Frequently Asked Questions

Universität Hamburg does not charge a tuition fee. Admitted students will only need to pay a semester contribution every semester. 

The semester contribution consists of the "actual" contribution of €289,90 (in accordance with the 'Beitragsordnung der Studierendenschaft der Universität Hamburg' in its current version). It is made up of:

• €13,30 in accordance with constitutional student body regulations
• €184,80 for the semester public transport pass
• €6,80 for the semester public transport pass hardship fund
• €85 for the Studierendenwerk (in accordance with the Beitragsordnung des Studierendenwerks Hamburg)
• and an administrative fee of €50.

Thus a total of €339,90 is due for the summer semester 2023.

For up-to-date information regarding the semester contribution, please visit this information page of Campus Center Universität Hamburg.

For information regarding Visa and travel costs, costs of living and financing your studies, please visit Finances.

The Master of Science program in Integrated Climated System Sciences is primarily offered to students coming from a purely natural-scientific background - preferably with a bachelor's degree in a subject related to climate sciences, such as

• Atmospheric Science,
• Oceanography,
• Environmental Science or
• other Earth system sciences, as well as 
• Physics and
• Mathematics

The most important admission criterion is being able to prove that you have 60 Credit Points (CP) in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in mathematics and/or physics. Even if you have a bachelor's degree other than those listed above but still fulfill the CP criterion, there is a good chance that you are eligible to apply. If you are not sure about the compatibility of your degree with the requirements of the M.Sc. ICSS, send us an email.

Yes.

Students willing to apply for the M.Sc. ICSS must prove that they have obtained 60 Credit Points (CP) in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in physics and/or mathematics. Each credit point consists of 30 hours of study, excluding self-study time.  If you have studied in a country outside of the European Union, please use this template to calculate the amount of credit points that you have. 

Please note:

• We can only consider modules which have been attended academically - i.e. within the framework of a bachelor's or master's course of study at an institution of higher education (university). We cannot accept self-studied or vocational credits.
• While applying, you should only include courses which are either purely mathematical/physical (e.g. Mathematics I, Mathematics II, etc.), or those who demonstrate a strong link to mathematics and/or physics.

The list below is a compilation of basic knowledge in physics and mathematics required for the ICSS program. In case you are not skilled in the listed fields of knowledge, we strongly recommend you to fill these gaps before starting the course of studies here in Hamburg. There will hardly be any time to catch up with these deficits during the semester.

Category I: must know

Category II: should know

Category III: nice to know

The Master of Science program in Integrated Climated System Sciences is primarily offered to students coming from a purely natural-scientific background. If you hold a bachelor degree in an Engineering field, it is likely that you fulfill our 60 CP criterion and are hence eligible to apply. 

However, please note: 

• We are necessitated to prioritize applicants with a natural-scientific academic background in case of receiving more applications than places available - i.e. although your chances of admission are not zero, they are lower than those of applicants with a natural-scientific degree. 
• If you hold a degree in Mechanical or Civil Engineering, you have very low chances of being admitted because of the overall incongruence of your degree with the requirements of the ICSS program. 

In order to improve your admission chances, you could...

• Do an internship in an area related to climate sciences (at least 6 months),
• Gather professional experience in an area relevant to the course, e.g. in research institutions with a focus on earth system and climate sciences, in governmental or non-governmental organizations, etc. (at least 6 months)
• Attend university courses in biology, geology and/or chemistry (ideally 20 ECTS Credit Points or more),
• Gain experience in a foreign country (not your own country; at least 6 months)
• Attend MOOCs like this one,
• Work with a professor at your university in a project related to climate sciences,
• Publish (in first authorship) in an ISI-listed journal in a relevant subject area (e.g. earth system sciences, climate sciences, physics),
• Write your thesis over a climate-science-related subject,
• Etc.

Please note: Although the points listed above are a plus while applying, we would like to stress that all applicants fulfilling our formal application requirements are welcome to send us their application documents regardless of these extra bonus points. The M.Sc. ICSS is an inclusive and diverse program, which brings together many different biographies, academic qualifications and professional backgrounds.

You will NOT need to provide us with a certificate of proficiency of the English language, if...

• You are a native English speaker.
  In this case, you will only need to send us your highschool certificate in order for us to be able to sufficiently assess your linguistic abilities. 
• The medium of instruction of your bachelor's or (if applicable) master's degree was/is English. In this case, we require a written confirmation of your university regarding the medium of instruction.

In all other cases, you need to submit proof of your proficiency in English.

• A confirmation from your University, stating that your bachelor's or master's degree was fully conducted in English, or
• A standardized English test, e.g.
  • TOEFL iBT with a minimum of 90 (each subscore at least 20), or
  • IELTS with a minimum of 6.5, or
  • CEFR each subscore at least C1.

