At the Institute for Natural Language Processing (IMS), students can acquire a Bachelor of Science degree as well as a Master of Science degree. Furthermore, the IMS offers successful candidates the opportunity to receive a doctoral degree or post-doctoral qualifications (habilitation). University of Stuttgart's various exchange programmes support students who wish to spend a semester abroad. At the IMS there are also active student representatives.
Study opportunities at the IMS
The IMS supervises the German-language course of studies Bachelor of Science Maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung and the English-language course of studies Master of Science Computational Linguistics.
Study courses at the IMS
Studying at the IMS
If you are already studying or about to begin a course of study supervised by the IMS, you will find detailed information on the following pages.
Information for students
FAQ - General
Among other things, C@MPUS is used whenever you register for courses or exams, view your exam results and access important documents like the ECUS stamp, your transcript of records or confirmation of enrollment. C@MPUS is also where you can create and view your timetable.
The How to C@MPUS for students page can help you with its FAQ section, tutorials and documentations.
In ILIAS you can access your courses and course materials. The lecturers will mainly use ILIAS to spread information regarding the courses.
When you start your studies at the IMS, you will get several new e-mail accounts, which are the main channel for communication concerning your studies. Please regularly check
- your central student e-mail account (st123...@stud.uni-stuttgart.de; instructions and log-in),
- your e-mail inbox on ILIAS,
- your IMS e-mail account (firstname.lastname@ims.uni-stuttgart.de; see FAQ below),
- possibly your e-mail account from the Computer Science department (in case you also applied for an account there).
As an alternative, please set automatic forwarding of all the e-mails to an account of your choice.
During our welcome meeting, all new students get hints on applying and on using their IMS computer account. They get their own user accounts to log in to the local IMS computers or access them from remote computers. Comprehensive guidelines will be distributed when applying or via e-mail. (The tutorial linked here can additionally help for getting started with linux.)
The IMS computer account includes an e-mail account (firstname.lastname@ims.uni-stuttgart.de). This e-mail address is used to spread important information concerning your studies (on teaching, exams, job offers etc.). By default, your IMS e-mails are forwarded to your central student e-mail address (st123...@stud.uni-stuttgart.de). You can of course change this forwarding anytime.
If you register for your courses in C@MPUS, C@MPUS will create your schedule automatically. You can access it via the C@MPUS starting page.
Yes, it is okay to complete fewer or more credit points, but please remember that 30 credit points correspond to a full-time job.
No, the course registration is not binding, that means you don't have to attend the exam if you prefer not to. However, you should make sure to pass the relevant modules for the Orientierungsprüfung in time. The registration for the modules is binding.
You can find more information on the examination organization pages, including a step by step instruction.
Up to seven days before the exam, you can withdraw from the exam without giving a reason. Also within the seven days, you can still withdraw if you are able to provide a valid reason.
Special COVID rule: one day instead of seven days.
Yes. In the summer semester 2020 and the winter semester 2020/21 the obligation to retake failed exams was paused. Now, all the students get two more semesters to take their re-examination.
For PL exams (see module description), if you do not pass your third written attempt, you will have one last oral exam for which you will receive a grade of either 4,0 or 5,0. If you fail this oral exam, you will not be able to complete your degree. For other exam types there is no limited number of attempts.
Key competencies (Schlüsselqualifikationen) are 3 CP courses designed for teaching you a non-subject-specific skill. These include e.g. a language, writing skills or many other interesting things. The SQ-lessons are listed in C@MPUS.
No, there is a separate period for the SQ registration. For the SQ it is sufficient that you register for the course. You do not have to register for a module.
The transcript of records is valid. If some of the modules are not visible in "My degree program", you might have to click "show inactive nodes" in the upper left corner.
There are no specific scholarships for students of B.A. MSV or M.Sc. CL. The International Office and the website of the University of Stuttgart provide more information on scholarships and also on financing your studies.
On the website of the Admissions Office you will find an overview of all fees and charges that (international) students of the University of Stuttgart have to pay.
You do not need to be enrolled to submit your thesis (if it is your last module), You only need to be enrolled for registering it.
In case you decide not to enroll in your thesis semester, you can ignore the automatic reminders by the admissions office.
- Possible companies
- More information for enrolled students of the University of Stuttgart
- The IMS itself does not offer internship positions, but in some cases, project-related long-term internships can be organized. Please take a look at the IMS research website and contact the respective colleagues (including your CV and possibly an internship proposal) if you find and interesting project or topic you would like to "apply" for.
- Via the modules "Praxisprojekt Forschung/Entwicklung (Wahlbereich MSV)" [B.Sc. MSV] and "R&D Practical Project for CL" [M.Sc. CL] (descriptions s. C@MPUS), you can get 6 credits for your internship or research project.
No application is required and nothing happens. The standard period of study is just the minimum time you can accomplish your studies in. Only after the end of the maximum period of study you need to apply for an extension.
As soon as all your grades or "preliminary pass grades" are entered in C@MPUS the examination office can issue a document for you.
You need to submit the request form for your degree to the examination office. If you would like to unenroll from the study program right away you can do so. Otherwise you will be unenrolled at the end of the current semester.
