# Technische Universität Dresden

A founding TU9 member and the only one of the nine located in eastern Germany's new federal states - the largest university in Saxony, with roughly 29,000-32,000 students across 17 faculties. TU Dresden is one of Germany's Universities of Excellence, funded under the national Excellence Strategy - placing it among the country's most research-intensive institutions; the title was confirmed in 2012, 2019 and again in 2026, and it is one of very few institutions holding both the Excellence label and TU9 membership. Its defining practical advantage is location: Dresden is the heart of Silicon Saxony, Europe's largest microelectronics cluster (Infineon, GlobalFoundries, Bosch and the new TSMC/ESMC fab), giving semiconductor, nanoelectronics and embedded-systems students an industry pipeline no other university on this platform can match, alongside the DRESDEN-concept research alliance (Fraunhofer, Max Planck, Leibniz, Helmholtz). Dresden itself is culturally exceptional for a technical-university city - the Zwinger palace complex, the Semperoper, the rebuilt Frauenkirche and the Grünes Gewölbe treasury all sit within walking distance in the Altstadt. Saxony charges no general tuition, including for non-EU students, and Dresden has among the lowest living costs of any leading German tech-university city.

City: Dresden (https://studygermany.dev/cities/dresden.md)
HTML page: https://studygermany.dev/universities/tu-dresden/

- Official website: https://tu-dresden.de/?set_language=en
- International Office: https://tu-dresden.de/studium/vor-dem-studium/internationale-studieninteressierte

## Master's programmes covered

- M.Sc. ACCESS — Advanced Computational and Civil Engineering Structural Studies (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-access.md
- M.Sc. Cartography (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-cartography.md
- M.Sc. Computational Modeling and Simulation (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-computational-modeling-and-simulation.md
- M.Sc. Computer Science (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-computer-science.md
- M.Sc. Hydro Science and Engineering (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-hydro-science-and-engineering.md
- M.Sc. Molecular Bioengineering (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-molecular-bioengineering.md
- M.Sc. Nanoelectronic Systems (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-nanoelectronic-systems.md
- M.Sc. Organic and Molecular Electronics (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-organic-and-molecular-electronics.md
- M.Sc. Physics (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-physics.md
- M.Sc. Physics of Life (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-physics-of-life.md
- M.Sc. Public and International Economics (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-public-and-international-economics.md
- M.Sc. Regenerative Biology and Medicine (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-regenerative-biology-and-medicine.md
- M.Sc. Technomathematics (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-technomathematics.md
- M.Sc. Tropical Forestry (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-tropical-forestry.md
- M.Sc. Water Security and Global Change (MSc): https://studygermany.dev/programmes/tu-dresden-msc-water-security-and-global-change.md

## Services for international students

- International Office: Applications, arrival, orientation and ongoing support for international students. Based at Helmholtzstr. 10; contact studium.international@tu-dresden.de. The Studentenwerk's "Welcome Tutoren" programme runs alongside it specifically for international newcomers. (https://tu-dresden.de/studium/vor-dem-studium/internationale-studieninteressierte)
- SLUB — Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek: Saxony's state library and TU Dresden's university library in a single institution — one of Germany's most significant research collections, open to all TU Dresden students. Long opening hours and extensive study space make it the default work location for much of the student body, and its combined state/university role gives access well beyond a normal university library's holdings. (https://www.slub-dresden.de)
- ZIH — Centre for Information Services and High Performance Computing: TU Dresden's computing centre, praised by name in student reviews for high-performance computing and network services that genuinely supported coursework and research. Relevant for any computational, simulation or data-heavy master's here. (https://tu-dresden.de/zih)
- DRESDEN-concept: A dense research alliance linking TU Dresden with more than ten Fraunhofer institutes plus Max Planck, Leibniz and Helmholtz centres. Together with Silicon Saxony (Infineon, GlobalFoundries, Bosch and the new TSMC/ESMC fab) it is the genuine career asset here: an internship, thesis and research pipeline unmatched on this platform for microelectronics and the life sciences. (https://www.dresden-concept.de)
- TUDIAS — language training: Language courses in 17 languages, including German at every level. Course enrolment runs through OPAL, examinations through selma — the same split that applies to your degree programme. (https://www.tudias.de)
- Career Service: Career orientation, applications and employer contacts, feeding into the DRESDEN-concept and Silicon Saxony employer networks. dresden|exists provides startup and entrepreneurship support alongside it. (https://tu-dresden.de/karriere)

