation in structured training events as part of the new doctoral regulations effective 30 January 2026. A dedicated doctoral committee and a doctoral students' representative provide structured support throughout the process.

TU Braunschweig is a member of the TU9 alliance — the nine most research-intensive technical universities in Germany — which signals academic rigour and strong industry recognition of degrees both domestically and internationally. Key advantages of studying at this faculty include:

• No tuition fees for all programmes (only a small semester administrative fee applies), making it highly competitive against comparable programmes in the UK, US, or Australia.
• Direct access to two of Germany's major non-university research centres: the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), both based in the Braunschweig region — realistic venues for Bachelor and Master thesis projects.
• Genuinely interdisciplinary programmes unavailable at most comparable institutions: Pharmaceutical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Sciences (AIMS) sit at commercially relevant intersections of chemistry, engineering, and data science.
• An in-house psychotherapist training pathway (Psychologischer Psychotherapeut), including child and adolescent specialisation, for Psychology graduates seeking clinical licensure in Germany.
• Internal cross-faculty collaboration with TU Braunschweig's engineering and computer science faculties, reflected in joint research supervision and shared lab infrastructure.

The faculty is organised into thematically grouped research institutes, enabling focused yet collaborative science:

Biology & Biotechnology
- Institut für Biochemie, Biotechnologie und Bioinformatik
- Institut für Genetik
- Institut für Mikrobiologie
- Institut für Pflanzenbiologie
- Institut für Zell- und Neurobiologie

Chemistry & Food Chemistry
- Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie
- Institut für Lebensmittelchemie
- Institut für Nachhaltige Chemie (newly formed 1 January 2026, merging former institutes for Technical Chemistry and Ecological & Sustainable Chemistry)
- Institut für Organische Chemie
- Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie

Pharmacy
- Institut für Medizinische und Pharmazeutische Chemie
- Institut für Pharmakologie, Toxikologie und Klinische Pharmazie
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Technologie und Biopharmazie
- Abteilung für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften mit Schwerpunkt Pharmaziegeschichte

Psychology
The Institut für Psychologie covers six research divisions: Work & Organisational Psychology; Developmental & Forensic Psychology; Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy & Diagnostics; Engineering & Traffic Psychology; Psychological Methods & Biopsychology; and Psychology of Sociotechnical Systems.

Key external research partnerships include the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) for infectious disease biology and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for aerospace-related life and engineering sciences, both enabling joint appointments (Koberufungen) and shared doctoral supervision.

The large majority of programmes at this faculty are taught in German, making solid German language skills (typically B2–C1 at admission, C1 for Pharmacy/Staatsexamen) an essential prerequisite for international applicants. The AIMS (Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Sciences) programme is the faculty's most international-facing track and prospective students should verify its current language-of-instruction status directly with the faculty before applying.

International students enrolled in the faculty have access to faculty-level scholarship listings (Stipendien) and a dedicated International section within the student portal. The faculty's research culture — with co-supervised projects at HZI and DLR — means doctoral-level international researchers can work within Germany's leading non-university research network from day one.

The GradTUBS Graduiertenakademie offers structured support for doctoral students including skills workshops and networking events, which international PhD candidates are encouraged to use from the moment their admission letter is confirmed.

The Faculty of Life Sciences is located on TU Braunschweig's central campus in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, in the heart of northern Germany. Braunschweig is well-connected by direct ICE high-speed rail to Hanover (approximately 30 minutes), where Hannover Airport serves international flights across Europe and beyond. Berlin is reachable in roughly two hours by train.

The campus environment places life sciences laboratories directly alongside engineering, computer science, and architecture departments — physical proximity that supports the cross-faculty collaboration the faculty actively promotes. The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) is located within Braunschweig itself, making day-to-day collaboration practical rather than notional. The city's compact size and student-friendly infrastructure make it an accessible and affordable base for international students coming from Asia, Africa, or the Americas.

Graduates of this faculty enter a broad but strategically located job market. Germany's pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector — anchored by companies such as Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and numerous Mittelstand biotech firms — actively recruits Pharmacy, Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical Engineering graduates. The Pharmaingenieurwesen (Pharmaceutical Engineering) track specifically targets process development and manufacturing roles in drug production, a field with persistent shortages of qualified engineers.

Chemistry and Food Chemistry graduates typically move into:
- Quality assurance and product development in the food and beverage industry
- Analytical and regulatory roles in chemical and materials companies
- Sustainability-focused positions aligned with the Institut für Nachhaltige Chemie's green chemistry agenda

Psychology graduates in Germany have two main routes: research careers (often continuing to doctoral study) or licensed clinical practice via the Psychologischer Psychotherapeut postgraduate training, for which the faculty offers its own continuing education pathway including child and adolescent therapy specialisation.

The AIMS programme positions graduates for data-science and AI roles within pharma, biotech, and chemical R&D — a rapidly growing employment segment. Doctoral alumni from the faculty frequently transition into research positions at HZI, DLR, or EU-funded research projects, reflecting the value of those institutional connections built during study.