Interaction Design

To graduate from your degree programme, you must:

• successfully complete all the classes
• produce a Master’s thesis, which must receive a positive assessment
• pass the Master’s examination

Your title on graduation after the fourth semester will be “Master of Arts in Arts and Design (MA)”.

In their Master’s thesis, students should explore an issue in the field of interaction design relevant to the course. This allows the student to demonstrate successful completion of vocational training at both a scientific and design level. The Master’s thesis can be purely theoretical and scientific or else design-based including a work piece. The topic for the Master’s thesis can be proposed by the student, by a lecturer or by an interested company. Several students can collaborate on a thesis as long as the individual contributions of each individual student can be clearly evaluated. The supervisors should be lecturers on the course or, where applicable, external course lecturers or in exceptional cases, additional experts. Support can also be provided by other members of the teaching and research staff or programme heads.

The fourth semester is set aside for completion of the Master’s thesis. The final thesis can also be compiled for a company or as part of a research project. Upon request, the thesis can also be embargoed for up to five years. While writing their Master’s thesis, students have access to all the resources which are available during the course of their studies.

The Master’s examination can be completed at the end of the summer semester at the earliest. It takes place before an exam board made up of experts in the field and is open to the public. The examination involves presenting and defending the Master’s thesis and an examination covering the entire field of Interaction Design plus an additional complementary subject. The exam board comprises at least three members including the chair.

The Master’s degree enables students to enter the professional environment immediately or else go on to study for a doctoral degree.