Uni-assist e.V. is an institution - supported by more than 180 universities in Germany - for the preliminary examination of international student applications. It checks international degrees for correctness and converts the final grade into the German grading system. Only after this, it can be assessed whether a degree meets the required quality standards from a German university.

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You request your preliminary review documentation (VPD) from uni-assist. The VPD must be issued for the University of Cologne.

Documents you need to submit to uni-assist are:

• School leaving certificate / proof of having passed a university entrance exam
• Degree certificate (if not available, upload a preliminary degree overview)
• Transcript of records
• Information about the grading system of your university
• An officially certified translation (if the original documents were not issued in German or English)
• APS certificate (only for applicants with a degree from China, Vietnam or India)
• Check the country-specific information for further documents

You can have your documents checked by uni-assist all year. The VPD is not tied to an application semester. Processing will only begin after receipt of all documents and payment of the fee. Please make sure to request the VPD at uni-assist well in advance of the application deadline of the University of Cologne because you need to submit the VPD in our application portal. Experience shows that the processing time is about six to eight weeks.

No, it is not possible to submit your VPD after the application deadline has ended. We immediately start the selection process and can only consider complete applications - including a valid VPD issued for the University of Cologne.

Therefore, make sure that you request your VPD at uni-assist well in advance of the application deadline.

No, the VPD that you submit for your application has to be issued for the University of Cologne. It is not possible to apply with a VPD that is issued for another German university. If you wish to apply for more universities in Germany than the University of Cologne, you need to apply for more than one VPD at uni-assist.

The APS is a joint institution of the German Embassy and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The APS Certificate proves the authenticity of educational biographies and the corresponding educational certificates / diplomas.

You need an APS Certificate if you have studied in Vietnam, China or India. It is independent of your own nationality.

As stated on the VPD, VPDs are valid for a period of one year.

Yes, you can apply for the M.Sc. programmes even if you have not completed your bachelor degree under the following conditions:

• At least 80% of the credit points to be acquired have to be earned at the time of application
• All remaining achievements will be completed by September 30th (start in winter term) or March 31 (start in summer term), respectively

If the subject-specific admission criteria are not met, you cannot be admitted to the program. In this case, you may take steps to address the missing requirements before reapplying. For example, if you completed a biochemistry degree but do not have enough credit points in practical modules, a multi-month research internship in a biochemical laboratory can help you gain the necessary practical experience.
However, if the bachelor’s degree was completed in a subject that is not related to the field, eligibility usually cannot be achieved through additional qualifications.

If you are unsure which measures are suitable in your situation, please contact us—we are happy to advise you.

If your Bachelor program does not have ECTS Credit Points (European Credit Transfer System), your credits need to be converted. To do this, your workload will be compared with the ECTS system:

1 ECTS Credit Point relates to a workload of 30 hours. For example, a course granting 3 ECTS Credit Points means a workload of 90h.

You will have to list your individual course workload in our application form. If your university does not award ECTS credit points, please indicate the number of working hours you spent on the corresponding module (e.g., 20 hours/week for 14 weeks). It might be helpful for you to check before, if you fulfill the credit points requirements.

If you have not completed your bachelor degree in Germany you need to apply with a VPD by uni-assist, even if you received ECTS in your bachelor program.

The application deadline for all applicants (including international applicants) is:

• Winter Term (start in October): July, 15th
• Summer Term (start in April): January, 15th each year

Yes, you can apply for as many M.Sc. degree programs as you like.

No, the University of Cologne will not charge any fees for your application.

However, you will have to pay a fee to uni-assist to create your VPD, which is necessary if you apply with a non-german bachelor degree.

Furthermore, you have to pay the semester fee when you enrol at the University of Cologne. The semester fee varies around 300€, the exact amount can be found here.

The Cologne Graduate School of Ageing Research (CGA) offers fellowships for outstanding applicants enrolled in the M.Sc. programs Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Computational Biology, Genetics and Biology of Aging and Regeneration or Neuroscience*. The application for this fellowship is an independent step with a distinct deadline. More information can be found on the website of the CGA.

Other funding options might be scholarships. International students will quickly find helpful Information on the website of the DAAD.

More Information about living costs & financing options can be found here.

_{*Candidates should hold a Bachelor degree (BSc or equivalent) in Biological Sciences, Biochemistry or a related subject.}

Admissions will be sent out after the application deadline ends (July, 15th or January, 15th). We strive to send the admission notifications as soon as possible after this deadline. All admission decisions (acceptances and rejections) are issued through the KLIPS system.

No, all admission letters will be sent after the deadline has passed. For reasons of equal treatment of all applicants, it is not possible to send out admissions before the application deadline.

A move-up procedure will be carried out if there are places available after the first admissions have been send out. This means that a decision about allocating free places in a move-up procedure can only be made after the enrolment phase for admitted students has ended. Until you have not received a notification of rejection, there might still be the opportunity to get a place in a move-up procedure.

If the admission requirements are not met, you will receive a rejection letter. If more applicants meet the requirements than there are available places in the program, places are allocated based on final grades (numerus clausus). In this situation, applicants may still be admitted if places become available after the first round of offers. As a result, it may take several weeks before you receive a final decision.

The certificate of exmatriculation cannot be submitted at a later date and must be available at the time of enrollment.

If you have not yet completed your studies and therefore do not have a certificate of exmatriculation, you have the following options:

• Many universities issue a certificate immediately after exmatriculation. Thus, you can exmatriculate from your university with effect from the end of the semester and submit the corresponding certificate for enrollment. Even after exmatriculation, it is possible to continue your studies until the end of the semester. You do not have to be enrolled in order for examinations to be recorded or a degree certificate to be issued.
• Some universities also issue provisional certificates of exmatriculation. These are also accepted for enrollment.

If this is not possible for you, please contact the Students Registration Office.