AdmitArriveFree shortlist

Master’s · Data Science & Artificial Intelligence

Data Science M.Sc.

RWTH Aachen University · Aachen · Official programme page

19 facts from 6 official pages · last checked 14 November 2026

Reviewed by Dennis Maaß, admission and immigration expert
Published 8 November 2026 · Last reviewed 8 November 2026

Key facts

Length, deadlines and costs

Language
English
Source
“Courses are held in English. The programme offers a lot of electives in English. There may also be electives in German, but these are additional choices and are not required”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

Study mode
On campus
Source
“Course location Aachen”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

The DAAD entry names Aachen as the course location and gives no online or hybrid mode of study for this programme.

Attendance
Full-time
Source
“full-time Programme duration 4 semesters”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

Length
4 semesters
Source
“Programme duration 4 semesters”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

Intakes
Winter, Summer
Source
“Beginning Winter and summer semester”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

Non-EU deadline
1 Sept 2026 (summer 2027)Applications open in June.1 Mar 2027 (winter 2027)Applications open in December.
Source
“Non-EU & Non-EEA applicants Winter Term: December to March 1 st Summer Term: June to September 1 st”

sc.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/en/studium/master/master-data-science/application-for-admission/ · checked 14 November 2026

The DAAD entry says only that 'application periods differ for eu and non-eu students'; the faculty page carries the dates. A standing annual deadline.

Non-EU tuition
None
Source
“Tuition fees per semester None”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

Application fee
Not stated by the university
2 pages checked, 14 Nov 2026

RWTH publishes no application fee for its faculty (non-fee-paying) master's programmes and does not use uni-assist; RWTH International Academy states 'no application fee' for its own programmes and RWTH Business School charges 50 EUR. No reachable RWTH page states the position for the faculty programmes.

Places
Unrestricted
Source
“The DS master program is a program with an open admission (not a restricted admission (NC))”

sc.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/en/studium/master/master-data-science/application-for-admission/ · checked 14 November 2026

Admission

What you need to apply

3-year bachelor’s
Case by case
Source
“The contents of the modules must be comparable to the RWTH's modules”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

No credit or duration floor is set for the first degree; admission turns on matching one of the three subject profiles, which a 180-ECTS three-year bachelor's can do.

Subject background
A bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, physics or a closely related area, fulfilling one of the three published profiles (computer science, mathematics or physics). Module contents must be comparable to RWTH's own modules.
Source
“A Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, physics or a closely related area One of the profiles computer science, mathematics or physics must be fulfilled”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

Minimum grade
Not stated by the university
2 pages checked, 14 Nov 2026

No minimum grade is stated for Data Science, unlike the SSE and HCIS pages, which recommend a CGPA of 65 percent.

How your grade is converted
Not stated by the university
2 pages checked, 14 Nov 2026

No admission grade-conversion formula is published on any page that could be fetched; RWTH does not use uni-assist, which would otherwise convert the grade.

English
Level B2. IELTS 6 · TOEFL iBT 90 · TOEFL band 4.5 · PTE 60. Cambridge: B2 First with a grade of at least B, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency. UNIcert II or higher, or the RWTH Language Center placement test at level B2.2.1 or higher (open only to students already enrolled at RWTH). TOEFL and IELTS certificates lose their validity two years after the test; the IELTS must be the Academic test.. Exemption: Medium of Instruction certificates are in general not accepted. What can replace a certificate is a seminar paper or bachelor's thesis written in English, submitted to the examination board for review (§ 3 Abs. 6 of the programme's examination regulations; footnote 3 of RWTH's language table).
Source
“Medium of instruction (MOI) certificates are in general not accepted. For examptions from this rule, consult the language requirements page”
“Für diesen Masterstudiengang ist die ausreichende Beherrschung der englischen Sprache nach § 3 Abs. 9 ÜPO nachzuweisen” page
“Für Masterstudiengänge, die ohne ausreichende Kenntnisse der englischen Sprache nicht … ausreichende Beherrschung der englischen Sprache auf dem Kompetenzniveau B2 … von mindestens 90 Punkten oder Totalscore 4,5 … International Englisch Language Testing System (IELTS) Test mit einem Ergebnis von … mindestens 6.0 … Cambridge Test – B2 First (vormals Cambridge English: First / FCE) mit einer Note von … mindestens B … Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic mit einem Ergebnis von mindestens 60 Punkten … UNIcert II oder höher … Einstufungstestergebnis des Sprachenzentrums der RWTH mit dem Niveau B2.2.1” page

sc.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/en/studium/master/master-data-science/application-for-admission/ · checked 14 November 2026

