Required degree
Students who apply for the Master of Science program in Biochemistry must fulfill one of the following requirements:
- You have a three-year Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry degree of at least 180 CP.
- You have an equivalent three-year Bachelor of Science degree of at least 180 CP. Equivalence will be determined by the examination board.
- German students may apply before fully finishing their Bachelor degree. Application is possible with your TOR (= Transcript Of Records) once you have obtained at least 150 CP. In this case the full complement of 180 CP and the Bachelor certificate must be provided as soon as possible, and by the end of the reconfirmation period (“Rückmeldefrist”) for the second Master semester at the very latest.
Required practical training (practical lab courses)
- You must have earned at least one third of the credit points of your Bachelor degree programme through practicals, i.e. lab courses where you did actual practical laboratory bench work yourself. Thus, in a typical 180 CP Bachelor programme, at least 60 CP must have been obtained from practicals.
- Make sure that practicals are identified as such on your transcript of records. If they are not specified clearly, they will not be counted.
- If the type of transcript your institution provides does not specify practicals, you may provide additional official documentation that certifies that certain lab courses you took were indeed practicals with hands-on laboratory experience for every student taking that course.
- Lab courses where students merely watch the supervisor or other students perform an experiment are not accepted as valid practicals for the purpose of applying for the Master studies course Biochemistry of the Ruhr University Bochum.
- In addition to documenting your practical CPs, it is mandatory to provide a brief, succinct, maximally two pages long specification of the contents of your practicals and laboratory techniques you practiced yourself. This document needs to be uploaded on the online application platform together with your other documents.
Required grades
There is no minimum grade requirement.
Language requirements
The language of instruction is English. You must provide proof that you have B2 level English language skills. To be accepted into the program, at least one of the following requirements must be fulfilled:
- You have obtained the German “Abitur” as your high school diploma.
- You have completed your first-degree program in English (this means that ALL lectures must have been held in English).
- You took a TOEFL test with a minimum score of 420 for the paper-based test, or 87 for the internet-based test.
- You took an IELTS test with a minimum score of 5.0.
Test scores must not be older than two years.
Do I need to have German language skills?
All courses in the Master studies course Biochemistry are taught in English. Hence, German language skills are not required for admission to the program. However, some basic knowledge of the German language will be very helpful in everyday life and it will considerably help you to socialize with other RUB students. We thus strongly recommend you take German classes, ideally before you come to Germany. Ruhr University Bochum offers free German language courses for all levels.
Master counseling interview
AFTER acceptance into the Master studies course Biochemistry, but BEFORE you enrol (“matriculation”), you need to attend a mandatory Master counseling interview conducted by a member of the teaching staff. Counseling interviews are coordinated by the Examination Office.
In this counselling interview you will receive information on the structure of the Master studies course, the focal point programmes as well as your options, choices, and responsibilities. The certificate you will be given at the end of the counseling session you will need to present upon matriculation.