Master
The Master Program in CSE
The Master students have to acquire 120 ECTS mainly in mandatory Core Courses, in eligible Fields of Specialization and Elective Courses as described above for the Bachelor Program and with a Term Paper and a Master Thesis, respectively.
Note: students that started their Msc CSE studies before Fall 2024 are in the old regulation with 90 ETCS in theoretically 3 semester. This is the only difference in the two regulations.
Qualification profile for the CSE Master Programm
Requirement Profile for the CSE Master Program
Important note for the applicant
An application to the MSc programme CSE at ETH Zurich is pointless, unless your academic record clearly states that you had an education (course) in
- basic mathematics (calculus and linear algebra)
- programming (C, C++, FORTRAN, etc); fluency in C++ prior joining CSE is important
- basic numerical methods
- foundations of physics
Description of the courses is COMPULSORY. If you do not use the next hints, your application might not be processed:
Please write a course description IN YOUR OWN words of the subjects YOU studied in the class. Do not attach or copy/paste official course descriptions, do not wrtite names of books.
Example of good description of the lecture Numerical Methods:
FORMAT: lecture: 2h, exercices: 2h, laboratory: 3h per week, 12 weeks, programming language: C++,
CONTENTS: Computing with Matrices and Vectors, Direct Methods for linear systems of equations, Least Squares, Data Interpolation and Fitting, Filtering Algorithms, Approximation of Functions in 1D, Quadrature, Iterative Methods for non-linear systems of equations.
Example of good description of the lecture Linear Algebra:
FORMAT: lecture: 2h, exercices 2h per week, 12 weeks, programming language: Python
CONTENTS: linear equations, linear transformations, determinants, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, bilinear forms, canonical forms for matrices, euclidean and unitary vector spaces, selected applications.
Example of bad description of lecture Numerical Methods:
This lecture covers the most important and useful numerical methods and algorithms for this degree programe.
Example of bad description of a lecture called "Mathematcis II":
Name and Name, "Elementary Linear Algebra"; Name and Name , "Complex Variables and Applications".
There is no hard threshold on the grade. However, the admission committee takes into account the previous performance of the applicants and very good grades in the CSE relevant subjects are expected.
Refusal of admission
Candidates will not be admitted to the CSE Master Program if they still need to complete studies accounting for more than 30 credit points to qualify for admission. These candidates may apply for admission to the CSE Bachelor Program. The details of the admission procedure are regulated in the Rules on Admission to Studies at ETH (Zulassungsverordnung ETHZ).
Important links for students from outside ETH
International Student Information: www.study.ethz.ch
Application forms (electronic): www.eapply.ethz.ch
- Advanced Numerical Methods
- Advanced Machine Learning
- Probabilistic Artificial Inteligence
- Computational Statistics
- Advanced Systems Lab
- Optimization for Data Science
- Deep Learning in Scientific Computing
The list of courses changes over the time, see here for the core courses in FS22 and here for HS21.
Two Core Courses have to be chosen and exams passed.
The rules for the seminar depend on the specialization area. However, 4 ECTS credits are awarded for the seminar in the specialization area, roughly equivalent to 120h of work. In order to avoid excessive workload this should be taken into account when fixing the seminar topic and deliverables. You may show this text to your seminar supervisor.
Students have to take 2 Elective Courses and pass the exams. At least 6 ECTS are necessary, but usually much more are earned.
Students have to attend twice the CSE Case Studies Seminar as described for the Bachelor Program, more details are here.
See here.