Mentor Counseling
A mentor can help you in defining and putting together an individual study plan (e.g. when choosing the special courses). It makes sense to select the mentor from the research area you'll want to focus your studies in. You may change your mentor at any time. Write an e-mail to the person in question and ask if he/she will be a mentor. The possible mentors are listed in the following sections.
We recommend to choose your mentor at the beginning of your studies. You have to hand in the certificate of mentor counseling latest, together with the registration of the research phase (typically at the beginning of the third semester), in the Dean’s Office of the TUM Physics Department. The form 'Certificate of Mentor Counseling' can be a guideline for the discussion with your mentor. Choose the form from the section that corresponds to your program of studies. You can make an appointment with the mentors via e-mail. Please complete the form with the final mentor before you hand it in to the Dean's Office, when registering for the research phase.
Information on the individual degree programs
Master’s programs Physics
The mentor counseling in the Physics Master’s programs aims to support the students selecting the best modules within their studies. Due to the wide range of elective modules students at the beginning of their Master’s studies might lose track in selecting and sorting the possibilities.
Who may be mentor?
The central function of the mentor is the counseling about the current offer on special courses. Hence in principle all lecturers at the Physics Department are qualified. Information for mentors: You should have an overview of the special courses offered by the colleagues in your research area.
Check the general information on the setup of the Master’s programs in Physics (most research areas provide example curricula on the specific pages of the programs KM, KTA, BIO and AEP) and the specific remarks in the sections below.
Information for mentors: As a mentor you may expect initiative by the students. You do not need to provide a perfectly elaborated curriculum. You are counselor and give advice whether the module selection of the student makes sense or if they should consider and look out for further options.
Information for students: Please use the following form of your degree program. It can serve as a guideline for the interview.
Theory Elective
The elective module Theory has to be chosen from the spezific catalog of the program. This catalog is updated by the examination board before the semester.
The modules have a workload of 10 CP and are completed with a written exam. If the students choose more than one module from the catalog additional modules are treated as Physics special courses – the Theory electives are always assigned to the specific catalog.
Physics Special Courses
In the Physics special courses students deepen their knowledge in current research topics of Physics. To achive this students choose modules from the catalog of special courses with a total workload of at least 30 CP.
At least 20 CP of the special courses need to be assigned to the specific catalog of the study program (checkmark in corresponding column in the catalog of special courses).
Information for mentors: In addition the passed special courses shall ensure that the student has a broad eduction in Physics. Regularly this is guaranteed by choosing and passing modules with a total workload of 10 CP which are not assigned to the specific catalog of the study program (no checkmark in the corresponding column in the catalog of special courses). The student can deviate from this rule (meaning: they may choose less than 10 CP from the complementary catalog) if within the mentor counseling you confirm on the report on mentor counseling that the required breadth of the Physics education is nevertheless ensured.
The modules from the catalog of special courses have a workload of 5 CP or 10 CP. Students may take more than 30 CP of special courses – in this case the grade is calculated using the best 30 CP from the catalog while taking into account the requirement of at least 20 CP from the specific catalog (in the course of this a 10 CP module might be reduced in it weight).
Non-Physics Elective
Non-Physics elective modules may be chosen from the neighboring disciplines and applications of Physics in engineering or medicine as well as from Mathematics and the Natural Sciences. As a rule only modules at Master level are possible.
The modules need to be included in the catalog of non-Physics electives published by the examination board. Only the examination board may decide upon inclusion of a module into the catalog – suggestions may be driected to the study program manager Dr. Martin Saß.
Of the non-Physics electives modules of at least 8 CP need to be taken.
The regulations for the exam follows the conventions of the offering department. Students may take more than 8 CP of non-Physics electives. In this case the grade is calculated using the best 8 CP (for this the module with the least grade might be reduced in it’s weight).
Students Seminar
The student seminar is to be chosen from the specific catalog for the Master’s program.
Sometimes the same seminar course is offered in modules on different levels to Bachelor’s and Master’s students. The individual topics are changing every semester hence there is nothing wrong with a student participating in the "same" seminar during their Bachelor’s and their Master’s studies – the research is done on different topics and the grading is on different levels. Student seminars in which this is possible have two different module ids for Bachelor’s and Master’s students.
In the Physics Master’s programs the student seminar is course work (an ungraded exam). If in some cases numerical grades are awarded these will not be included in the final grade.
General-education subjects
The catalog of general-education subjects is an open catalog. Suitable modules not yet included can be included on short notice. For this students contact the assistant of the Dean of Studies Dr. Loewenfeld as soon as possible and giving the module id. Apart from the classic "Soft Skills" Physics students may in general take all modules from the social sciences and the humanities as general-education subjects. Modules cannot be included into the catalog if the Physics curriculum already contains such subjects (e. g. as mandatory module or as non-Physics elective) – hence especially modules from the neighboring disciplines (Mathematics, Chemistry, Engineering, …) cannot be general-education subjects.
Exams in the general-education subjects take many different forms. For the Physics programs all are course work (non-graded exams). If numerical grades are awarded these will not be included in the final grade.
Fundamentals Exam and Credits Requirement (Academic Progress Check)
Within the first two semesters students need to pass at least 10 CP of special courses.
In the further semesters they are subject to the credit requirements from the academic progress check (they must not lag more than two semesters behind).
