Frequently asked questions

Please refer to structure of the programme.

Yes, the instruction language of all Master's programmes at ETH Zurich is English.

Graduates of an university of applied sciences may be required to attend additional lectures in German for the admission criteria (additional requirements).

All students are required to establish a learning agreement at the start of their studies. This agreement will be discussed with and must be approved by the tutor of the chosen deep track.

Elective courses can be selected from the complete offerings of ETH Zurich. However, it is advisable to choose courses from the MSc in Space Systems curriculum. Certain deep tracks also provide a list of recommended elective courses.

If you have any courses from your BSc studies at ETH that were not included in your BSc degree, you can potentially count up to 1-2 courses (equivalent of 4-6 ECTS) towards your MSc degree. These courses must be advanced BSc courses (usually from the 3rd year) and need to be approved by your tutor, as they must be part of your learning agreement.

Since the Master's programme involves team-based project work taught through full-day block courses, students must attend in person, making part-time study not possible.

No, the Master’s thesis topic is determined during the programme (in the third semester).

The curriculum of the new programme is already heavily project-focused, with the third core course designed as a project-based course. Therefore, elective courses should be chosen from the recommended list of the deep track, as they are designed to enhance "theoretical" subject-specific expertise within that track.

Yes, you may undertake a voluntary internship either during your Master's studies or between your Bachelor's and Master's degrees. However, the internship must be completely independent of your Bachelor's or Master's thesis.

Note that a semester-long internship during the lecture period is not possible due to the project-oriented nature of the coursework.

The guidelines must be strictly followed for the internship to be approved.

No, the voluntary internship involves working in an institution where you gain insight into real-world projects. It is a practical experience and must be completely independent of your Master's thesis.
While the Master's thesis may be carried out in collaboration with an industrial partner, it must be discussed and agreed upon with your tutor in advance.

You can enroll as leave of absence. Students on leave pay no tuition fee only the compulsory fees summing up to CHF 74.00 and any voluntary fees.

The Master in Space Systems is designed to integrate the field of science and engineering, bringing together students from various backgrounds. This mix of perspectives enhances performance by bringing together diverse mindsets. We place an emphasis on systems, science and data, and sustainability.

• Future space engineers and leaders need to be able to think in systems: how to integrate subsystems and their requirements efficiently. 
• They need to understand the science behind space exploration and use data efficiently: to iterate designs, but also to build downstream use cases.
• Space exploration needs to be sustainable: Switzerland and Europe can lead research and implementation of sustainable usage of space.

Admission to the degree programme requires a university Bachelor's degree of at least 180 ECTS, an equivalent university degree or a Bachelor's degree from a Swiss university of applied sciences.

Attendance of the degree programme require basic knowledge and skills in the disciplines of mathematics and physics, which must be equivalent to those taught at ETH Zurich.

Details are published in the Download requirement profile (PDF, 128 KB) of the programme.

Yes, please refer to the specific requirements of the programme.

If your prior education does not exactly meet the requirements but your previous academic performance was excellent, you may be admitted with additional requirements. The specific additional requirements are determined during the acceptance procedure and communicated in the admission letter.

Additional requirements cannot exceed a specified maximum number of credits, which is defined in the specific requirements of the programme.

The holistic evaluation takes into account all the elements of your application, such as: the performance in the undergraduate programme, the ranking of the university, the background in the chosen field of study, the scores in standardized tests (like GRE), the letter of motivation and recommendations. All these facts will be assessed by the members of the Admission Committee in their decision-making.

If you have questions regarding formal admission prerequisites that are not answered in the FAQ Master's studies and application please contact the Admissions Office.

Admission to the degree programme requires very good academic performance in the previous study programme. The performance-related requirements for admission are defined in the Download requirements profile of the programme (PDF, 128 KB).

Required for students who have not obtained their Bachelor's degree in one of the EU/EFTA Member State countries or the UK. 

For applicants from EU/EFTA Member State countries or the UK, the GRE is recommended. A missing GRE score may disadvantage the application, depending on its overall strength.

See required application documents for details.

In addition to tuition fees and semester fees, most importantly there are Download living costs (PDF, 85 KB) to consider too.