General Information

Master Studies in International Information Systems

This page contains all relevant information for currently enrolled students of the International Information Systems master program. For more general information about the study program and the application procedure, please refer to its general webpage.

For detailed information about topics such as program entry, going abroad, program committee, seminar offers, or frequently asked questions, please use the menu on the left.

Current news and contact forums are also provided in our WI/IIS StudOn group.

Program Structure

Since the course offerings are continually being revised, the program structure varies depending on the year of enrollment. The program structure is always based on the examination regulations for the individual start year of the program.

The exact date and time of each course can be found on campo. Registration for the courses usually happens via StudOn and exam registration via campo.

Specializations

Students starting from the winter term 2016/17 can choose to study specializations. Specializations are combinations of related modules in which a certain minimum of ECTS are to be completed. Upon request, students may receive written confirmation of up to the specialization(s) that they have studied. The available specializations as well as their modules depend on the individual start year of the program:

Study start in/after winter term 2021/22

For students with study start in or after winter term 2021/22, there are three specializations available, among which up to one specialization can be chosen. A specialization is chosen by completing a minimum of 25 ECTS in that specialization. If a student achieves 25 ECTS in two specializations, the one with the better average grade is considered, unless the student requests otherwise.

The three available specializations correspond to the module areas Data & Knowledge, Digital Business, and Architectures & Development as specified by the module handbook. All modules within each area are part of the respective specialization.

Study start before winter term 2021/22

For students with study start before winter term 2021/22, there are five specializations available, among which up to two specializations can be chosen. Within each specialization, a total of 20 ECTS need to be completed, including at least one module (5 ECTS) from the area of Information Systems and one module (5 ECTS) from the area of Informatics.

See the list of specializations and their modules

Module Handbook and Examination Regulations

The module handbook contains descriptions of all modules belonging to the IIS program and also regulates which modules can be selected as core and elective courses. It is updated every semester according to the respective course offerings.

The examination regulations are divided into the general examination regulations (Rahmenprüfungsordnung), which lay down general regulations for all study programs in the School of Business, Economics, and Society, and the IIS-specific examination regulations (Fachprüfungsordnung).

Study start in/after winter term 2021/22

Study start in/after winter term 2018/19

Exams

Exam Registration

Registration for exams for the winter term 2022/23 happens via campo within the following period: 21 November 2022, (00:01 AM) to 11 December 2022 (11:59 PM).

The Examination Office is responsible for any requests or problems concerning examination registration.

Withdrawal and Unsuccessful Attempts

  • Withdrawal from a registered examination is possible until the third working day before the examination date without giving reasons via the campo portal, unless otherwise announced.
  • The declaration of withdrawal is irrevocable; with the effective withdrawal the registration for the examination expires
  • Withdrawal from a re-sit examination is not permitted.
  • An examination performance shall be deemed to have been assessed as “insufficient” (5.0) if the student withdraws after the expiry of the withdrawal deadline without good reason.
  • In cases of incapacity to take the examination due to illness, a medical certificate must be submitted; the Examination Committee may require the submission of a medical certificate from a medical examiner.
  • After three unsuccessful exam attempts, a module is considered to be permanently failed. If the module is a compulsory module or if all options in a field have been exhausted, this will result in exmatriculation. Note that the Master Thesis can only be re-attempted once.
  • Please find more detailed and binding information on this in the examination regulations applicable to you here.

Studium Generale

(only valid for IIS students starting from winter term 2021/22)

Step 1: Choose any FAU module worth 5 ECTS (or more) that you would like to study. Ask the professor (or the responsible person) before the start of the examination registration period whether you are permitted from their side to take the exam even though you cannot register via campo. (If they tell you to ask your study program coordinators first, you can tell them that they already allowed you to take any FAU course of your choice, given that the professor permits to do so.)

Step 2: Take the exam and obtain a certificate from the professor mentioning your name, the course, and the grade.

Step 3: Send an email to studium-iis@fau.de with the certificate from step 2 and your matriculation number mentioning that you would like the grade to be accredited for the Studium Generale module.

Step 4: If the certificate is valid, we will instruct the examination office to enter your grade into the Studium Generale examination in campo and you will receive your credit points.

As for any other module, you can also complete the Studium Generale module at an abroad unversity. To do so, you need to follow the same procedure as for any other course, indicated at https://www.win.rw.fau.de/master-new/master/going-abroad/#collapse_2. Please send your learning agreement to studium-iis@fau.de, the responsible person is the IIS abroad coordinator Mark Kram.

Master Thesis

This section describes requirements and approaches for writing your master thesis within the IIS program.

Formal Requirements

  • You are always required to have a supervisor at FAU, even if you write your thesis abroad or in cooperation with a company.
  • The timeframe for writing your master thesis is 6 months.
  • The thesis can be written in German or English. The actually required language depends on your supervisor.
  • Format and scope of your work are determined by your supervisor.
  • You are not required to participate in a master thesis seminar unless it is stated by the associated University Chair. Please check if this requirement applies to you.
  • You can start your master’s thesis each semester, but it is recommended for the last semester
  • You have to be matriculated when you register your thesis as well as when you hand it in

Where to write your thesis

In general, there are 4 options on where to write your thesis:

  • Option A: Writing at FAU
    You can write your thesis with a professor/University Chair listed in the module handbook.
  • Option B: Writing at FAU in cooperation with a company in Germany
  • Option C: Writing with an academic partner abroad (counts as a semester abroad)
  • Option D: Writing at a company abroad (counts as a semester abroad)

We recommend starting as early as possible to search for a topic and a supervisor!

How to select a topic

The following steps can be considered for all of the above-mentioned options where to write your thesis.

Option A

Select an announced topic from one of the available University Chairs:

Option B

Take a look at the research fields of professors and research assistants and contact them in order to find out about topics that are not officially announced. Maybe they can give you an interesting, non-announced topic.
(Please do not send equal requests to multiple Chairs, this will lower your chances of getting a positive response!)

Option C

Contact a professor/research assistant from an available Chair and pitch them your idea for an own topic. If it fits their field of research or sounds interesting to them, they might become your supervisor. You can also propose a topic that includes cooperation with a company (to convince your potential supervisor, you should establish connections to the company before pitching it).

FSI WInf/IIS

The FSI WInf/IIS is an association of students who take care of the needs of information system students.

On the FSI website, you will find information about the study program and dates of important events.