APPLICATION

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Application
Requirements & Timeline
FAQs

The TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass is intended for outstanding entrepreneurial master students at TUM who have already proven their abilities and creativity in various contexts. Before applying, please see requirements & timeline for more details.

We have four batches per year:

  • January 1st (Application Deadline: November 1st)
  • April 1st (Application Deadline: February 1st)
  • July 1st (Application Deadline. May 1st)
  • October 1st (Application Deadline: August 1st)

Before you proceed with your application, please take note of the following mandatory dates for Q1, as well as regular Stand-up meetings:

  • 08.07: EMC Kickoff (09:00-12:00)
  • tbd: EMC Summer Offsite (full day)
  • 23.09: EMC Impact Day (full day)

Stand-ups are always between 09:00-12:00 on Tuesdays, bi-weekly. We value team collaboration and active participation, and attendance on these dates is crucial for team cohesion and thesis success.

Before applying, please ensure that you are available on these specified dates. We look forward to your application from candidates who can fully commit to these essential team engagements.

Requirements & Timeline

The TUM Entrepreneurial Masterclass is intended for outstanding entrepreneurial master students at TUM who have already proven their abilities and creativity in various contexts.

Formally required are ongoing master studies at TUM and the fulfilment of all regular requirements for the registration of a master thesis at the planned starting date.

Specific requirements:

  • Entrepreneurial drive
  • High degree of personal and extra-curricular engagement
  • Determination and personal initiative
  • Enthusiasm to be strongly involved in the community and willingness to actively shape the Masterclass
  • Ambition to write a both excellent scientific and impactful master thesis
  • Strong record of excellence and impact

Please note:

  • Presence in Munich for physical standups and other events is required, even if fellows are located in other cities. No exceptions will be made.
  • Generally the program focuses on TUM students. Yet, under specific conditions, also students from universities can be admitted. Beyond the mentioned criteria, this requires applicants to be co-founders in TUM-affiliated startup projects or members of TUM-affiliated programs (such as CDTM) and have direct support and supervision from a professor at their own university.

Applicants go through a multi-stage selection process. First, the following documents are submitted online:

  • CV (max. 2 pages)
  • Motivation letter (max. 1 page): Reason for interest in Masterclass, expectations from the program, understanding of own role as Masterclass Fellow, ideas for personal engagement and initiative within Masterclass.
  • Description of the project that is to be further developed in the course of the master’s thesis. Mandatory for the Startup Creation Track and Entrepreneurship Support Track, not relevant only for the Tech Venture Challenge. Please make sure to use the obligatory template: Startup Creation Track, Entrepreneurship Support Track.

In stage 2, a pre-selection takes place based on the submitted documents.

In stage 3, pre-selected candidates are invited to an interview. Admission is decided by a selection committee of members of the university management, UnternehmerTUM and TUM ERI.

Generally, the application is based on individual proposals, which are closely related to an own startup project or the applicant’s personal passion. However, it is also possible to apply for master thesis offerings.

In the Startup Creation Track, this is possible when either exisitng startups explicitely search for co-founders or research institutes search implementation channels for their scientific findings. In the Entrepreneurship Support Track, actors and organisations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem can offer theses closely related to their activities. In the Tech Venture Challenge Track, a given challenge is offered once each semester.

Startup Creation Track

  • -/-

Entrepreneurship Support Track

  • -/-

Tech Venture Challenge Track

  • -/-

FAQs

The TUM EMC offers a framework for selected and highly motivated students to help them combine writing their academic thesis with creating real-life entrepreneurial impact.

Offering three different tracks enables the TUM EMC to cover different kinds of student interests and different kinds of entrepreneurial impact.

Start-Up Creation Track: Interesting for students who have already founded or are in the process of founding their own start-up. The thesis can cover any type of question that would advance the development of the start-up and is a fit to the student’s degree program.

Entrepreneurship Support Track: Interesting for students who want to advance Munich’s entrepreneurship ecosystem but who have not (yet) founded an own start-up. In this case, the thesis can cover any type of question that would advance the development of the ecosystem/be interesting to a multitude of start-ups and is a fit to the student’s degree program.

Tech Venture Challenge Track: Interesting for students who want to work on a predefined topic with an interdisciplinary team of students. The project topic as well as the different types of questions to be covered by the students will be communicated approx. one month prior to the application deadline.

For inspiration, feel free to have a look at what our fellows have already worked on.

TUM Master students from all disciplines who are eligible to write their final thesis can apply to join the TUM EMC. Also, Master students from LMU who are founding or have founded a start-up in cooperation with TUM student(s) (i.e. as co-founders) can apply.

The TUM EMC offers three intakes per year: January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1.

The application deadline for each intake is set two months prior to the relevant starting date (i.e. November 1, February 1, May 1, August 1).

For the Tech Venture Challenge track, only two intakes apply: April 1 and October 1.

You can hand-in your application materials via our online tool.

Yes, in a first step you need to define your own topic and research question. During the interview process, we would like to see that you have thoroughly thought about why your thesis topic would be interesting for practitioners and academia and how it would advance your venture project / the entrepreneurial eco-system. However, your topic/question is not set in stone and can be adapted/improved through discussions with your supervisor, the TUM EMC program management, and the TUM EMC community.

Additionally, there are also selected thesis offers that students can choose from. Feel free to have a look at our current offers.

Yes, we are encouraging you to reach out to TUM faculty who has an academic interest in your thesis topic as soon as possible. If you are struggling to find a suitable supervisor, the TUM EMC program management will support your further search.

When applying to the TUM EMC, you need to upload your current CV, a motivation letter and a track-specific application template detailing your planned project/topic.

The TUM EMC application process is structured in four steps:

  1. Students hand-in their written application materials prior to the relevant deadline
  2. TUM EMC program management screens the written applications and conducts a pre-selection of candidates
  3. Successful candidates will be invited to a ~10 minute interview with the TUM EMC program management
  4. Candidates receive their final admission feedback within two weeks after the interview

When committing to a spot in the TUM EMC, fellows are expected to (1) join our 3-hour stand-up session every two weeks and to engage in one of our four taskforces (Academy, Public Relations, Technology, Community) which amounts to a workload of 1-2 hours per week.

The stand-up sessions are composed of three elements:

  1. Thesis update session in a group of 5-7 students
  2. Taskforce work
  3. Content session: e.g. input from successful founders