Structure and Curriculum

The master’s programme curriculum for Education in Business and Information Systems, from which individual timetables and emphases can be arranged, is a combination of elements from the fields of Economics and Business Education, Information Systems, Computer Science and Applied Computer Science, and Business Administration and Management.

The Economics and Business Education and Business Administration and Management subject groups are offered by the Faculty for Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration, and the remaining three subject groups are offered by the Faculty for Information Systems and Applied Computer Science.

A1: Economics and Business Education

Students are required to take Economics and Business Education as a foundational basis for studies in Education in Business and Information Systems. Elective modules may be chosen from among those in the fields of Media Education, Educational Management and Teaching and Learning Research.

[30 ECTS-Points]

A2: Information Systems

The Information Systems module group comprises three subjects. Industrial Application Systems deals with computer-aided management (i.e. computer-aided planning, regulation and control) of industrial performance processes. For this purpose, three modules examine ERP systems, e-commerce systems and management support systems. ERP systems serve the planning and management of all operational resources. E-commerce systems are concerned with a company’s interaction with partners in the marketplace. Management support systems supply management with information necessary to make decisions and support decision-making processes.

The department of Information Systems Services is concerned with the effective application of resource IT to business processes. The central question is this: “How should information systems be applied in order to generate a measurable economic return?” The theoretical focuses are, on the one hand, located in the area of standards and networks (both the technical and economic foundations), and on the other hand in questions pertaining to IT value creation. Of particular relevance are approaches to business process optimization via suitable IT application and IT management with focus placed on outsourcing and IT-business-alignment. The most important application domains are e-finance and e-HR (IT support in financial and personnel processes).

[18-30 ECTS-Points]

A3: Computer Science | Applied Computer Science 

Computer Science
The computer science module group also comprises three subjects. Practical Computer Science deals with all aspects of complex systems (e.g. operating systems, distributed systems and mobile systems). Some of the modules offered are distributed systems architectures, middleware, or an internship module in distributed and mobile systems.

The section on Foundations of Computer Science deals with the logical and structural principles and the mathematical methods that form the basis for the design of application systems, programming languages, operating systems, and computer and communication structures. Among others, this encompasses modules in subjects like information security and logic.

The focus points in Communication Services, Telecommunications Systems and Computer Networks are traffic and network management of stationary and mobile telecommunications networks, multimedia communication in high-speed networks, and also mobile communication and mobile computing. Modules are offered on topics like modelling and analysis of communication networks and distributed systems, and mobile communication and mobile computing.

Applied Computer Science
The Applied Computer Science module group also comprises three subject areas. Cultural Computing is computer science applied to the humanities. It deals with the application and development of application-specific information systems and is focused primarily on history and earth sciences. The modules offered in this segment address topics like image and language processing, or mobile support systems.

Media Informatics deals with searching within, and management of, structured multimedia documents, as well as with the development of multimedia applications. Modules in this segment examine topics like computer graphics and animation, and also information retrieval.

The main focus of Cognitive Systems is the development of concepts and methods for the design, specification and analysis of intelligent systems based on cognitive principles. Among others, modules on intelligent systems and human-computer interaction are offered in this segment.

[18–30 ECTS-Points]

A4: Business Administration and Management

Business Administration and Management
The course offering in the Business Administration and Management group is oriented towards a functional differentiation of the field’s subject matter. Detailed information on individual subjects’ curricula can be found on the Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration faculty website.

[6-18 ECTS-Points]

A5: Master’s Thesis

The master’s thesis can be written in Economics and Business Education, or in one of the following four subject groups: Information Systems; Computer Science; Applied Computer Science; or Business Administration and Management. In any case, the content of the thesis must establish a relevant thematic link to Education in Business and Information Systems.
[30 ECTS-Points]