Mechatronics Master's at the University of Applied Sciences Ravensburg-Weingarten, Germany:

The University of Applied Sciences in Ravensburg-Weingarten (URW), Germany (location: click here), offers opportunities to US students for graduate studies in "Mechatronics", which is a new interdisciplinary Master's Degree combining mechanical and electrical engineering with an infusion of computer science (official flyer: posted here). All classes in this program are taught in English, i.e. no knowledge of German is required to get started (although German language courses are offered at URW, and it is recommended to participate). More information is posted here (click on the UK flag icon for an English version). Students with a GPA better than 3.0 are invited to apply to the Mechatronics Master's program. URW offers select students research assistant (RA) positions during the duration of the program (typically 3 semesters). Another funding venue is through Study Scholarships available from the "Deutscher Akademische Austauschdienst" (DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service).

The Mechatronics Master Program starts in October. Application deadline is on April 15th. If you chose to apply for a DAAD Study Scholarship, you need to apply by Nov. 15th in the year before. The above dates are of fall 2008 and may change in the future. Please, visit the DAAD/URW websites for up to date information before applying. URW offers a "pre-admission" procedure allowing interested students to gain conditional admission to the Mechatronics program, based on their GPA, before actually receiving their Bachelor's Degree. Please, get in touch with Professor Voos at URW to obtain pre-admission (contact info: see below). Make sure to obtain the pre-admission certificate from URW before Nov 15 since it should be submitted to DAAD as part of your fellowship application.

Timeline when applying for a DAAD fellowship (this process takes about one year!):

September: Start working on your DAAD application, and obtain conditional admission to the Mechatronics program.
November: Submit your DAAD application by Nov.15th
April: Formally apply to the Mechatronics Program (at this point you should be reasonably certain that you will receive your Bachelor's degree by the following September, i.e. before actually starting the Mechatronics program)
Mai: Once you have been formally admitted, apply for a student visa at the German embassy in Miami
September: Move to Germany and get settled.
October: Start the Mechatronics Program!


Timeline with RA support:

As soon as possible: Contact Professor Voos and find out if RAs are available, and in what fields of research
April: If you can get an RA position, formally apply to the Mechatronics Program (at this point you should be reasonably certain that you will receive your Bachelor's degree by the following September, i.e. before actually starting the Mechatronics program)
Mai: Once you have been formally admitted, apply for a student visa at the German embassy in Miami
September: Move to Germany and get settled.
October: Start the Mechatronics Program!


Timeline if you can support yourself:

April: Formally apply to the Mechatronics Program (at this point you should be reasonably certain that you will receive your Bachelor's degree by the following September, i.e. before actually starting the Mechatronics program)
Mai: Once you have been formally admitted, apply for a student visa at the German embassy in Miami
September: Move to Germany and get settled.
October: Start the Mechatronics Program!


Contact at URW:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Voos
Chair, International Master's Program "Mechatronics"
Head of the Mobile Robotics Laboratory Hochschule Ravensburg-Weingarten
University of Applied Sciences
P.O.Box 1261
D-88241 Weingarten
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 751 501 9751
Fax: +49 (0) 751 501 9779
Email: voos@hs-weingarten.de