Application to the Master of Science in "Physics of the Earth and Atmosphere"
Applications for and enrollment in the degree program is a two-stage process. Firstly, the degree program’s admissions committee will examine the subject-specific and personal suitability of the candidate in accordance with the Admissions regulations . Those candidates who are deemed suitable will then be notified to the student registry office, which will then in a second step check the formal, official prerequisites for enrolment. In the application the candidate must indicate which core subject area, i.e. either Geophysics or Meteorology they wish to specialise in. As of fall 2017 all applications, with the exception of students who did not complete their secondary education in Germany, have to be submitted electronically through Klips-2.
Application Deadlines
The deadline for the application to start the degree program in the winter semester is 15 July of the same year, and to start the degree program in the summer semester, the application deadline is 15 January of the same year (see here for more information, page in German)).
Applications with complete documentation
The MSc degree is a consecutive degree program which builds on the first degree of a candidate (in general a BSc). If you have already completed your first degree (in Germany), then you need to include the following documentation in your application:
- Letter of application in which you state your personal motivation for wanting to undertake this degree program
- BSc certificate
- Transcript of Records of your BSc
- Curriculum Vitae
- Proof of other qualifications (e.g. work experience, periods of time abroad, internships if applicable)
PLEASE NOTE: For applicants who have completed their secondary education in Germany, but have qualifications/degrees from countries other than Germany, officially certified translations of copies of the qualifications (if these are not already in English or in German) must be supplied.
Applications with provisional documents
If you expect to have completed your undergraduate degree in Germany before you begin your MSc, but are not yet in possession of your degree certificate, then you can apply with provisional documentation. In this case, please provide the following documentation:
- Letter of application in which you state your personal motivation for wanting to undertake this degree program.
- Transcript of Records, which document all the examinations and assessments which you have achieved at the time of application.
- Transparent calculation of the provisional overall grade for your BSc on the basis of the examinations and assessments documented in the Transcript of Records
- Curriculum Vitae
- Proof of other qualifications (e.g. work experience, periods of time abroad, internships if applicable)
Please note: Students who apply with provisional documentation will only be provisionally admitted to the degree program. They will have until the end of the first semester of the degree program to hand in the final outstanding documentation to the student registry office. If the student does not do this, then they will automatically be ex-matriculate
Applications for entry into a higher semester
If you already enrolled into a different Master course in Geophysics/Meteorology (or a comparable focus) and successfully completed a significant amount of examinations, you may apply for entering our Master programme into a higher semester. In this case, please provide the following documents:
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Letter of application in which you state your personal motivation for wanting to undertake this degree program
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BSc certificate
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Transcript of Records of your BSc
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Curriculum Vitae
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Proof of other qualification (e.g. work experience, periods of time abroad, internships if applicable)
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Filled out form "Fachsemestereinstufung" (available from the Download section in the Application Wizard)
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Transcript of Records of your previous Master studies
Please note that applications for entry into a higher semester are not possible for students who did not complete their secondary education in Germany.
In case of questions or problems please contact:
Dagmar Janzen <janzen(at)meteo.uni-koeln.de>
Tel. +49 (0)221 470-3682
Applications from students who did not complete their secondary education in Germany
In general, applications from this group of students are made through uni-assist who are commissioned by us to pre-check the applications. uni-assist e. V. is the "work and service center for international students’ applications". uni-assist examines if the submitted certificates are equivalent to German school/university degrees and whether they qualify in principle for admission to university studies in Germany.
Since uni-assist has to pre-check the entire set of documentation, applications with provisional documents are not possible for students who did not complete their secondary education in Germany. Important: The fact that uni-assist has accepted an application does not mean that the applicant is admitted to the master program. The admission committee still has to examine the subject-specific and personal suitability and the student registry office still has to verify the formal and the legal prerequisites for enrollment.
Please note the mandatory two-stage application process:
- Request a preliminary review documentation (VPD) from uni-assist (recommendation: please apply for the VPD as early as possible, at least three weeks prior to the application deadline of UoC)
- Apply via the application portal of the University of Cologne Klips 2.0
When applying for a master’s degree, the VPD indicates whether you meet the formal requirements for a master’s degree at the University of Cologne. After your documents have been checked by uni-assist and you have received the result (VPD), create an online application in the University of Cologne Klips 2.0 application portal. An application at the University of Cologne is only possible with a valid VPD. The application for preliminary review documentation (VPD) at uni-assist alone does not count as an application for a degree program at the University of Cologne.
Detailed information on how to request the preliminary review documentation (VPD) and further information (deadlines) can be found here:
https://portal.uni-koeln.de/en/international/study-in-cologne/international-applications/master-students-prospective
During stage 2 (application via the application portal of the University of Cologne Klips 2.0) you will have to hand in the following application documents:
- Letter of application in which you state your personal motivation for wanting to undertake this degree program (in English)
- Curriculum vitae in English
- B. Sc. (or equivalent) certificate (certified English translation if the original language is not English or German)*
- Transcript of records showing the awarded credits*
- Proof of proficiency in English (at least a score of 80 in the TOEFL Internet-based test, or equivalent)
- Optional: Proof of other qualifications (e. g. professional practice, internships, stays abroad)
* The proof has to be an attested copy.
The admission committee meets shortly after the application deadline and will inform you about its decision.