1) Checklist for studying

Civil engineering, what is it and is it for me?

Here's a checklist to help you decide whether you're interested in civil engineering!

• Have you ever wondered how a detached house is built? And no, you definitely don't design the look of the house ;)
• Have you ever been in or on a high-rise building? How heavy do you think such a building is? Do you know how it is even possible to build so high up?
• Have you ever thought about why so many people can sit and jump on a staircase-like structure without anything collapsing during one of your many visits to soccer matches?
• Bridges! Civil engineers build gigantic bridges! Want to know how that works?
• Surely you are also a driver who uses our roads every day. Do you know why this works almost without a hitch in today's busy traffic?
• Have you ever been to a power station? Or seen a huge dam?
• Have you ever thought about why we in the "western" world don't have as much flooding after rain events as other countries?
• Do you know how rivers used to flow? Do you think they always had such a nice straight and navigation-friendly "figure"?
• Have you ever wondered where your leftover pasta goes when you flush it down the drain?
• Or where the water even comes from? And why we can turn on the tap and wash ourselves around the clock?
• How do you think small and large construction sites work so that every worker gets their money and the client gets the work they want? So that no accidents happen and not everyone ends up suing everyone else?
• And last but not least: Would you like to know what all our buildings are made of and how these materials are created?

Then I ask you: Have you ever thought about whether civil engineering might be just right for you?

Because you will be able to answer these questions and more during your studies!

As a civil engineer, you can play an active role in the design, use and preservation of our environment! Whether you are calculating the statics of a detached house, dimensioning a bridge, designing a city's water supply or organizing a major construction site. Quote from the information brochure "Civil engineers plan and design the built environment". And that's true!

2 ) Study at the TU Kaiserslautern

We will now try to explain the process and structure of the civil engineering course from a student's perspective:

Due to the Bologna reforms, we also changed the degree from Diplom to Bachelor/Master in the winter semester 11/12.

The standard duration of the Bachelor's degree is 6 semesters (incl. Bachelor's thesis), the Master's degree 4 semesters.

For the Bachelor's degree, your goal is to collect 180 credit points (CP). This means that, unlike at school, you are no longer required to take all subjects, write class tests and receive a certificate after each semester. It's a little different here.

At university, you take courses, events and lectures that earn you a certain number of CPs if you successfully complete them. Imagine you take a math lecture in which you write an exam after the semester and pass it, then you will receive, for example, 5 CP and thus already have 5 of your 180 CP. (You can find a detailed overview of the allocation of CPs below). But remember, nobody, not even a teacher, will make sure that you collect your points. You are on your own during your studies ;)

Now, to ensure that every civil engineering student receives a basic education and does not take any biology courses, there are compulsory courses that you need for your Bachelor's degree. These are summarized in so-called "compulsory modules".

This means that your Bachelor's degree requires you to take certain courses and events in order to study "Civil Engineering".

The following diagram shows the courses on offer and the compulsory courses:

-> To 3.

From the 3rd semester onwards, you can choose a specialization, i.e. you mainly attend the courses that correspond to your interests. For example, if you discover during the first two semesters that you like "Fundamentals of Structural Engineering", then the specialization "Structural Engineering" would be interesting for you. However, if you are more interested in infrastructural planning and (settlement) water issues, then the specialization "Infrastructure and Environmental Planning" would be something for you. Building on this, you can later complete your Master's degree with the Master's courses of the same name.

-> To 4.

As you can see, your Bauing. Courses and your Bachelor's thesis will only give you a total of 165 LP. You can collect the remaining 15 through "compulsory electives". These are subjects that you can choose freely, so to speak. However, you will have difficulties getting a course on animal physiology recognized (i.e. so that the LP received are included in your total of 180). That's why our research group offers a wide range of elective courses to deepen your interests. In WP subjects, something is often dealt with that would be too detailed in the normal lecture period or, for example, an additional course so that you can deal with CAD programs, etc.. But you should only worry about this when you are in your degree course!

If you want to find out more, you can find the specific Bachelor's examination regulations here:

Examination Regulations Civil Engineering

You can also find more information about the Bachelor's degree program here:

Overview of the Civil Engineering degree program

Otherwise, if you have any further questions or simply want to talk to BI students, please send us an email at

fachschaft(at)bauing.rptu.de

You will hear from us as soon as you have enrolled.