Process Engineering
Your future career
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As a process engineer, you’ll enjoy a varied career in a field such as R&D, planning, construction, production and operations, or plant design and implementation. You’ll be in demand in sectors including:
- Food and beverages
- Cosmetics and pharmaceutical products
- The chemical and petrochemical industries
- Environmental engineering
- Biotech
- Biomedical engineering
- Equipment and plant engineering
- Energy and power plant engineering
Course content and structure
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The course commences with a grounding in key aspects of science and engineering in theory and application, alongside modules in business and law. In the further course of the programme, students specialise in one of the following focal areas:
- Process plant engineering and construction
- Numerical simulation and process control
- Food technology
This part of the course includes a practical phase.
The seven-semester course concludes with the writing of a Bachelor thesis.
Your interests and skills
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Aspiring process engineers should enjoy being creative with technology and tackling scientific and technical challenges. You’ll need to be interested in STEM subjects such as physics, maths and chemistry.
Interested – but not quite sure yet whether this is the right course for you? Our self-assessment test can help you make up your mind. Take it here: HAW Navigator.
Admission requirements
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Higher education entrance qualification
You can apply directly for this course if you hold one of the following qualifications:
- Fachhochschulreife
- Allgemeine Hochschulreife
- Fachgebundene Hochschulreife (subject-specific HE entrance qualification)
- Meister*in (vocational qualification – master tradesperson)
- Fachwirt*in (certified specialist)
Applicants who do not hold a higher education entrance qualification but have completed vocational training (Berufsausbildung) and at least three years of subsequent work experience can apply under Section 38 of the Hamburg Higher Education Act, which sets out special provisions for these applicants (Besonderer Hochschulzugang für Berufstätige).
Find out more at Applying for a Bachelor's degree course / Selection criteria.
Proof of English skills
Applicants must provide proof of English at the B1 level under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Pre-course experience
Students on this course are required to complete 13 weeks of pre-course experience. You don’t need to have completed it before you enrol, but you must have done so by the time you complete your second year of study. We strongly recommend that you fulfil this requirement before you begin the degree course.
International applicants
If you completed your schooling outside Germany and want to study here for a Bachelor’s degree, you need to hold an academic school-leaving qualification which entitles you to admission to higher education; that is, it needs to be comparable to a German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. The organisation uni assist will check your certificates from school and any degree-level studies to establish comparability. Please note that you are also required to have proof of German at level C1 – for example, in the form of a TestDaF certificate – in order to apply for all Bachelor's degree courses (except Information Engineering).
You can find more information about HAW Hamburg’s application criteria at International applicants.
Application process
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We only accept online applications. Before applying, applicants must register with www.hochschulstart.de. Applications can be submitted between 1 June and 15 July for the following winter semester and between 1 December and 15 January for the following summer semester. Please note that the application period for summer semester 2022 has been extended until 21 March at the latest – earlier if the remaining places have been filled before then – for some of the degree courses.
You can find the online application system (available only during the application periods specified above) and details about the procedure at Applying for a Bachelor's degree course.
More information (in German) about the numerus clausus process and the minimum grades accepted for admission in recent semesters is provided at Applying for a Bachelor's degree course / Selection criteria.
International applicants should also submit their applications online during the relevant application period.
We’ve prepared a step-by-step checklist to guide you through the process: International applicants
Questions about selecting a course, applications, admissions and degree courses
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Applications and admissions
Student Admissions and Registration Office (Studierendensekretariat)
Stiftstraße 69, 20099 Hamburg (ground floor)
T +49.40.428 75-9898
Contact us with your questions about applications and admissions
In-person office hours:
These are currently only taking place on Thursdays from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
Telephone office hours:
Monday and Tuesday: 9:00 am–10:00 am, 11:00 am–1:00 pm
Wednesday: closed
Thursday: 9:00 am–11:00 am, 2:00 pm–5:00 pm
(When lectures are not in session, no telephone office hours are offered on Thursday.)
Friday: closed
The Information Desk is open Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.
For general queries on HAW Hamburg degree courses and course choice
Student Counselling Team (Zentrale Studienberatung)
Stiftstraße 69, 1st floor, room 122
20099 Hamburg
T +49 40 42875 9110
studienberatung(@)haw-hamburg.de
Office hours
Contact person for applicants with disabilities or chronic health conditions
Meike Butenob
Alexanderstraße 1, 20099 Hamburg, room 4.10
T +49.40.428 75-7220
meike.butenob(@)haw-hamburg.de
Contact the department
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Specifically subject-related queries
Student advisor
Prof. Dr. Martin Geweke
Ulmenliet 20, room N 5.14, 21033 Hamburg
Tel.: + 49.40.428 75-6267
martin.geweke(@)haw-hamburg.de
Advice on practical experience
Prof. Dr. Rainer Stank
Ulmenliet 20, room N 5.05, 21033 Hamburg
Tel.: + 49.40.428 75-6275
rainer.stank(@)haw-hamburg.de
Enquiries on cooperative degree programme
Coordinator for cooperative degree programmes in engineering:
Berliner Tor 21, room 127, 20099 Hamburg
Tel.: + 49.40.428 75-8610
dualstudium_technik(@)haw-hamburg.de
At a glance
Degree
No. of semesters
Applications accepted
Language of instruction
Fees/charges
Full-/part-time
Location
Information about this degree course is available in German only.