Master’s program Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
The mentor counseling in the Master’s program Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics aims to support the students selecting the best modules within their studies.
Information for mentors: You should have an overview of the courses offered by the colleagues in your research area.
Check the general information on the setup of the Master’s program Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics and the specific remarks below.
Information for mentors: As a mentor you may expect initiative by the students. You do not need to provide a perfectly elaborated curriculum. You are counselor and give advice whether the module selection of the student makes sense or if they should consider and look out for further options.
Information for students: Please use the following form of your degree program. It can serve as a guideline for the interview.
Mandatory Modules Biomedical Physics
The two modules PH2001 Biomedical Physics 1 and PH2002 Biomedical Physics 2 are mandatory courses.
Focus Areas
In the focus areas students deepen their knowledge in current research topics of Bioengineering. To achive this students choose modules from the catalog of focus areas with a total workload of at least 40 CP.
For conveniance the catalog is structured into focus areas. This structuring has no meaning in terms of exam regulations. Students may choose modules freely from one or several different focus areas.
Since modules from the focus areas are offered by different departments as well teaching and exam forms may differ from the Physics special courses. All modules in the focus areas are graded exams. If students pass more than 40 CP of modules in the focus areas the modules with the least grades are moved to the appendix of the ToR and not counted towards the final grade if not required to reach the 40 CP.
General-education subjects
The catalog of general-education subjects is an open catalog. Suitable modules not yet included can be included on short notice. For this students contact the assistant of the Dean of Studies Dr. Loewenfeld as soon as possible and giving the module id. Apart from the classic "Soft Skills" Physics students may in general take all modules from the social sciences and the humanities as general-education subjects. Modules cannot be included into the catalog if the Physics curriculum already contains such subjects (e. g. as mandatory module or as non-Physics elective) – hence especially modules from the neighboring disciplines (Mathematics, Chemistry, Engineering, …) cannot be general-education subjects.
Exams in the general-education subjects take many different forms. For the Physics programs all are course work (non-graded exams). If numerical grades are awarded these will not be included in the final grade.
Advanced Lab Course Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics
Das Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics Lab Course is to be completed in teams of three students. The experiment is to be chosen from the current offer.
Fundamentals Exam and Credits Requirement (Academic Progress Check)
Within the first two semesters students need to pass at least one of the two manadatory exams in biomedical physics.
In the further semesters they are subject to the credit requirements from the academic progress check (they must not lag more than two semesters behind).
Master’s program Quantum Science & Technology
The mentor counseling in the Master’s program Quantum Science & Technology aims to support the students selecting the best modules within their studies.
Information for mentors: You should have an overview of the courses offered by the colleagues in your research area.
Check the general information on the setup of the Master’s program Quantum Science & Technology and the specific remarks below.
Information for mentors: As a mentor you may expect initiative by the students. You do not need to provide a perfectly elaborated curriculum. You are counselor and give advice whether the module selection of the student makes sense or if they should consider and look out for further options.
Information for students: Please use the following form of your degree program. It can serve as a guideline for the interview.
Mandatory Modules QST Theory and QST Experiment
The two modules PH1009 QST Experiment: Quantum Hardware and PH1010 QST Theory: Quantum Information are mandatory courses. They are offered in winter semester.
Focus Areas
In the focus areas students deepen their knowledge in current research topics of Quantum Science and Quantum Technologies. To achive this students choose modules from the catalog of focus areas with a total workload of at least 30 CP.
For conveniance the catalog is structured into focus areas. This structuring has no meaning in terms of exam regulations. Students may choose modules freely from one or several different focus areas.
Since modules from the focus areas are offered by different departments as well teaching and exam forms may differ from the Physics special courses. All modules in the focus areas are graded exams. If students pass more than 30 CP of modules in the focus areas the modules with the least grades are moved to the appendix of the ToR and not counted towards the final grade if not required to reach the 30 CP.
General-education subjects
The catalog of general-education subjects is an open catalog. Suitable modules not yet included can be included on short notice. For this students contact the assistant of the Dean of Studies Dr. Loewenfeld as soon as possible and giving the module id. Apart from the classic "Soft Skills" Physics students may in general take all modules from the social sciences and the humanities as general-education subjects. Modules cannot be included into the catalog if the Physics curriculum already contains such subjects (e. g. as mandatory module or as non-Physics elective) – hence especially modules from the neighboring disciplines (Mathematics, Chemistry, Engineering, …) cannot be general-education subjects.
Exams in the general-education subjects take many different forms. For the Physics programs all are course work (non-graded exams). If numerical grades are awarded these will not be included in the final grade.
Advanced Practical Training Quantum Science & Technology
The Advanced Practical Training Quantum Science & Technology is done in teams of three students. Of the six units at least two need to be experimental and at least two need to be theoretical. Some experiments overlap with the advanced lab course for the Physics Master’s programs. It is hence in principle possible to form mixed teams of QST and Physics students but those teams would be limited to the experiments/projects common to both courses.
Fundamentals Exam and Credits Requirement (Academic Progress Check)
Within the first two semesters students need to pass at least one of the two manadatory exams QST Experiment and QST Theory.
In the further semesters they are subject to the credit requirements from the academic progress check (they must not lag more than two semesters behind).