The latest assessments by Master’s students in the CHE Ranking have now been published on ZEIT Online. The subjects of computer science and mathematics were reassessed, and physics was included in the survey for the first time. Master’s students assess a range of criteria related to their degree programme. Taken together with the facts on research and teaching, the CHE University Ranking provides guidance to help prospective students choose where to study these subjects. A selection of the findings will be published in the new issue of the student magazine ZEIT Campus.
In the subject of computer science at universities, both the Faculty of Informatics at the Technical University of Munich and the Digital Engineering Faculty, run jointly by the Hasso Plattner Institute and the University of Potsdam, perform exceedingly well. These two faculties received numerous top rankings when it came to assessments by their Master’s students and facts on research. Computer science students at both universities are very satisfied with the overall study situation, the range of courses offered, and the transition from their Bachelor’s programme to the Master’s degree. The universities consistently achieve top rankings with regard to facts on research achievement: third-party funds per academic, publications per academic, and doctorates per professor.
Five other universities – RWTH Aachen, TU Darmstadt, TU Kaiserslautern, Saarland University and the University of Stuttgart – also get top marks in all three research criteria. Master’s students at the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the University of Konstanz and Saarland University also assess the overall study situation and range of courses at their institution as excellent.
Among the universities of applied sciences, Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and OTH Regensburg excel in the subject of computer science, based on their Master’s students’ assessments. These two universities of applied sciences are rated as excellent for the overall study situation, the range of courses, and the transition to the Master’s programme. The overall study situation is also praised highly at Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. At Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Hof University of Applied Sciences, Landshut University of Applied Sciences and Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, Master’s students experience particularly intensive contact with professional practice.
In the subject of mathematics at universities, TU Kaiserslautern is rated very highly: Master’s students are very satisfied with aspects such as the overall study situation and the research orientation. TU Kaiserslautern also receives top marks for the number of doctorates per professor and the number of publications per academic. Master’s students at Chemnitz University of Technology also praise the overall study situation and the research orientation. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Passau, Master’s students are very satisfied with the overall study situation at their respective university.
This year was the first time that a student survey was conducted among Master’s students of physics in the context of the CHE University Ranking. Master’s students at RWTH Aachen, the University of Göttingen and Jena University are particularly satisfied. All three universities receive top marks in the categories “overall study situation”, “range of courses” and “research orientation”. Master’s students of physics at Bielefeld University also praise the overall study situation. Students at Heidelberg University, the Technical University of Munich (Garching Campus) and the University of Tübingen rate the range of courses very highly. Master’s level physics students confirm that their universities in Dortmund and Duisburg-Essen have a very good research orientation.
Depending on the subject, up to eleven different criteria are considered in the new comparison of Master’s programmes. The Master’s students assess aspects such as the “overall study situation”, the “range of courses” and the “study organisation”. How students assess their university’s “research orientation” provides information on the extent to which the Master’s programme gives students the opportunity to intensify their scientific work and come into contact with important and innovative research results.
For the subjects of mathematics and computer science at universities, facts are collected on third-party funds per academic, publications per academic, and doctorates per professor. These facts provide an overview of research achievements at the respective department. At universities of applied sciences, a fact-based indicator is used to show the level of intensity of contact with professional practice. The results of the facts and assessments are each classified into a top group, a middle group and a bottom group.
All results of the Master’s programmes with further top marks are now available on ZEIT ONLINE at www.zeit.de/masterranking.
In addition, the student magazine ZEIT Campus publishes a selection of the results. The current issue 1/22 featuring the cover story “Jung, liberal und mächtig” (Young, liberal and powerful) – with the ranking results for computer science – will be available from bookshops from 30 November 2021. The results for the subjects of mathematics and physics will be presented in the next issue, due to be released in February 2022.
The CHE University Ranking is also available at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/plan-your-studies/che-university-ranking/