IELTS 6.0, not DAAD's 5.5. The programme's own examination regulations (Amtliche Bekanntmachung 2025/337, § 3 Abs. 6) require English at the level of § 3 Abs. 9 ÜPO, and the current Übergreifende Prüfungsordnung (Amtliche Bekanntmachung 2026/172, § 3 Abs. 9) sets that level at CEFR B2 with IELTS 6.0, TOEFL iBT 90 or total score 4,5, Cambridge B2 First at grade B or above, PTE Academic 60, UNIcert II and the RWTH placement test at B2.2.1. DAAD's entry still gives IELTS Academic 5.5, which was the figure in the 2015 ÜPO — the version RWTH's own language-requirements page still links — so 5.5 is out of date and a 5.5 certificate can be refused; the current, stricter 6.0 is recorded. Important for Indian, Nigerian and Pakistani applicants: a Medium of Instruction letter is not accepted, so it is a TOEFL, an Academic IELTS, or the thesis route through the examination board. 'examptions' is a typo on the faculty page. The TOEFL iBT Home Edition is not mentioned for this programme and the Duolingo English Test appears nowhere; RWTH-wide, TOEFL MyBest scores are not accepted.

German
Not needed when applying
Source
“German language skills No minimum language level required”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 7 November 2026

DAAD's own field for this programme; RWTH asks for no German certificate at application or enrolment.

GRE / GMAT / GATE
Required
Source
“Applicants that do not have an EU citizenship or a German "Abitur" need a GRE test with the following scores: Quantitative Reasoning: minimum 75th percentile Verbal Reasoning: minimum 15th percentile Analytical Writing: minimum score 3.5”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/7636 · checked 14 November 2026

Required for every applicant without EU citizenship or a German Abitur, so always for Indian, Nigerian and Pakistani applicants.

Selection
Open admission, so no ranked selection: an application must strictly meet the formal requirements and fulfil one of the three subject profiles (computer science, mathematics or physics), whose module contents are compared with RWTH's own modules in the RWTHonline course catalogue. A bachelor's degree in one of these profiles from RWTH is automatically eligible.
Source
“The DS master program is a program with an open admission (not a restricted admission (NC)) … An application must strictly meet the formal admission / entrance requirements. Applications that do not meet these requirements are rejected … The contents of the modules must be comparable to the RWTH’s modules … If you received your Bachelor’s degree in one of these profiles at the RWTH, you are automatically eligible for admission”

sc.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/en/studium/master/master-data-science/application-for-admission/ · checked 14 November 2026

The faculty page does not say who performs the check. Module ECTS and contents are looked up in RWTHonline, the electronic lecture directory.

India, Pakistan, Nigeria

Rules for applicants from India, Pakistan and Nigeria

English test waiver
Possible for applicants from India, Nigeria, Pakistan, with a previous degree taught in English
Source
“Für diesen Masterstudiengang ist die ausreichende Beherrschung der englischen Sprache nach § 3 Abs. 9 ÜPO nachzuweisen … Der Prüfungsausschuss kann die Englischkenntnisse auch durch Vorlage einer in englischer Sprache verfassten Seminar- oder Bachelorarbeit”
“English language proficiency may also be provided by submitting a seminar paper or bachelor's thesis written in English to the Examination Board” page
“Data Science M.Sc.3 English - § 3 Abs. 9 ÜPO … For Courses of study marked with 3 sufficient fluency in English can be proved by submission of a Bachelor's thesis or Seminar paper written in English. It's necessary to apply for a review at the Examination Board.” page
“Medium of instruction (MOI) certificates are in general not accepted. For examptions from this rule, consult the language requirements page” page

www.rwth-aachen.de/global/show_document.asp?id=aaaaaaaadfenkhb · checked 14 November 2026

What can replace the test is one piece of written work, not a degree. The binding source is the programme's own examination regulations (Amtliche Bekanntmachung 2025/337, § 3 Abs. 6): the examination board "kann" — may, at its discretion — check English by a seminar paper or bachelor's thesis written in English instead of a certificate (§ 3 Abs. 9 Satz 4 ÜPO is the enabling clause). Footnote 3 of RWTH's central language table marks Data Science for the same route and adds that the applicant has to apply to the examination board for a review. So this is neither a Medium-of-Instruction waiver — the faculty page refuses MOI letters outright, which is the document an Indian, Nigerian or Pakistani university usually issues — nor a general waiver for a degree taught in English: the whole degree's language of instruction is not what is examined, one English-language thesis or seminar paper is. `basis` is "degree-taught-in-english" only because the schema has no value for a thesis or seminar-paper route. Neither the regulations nor the footnote name a country; India, Nigeria and Pakistan are listed because a bachelor's thesis or seminar paper written in English is the normal case there.

Rules that name these countries
None named on the pages checked

The rules for your country across all universities, and the visa rules on English tests, are on the India, Pakistan and Nigeria pages.

More on this programme

Every value was read on an official page and is stored with a verbatim quote; open “Source” to see it. “Not stated by the university” means none of the pages we checked says, and lists those pages. Rules change: confirm with the university before you apply or pay.