Complex engineering systems in mechanical or electrical engineering etc. are developed with constantly increasing demands on automation technology as well as system reliability and availability. As a result, modern methods of both automation technology and safety engineering are gaining in importance.

In the context of "Industry 4.0", issues related to process monitoring, fault detection and diagnosis, fault-tolerant systems, human factors, functional safety and system reliability are also gaining in importance both in research and in industrial applications.

The tasks here are beyond the scope of classical control engineering/automation and cover other areas such as product development, plant design, and risk assessment of machines and plants as well as distributed systems. Numerous classical engineering areas such as mechatronics, automation technology and process informatics come together here. The orientation of the master's program is aimed at the complexity of modern technical systems with a high risk potential, which is analyzed and made controllable with suitable methods.

The Master's program "Automation and Safety" is offered in the two profile areas or specializations

• "Automation and Control Engineering (ACE)" and
• "SAFE Systems (SaSy)".

The "Automation and Control Engineering" specialization has a stronger methodological focus in the area of control methods and is based on the fundamentals of the bachelor's program "Electrical and Electronic Engineering".

The "SAFE Systems" specialization combines modern control and automation methods with safety and reliability engineering methods and has a broader application focus. The program builds on the fundamentals of engineering bachelor's degree programs in mechanical, electrical, or safety engineering.

Admission requirements are, in addition to a corresponding bachelor's degree, the relevant fundamentals of control and automation technology or dynamics, which can also be made up through requirements (additional courses).

In both profiles, the following areas in particular are covered in greater depth:

• Mathematics (e.g. vector analysis, numerical mathematics) and additional physical fundamentals
• Process automation technology
• Higher theoretical methods of control engineering (in different proportions)
• Real-time systems and distributed computer systems (in different proportions)
• Human Factors
• Fault diagnosis and fault tolerance in technical systems

The following areas are specific for the majors:

• State and parameter estimation (ACE)
• Diagnosis and prognosis and functional safety (SaSy).
• In the SaSy specialization, a distributed sequence of practical labs and seminars imparts fundamental knowledge as soft skills with practical application knowledge for industry and research.

The nationally and internationally unique Master's program qualifies students to solve particularly complex or demanding tasks in automation technology. This is intended to achieve the following specific goals:

• Ability to familiarize oneself with complex also interdisciplinary contexts
• Ability to solve even complicated automation and monitoring tasks, which require sophisticated methods of modeling, control, and system analysis.

For master graduates of the "Automation and Safety" master program, all professional fields of activity in national and international research as well as in the relevant industry are open due to the extensive and fundamental knowledge.

Study plan

Study plan

You can find the examination regulations for your study program here: Examination regulations according to study programs

Study plans as well as information about the modules in the study program can be found in the module database VDB:

Information material

Study plans as well as information about the modules in the study program can be found in the module database VDB:

• Automation and Safety (Safe Systems)
• Automation and Safety (Automation and Control Engineering)

Admission

Admission requirements

• Completion of a bachelor's degree program in the ISE study program with an overall grade of 2.5 or better or
• equivalent degree from another home or foreign university with an average grade of 2.5 or better. The assessment of equivalence is made by the examination board.

If the admission requirements according to paragraph 2 are not fulfilled or if a change of the field of study within the study program "ISE" takes place during the transition from Bachelor to Master, the examination board can combine the admission to the Master program with the condition to prove certain knowledge until the registration of the Master thesis. The type and extent of these requirements are determined individually by the examination board on the basis of the course content completed as part of the previous degree. The extent of the requirements is up to 2 courses.

Further information regarding admission requirements can be found on the pages of the study program "ISE". 

Admission

This study program has unrestricted admission (study places are not limited). Enrollment takes place during the enrollment period at the student register's office at the Duisburg campus. [Forms and further information]

For national applicants the following applies until further notice: 
National applicants for the ISE Bachelor's or ISE Master's program are requested to submit their Abitur/Bachelor's or comparable degree certificates to the ISE Examination Committee in order to obtain confirmation of their special enrollment requirements and foreign language skills. This certificate must be presented at the time of enrollment.

ISE Examination Board

University of Duisburg-Essen
Faculty of Engineering
SG 182
Geibelstr. 41, 47057 Duisburg
pa-ise@uni-due.de 

Prospective students from non-EU countries should apply at the International Office of Campus Duisburg by 15.07. for the winter semester and by 15.03. for the summer semester.

Language Skills

Upon enrollment, applicants must provide proof of English and German language skills corresponding to the completed level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Study-related stays abroad

For students who have acquired their university entrance qualification at a German institution, a stay abroad of three to six months is obligatory.
For students who have already completed this stay abroad as part of their ISE Bachelor's program, a further stay abroad is optional (§ 11 PO).