Prerequisites for Mechanical Engineering
Academic requirements for this programme
National Applicants (holding a Bachelor from Denmark)
Expectations to applicants
Applicants are expected to fulfill all academic prerequisites before enrollment (see below). A clear and realistic study plan should be established before entering the programme in order to complete the 120 ECTS within no more than 2 years. Students at the MSc programme in Mechanical Engineering should be able to work independently as well as in groups, keeping deadlines, and be able to deliver well written technical reports (individually or in groups) in English.
Bachelors of Science in Engineering (Produktion og Konstruktion) from DTU
Applicants holding a bachelor from DTU in Mechanical Engineering (Produktion og Konstruktion) have access to study the MSc programme Mechanical Engineering.
In order to obtain full benefit from the MSc study the right prerequisites are to be ensured from the BSc education. Students from the BSc programme in Mechanical Engineering are therefore encouraged during their BSc studies, in addition to their mandatory courses, to complete a minimum of 15 ECTS points among the following courses:
| 41271 | Ship design | 10 | point | Spring F2 (Mon 13-17, Thurs 8-12) |
| 41401 | Fundamentals of engineering thermodynamics | 5 | point | Spring F2B (Thurs 8-12) |
| 41502 | Strength of materials 2 | 5 | point | Autumn E2B (Thurs 8-12) |
| 41564 | Dynamics and vibrations | 5 | point | Autumn E2A (Mon 13-17) |
| 41612 | Product design and documentation | 10 | point | Autumn E4 (Tues 13-17, Fri 8-12) |
| 41615 | Mechanical CAD | 5 | point | Spring F1B (Thurs 13-17) |
| 41812 | Introduction to Finite Element Analysis | 10 | point | Autumn E1B (Thurs 13-17) and January |
| 41814 | Heat transfer | 5 | point | Autumn E4A (Tues 13-17) |
It is emphasised that the above list of courses does not ensure all necessary prerequisites for the courses of the MSc programme. Depending on the focus area of interest different courses from the list are recommended and choices should then be done in order to secure the necessary prerequisites for master courses of interest.
Bachelors of Engineering (diplomingeniører, maskinteknik) from DTU
Applicants may be admitted after an individual evaluation of their academic qualifications, provided they fulfil the requirements. Specifically, applicants must have followed one of the following Mechanical Engineering specializations (30 ECTS) :
- Konstruktion og design
- Energianlæg
- Maritim teknik
Applicants with the specialization 'Materialer og fremstilling' or 'Mekatronik og robotteknik' are not accepted.
In addition, the BEng study should also include at least 10-15 ECTS (preferably 15 ECTS) among the following mathematics courses:
| 01034 | Advanced Engineering Mathematics 2 | 5 | point | Autumn E1A (Mon 8-12) |
| 01035 | Advanced Engineering Mathematics 2 | 5 | point | Autumn E2B (Thurs 8-12), Spring F2B (Thurs 8-12) |
| 01037 | Advanced Engineering Mathematics 2 (Summer University) | 5 | point | August |
| 01237 | Differential geometry and parametric design | 5 | point | Autumn E4B (Fri 8-12) |
| 02405 | Probability theory | 5 | point | Autumn E4B (Fri 8-12) |
| 02413 | Statistical Quality Control | 5 | point | Autumn E1B (Thurs 13-17) |
| 02601 | Introduction to Numerical Algorithms | 5 | point | Spring F1B (Thurs 13-17), Autumn E4B (Fri 8-12) |
| 42101 | Introduction to Operations Research | 5 | point | Autumn E2A (Mon 13-17), Spring F2A (Mon 13-17) |
The above courses cannot be substituted by any other courses from DTU or elsewhere.
The head of study recommends the courses: "Advanced Engineering Mathematics 2" and "Introduction to Numerical Algorithms", but any 10 ECTS combination among the above mentioned are acceptable. Applicants that do not have passed 10 ECTS (as a minimum) from the list above, will not be accepted.
Other applicants
Other Bachelors of Science in Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering (diplomingeniør) from DTU and Bachelors of Science in Engineering or Bachelor of Engineering from other national (Danish) or international universities
May be admitted after an individual evaluation of their academic qualifications, provided they fulfill the requirements. Applicants should provide a one page motivation letter emphasizing the focus area of interest as well as highlighting courses of interest among the normative and technological specialization courses given (at least 20 ECTS in total).
Details on the academic requirements are given below.
A very strong, working knowledge of mathematics and mechanics is a prerequisite. A year's full time study at DTU amounts to 60 ECTS points. The MSc programme builds on a bachelor of science curriculum with at least the following content of mathematics and engineering sciences:
- Mathematics (similar to DTU-courses 01005, 01035, 02402 and 02601): 25-30 ECTS
- Physics (similar to DTU-courses 10022 and 41511): 10-15 ECTS
- Statics, strength of materials incl. continuum mechanics (similar to DTU-courses 41501, 41502 and 41564) : 10-15 ECTS
- Fluid mechanics, engineering thermodynamics, and heat transfer (similar to DTU-courses 41312, 41401 and 41814) : 10-15 ECTS
- Materials science, and production technology (similar to DTU-courses 41659 and 41714) : 10-15 ECTS
- Engineering design methodology (similar to DTU-courses 41603 and 41612) : 5-15 ECTS
- Computer programming (MatLab, Python, C or similar to the DTU-course 02631/02632/02633 with MatLab or Python): 5 ECTS
A very strong working knowledge at bachelor level of the following subjects is prerequisite for the central courses of the MSc programme:
- Statics, strength of materials incl. continuum mechanics and mechanical vibrations
- Fluid mechanics (Euler equations and Navier-Stokes equations)
- Engineering thermodynamics and heat transfer
- Engineering design methodology
- Applied mathematics, numerical methods, CAD, and computer programming (MatLab, Python, C or similar)
Applicants are assumed to have the necessary prerequisites for the MSc programme courses when entering the programme. The description of the DTU-courses may be used to assess the required level of knowledge and skills. At the MSc programme, students should be willing to aqcuire any prerequisites that they may be missing by themselves.
General admission requirements
Only applicants holding a relevant Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a Bachelor in Engineering (diplomingeniøruddannelse) or a Bachelor of Natural Science degree can be admitted to a Master of Science in Engineering programme. The bachelor's degree must be less than ten years old.
The individual MSc Eng programme states in detail which bachelor programmes qualify and whether applicants must complete supplementary educational activities.
Requirements for supplementary educational activities can equate to up to 30 ECTS credits and are specified as a list of courses under the individual MSc Eng programmes.
The specific requirements must be met before graduating from the bachelor's programme or in connection with conditional admission to a particular MSc Eng programme. The courses must be passed prior to the commencement of studies within one year from the conditional admission.
Supplementary educational activities in connection with conditional admission to an MSc Eng programme do not form part of the MSc Eng programme, and tuition fees are charged. If the supplementary courses have not been passed within the specified deadlines, the conditional admission to the programme is withdrawn.
The Master of Science in Engineering programmes are offered in English. Therefore applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English (B-level, IELTS, TOEFL, CAE) https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/admission-and-deadlines/language_test_requirements
DTU offers an Honours Programme as part of all MSc Eng. programmes. The admission requirements are described at https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/honours-programmes
Specific prerequisites for the Industry MSc Eng Programmes
The prerequisites are similar to the specific ones that apply to the 2-year-programmes, but in addition, the applicant must have a job relevant to the studies with a workload of at least 25 hours a week, or the applicant may be self-employed in a start-up company. Read more about the rules on https://www.dtu.dk/english/education/graduate/industry-master-of-science-in-engineering
