The master's program in chemistry at LMU Munich builds on a bachelor's degree in "chemistry and biochemistry", in chemistry or in a related subject and promotes the scientific deepening and specialization of the students.
The master's program serves as a basis for further scientific training. Prerequisites for achieving the study goals are open-mindedness for the complexity of chemistry, the ability to think analytically in a logical, unprejudiced manner, to observe and experiment in a planned, exact manner, to develop and understand theoretical concepts, and to evaluate results critically.
Students can enter the master's program in chemistry either in the summer or the winter semester. The standard length of study is four semesters during which 120 ECTS (credits) must be earned. Courses are held predominantly in German.
General Description of the study program on the central LMU websites
The program’s design and its components
The basic draft of the master study in chemistry intends two options/variations:
More information at the Curriculm Website.
Prerequisites for acceptance into the master's program in chemistry are: a bachelor's degree in "chemistry and biochemistry", biochemistry or chemistry with a cumulative grade of "good" (2,5) or better. Applicants with a grade of more than 2,5 are required to participate in a qualifying interview or suitability test (see suitability test below).
Before you begin your studies in the master program, you first have to apply for acceptance to that course of study, that is, you have to register or re-register. If you want to enter the program in chemistry at the LMU, you must complete two consecutive steps:
Steps one and two explained
1. Step one: Application for admission (placement process)
The first step toward admission takes place at the Faculty for Chemistry and Pharmacy at the Chemistry Department.
When you have received a letter of acceptance from the Department, you can proceed to step two (see below).
Please read the application guidelines carefully.
Information which documents are obligatory for the application may be found below.
2. Step two: Matriculation (enrollment) at the LMU
You can register at the LMU after you have received your letter of acceptance from the Chemistry or Biochemistry Department (and, for foreign students, your letter of acceptance from the Office of International Affairs). Registration (matriculation) must be done after you have filled out the Online-Form. Filling out the online form does not mean you have registered!
The application process (Bewerbung) applies to all students wishing to enter the master program in chemistry. There is no limitation (NC) at the LMU on the number of students who may be admitted to the chemistry master program. The students' aptitude for the study program, however, must be ascertained by a placement process (see 3. under Placement-Process-Bylaws below). Based on this, applicants must have a cumulative bachelor's grade (in chemistry or related sciences) better than 2.5 to apply. The grade 2.5 is based on the German grading system where 1.0 is best and 5.0 is failed.
The placement process is part of the in due time application procedure (application deadlines - see below). You will be informed of the outcome of your application approximately three weeks after the application deadline in accordance with the Placement-Process-Bylaws (966-eign-master-chemie.pdf (PDF, 33 KB) with modified regulations of 12/2019 (PDF, 22 KB)). If you are not accepted, you only may apply a second time before a following deadline.
Please carefully read the information on these and linked pages. In case you still have questions contact us at (pruefchem@cup.uni-muenchen.de).
1) Application deadlines
Before you read this section, please read the section called Application Process (above).
The master program in Chemistry at the LMU has no limitations on the number of students that may be accepted. Each applicant, however, must take the placement process (see above).
Application periods are April 01 to July 15 of the year for the winter semester and November 15 to January 15 of the year for the summer semester. The application portal (see below) is open during these periods only.
2) Your application must include the following:
Click here for the online application.
After we have evaluated your application, in accordance with the Placement-Process Bylaws (PDF, 33 KB), we will either:
3) Enrollment/Registration
After you have received a letter of confirmation from the Department of Chemistry AND the confirmation of the International Office you should take the following steps:
Flyer der Zentralen Studienberatung zum Thema Immatrikulation (PDF, 516 KB) (in German)
If you are rejected:
You may still apply for admission to other universities which do not have admission restrictions or universities that have different placement criteria.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Examination Office in Chemistry.
Current Module Catalogue of this study program:
MHB LMU-Master Chemistry_18-02-2025_en.pdf (PDF, 1,104 KB)
If there are no exam dates at the corresponding lecture below, please consult the lecturer to arrange the date and place.
The dates are without guarantee! Please follow the announcement of the lectuerer!
If there questions or notes please consult the study program coordination.
The registration for the Modul Exams is possible via E-mail as well as in person at the examination office F5.020!
Admission requirements: The registration for the selected lectures is done online in LSF. The lectures on the registration form must correspond to those in LSF/Transcript and must be entered!
There must be 5 colloquia listed on the form.
Forms for the module exams in the Master program:
Please fill in the following forms with your name and the attended lectures/seminars - including name of the lecturer. Submit these forms when you register for the oral exmans at the Examination Office.
Module examination dates for the Masters in Chemistry or in Biochemistry
Lab courses in the Master program
There are no online-registrations for lab courses in the master program of Chemistry (exceptions below). Any student has to care and to apply independently for a place in a research group. The arrangements (e.g. beginning) will be fixed directly with the supervisor. At the end, a report has to be submitted to the supervisor at least 4 months after the beginning (possibly including a presentation).
Due to the decision of the examination committee it is not allowed to do the lab courses (F-Praktika) in the same research group where the Bachelor thesis was done.
Before starting any of the advanced lab courses (F-Praktikum) in the chemistry master program, you have to fill in a registration form (PDF, 199 KB)and to sign it by the supervisor - as well doing external lab courses (see below)! Then, you have to submitt this registration form in the Examination Office in room F5.020. Please fill in the questionary which is also avaiable in F5.020 tp give us your feedback.
Inorganic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Theoretical Chemistry
Guidelines for advanced external lab courses in the Master program
Before starting any advanced lab course (F-Praktikum) in the chemistry master program, you have to fill in this registration form (PDF, 199 KB) and to sign it by the supervisor! You can also get this registration form in the Examination Office in room F5.018, where it has to be submitted afterwards.
Advanced lab courses can also be performed external of the LMU Departments of Chemistry or Biochemistry (in Germany and also abroad). In this case you should take care of the equivalence e.g. workload (SWS) or duration of the course. To acknowledge the credits of an external lab course you have to find an official supervisor at our departments (= Prüfungsberechtigter) who is working in a related research field.
According to the regulation of the Examination Committee only one advanced external lab course can be accepted in the Master of Chemistry.
If the official supervisor has accepted, he/she rates the report with a mark and transfers this information to the Examination Office if the lab course has been passed.
Financial help for external lab courses may be found at:
Regulations for the preparation of master theses
Each student must independently look for/apply for a place in a working group. The start of the master thesis will then be arranged directly with the supervisor.
Admission requirements are the passed F-internships according to the two majors.
The master thesis has to be registered before starting by filling in the registration form and signing it by the supervisor. This also applies to external work (see below)! The form has to be collected in person at the examination office F5.020 and returned there. Please also participate in the evaluation of the Master Thesis - your feedback is important for us. The questionnaires are also available in F5.020.
Regulations for the preparation of external master theses
The Master's thesis can also be carried out in an institution outside the Department of Chemistry of LMU Munich (applies to Germany and abroad). In this case, please try to find a supervisor at the department (=authorized examiner) at the beginning of your planning and discuss the project with him/her.
An informal application for the preparation of an external paper must be submitted to the Examination Office, which will be verified and assessed by the Chairman of the Examination Committee. The application must state the following:
Basically, a proposal (project description) of the work must be submitted.
In addition, it must be stated that the external supervisor will prepare a appraisal (with grading according to the ECTS system) after the submission of the thesis and forward it to the official supervisor of the department.