© Natalia Svedlund
Brewing Science, B.Eng.
Program overview
The bachelor’s study program in Brewing Science offers you both a well-founded and professionally-oriented education and preparation for a transdisciplinary field of work, which combines applications from engineering, such as metrology and regulation engineering, mechanical engineering, and thermodynamics, with natural science, such as microbiology and chemistry. You acquire versatile knowledge about the biotechnological processes in malt and beer manufacture. You also gain the technical foundation necessary for a comprehensive understanding of technical processes and relationships.
This new bachelor’s study program in Brewing Science is highly practical with a strong emphasis on application. Unlike in the bachelor’s program in Brewing and Beverage Technology, mathematics and technology do not play a primary role in the curriculum. Instead, the program has a more significant internship and compulsory elective component. This includes a transdisciplinary compulsory elective, a subject-specific compulsory elective component, as well as a basic and technical internship with a complementary seminar. This allows students a high degree of flexibility when shaping their studies.
| Degree | Bachelor of Engineering |
|---|---|
| Standard period of study | 6 semesters |
| Credit points | 180 |
| Program start | Winter semester |
| Admission | Restricted admission |
| Language of instruction | German |
Admission requirements
As for every other bachelor’s degree program at TU Berlin, applicants must possess a university entrance qualification certificate to apply. Generally, this is the Abitur. If you do not have a formal university entrance qualification, you may still be able to study at TU Berlin if you can provide proof of certain professional qualifications.
The Brewing Science bachelor’s program is taught in German. If you are applying with a foreign school-leaving certificate, you must provide proof of German skills at a specific level. This is a prerequisite for admission. Knowledge of English is useful as some courses/modules are also offered in English. However, it is not a condition for admission to studies.
Basic principles of engineering and current specialist knowledge from brewing technology make up a significant portion of the curriculum. For this reason, you should have an interest in as well as a comprehensive understanding of natural science and technology. It is particularly useful if you took advanced courses in natural science, engineering, or technology in school.
Program structure
At the start of the program, students learn basic principles from natural science and engineering relevant to brewing science. Through project work they learn about working methods and how to approach engineering work and problems. During the technical component of the study program, students take integrated courses to learn about brewing science in further detail as well as acquire new skills and abilities. These are then expanded and advanced in seminars, labs, and a one-semester industry internship accompanied by additional modules. The final requirement is a scientific bachelor’s thesis, which students complete independently.
There is a proposed course schedule for the degree program. This is a recommendation for how to complete the degree program within the standard period of study of six semesters. It provides an example of which modules to take in which semesters. While this proposed course schedule is ideal on paper, it is not mandatory. It’s simply an example of how to successfully schedule and shape your studies. You can find the proposed course schedule in the study and examination regulations. The most current version of these regulations applies to new students.
Study and examination regulations:
Content and modules
The bachelor’s degree program in Brewing Science is modular in design. A module combines curriculum content relating to a specific topic. Modules often include a variety of different study and teaching formats such as lectures, practical tutorials, seminars, and practical projects. Students are required to earn a specific number of credit points and complete certain coursework and assessments in each module.
A current overview of all modules in the bachelor’s program in Brewing Science is available in TU Berlin’s module transfer system (MTS). The MTS also provides an overview of which modules are mandatory for your degree program and which are elective. Detailed module descriptions provide information about the contents of modules, learning objectives, participation requirements, workload, types of assessment, etc. The module catalogue is based on the study and examination regulations.
Internships
Multiple internships are mandatory for this bachelor’s program: a basic internship (6 weeks) and an industry internship (20 weeks) with a complementary seminar (6 credit points). Students generally complete the basic internship during the second semester while the industry internship and complementary seminar are completed during the fourth semester.
During the basic internship you learn about production and processing methods used in industry and gain initial experience in a technical or industrial field.
Students should gain experience in more than one of the following areas:
• Malting (barley delivery, lab, steeping, malting boxes, drying, etc.)
• Brewing (brewhouse, fermentation and filter rooms, bottling, lab, etc.)
• Beverage production operations (winery, production, lab, bottling, etc.)
• Supply industries (aroma manufacturers, hops production, plant manufacturers, etc.)
• Biotechnological operations (fermentation, lab, etc.)
During the technical internship you learn about work in industry and technology from an engineering perspective. The technical internship is also intended to provide you with professional orientation, offering you insight into how you might wish to specialize and advance your knowledge. During the internship students are to work in more than one of the following areas:
• Planning, project management
• Plant operation and maintenance
• Optimization of workflows, creation of job instructions
• Quality assurance, operational control
• Analysis of operational processes
Further information is available in the program’s internship regulations.
Stays abroad
You can generally complete parts of the program abroad, either in the form of study abroad or internships. General information regarding stays abroad can be obtained from the TU Berlin International Office (study abroad) and from the Career Service (internships abroad).
Acquired skills
Our graduates possess a knowledge of both brewing science as well as basic principles of natural science and engineering. They are additionally well versed in the different working methods and approaches utilized in engineering.
After your studies
The breadth of information and skills taught together with the strong practical application allows students to directly begin work after completing the bachelor’s study program. Typical professional fields include production, development, initial operation of plants, and quality assurance. Work in sales is also possible. Graduates often work in the beer and beverage production industry, in malt houses and fermentation companies, and in supply industries.
Graduates of this study program are not automatically eligible to study in TU Berlin’s master’s program in Brewing and Beverage Technology. However, graduates may be admitted if they can submit proof of having completed the additional technical prerequisites required by the master’s program.
Further information & downloads
Guidance and choosing the right degree program: Academic Advising Service
Questions about the degree program: Course Guidance
General questions: Student Info Services
Application and enrollment: Office of Student Affairs - Undergraduate Admissions
Recognition of previously acquired credits: Examination Board