University of Münster - School of Business & Economics (SBE)

 
 

 

 

  • The Faculty

    The faculty offers our approx. 5 600 students a broad range of subjects for their economics education, including degree courses in the disciplines of business studies, economics, business informatics and interdisciplinary economic research. Depending on the subject-specific focus, each department is structured further into centres. The professorships of these stand for cutting-edge research in their respective specialisation. Click on the section  THE FACULTY  for a detailed overview of the subjects and chairs.
    Our faculty ranks interdisciplinarity and subject-specific exchange highly. There are numerous examples for the close collaboration of our faculty’s academics across the disciplines. This contributes significantly to our students acquiring a general economic perspective during their course of studies.
    Our curriculum, in terms of a practical oriented education, includes the imparting of key skills relevant to economics. In addition, we rely on continuous networking with decision makers in the economy on the levels of both teaching and research. The section "Practice" gives you an impression of the multitude of activities.
    Thanks to interdisciplinarity, internationalisation and subject-specific excellence, our faculty is in a superb position for the future. It is one of the explicit aims of our faculty to pass this expertise on to students both from Germany and abroad.

     
     

    Since April 2011, the School of Business and Economics has been accredited as one of only nine German business schools by the Association to Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In 2021, SBE was succesfully re-accredited. AACSB is one of the  world's most important accreditations for business schools, which has been awarded to only about 5% of all business schools worldwide. This award shows that our School is dedicated to quality-oriented and international standards. Accreditation is also a voluntary commitment to quality and continuous improvement as well as to a strict and comprehensive review process. For our students, the accreditation means that they can rely on an excellent quality of the study offer, a wide range of cooperation with practice partners and close relationships with renowned foreign universities.

  •  Academic Calendar & Schedules

    Academic Calendar: General Structure
    For a basic calendar including national holidays please visit the university's calendar website.
    Each academic year is divided into two semesters, the so-called winter/fall-semester and the summer/spring-semester. Each semester, in turn, consists of two periods: Term I and Term II. Accordingly, we differentiate between courses taking place during the whole semester (=regular courses), and courses taking place either in Term I or Term II. It is possible to plan your stay accordingly. Specifically, it is possible to only be attendant in Term II of each summer semester or in Term I of each winter semester, and to complete up to 30 ECTS as well:
    - Term I of each winter semester: October - December;
    - Term II of each summer semester: June - July/August.
     

    Please find below a schematic overview of our semester dates:                       

      

     

     

    Up-to-date schedules

    Up-to-date semester schedules for students' needs (registration deadlines etc.) will be published as soon as available on the corresponding semester websites:
              STUDYING 
     

                                        

  • Course Offerings

    Please find below an overview of English-taught courses at SBE:

    SBE_English-taught Courses_Bachelor

    SBE_English-taught Courses_Master

     
    Up-to-date course offerings will be published ahead of the semesters:

     

  • Course Types @ SBE Explained

    • Bachelor- and Master-level courses
      The University of Münster School of Business & Economics (SBE) offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses. The Bachelor’s degree courses are concerned with imparting fundamental knowledge in the first two years of study; the third year of study provides options to specialise in the various fields of business, economics and informatics, e.g. in accounting, finance, management, marketing, business cooperations, energy management and many more. Graduate students complete a Master’s degree in one of those areas of specialisation. International exchange students can basically choose from all of the offered courses. Master students may choose from courses of both graduate and undergraduate level. Bachelor students can take all Bachelor courses and also have the possibility to choose from a limited amount of Master courses - depending on their current level of study.
    • Lectures and Tutorials
      Lectures are commonly held by a professor and are aimed at laying a profound theoretical foundation. Lectures are accompanied by Exercises / Practices / Tutorials / "Übungen". There is NO registration for either Lectures or Tutorials and attendance is NOT compulsory. However, during the semester, a registration for the exam will be necessary in order for you to participate in the exam itself. Schedules containing times and places are kept up-to-date in our digital course catalogue - in German called "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" ("VVZ"):  please click here. Courses are usually held throughout the whole semester (= regular courses). Some courses, however, are only held in either Term I or Term II of the respective semester. Exams for Term I courses will be written in the middle of the semester, whereas Term II exams will take place during the regular exam period.
    • Seminars and Business Skills
      In a seminar course, students are expected to conduct research on an academically relevant topic and hand in the results in form of a self-written paper that holds up to scientific standards. The aim is to get acquainted with academic writing and prepare for the bachelor/ master thesis. The seminar course consists of a limited number of participants as to allow interactive group works and discussions. Students are graded upon the written paper (often plus presentation) and/ or the contributions made during the seminar.
      Please note that all seminars only have a limited capacity and that an prior application/ registration  is always required. Due to the limited number of places available, some seminars cannot admit exchange students as the places available need to be given to students who will graduate from WWU; therefore those courses are often booked out even before the semester start. Exchange students will get all important information on offerings and deadlines before the semester begins.
       