## Scholarships

- Deutschlandstipendium at TU Dresden: €300/month under the standard national model, half federally funded and half from private sponsors. TU Dresden participates; the exact application window and the number of awards made here were not confirmed in this research pass — check the university page before planning around it. (https://tu-dresden.de/studium/im-studium/finanzierung)
- Landesstipendium Sachsen — status unconfirmed: Whether Saxony operates a state scholarship open to incoming international students at TU Dresden was NOT confirmed in this research pass, and nothing is asserted here. This matters because the pattern has gone both ways elsewhere: the Baden-Württemberg-Stipendium turned out to be outgoing-students-only at Stuttgart, while the Landesstipendium Niedersachsen does exist at TU Braunschweig. Verify directly with the university before relying on it. (https://tu-dresden.de/studium/im-studium/finanzierung)
- DAAD scholarship database & Stipendium Plus: The standard external routes for international-student funding in Germany. (https://www.daad.de/en/studying-in-germany/scholarships/)

## Campus systems

- selma: Short for SELbstMAnagement (selma.tu-dresden.de) — the central student portal: applications, personal documents and certificates, course and examination registration, results, and formal applications such as leave of absence or a change of programme. This is the primary system for examination management, and applicants holding a German degree apply through it directly rather than via uni-assist. Unusually for this platform, the portal draws praise rather than complaint: a student review singles selma out by name for putting courses, timetable, documents, transcripts and new applications in one place. Non-EU applicants with a foreign degree, however, do not start here — they apply through uni-assist, and for most programmes must also register separately on the programme's own aptitude portal first, entering that submission ID into the uni-assist application. (https://selma.tu-dresden.de)
- OPAL: The Online Platform for Academic Teaching and Learning — the learning-management system shared across all Saxon universities rather than built in-house, which is distinctive: course enrolment, teaching materials, e-learning and forums all run here, and a Saxon student moving between institutions in the state meets the same system. The exam trap, confirmed: enrolling in an OPAL course registers you for the COURSE, not the examination. Examination registration is a separate step in selma, and you must register for the module in selma first. TU Dresden states plainly that registration deadlines are set and that after the deadline expires, registration is no longer possible. This is the seventh university on this platform with a hard exam-registration cut-off, and the OPAL/selma split makes it a textbook "course is not the exam" gotcha. (https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/opal/)
- HISQIS: The older examination portal, still used by degree programmes that have not yet migrated to selma. (Medicine uses its own ePortal.) Which examination system applies depends on your programme — check with your examination office rather than assuming selma covers you. A perk while you are setting things up: Microsoft Office is free for all students under a Saxony-wide state licence agreement. (https://tu-dresden.de/zih)

## Provenance

Last checked: 2026-07-22

- StuRa TU Dresden - Semesterbeitrag (EUR 361.00 for WS 2026/27, confirmed to the component): https://www.stura.tu-dresden.de/semesterbeitrag
- TU Dresden - Semesterbeitrag und Studiengebühren (no general tuition in Saxony; SächsHSG Art. 13 exceptions): https://tu-dresden.de/studium/im-studium/studienorganisation/semesterbeitrag-studiengebuehren
- Excellence Strategy - TU Dresden as a University of Excellence: https://www.exzellenzstrategie.de/en/universities-of-excellence/tu-dresden/
- TU Dresden (identity, founding TU9 member, faculties, student numbers): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TU_Dresden
- TU Dresden - Study Information System (SINS): the authoritative per-programme deadline and admission source: https://tu-dresden.de/studium/vor-dem-studium/studienangebot
- TU Dresden - International applicants / International Office: https://tu-dresden.de/studium/vor-dem-studium/internationale-studieninteressierte
- TU Dresden — selma portal (applications, course and examination registration, results): https://selma.tu-dresden.de
- OPAL — the Saxon universities' shared learning-management platform (Bildungsportal Sachsen): https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/opal/
- SLUB Dresden — Saxony's state library and TU Dresden's university library: https://www.slub-dresden.de
- DRESDEN-concept — the Dresden research alliance: https://www.dresden-concept.de