Applicants are required to submit the proof of their proficiency in English no later than March 31st (official closure of the application time line). There might be a few days of leniency in exceptional cases, but a late submission of English certificates in general is not admissible.

However, we are aware about the difficulties that applicants from certain countries might face as a results of deteriorating political conditions or existing economic problems, which might impede the submission of their proficiency certificate in a timely manner. In this case, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us - we will evaluate your case individually and try to find a solution.

Yes. If you haven't received your final (bachelor's) diploma yet, you can send us your application with an up-to-date transcript of records. If admitted, you will then have the chance to upload your diploma during your first semester at Universität Hamburg (by March 31st the latest, to be exact).

Application for the Master of Science program in Integrated Climate System Sciences is possible each year between 15.02. 00:00 CET and 31.03. 23:59 CET. From February 15th to March 31st, you will have the possibility to fill in your information and upload your application documents on this page. The application process is solely online - documents sent to us by post cannot be considered.

The application process consists of two parts:

1. The online application in STiNE and 
2. The submission of your application documents to us by uploading (prefered) or email to sicss"AT"uni-hamburg.de.

Before applying, please make sure to read the section "Required documents for a complete application" carefully for a detailed overview of the application requirements.

Our tip: It is highly recommendable that you send your application documents to us early. This way, you can ensure that you have enough time to fulfill any requirements that you might have forgotten, and/or possibly optimize or resubmit files -- all within our application time line.

Applicants holding school and/or university degrees from China, India or Vietnam must submit a certificate from Akademische Prüfstelle (APS) while applying to the ICSS program. The APS is a joint institution of the German Embassy’s cultural department and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and checks the authenticity of educational biographies and the corresponding educational certificates, and issues certificates if the result is positive.

For more information, please visit Akademische Prüfstelle Beijing, Akdemische Prüfstelle New Delhi or Akademische Prüfstelle Hanoi.

Yes. Under current estimations of the official student loans and scholarships regulator in Germany (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz BAFöG), a foreign student needs €934 per month or €11,208 per year at minimum to be able to live in the country. You will need to provide proof of sufficient funding while applying for a student visa in an embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Please visit the webpages of The Federal Foreign Office and Studying in Germany for more information.

The information in the table above are cited from the website "Studying in Germany".

With a blocked account, you can provide evidence during the visa application process that you have adequate financial resources. The blocked account must have sufficient credit in order to cover the costs arising for the duration of your planned stay in Germany, unless other proof of financial support is presented in the visa procedure. Certain standard rates apply that are based on the rates for German students. From 1 January 2023, the presumed annual requirement that must be paid into the blocked account when applying for a visa amounts to 11,208 euros. The account may only permit the withdrawal of a certain amount per month (for students currently 934 euros).

The information above are cited from the website of The Federal Foreign Office.

For information regarding Visa and travel costs, costs of living and financing your studies, please visit Finances.

The Admissions Committee of the School of Integrated Climate and Earth System Sciences will gather within two to three weeks after the closure of the application time line to assess and evaluate applicants' documents and eligibility. The decision on admission or rejection is then communicated to the team for application, admission and student affairs (Bewerbung, Zulassung und Studierendenangelegenheiten), which will then generally upload an admission/rejection notification in the applicant's STiNE account by the end of May.

If admitted, you then have seven days to accept your place on the ICSS program, otherwise your place goes to an applicant on the waitlist.

After being admitted and having accepted your place in the ICSS program, you will receive a preliminary enrolment certificate, typically by the end of August. You will receive your final enrolment certificate after having submitted all necessary documents (e.g. bachelor's degree, proof of health insurance, etc) and the payment of the semester contribution.

Please note that these documents are not issued by SICSS directly, but by the Campus Center of Universität Hamburg; therefore we cannot influence or accelerate the issuing process.

We are aware that international applicants need to apply for a student visa much earlier then they receive any official confirmation of their enrollment from Universität Hamburg, therefore we will automatically issue and send all international students a visa support letter after being admitted, which can be used to apply for a visa at any German embassy.

Please note: the visa support letter does not substitute the enrollment certificate.

If you want to submit any application documents (e.g. bachelor's degree or proof of your health insurance) after the closure of our application time line, please visit the section "Documents for Enrollment: Late submission" of Campus Center of Universität Hamburg and upload your files there.

We kindly request that you also let us know (mail to sicss"AT"uni-hamburg.de) about any possible submissions that you have conducted.

We have gathered some useful information with regards to this matter under Accommodation.

Information regarding rules and regulations in connection with COVID-19 are prone to sudden and frequent changes.
Please follow the information provided by the Newsroom of Universität Hamburg closely regarding the impacts of the corona virus pandemic on students.

