Paderborn University

MSc in Optoelectronics and Photonics

In the Master's degree program in Optoelectronics and Photonics, the students acquire a profound knowledge base and skillset in the field of optoelectronics and photonics. The program is set up as an interdisciplinary course program with about equal parts of advanced level (Master level) courses from physics and electrical engineering and information technology. The graduates acquire a profound analytical skillset and the required skills for disciplinary and interdisciplinary work in research and development, with a particular focus on modern optical technologies and optoelectronic information processing. The program is offered entirely in English, no knowledge of German is required, such that our graduates are well prepared for the international job market. Besides lectures and tutorials, the course program contains a significant proportion of hands-on practical courses, including advanced-level lab work as well as numerical modeling on the computer. This way, with a focus on optical technologies, the students acquire the ability to design experiments, analyze their results, and to utilize these to advance future technological development.      

Complementing these subject-related qualifications, social skills, an awareness of the responsibility of science and the readiness to adhere to the rules of good scientific practice are acquired. Furthermore, the ability to debate complex scholarly topics and one's own scientific results in relation to the current state of research and to deliver written as well as oral presentations are developed.

In the first year, the program consists of fundamental courses and core subjects, complemented by advanced lab work and general studies in which additional soft skills can be acquired. In the second year, a number of elective courses will be chosen, and, by means of an extended lab project, the students will begin to specialize in a subfield in which later also the Master thesis may be completed. The master’s examination is intended to determine whether the students have mastered the subject’s content and have acquired the systematic overview and methodological tools required for independent scientific or engineering work in the field of optical technologies.