The education program Postgraduate Courses (Aufbaustudiengänge) is provided in some of the German colleges and universities. It is a kind of supplementary college education program focuses on one specific major and is especially suitable for those who have graduated from a German college or university, accumulated certain working experience and want to obtain the knowledge of a second major or a second diploma (Master’s Degree) within a relatively short period of time. 

Anyone who have graduated from an undergraduate program in a college or university in China, been granted a Bachelor’s degree and accumulated 1 to 2 years’ of working experience can apply for this kind of education program. For some majors, a qualified applicant can also apply to study a new major that is related to the work he or she has been engaged in following the set regulations, in addition to his or her original major. For example, any managerial personnel graduated from an engineering major can apply to study such majors as “Economic Engineering” or “Enterprise Economy and Management”. Usually, a Certificate (Zertifikat) will be granted after the student has finished 2 to 3 semesters of study and has passed the examination. And a Master’s Degree, such as “Master of Economy” and “Master of Engineering” will be granted after the student has finished 4 to 5 semesters of study and has passed the examination.

For the detailed information please visit the website http://www.higher- education-compass.de and browse under the item Weiterführendes Studium.

It is usually required that the applicant shall have the Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree granted in China in the same major and the applicant shall have excellent academic scores and rather strong capabilities in independent work and scientific research. The topic of research he or she selects shall be pioneering and unique in its field, has a rather high academic value and necessary to be researched in Germany. To study for a Doctor’s Degree in Germany, the student needs to be officially registered in the college or university and the requirements on the language skills are to be decided by the Doctor tutor. According to the specific qualifications of the applicant, the Doctor tutor may require him or her to finish some necessary supplementary courses before starting the study for the Doctor’s Degree (mainly independent research work).

The application procedures are, specifying the topic of study, selecting the Doctor tutor (Doktorvater), communicating with the Doctor tutor, submitting the personal materials according to the requirements of the Doctor tutor and continue with the other procedures after receiving the acceptance letter (invitation letter) from the Doctor tutor. You can also learn about the detailed specifications by directly contacting the foreign affairs department of the college or the university or visit its website.

The name list of the college professors of all majors in Germany is available in the Beijing office of the German Academic Exchange Service (Der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst, DAAD) for the applicants.