A mentor can help you in defining and putting together an individual study plan (e.g. when choosing the special courses). It makes sense to select the mentor from the research area you'll want to focus your studies in. You may change your mentor at any time. Ask the person in question directly, e.g. after al lecture, if he/she will be a mentor.
We recommend to choose your mentor at the beginning of your studies. You have to hand in the certificate of mentor counseling latest, together with the registration of the research phase (typically at the beginning of the third semester), in the Dean’s Office of the TUM Physics Department.
Please us the following form:
Certificate of Mentor Counseling in the Master's program in physics
The form 'Certificate of Mentor Counseling' can be a guideline for the discussion with your mentor.
For mentor counseling, see the notes for mentors and information for each part of the curriculum below.
Who may be mentor?
The central function of the mentor is the counseling about the current offer on special courses. Hence in principle all lecturers oft the Professional Profile Physics are qualified.
Check the general information on the setup of the Master programs in Physics and the specific remarks in the sections below.
Notes for mentors:
You should have an overview of the courses offered by the colleagues in your research area.
As a mentor you may expect initiative by the students. You do not need to provide a perfectly elaborated curriculum. You are counselor and give advice whether the module selection of the student makes sense or if they should consider and look out for further options.
Please note the information in the Wiki article on mentor counseling in the Master's degree programs of the Professional Profile Physics.
Information to the curriculum of the Master's programs in Physics
Theory Elective
The elective module Theory has to be chosen from the specific catalog of the program (KM, KTA, BIO und AEP). This catalog is updated by the examination board before the semester.
The modules have a workload of 10 CP and are completed with a written exam. If the students choose more than one module from the catalog additional modules are treated as Physics special courses – the Theory electives are always assigned to the specific catalog.
Physics Special Courses
In the Physics special courses students deepen their knowledge in current research topics of Physics. To achieve this students choose modules from the catalog of special courseswith a total workload of at least 30 CP.
At least 20 CP of the special courses need to be assigned to the specific catalog (KM, KTA, BIO und AEP) of the degree program (checkmark in corresponding column in the catalog of special courses).
Information for mentors: In addition the passed special courses shall ensure that the student has a broad education in Physics. Regularly this is guaranteed by choosing and passing modules with a total workload of 10 CP which are not assigned to the specific catalog of the degree program (no checkmark in the corresponding column in the catalog of special courses). The student can deviate from this rule (meaning: they may choose less than 10 CP from the complementary catalog) if within the mentor counseling you confirm on the report on mentor counseling that the required breadth of the Physics education is nevertheless ensured.
The modules from the catalog of special courses have a workload of 5 CP or 10 CP. Students may take more than 30 CP of special courses – in this case the grade is calculated using the best 30 CP from the catalog while taking into account the requirement of at least 20 CP from the specific catalog (in the course of this a 10 CP module might be reduced in it weight).
Non-Physics Elective
Non-Physics elective modules may be chosen from the neighboring disciplines and applications of Physics in engineering or medicine as well as from Mathematics and the Natural Sciences. As a rule only modules at Master level are possible.
The modules need to be included in the catalog of non-Physics electives published by the examination board. Only the examination board may decide upon inclusion of a module into the catalog – suggestions may be directed to the degree program manager Dr. Martin Saß.
Of the non-Physics electives modules of at least 8 CP need to be taken.
The regulations for the exam follows the conventions of the offering department. Students may take more than 8 CP of non-Physics electives. In this case the grade is calculated using the best 8 CP (for this the module with the least grade might be reduced in its weight).
Students Seminar
The student seminar is to be chosen from the specific seminar catalog for the Master’s program (KM, KTA, BIO und AEP).
Sometimes the same seminar course is offered in modules on different levels to Bachelor’s and Master’s students. The individual topics are changing every semester hence there is nothing wrong with a student participating in the "same" seminar during their Bachelor’s and their Master’s studies – the research is done on different topics and the grading is on different levels. Student seminars in which this is possible have two different module ids for Bachelor’s and Master’s students.
In the Physics Master’s programs the student seminar is course work (an ungraded exam). If in some cases numerical grades are awarded these will not be included in the final grade.
General-education subjects
The catalog of general-education subjects is an open catalog. Suitable modules not yet included can be included on short notice. For this students contact the assistant of the Dean of Studies Dr. Loewenfeld as soon as possible and giving the module id. Apart from the classic "Soft Skills" Physics students may in general take all modules from the social sciences and the humanities as general-education subjects. Modules cannot be included into the catalog if the Physics curriculum already contains such subjects (e.g. as mandatory module or as non-Physics elective) – hence especially modules from the neighboring disciplines (Mathematics, Chemistry, Engineering, …) cannot be general-education subjects.
Exams in the general-education subjects take many different forms. For the Physics programs all are course work (non-graded exams). If numerical grades are awarded these will not be included in the final grade.
Fundamentals Exam and Credits Requirement (Academic Progress Check)
Within the first two semesters students need to pass at least 10 CP of special courses.
In the further semesters they are subject to the credit requirements from the academic progress check (they must not lag more than two semesters behind).