    • Term I and Term II courses
      Each semester consists of two periods, Term I and Term II, so we differentiate between courses taking place during the whole semester (=regular courses), and courses in either Term I or Term II.
       
    • Language Courses @SBE and @WWU
      The vast majority of language courses is organized by our university's language center (see below). Additionally, SBE offers language courses.  However, those are partly held in German and therefore require a German level of B2 according to CEFR.
       
    • Other courses at WWU
      The University of Münser (WWU) offers a wide range of subjects, from archaelogy to zoology. If you are interested in taking such courses, please contact the respective exchange coordinator of your faculty of choice. All administrative matters of registration, exams and transcripts then follows the rules of the respective faculty. This means, that after completing a WWU-cours, you will need to ask for a certificate that states your grade. The certificate needs to be sent to Martin Schmidt via e-mail.

  • Examinations

    Approximately one month before the start of a semester - begin of March for the SS / begin of September for the WS - you will receive an email from SBE's Incoming coordinator Martin Schmidt containing all relevant information on the registration and/ or application processes. Times of all exams are published even before the start of the semester by the examination office (click here) and on the website PAMBOT.

    Lectures and Tutorials
    At our School, you do not register for the attendance at either Lecture or Tutorial, but for the participation in the EXAM itself. Registration for the regular economics and business courses will be after the start of courses, so you do not need to worry about it beforehand.

    Seminars and Business Skills
    The registration/ application deadlines for seminars and business skills differ widely, but will be communicated before via email. For more information, please visit the respective Chair's website.

  • European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)

    Every course @SBE is assigned a certain ECTS credit number that, in turn, is based on the learning outcomes and workload of a course: please see  Course Descriptions (Study Guides). Students shall complete 30 ECTS per semester or 60 ECTS per academic year in order to obtain a Bachelor's degree within 3 academic years or a Master's degree within 2 academic years respectively.

  • Institutional Grading Scale

    Description of Institutional Grading Scale
     
    WWU Grade
    ECTS Grade
    Description
    1,0 – 1,5
    A
    Excellent
    Outstanding performance
    1,6 – 2,0
    B
    Very good
    Performance clearly above average
    2,1 – 3,0
    C
    Good
    Performance above average
    3,1 – 3,5
    D
    Satisfactory
    Performance on average
    3,6 – 4,0
    E
    Sufficient
    Performance with deficiency
    4,1 – 5,0
    F
    Fail FX/
    Performance which does not meet the requirements
    .
     

    ECTS

    Grade

    % of successful students normally achieving the grade

    Definition

    A

    10

    EXCELLENT - outstanding performance with only minor errors

    B

    25

    VERY GOOD - above the average standard but with some errors

    C

    30

    GOOD - generally sound work with a number of notable errors

    D

    25

    SATISFACTORY - fair but with significant shortcomings

    E

    10

    SUFFICIENT - performance meets the minimum criteria

    FX

    --

    FAIL - some more work required before the credit can be awarded

    F

    --

    FAIL - considerable further work is required

     

  • German Intensive Language Course

    Language courses do not take place at the School of Business and Economics, but at the university's language center: language courses taking place during the semester can be found on the  language center's own website.
     
    ERASMUS students will get the opportunity to take a German intensive course that is scheduled 2 weeks before the start of each semester (Information are provided to each student after successful application).

  • Nomination and Application Procedures

    Exchange students from partner universities of the faculty are nominated for a stay at the University of Münster SBE via their home university’s international office.
              Study Options           

    All nominations including student's name, email address, gender and level of study should be sent to:   admin.ess@uni-muenster.de . After the nomination, the International Office contacts the students and helps them through the subsequent procedure.  Please find all information on the process here (Website of our University's International Office).

    Deadlines

     

    Required Language Skills
    We do not ask partner institutions to demonstrate their students' language proficiency levels in English and/ or German. However, in order to follow classes properly, the level in German and/or English should be at least  Level B2 according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

     

  • International Student Service Team (ISS)

    The International Student Service Team (ISS) has been formed within SBE's student representation. Two students take special care of the interests and problems of foreign students. During the semester, events are organized in order to get to know each other better. This way, fun is not neglected either! For questions, they can be reached at iss@fachschaft-wiwi.ms .