Applications

The application deadline for the winter semester 2025/26 will be in spring 2025, the exact dates will follow.

This is the procedure:
1- apply online from April 2025 here
2- Submissions
a. Application form, Abitur certificate (see next section for a more precise definition) and CV.
b. Portfolio with 10 - 15 free works and 3 works for the homework assignment Bicycle theft protection uploaded by - mid-May 2025 (date to follow).
3- Oral exam - July 08 and 09, 2025 - (if your portfolio has been accepted) probably in presence (Zoom in exceptional cases)
Proof of university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur certificate or subject-specific university entrance qualification for this degree program). If the certificate is not yet available by the application deadline, a copy of the school's certificate of admission to the Abitur examination (not the half-year certificate or the career certificate) must be submitted.
Eignungsfeststellungsverfahren

Portfolio

1) The topic of the homework assignment for 2025/26: Bicycle theft protection (at least 3 papers)

It is part of the task to determine the scope of the work yourself. The possibilities of interpretation range from the design of concrete products to the presentation of visionary concepts and manifestations - experimentation is encouraged. The portfolio is to be submitted digitally as a pdf, so please photograph your drawings/models and merge them into one pdf.

2) Additional free works
Approx. 15 of your own, freely selected works that show that you are capable of studying design. Please do not include any work from school lessons - please also refer to our “Application Guide”, which you will find below.
here are the details of the application procedure for the winter semester

Portfolio consultation from December to April once a month, usually on a Friday at the end of the month

Dates here

Portfolio consultation at any time via WhatsApp or email: more information under the menu item Portfolio consultation
Here is an insight into our portfolio review
YouTube Mappenberatung

Questions about the portfolio and what you “should” be able to do

What does a good design portfolio look like? Does it make sense to apply if I can't draw soooo well? I have built an object, but it doesn't fit the format > what should I do? You can find answers to these and many other questions in this Download Bewerbungsfibel and in our FAQs für Bewerber/innen.

For enrollment:

We are an admission-free degree program. Sometimes applicants take a “wrong turn” at this point in the enrollment process. (restricted admission means: an NC subject, which we are not). Questions about enrollment can only be answered by the Studierendensekretariat.

Student on trial/taster days

You are welcome to come for a “taster”, we regularly offer taster days, which are announced on the homepage. If you do not have time or have missed the date, please contact Ms. Klunk, we will find a suitable day!

Academic advising by the lecturers by personal arrangement

For more information, please fill out the form. We will keep you up to date.

The admission requirement for the BA in Industrial Design at UWID is possession of a general higher education entrance certificate, or a higher education entrance certificate for a specific appropriate discipline, or a certificate recognized as equivalent by the Ministry of Schools, Education and Training of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
A further requirement is evidence of special artistic/creative talent in line with the Regulations Governing the Determination of Special Artistic and Creative Aptitude for the Degree Program in Industrial Design.
Please click on the following link to find legally binding current information on the examination regulations for the Industrial Design Bachelor's program. Please select "systematic index" in the menu on the left. Under the letter "I" you will find the current official notices on examination regulations, including the supplementary amendments.

Examination regulations: extern

Industrial Design – a dynamic profession

The working environment of industrial designers has changed dramatically in recent years. On the one hand, today's industrial designers increasingly work at the interface with other disciplines, of which they therefore require a basic knowledge; on the other, industrial design's transdisciplinary position between the business and technical fields leads inevitably to designers assuming a leading role in the development process.

In addition to physical objects, designers are now involved in the development of user interfaces and even in invisible design (user expec-tations, how to navigate through the menu, how the user "experiences" the product). For this reason, the chair in "Interface and User Experience" has been newly established.
We will only face these changes successfully if we succeed in equipping graduates with the appropriate technical, analytical and theoreti-cal knowledge. For this reason, UWID is positioning itself away from training graduates as creative craftspeople with an academic back-ground and towards training strategy and process consultants with design expertise.

The consistent focus on technical products/product systems is the right road to a future-proof training profile.
Within six months of graduation, an estimated 80% of our graduates have a contract which meets their professional expectations. Place-ment occurs in internationally active companies and agencies.

Changing university

Degree program credits gained on a similar program at another university can be recognized in accordance with §7 of the applicable Examination Regulations. The detailed regulations of the Examinations Board are as follows:

Requirements
Students must have completed at least two semesters of a bachelor’s degree program at the time of application. If this is not the case, they will be offered an opportunity to take the annual aptitude test, and the question of recognition of credits gained at another universi-ty will be decided after the results of the test are known.

Application
Your application takes place in two steps: you should

1. submit an application for recognition of your artistic and creative aptitude, along with your portfolio and your certificates.

2. If, after review of your documents, you receive a confirmation from us that you have been admitted to the study program (and not before!), you should submit the form to apply for recognition of your previous academic and examination credits.

Step 1 (determination of artistic and creative aptitude).
The following documents must be submitted to the Dean's Office, Faculty 08 (the address is on the form):

1. The completed form of application for a certificate of artistic and creative aptitude for a course of study.
2. An officially certified copy of the certificate of general or relevant subject-related higher education entrance qualification or an officially certified copy of a certificate recognized as equivalent by law or by the competent authority
3. Curriculum vitae in tabular form, preferably with passport photograph.
4. A portfolio (in German or English) with a maximum size of DIN A2 (DIN A4 is preferred). Approx. 20 of your own, freely selected works or projects on a maximum of 40 pages in printed form, including description of the design process.
5. USB Stick containing photos of all the design work in the portfolio.

You can find all the necessary forms here: Link

Step 2 (recognition of previous academic and examination credits):
You may only apply to have your previous academic and examination credits recognized once you have passed the artistic and creative aptitude test.
Please submit the following:

1. The completed application form for recognition of previous academic and examination credits.
2. Proof of previous academic and examination credits (Transcript of Records stamped and signed by the previous university) in original, or in the form of officially certified copies in German or English.
3. A tabular comparison of the module components you have completed (table can be found at www.uwid.uni-wuppertal.de/service-fuer-studierende.html). Please enclose substantiating descriptions of the content of the courses you have gained credits for (one DIN A4 page for each module component, with artist's impressions of work samples and/or with explanations of content).

Submit everything for step 2 to the Central Examination Office (the address is on the form).
You can find all the necessary forms here: Link

Important dates
The deadline for submitting application documents is the same as the deadline for submitting applications for the bachelor's degree pro-gram (usually in May). As a rule, the placement test is only carried out for the winter semester. On request, we will also gladly accept students for the summer semester.

Admissions procedure
Applications submitted on time are passed, after checking, to the Examining Committee. The applicant may be required to complete further tasks before being called for interview (usually in June) to determine creative aptitude and level of entry to the UWID degree program. The result of the application process will be communicated in writing.

Further information can be found in the "Handbook for Lateral Entrants: intern".