Automation Technology, M.Sc.
Digitalisation is advancing into ever more areas of our economy and society; what has been termed ‘Industry 4.0’ is a point of intersection between production and up-to-the-minute information and communications technology. Innovative, highly flexible and autonomous developments in manufacturing (smart factories), energy generation and distribution (smart grids) and mobility (self-driving vehicles and self-flying aircraft) are on the rise.
Programme facts
| Degree | Master of Science (M.Sc.) |
|---|---|
| Language of instruction | German |
| Required German | C1 |
| Study mode | Full-Time, Part-Time |
| Start | Summer semester, winter semester |
| Application | uni-assist (VPD) + the university, winter semester until 15.07, summer semester until 15.01 |
| Admission | Admission restriction (NC): a competition of school grades |
| Tuition fee | €0 per semester for international students |
| Semester contribution | €338 per semester |
What the tuition fee consists of
Will I get in
The programme has an admission restriction: the average grade of your certificate, converted to the German scale, decides. The cut-off changes every year — last year's value shows the order of magnitude, not a promise.
How the selection works and how strong the competition is — we go through it against your certificate when we select programmes for you.
Programme selection →About the programme
Automation technology is key to the realisation of these ideas. The Master’s degree course in Automation Technology at HAW Hamburg represents an outstanding opportunity to lay the foundations for a career in one or more of a range of future-proof fields.
What you study
Automated electronic systems are increaasingly on the advance in our societal life due to their capacity to boost efficiency and sustainability while doing justice to environmental considerations. Expertise in these cutting-edge tools and technologies requires broad-based knowledge of control, energy and information engineering. Real-time algorithms carrying out measurement and control functions are at the heart of automated solutions. This Master’s degree course provides students with a solid theoretical grounding alongside practical training in the design and implementation of these algorithms using highly sophisticated and powerful tools such as Matlab/Simulink/Stateflow. Students are also able to familiarise themselves with a range of methods for implementation and testing, including efficient simulation, rapid prototyping, hardware-in-the-loop and embedded targets, and gain hands-on experience in lab set-ups and autonomous vehicles, alongside encountering applications in decentralised and renewable energy generation and supply.
The full curriculum and the programme's parameters are part of programme selection: we compare them with your profile.
Pick programmesCareer
This degree course teaches advanced technical and scientific competencies in the planning, management and optimisation of complex automation processes. Graduates leave us ideally equipped for high-level technical and management roles in system design, planning, development and implementation and in technical product management and sales, in Germany and across the globe.
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Our graduates have what it takes to succeed in fields including industrial automation and production technology, sustainable generation and distribution of electrical energy, and autonomous systems in transport and automotive settings. Many of these jobs are located in the dynamic industrial landscape of the key port of Hamburg and its environs - home to leading producers of wind turbines and major players in aviation.
If you’ve caught the science bug, we also offer the opportunity to continue your academic studies with doctoral work after you have completed this degree course.
Cost of study
| Tuition fee of the federal state (Hamburg), international students | €0 |
|---|---|
| Semester contribution | €338 |
Requirements and application
| Previous education | This Master’s degree course is designed primarily for those with Bachelor’s (or equivalent) degrees in electrical engineering or mechatronics who specialised in automation during their first degrees and intend to continue their studies. |
|---|---|
| Language | German C1 — confirmed by a certificate when you apply |
| Application | uni-assist (VPD) + the university, winter semester until 15.07, summer semester until 15.01 |
The procedure and the set of documents depend on your certificate. We check the university's requirements against your documents and give you a list: what to submit, how to certify and translate it, where and when to apply.
Check the requirementsHow to get into this programme
- 1Check your certificate and its recognitionDirect admission, a year at a university at home, or Studienkolleg first — this decides the whole plan.
- 2German up to C1 and a certificateDSH or TestDaF has to be passed before you apply.
- 3Documents and translationsCertified translations of the certificate and transcript, an APS if required. 3–4 weeks.
- 4Application uni-assist (VPD) + the university until 15.01uni-assist checks documents for 4–6 weeks — send them well before the deadline.
- 5Admission, visa, movingPlan 2–3 months for the visa and the blocked account in parallel.
How to apply
You can submit the application yourself or with our help — the university decides on admission in both cases.
Applications go through the university's portal or uni-assist. Typical mistakes:
- ×incorrectly made certified copies and translations
- ×a wrong set of documents
- ×the application submitted the wrong way
- ×errors or gaps in the application form
- ×the application submitted at the wrong time — too early or too late
An incomplete or incorrectly prepared application is excluded from the selection — it can no longer be corrected after the deadline.
StudyInFocus does not represent the university and does not influence the admission decision. We do not sell study places and do not guarantee admission — this is a service for preparing and submitting documents on the applicant's side.
If your level is not enough yet
The two most common stoppers are a language level below the requirement and a certificate without direct admission. Both can be solved, but they take months — plan them now, not after a rejection.
Questions about this programme
How much does the programme cost?
What language level do I need?
When do I need to apply?
Don't postpone the application
The deadline is 15.01.2027 (93 days left). Language, translations and the document check take months, not weeks. In 30 minutes we will build a plan backwards from the deadline and tell you honestly whether you can make it.