Sustainable Materials and Engineering

The Master's programme in Sustainable Materials and Engineering provides students with fundamental concepts, methodologies, and analytical tools for the development, production, characterisation, and implementation of sustainable materials and systems. This interdisciplinary approach integrates perspectives from chemistry, materials science / materials engineering, and systems engineering. In the first semester, students receive a comprehensive introduction to the principles of sustainability and circular economy, environmental chemistry, and sustainable material selection, synthesis, and analysis — including economic considerations. During the second and third semesters, students can specialise in two out of three thematic areas: Sustainability in Chemistry Sustainability in Materials Science/Materials Engineering Sustainability in Systems Engineering These semesters are structured to allow in-depth exploration of the chosen specialisations. The final semester is dedicated to an interdisciplinary Master’s thesis addressing a relevant topic within the programme. The thesis is jointly supervised by experts from two different academic disciplines. Upon graduation, students will have acquired the following subject-specific knowledge and competencies: Ability to assess chemical interactions between materials and their environment Application of various analytical methods for evaluating the sustainability of materials Selection of materials for specific applications based on sustainability criteria Understanding of processes for the synthesis of new materials Insight into the development and production of sustainable and circular products and systems Independent development of innovative material and system concepts based on sustainability principles Competence in interdisciplinary research and collaboration Proficiency in using digital tools for sustainability assessment and sustainable material selection