Please visit the information on "Traveling and the COVID-19 pandemic" provided by The Federal Foreign Office. 

Different identifiers (Kennungen) are currently issued or provided for the IT systems at Universität Hamburg.

The B-Number (B-Kennung) is a non-transferrable personal ID . The format is 7 digits, always starting with a b, followed by 2 lower case letters and 4 digits. Students receive their user ID together with their enrollment documents. The B-Kennung is automatically valid as long as you are a member of Universität Hamburg.

This B-Kennung and the associated password gives you access to the following systems:

• STiNE
• e-learning platforms
• WLAN
• VPN
• possibly other technical systems

Different identifiers (Kennungen) are currently issued or provided for the IT systems at Universität Hamburg.

The UHH ID (U-Kennung; U-Number) is a non-transferrable personal ID. The format is 7 digits, consisting of 4 lowercase letters followed by 3 digits.

With the help of the UHH ID and the associated password, you can access the following systems:

• UHHDisk, UHHShare, UHHPrint
• E-mail to Unixmail / mailhost and the personal e-mail address
  firstname.lastname@uni-hamburg.de
  or for students:
  firstname.lastname@studium.uni-hamburg.de
• computer pools
• possibly other technical systems

In order to register for courses, modules and exams, you need a separate iTan number, which will be sent to you seperately before the begin of your studies. You will typically receive a list with 60 different iTAN-numbers which you can use when necessary.

For your M.Sc. Thesis you will need (at least) 2 supervisors. Please note that at least one supervisor needs to be a Full Professor ("Prof"), or qualify as a Professor (i.e. "PD" or "Dr. habil."). If you find your desired supervisors in the list below (List of approved thesis supervisors), a formal registration is not required at all, since this list contains supervisors who are pre-approved for the M.Sc. ICSS.

Should you not find your desired supervisor(s) listed as pre-approved, you will have to hand in an informal application to the Examination Board requesting a registration of this/these persons. In this application, please shortly explain why this person should serve as your supervisor. Please send this application including a short scientific CV of the person of your choice to Prof. Christian Beer (head of the Examination Board). Please put Dr. Sebastian Zubrzycki in the CC of your e-mail as well. You will then receive the decision of the Examination Board - also via e-mail.

Below you can find a list of currently approved thesis supervisors for the M.Sc. program Integrated Climate System Sciences as of 22nd of February 2021. All newly approved supervisors will be added to the list below.
Please note: At least one of your supervisors needs to be a Full Professor ("Prof.") or qualify as a Professor ("PD" or "Dr. habil.").

• Prof. Dr. Johanna Baehr
• Prof. Dr. Christian Beer
• Prof. Dr. Jürgen Böhner
• Prof. Dr. Martin Claußen
• Prof. Dr. Carsten Eden
• Prof. Dr. Annette Eschenbach
• Prof. Dr. Jens Hartmann
• Prof. Dr. Hermann Held
• Prof. Dr. Lars Kutzbach
• Prof. Dr. Dirk Notz
• Prof. Dr. Beate Ratter
• Prof. Dr. Jürgen Scheffran
• Prof. Dr. Jana Sillmann
• Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Köhl (Biology)
• Prof. Dr. Michael Brüggemann (Journalism)
• Prof. Dr. Stefan Cihan Aykut ("WiSo": Business, Economics and Social Sciences)
• Prof. Dr. Jörn Behrens (Mathematics)
• Prof. Dr. Inga Hense (Biology)
• Prof. Dr. Simone Rödder ("WiSo": Business, Economics and Social Sciences)
• Dr. Hartmut Borth
• Dr. Sebastian Brune
• Dr. Lars Czeschel
• Dr. Alexandra Griesel
• Dr. Shabeh Ul Hasson
• Dr. David Holl
• Dr. Frank Lunkeit
• Dr. Markus Kilian
• Dr. Vimal Koul
• Dr. Philip Mundhenk (Biology)
• Dr. Prem Raj Neupane (Biology)
• Dr. Xiuhua Zhu (CLICCS)
• Dr. Kerstin Jantke (CLICCS)
• Dr. Lars Günther (Journalism)
• Dr. Livia Rasche
• Dr. Konrad Simon (Mathematics)
• Prof. Dr. Victor Brovkin (MPI)
• Prof. Dr. Jochem Marotzke (MPI)
• Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneider
• Prof. Dr. Bjorn Stevens (MPI)
• PD Dr. Dr. Richard Blender
• PD Dr. Christian Franzke (IBS Center)
• Dr. Tatiana Ilyina (MPI)
• Dr. Lena Boysen (MPI)
• Dr. Peter Landschützer (MPI, currently UHH)
• Alexander Winkler (MPI)