The Truth About Studying in Germany

A Few Hints on How to Be Successful in a German Master’s Program

Andreas Maier
9 min readJul 5, 2024
In the German education system, you need a few hints to be successful. Image Source

Welcome to Germany, where efficiency meets education, and punctuality is practically a national sport. We’re genuinely delighted to see so many international students choosing to study here. Your presence not only brightens our campuses but also adds a splash of global flavor to our bratwurst and beer. At the Pattern Recognition Lab of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), we’ve been waving the international flag for years. After all, who doesn’t love a good mix of accents while discussing machine learning algorithms? In Germany, we know that the language of science is not English, but “broken English”!

In our lab, and many other German institutions, we’ve embraced the English language. This isn’t just because we like the challenge of pronouncing “th” sounds. No, it’s because fields like pattern recognition, machine learning, and medical engineering are global by nature. So, whether you’re from Mumbai or Melbourne, you can dive straight into your studies without needing a crash course in German first. FAU, for example, offers Master’s programs in AI, Data Science, and Medical Engineering entirely in English. So, rest easy knowing you won’t need to ask for directions to the library in German.

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Andreas Maier

I do research in Machine Learning. My positions include being Prof @FAU_Germany, President @DataDonors, and Board Member for Science & Technology @TimeMachineEU