Germany's TU9 Universities for Engineering Explained

What TU9 actually is

TU9 is an alliance of nine long-established technical universities (Technische Universitäten) in Germany. It is a cooperation network for research, engineering education and policy — not a ranking, an admissions consortium, or a single application portal.

Membership signals that a university has a deep, research-intensive tradition in engineering and the natural sciences. It does not change how you apply: each TU9 member runs its own admissions, sets its own entry requirements, and issues its own degrees. There is no shared TU9 application.

• RWTH Aachen University
• Technische Universität Berlin
• Technische Universität Braunschweig
• Technical University of Darmstadt
• TUD Dresden University of Technology
• Leibniz University Hannover
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
• Technical University of Munich (TUM)
• University of Stuttgart

Why it matters to an engineering applicant

For an international engineering student, the practical value of TU9 is signalling and breadth: these universities tend to offer a wide spread of classical and emerging engineering disciplines, strong laboratory and research infrastructure, and established links to German industry and doctoral pathways.

That said, TU9 is not the only place to study engineering well in Germany — many universities outside the alliance, and the Universities of Applied Sciences (Hochschulen für Angewandte Wissenschaften / Fachhochschulen), run excellent, often more applied, engineering programmes. Choose by the specific programme, language of instruction and location, not by the TU9 label alone.

How admission tends to work at a TU9 university

Admission is programme-by-programme. For a Bachelor's, you generally need a school-leaving qualification recognised as equivalent to the German Abitur — for some countries this is direct, for others it requires a Studienkolleg (preparatory year) and an assessment test. For a Master's, you need a relevant Bachelor's degree and must usually show subject prerequisites in your transcript.

Language requirements depend on the programme: German-taught degrees typically require a German proficiency certificate (such as TestDaF or DSH), while many Master's and some Bachelor's are taught in English and ask for IELTS or TOEFL. Always read each programme page for its exact entry rules and deadlines, and verify them on the official university website before applying.

• Check whether your school qualification gives direct entry or needs a Studienkolleg
• Confirm the language of instruction (German vs English) per programme
• Match your transcript to the listed subject prerequisites for Master's entry
• Note that some programmes apply through uni-assist and others directly

Applying: portals and the German qualification check

Many German universities route international applications through uni-assist, which checks foreign qualifications and forwards eligible applications; others have you apply directly on the university's own portal. A few use the central platform hochschulstart.de for certain restricted-entry subjects. Each TU9 member tells you which channel its programme uses.

Applicants from some countries (for example, India and China) may also need an APS certificate verifying their academic documents before a visa or admission can proceed. Requirements and processing times change, so confirm the current process on the university's page and the relevant official portal. This is general information, not immigration advice — check any visa step on the official German government source.

How to decide between TU9 members

Compare on what affects your study and outcomes rather than prestige alone: the exact specialisation offered, the language of instruction, whether the programme is research- or application-oriented, the city's cost of living, and the strength of the relevant department and its industry or doctoral links.

Because each university sets its own rules, a programme you qualify for at one TU9 member may have different prerequisites at another. Build a shortlist of specific programmes, then read each one's official admission page in full.