How to apply
Admission requirements
1. Applicants require a completed university degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) in a health-related discipline such as:
- Health science
- Medicine
- Pharmacy
- Natural sciences
- Nutritional science
- Psychology
- Social Sciences
- Statistics
- Sports science
- Physical therapy
- Economics or Business administration
- Law
- Communication science
...or another health science-related discipline.
2. Good knowledge of mathematics and statistics
3. Advanced competency in English
4. Passed written and oral entry exam (in English)
Application documents
Application deadline for the winter term 2021/22 is May 15, 2021.
The application is made via our online application portal. The link to this portal will be published on this website soon.
Please have the following documents ready for your application:
- CV in tabular form (with photo)
- Higher education entrance qualification
- Bachelor’s/First degree diploma or transcript of records of the final semester
- If applicable, doctoral certificate or other documents/certificates from other courses of study or degrees
Please note that certified copies are only required for final enrolment.
International Applicants:
For international applicants, who did not receive their first degree from a German university, the process of applying consists of two separate parts. You need to apply to the MSc Epidemiology Programme (as described above) and in addition to the International Office of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in order to get the letter of admission to study at the LMU.
Please, check the dates and documents you have to submit to the International Office of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) on their website.
In case you fulfil all requirements and pass the entrance exam you will receive two letters, one from the MSc Epidemiology programme (letter of acceptance) and one from the International Office (letter of admission). Enrolment at LMU is only possible if both parts of the application process have been successful and the applicant has received both letters.
Acceptance process
The acceptance process is composed of both a written and an oral exam. Both can be done online. The entrance exam for the winter term 2021/22 will take place on:
- May - June 2021 (written exam)
- June - July 2021 (oral exam)
The exact dates of the exams are expected to be announced at the turn of the year 2020/21. Please check our homepage regularly for updates.
Written exam
The written exam lasts 90 minutes, in which we test the applicants’ knowledge of and abilities in the following topics:
- Basic knowledge of mathematics and statistics
- Critical interpretation of scientific literature and information in the media
- Principles of scientific work
- Important basic concepts in epidemiology and Public Health
- Current issues relevant to epidemiology
Oral exam (interview)
The oral exam is conducted in form of a 30-minute admission interview. The following topics will be discussed to assess the abilities of the applicant:
- Knowledge in mathematics and statistics
- Motivation for the master’s programme
- Realistic perception of career prospects
- Ability to outline how the master’s programme will complement the knowledge and skills obtained in previous studies
- Problem solving and decision making abilities
- Ability to critically evaluate scientific findings
- Communicative competences
Recommended literature for preparation
1. Basics of Calculus:
- Numbers and basic mathematical operations
- Algebraic Expressions, Equations
- Ratio & Proportion
Preparatory literature:
- Mark Ryan (2016), Calculus for Dummies I (+ II)
- http://pages.stat.wisc.edu/~ifischer/calculus.pdf
- https://www.shmoop.com/number-types/topics.html
- https://www.shmoop.com/basic-operations/topics.html
2. Functions and their Graphs:
- Linear Functions, Quadratic Functions, Polynomials
- Logarithms and Exponential Function and Rules
- The Shape of Curves; Slope and Curvature
- Derivatives and Integrals of Functions
- Optimising Functions
- Area under a Curve
Preparatory literature:
- https://www.shmoop.com/linear-equation-systems/topics.html
- https://www.analyzemath.com/calculus/applications/max_min_quadratic.html
- https://www.purplemath.com/modules/logs.htm
- http://www.sosmath.com/tables/derivative/derivative.html
3. Basics of Chance, Probability Theory and Statistics
- Types and Scales of Variables
- Notation
- Computing Probabilities and Rules of Probability
- Theory of sets, “And” vs. “Or” and other operators and symbols
- Venn Diagrams
- Contingency Tables
- Factorials, Permutations and Combinations
- Bayes Theorem
Preparatory literature:
- Deborah Rumsey (2006), Probability for Dummies (Part I + II)
- https://stattrek.com/probability/what-is-probability.aspx?Tutorial=AP
- https://www.shmoop.com/basic-statistics-probability/topics.html
- https://nrich.maths.org/6290
- http://www.physics.csbsju.edu/stats/contingency.html
- http://pages.stat.wisc.edu/~ifischer/Intro_Stat/Lecture_Notes/APPENDIX/A1._Basic_Reviews/A1.2_-_Perms_and_Combos.pdf
- http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-optional-subjects/group-ii/statistics/36060-rules-permutation-combination.html
- https://stattrek.com/probability/bayes-theorem.aspx
4. Basics of Matrix Algebra
- Types of Matrices, Transpose Matrix
- Matrix Operations and Matrix Properties, Inverse of a Matrix
Preparatory literature:
5. Trigonometry (OPTIONAL)
Preparatory literature:
http://www.sosmath.com/trig/trig.html
6. Further Reading
- Deborah Rumsey (2019), Statistics Essentials for Dummies
- Deborah Rumsey (2016), Statistics for Dummies
- Deborah Rumsey (2009), Statistics II for Dummies
- Deborah Rumsey (2019), Statistics Workbook for Dummies
- David Coggon, David Barker, Geoffrey Rose (2009), Epidemiology for the uninitiated, https://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-readers/publications/epidemiology-uninitiated
Study regulations
Enrolment and tuition
Enrolment
The enrolment of national students at the Studentenkanzlei takes place via an online application for registration and a subsequent registration by post mail. All documents must be received within the specified deadlines.
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
Studentenkanzlei
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
80539 München
The enrolment of international students at the International Office takes place via an online application for registration and a subsequent registration by post mail. All documents must be received within the specified deadlines (exact dates will be stated in your notification of admission).
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
International Office – Zulassung
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
80539 München
Semester fee
There are no tuition fees for this programme. There is, however, a semester fee for each student comprising a student services contribution and a basic fee for public transportation. More detailed information on the semester fee is available on the LMU website (in German).