- Application and matriculation
- Issues concerning international students: International Office and International Service Point (ISP)
- Technical issues regarding C@MPUS
FAQ - B.Sc. Natural language processing
No. You have to complete 12 CP each in Linguistics and MSV, and 18 CP in Informatics.
No, for students of B.Sc. MSV this is not an option, because the exam contains more course content than is scheduled for the MSV module.
Guideline from the student representatives for students of B.Sc. MSV (German only)
FAQ - M.Sc. Computational Linguistics
If you haven't completed your bachelor's degree before the end of the application deadline, you can apply for a conditional admission. In this case you are required to provide evidence that you have gained at least 110 credit points (ECTS) by submitting your current transcript of records in C@MPUS. This transcript also has to include your current grade average.
To enroll for M.Sc. CL however you will need to submit your bachelor's certificate and your notice of unenrollment.
Yes. According to your academic background you are – especially with very good grades – eligible for the master's program. It is also a good idea to gain any kind of additional certificate for programming/CL courses (e.g. Python) that you can find online, but it is not mandatory.
No, a GRE score will not be taken into account by the Admissions Committee.
No. Since M.Sc. Computational Linguistics is an English taught master's program you do not need any German language skills.
Yet, in order to be able to find your way around quickly and well after arriving in Germany basic language skills will certainly be helpful.
As a native speaker you can prove your English proficiency by uploading a certificate of any educational stage – e.g. of your high school, bachelor's degree etc. – that shows your English speaking background.
Please contact the International Service Point (ISP) or your study program manager to receive a confirmation letter.
Here you can find information on which documents need to be legally attested by the time of enrollment (not application).
The purpose of this section is to provide the admissions committee with a detailed insight into the knowledge you have gained during your bachelor's studies via module description. You have several options. You can
a) upload the complete official module manual of your course of studies if available,
b) compile a document with all the modules you took (e.g. by aksing your lecturers for a description of their courses),
c) submit a document with links to online versons (if some texts are only available on websites and not as pdfs). Please make sure that the document is clearly structured.
Some fields and uploads can still be edited, see Online application - FAQs and answers. Otherwise you can send an e-mail with the changes to studiensekretariat@uni-stuttgart.de.
Please refer to the Admissions Office for visa matters and further legal issues.
Oftentimes, providing authorities with a link to or a screenshot of your study program website is sufficient. In case you are asked to provide further documents, please contact our International Service Point (ISP) or your study program manager.
As soon as all your grades (or at least a "pass confirmation" by your thesis examiner) are entered in C@MPUS you can ask the examination office via e-mail for a preliminary degree certificate. Otherwise please send your transcript of records and your list of currently open exam registrations to your program mananger for a manually issued confirmation letter.
No, there is no contingent of dormitory rooms for students of M.Sc. Computational Linguistics. Please start looking and applying for a (dormitory) room or apartment as early as possible – preferably right after admission, since the housing situation in Stuttgart is tense.
You can be placed on the waiting list for dormitory rooms at the Studierendenwerk even before your enrollment.
The International Office provides further information on housing options.
M.Sc. Computational Linguistics is a full-time study program, but you have the possibility to complete your studies in a maximum time period of nine semesters – the regular study duration is four semesters. Therefore, depending on your job it might be possible to work part time. We would recommend you to work not more than 40-60 hours per month.
No, the assignment is only important regarding the binding registration for each module or exam.
No, the only requirement is that you pass at least 30 CP in the Computational Linguistics catalog (at least 18 in one of the subcatalogs CoreCL, AppliedNLP and SpeechProc – your choice – and at least six in each of the other two).
You will register in C@MPUS for the required modules and after the exam registration period it will be checked how many oral exams we need to organize and when these exams could be offered (usually aorund the end of June / mid-January). You will then be informed via e-mail.
Especially for non-CL graduates we recommend taking lectures first and seminars rather later. Please also check the course descriptions for their specific prerequisites.
Non-CL graduates do not have a choice: they attend *only* the course "Methods in Computational Linguistics" (8 SWS, 4 slots a week).
CL graduates can decide to combine 2 of the listed advanced 6-LP courses to fill the module "Methods in Computational Linguistics". For us to be able to enter your grade, you need to specify your choice in the ILIAS course-module mapping table.
If the lecturer offers this option, please register for the module "Project Seminar CL" (6 CPs) and you will receive an extended seminar grade for this module. You can use this option only once or rather complete the module only once. Please make sure you enter your mapping into the course-module mapping table on ILIAS.
After passing the module you can easily do this by sending an e-mail to the examination office.
Yes, in the M.Sc. CL you can drop two elective modules in total. Please write an e-mail to the examination office and kindly ask them to remove them.
Yes, you can take up to six additional elective credit points, which will count towards your average grade. Moreover, you can take up to four additional modules (irrespective of credit points), which will not be counted but listed in your transcript of records (either with our without grades). For the latter please register in C@MPUS and then before the exam write an email to the examination office and tell them which modules you would like to take as additional modules.
The research module is signed in by the examination office automatically (please check!) in C@MPUS when you register for your master's thesis. After your presentation and the oral exam the grade will be entered and the credit points (9 CP according to PO2017) will be displayed as well. You can check this out in the module description.
You will be able to see your credit points for the research module in C@MPUS after your presentation and your oral exam, when the grade is entered.
Guideline from the student representatives for students of M.Sc. CL (in English)