Qualification Assessment (QFV)

The procedure for qualification assessment is regulated in the General Examination Regulations for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes at the School of Engineering of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Section 29 and Appendix 1, as well as in the Degree Program and Examination Regulations for the Master’s Degree Program Medical Engineering (FPOMT; current German version FPO 2019 see here, English version not yet available).

A short description of the process:

Every application that is submitted on time and with all required documents is subject of a two-phase procedure for qualification assessment.

Evaluation of study content and grades

In the first phase, your application documents are evaluated:

How are the grades? Did the applicant achieve a final grade of 2.5 or better? (This assessment is made based on the conversion of your grade to the German grading system, not on your GPA; the conversion will be made by our officers at FAU.)
Is the Bachelor’s degree discipline-specific, discipline-related or not equivalent?
A discipline-specific degree with a final German grade of 2.5 or better facilitates a direct admission. Applicants with a non-equivalent degree are rejected.

The conversion to the German grading system is dependent on your country and sometimes even university.
In order to get a rough non-binding estimation, you may use the equation

German grade = 1 + 3(N_max-N_d)/(N_max-N_min)

where N_max and N_min are the best possible and the minimum passing grade in your grading system, respectively, and N_d is your personal Bachelor’s grade.
Note that in the German system a 1.0 is the best possible grade, higher numbers mean worse grades.

Admission interview for borderline cases

In the second phase, applicants with a discipline-related degree and/or a final grade slightly worse than the German grade 2.5 may be invited to an oral/online (zoom) admission examination in which the following criteria will be tested:

  • competent knowledge of the basics of the subject (mathematics, physics, algorithms),
  • consolidated knowledge of a field of medical engineering corresponding to the chosen eligible specialization in the Master’s degree program,
  • motivation for the Master´s program, which constitutes in a description of a relevant discipline-related project, knowledge of discipline-specific publications or a statement explaining your interest in a certain branch of study from the Master´s program,
  • a positive prognosis based on improving progress during your course of study.

If you are invited to an interview, you will be informed about it in detail at least 7 days in advance.

The admission can also be granted under certain conditions:

If your Bachelor’s degree is not entirely equivalent, you may have to complete additional certain classes with a workload of up to 20 ECTS credits within the first year of your studies in order to be allowed to continue.

If your Bachelor’s certificate has not yet been issued at the time of your application, you must hand it in at the Student Records Office at the time of enrollment.