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Specialization Part

The Specialization Part consists of two areas. These areas are oriented at the main research activities of the participating physics institute. One of the areas will develop into the Primary the other into the Secondary Area.

The Primary Area comprises 18 credit points and in general serves as the basis of your MSc. thesis. The Secondary Area comprises 12 credit points.

Thanks to our cooperations, you can also take courses at the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen. Some of these are broadcasted to Cologne.

You can also chose an additional field of spezialization in your Elective part.

Sometimes a suitable choice of the courses is not obvious. If you have problems in the planning of the courses, please contact directly one of the coordinators named in the respective module description.

Field Primary Area
at least 18 CPs

Courses you have to account for:

Secondary Area
at least 12 CPs

Courses you have to account for:

Associated Courses (potentially incomplete)

Cologne
Aachen
Bonn

Astrophysics
  • Core Course Advanced Astrophysics
  • sufficient Specialized Courses
  • Core Course Advanced Astrophysics
  • sufficient Specialized Course

Cologne Course Offerings

Bonn Course Offerings

long-term planning

Condensed Matter Physics
  • Core Courses Condensed Matter I & II

  • sufficient Specialized Courses (one of them may come from the Field Solid State Theory)

  • Core Course Condensed Matter I
  • Core Course Condensed Matter II or sufficient Specialized Courses

Cologne Course Offerings

long-term planning

Foundations of Quantum Technologies: Matter, Light and Information

  • 2 Core Courses
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses
  • Core Course
  • further Core Courses or sufficient Specialized Courses

Cologne Course Offerings

Bonn Course Offerings

Aachen Course Offerings

long-term planning

Molecular Physics
  • Core Courses Molecular Physics I & II
  • sufficient Specialized Courses
  • Core Course Molecular Physics I
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses

Cologne Course Offerings

Bonn Course Offerings

long-term planning

Nuclear and Particle Physics
  • Core Courses Advanced Nuclear Physics & Detectors for Nuclear and Particle Physics
  • sufficient Specialized Courses
  • Core Course
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Course

Cologne Course Offerings

long-term planning

Quantum Field Theory / General Theory of Relativity
  • Core Course
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses (up to 6CPs of the Spec. Courses can be replaced by Spec. Courses from Particle-, Astrophysics or physics-related Mathematics)
  • Core Course
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses (up to 6CPs of the Spec. Courses can be replaced by Spec. Courses from Particle-, Astrophysics or physics-related Mathematics)

Cologne Course Offerings

Bonn Course Offerings

long-term planning

Solid State Theory / Computational Physics
  • 2 Core Courses or Core Course QFT I und Specialized Course QFT II
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses (one of the Spec. Courses may come from the Field Condensed Matter Physics)
  • Core Course
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses (one of the Spec. Courses may come from the Field Condensed Matter Physics)

Cologne Course Offerings

long-term planning

Statistical and Biological Physics
  • 2 Core Courses
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses
  • Core Course
  • further Core Course or sufficient Specialized Courses

Cologne Course Offerings

Bonn Course Offerings

long-term planning

Cosmology Not possible
  • At least one core lecture with of 3 hours per week and a 1- or 2-hour per week tutorial class
  • sufficient further courses
 

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

Experimental Hadron Physics  

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

High Energy Particle Physics  

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

Physics in Medicine  

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

Quantum Optics and Optical Condensed Matter Physics  

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

Theoretical Hadron Physics  

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

Theoretical Particle Physics  

Current Course Offerings

long-term planning (coming soon)

Course Registration

The electronic course registration is used to give you access to online material, allows for communication within the course and so on. But it doesn't have any further consequences. This is why it doesn't matter which module you chose during the online registration.

Exams in the Spezialization Part

  • Usually, there is no per-course exam in the specialization part, but two oral overview exams, one for the Primary Area and one for the Secondary Area. (Exception: Secondary Area in Bonn)
  • Nevertheless, active participation in the courses is required and needs to be documented using the respective form.
  • It is recommended to attend to the oral exam of another student to prepare for your own exam. To do so contact the examination office.
  • The contents of all your courses are part of these exams. But since the Core Courses are so important, their content is naturally an important basis for the exam. You have to find yourself a professor for your oral exams and fix a date. It is highly recommended to talk with the professors in person some weeks before the exam to figure out the focus of the exam. You also find protocols of earlier exams in the Fachschaft's office.
  • You can only start the Research part when you have finished everythoing else but the seminar of the Mandatory Part. You can only register your master thesis after you have done everything else, see explanation of the Research Part.