Applications

The dates for applying for the 2027/28 winter semester will presumably be published here in December 2026. The portfolio submission deadline is usually in May.

This is the procedure:
1- register online here
2- Submissions
a. Registration form, school-leaving certificate (see the next section for a more precise definition) and CV.
b. Upload a portfolio with about 10 free works and 3 works for the assignment Folding and Un-folding
3- Oral examination (if your portfolio has been accepted) in person (Zoom in exceptional cases)
Proof of university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur certificate or subject-specific university entrance qualification for this degree programme). If the certificate is not yet available by the application deadline, a copy of the school's confirmation of admission to the Abitur examination must be submitted (not the mid-year report or the school career certificate).
Aptitude assessment procedure

Portfolio

1) The topic of the assignment for 2027/28: Folding and Unfolding

• Capture 10 observations in drawings (form, construction, movement, material, principle …)
• Develop 3 ideas and make them concrete in drawings (design three new applications based on the observations/principles)
• Test these three-dimensionally (create models, objects, spatial experiments or material experiments)
• Feel free to document the process (in drawings, photographs, film) (intermediate steps, variants, decisions…)

Folding and unfolding are things we encounter in many areas of our everyday lives: in packaging, in nature, in technical constructions, in furniture, objects or spatial structures.
Observe your surroundings and find at least ten different examples of forms or objects in which folding and unfolding play a role. Record your observations in drawings. In doing so, pay attention not only to the external appearance, but also to the constructive structure, sequences of movement, changes in form, the underlying principles, material properties and possible modes of functioning.

Based on your observations, develop three new ideas in which the principles of folding and unfolding find a new, surprising or unexpected application. First develop and concretise your ideas in drawings, sketches and designs. Then test them experimentally and three-dimensionally using different materials, forms, foldings, movements and possible applications. In doing so, translate your drawn ideas into models, objects, spatial experiments or material experiments.

The aim is not to arrive at a finished result as quickly as possible. What should become visible is rather your design process, your decisions and the development of your ideas.
Therefore, also document intermediate steps, experiments, variants, changes and possible dead ends.
We invite you to be curious and adventurous, to question the familiar and to pursue unusual or initially unexpected paths.

It is part of the task to determine the scope of your treatment yourself. The possibilities for interpretation range from the design of concrete products to the presentation of visionary concepts and manifestations – a willingness to experiment is welcome. The portfolio must be submitted digitally as a pdf, so please photograph or film your drawings/models and combine them into a single pdf.

2) Additional free works
Approx. 10 of your own, freely chosen works that show that you are able to take up studies in the design field of "Design". Please do not include works from school lessons – please also note our "Application Primer", which you will find further below. These can be drawings, designs, models, objects, spatial investigations, creative experiments or other forms of design work.
here are the details of the application procedure for the winter semester

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

Dates here

Here is an insight into our portfolio review
YouTube portfolio consultation

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 sooooo well? I have built an object, but it doesn't fit the format > what should I do? You will find answers to these and many other questions in this Download Application Primer and in our FAQs for applicants.

About enrolment:

We are a degree programme with open admission. Sometimes applicants take a "wrong turn" at this point of the enrolment process. (restricted admission means: a subject with a numerus clausus, and that is not us). Questions about matriculation can only be answered by the Student Registration Office.

Trial student / taster days

You are welcome to come and "get a taste" of the programme; we regularly offer taster days, which are announced on the homepage. If you don't have time then or have missed the date, please contact Ms Klunk – we will find a suitable day!

Subject-specific academic advice from the teaching staff by personal arrangement

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

The admission requirement for studying in the Bachelor's degree programme Industrial Design is demonstrated by the higher education entrance qualification certificate (general or relevant subject-specific higher education entrance qualification) or by prior education recognised as equivalent by the Ministry of Schools and Further Education.
If the certificate is not yet available by the application deadline, a copy of the school's confirmation of admission to the Abitur examination must be submitted (not the mid-year report or the school career certificate).
If you would like to know whether you can study with us with your (subject-restricted) Abitur/relevant subject-specific higher education entrance qualification, please contact our Office for Study and Teaching (qslfk8@uni-wuppertal.de).
Further enrolment requirements are proof of special artistic-creative aptitude, which is determined in a special procedure in accordance with the "Regulations for Determining Special Artistic-Creative Aptitude for the Industrial Design Degree Programme at the University of Wuppertal".

Under the following link you will find the legally binding current information on the examination regulations of the Bachelor's degree programme Industrial Design. Please select »systematischer Index« in the menu on the left. Under the letter »I« you will find the current official announcements on the examination regulations including the supplementary amendments

to the examination regulations
International applicants please note the information for prospective students with foreign educational qualifications. The link also lists all the required documents to be submitted (e.g. copies of certificates of educational qualifications obtained abroad and their translations, proof of German language skills at DSH2 level; for applicants from the People's Republic of China, among others, a valid APS certificate as a certified copy; information on the Uni-Assist application procedure).

Industrial Design – a dynamic professional field

Industrial design does not just mean designing industrial products! We design smart technologies, use sustainable materials and intuitive user experiences.
In addition to "tangible" products, operating surfaces (interfaces) and even invisible design (what does the user expect from the operation, how are they guided through the menu, what is the "experience" of use) have become part of the design task. For this we have the Chair of "Interface and User Experience".
We will only be able to meet this change successfully if we manage to equip graduates with the corresponding technical, analytical and theoretical knowledge. That is why Wuppertal is positioning itself away from the creative design craftsperson with an academic background and towards the design-competent strategy and process consultant. Industrial designers increasingly work at the interfaces with other disciplines, of whose content a certain basic knowledge is indispensable, and increasingly take on a leading role in the development process – a role for which industrial design is predestined due to its transdisciplinary position between business management and technical content.

The consistent focus on technical products/product systems is the right approach for a future-proof educational profile.
An estimated 80% of our graduates have a contract appropriate to their profession no later than six months after graduating. Placements are made with internationally active companies and agencies. A few examples: Airbus, Bosch, Braun, Carbon Design Group (Seattle), designaffairs, Ford, Fossil, Gira, GRO Design (Eindhoven), Haba, Henkel, Precor, IKEA, John Deere, Microsoft, Miele, NEOPLAN, P9 (New York), Pony International (San Diego), Suzuki, Squareone, TEAMS Design (Shanghai), Telekom, Villeroy & Boch, Vistapark, VW, yellow design, Ziba Design (Portland).

Transfer from another university

Pursuant to § 7 of the applicable examination regulations, it is possible to have coursework and examination achievements recognised that were completed at another university in a comparable degree programme. The examination board has established the following rules for this option:

Requirements
At the time of application, the applicant must have completed at least two subject-related semesters of a Bachelor's programme. If this is not the case, participation in the annual aptitude assessment procedure is offered; in this case, a decision on the possible recognition of coursework and examination achievements will be made afterwards, once the artistic-creative aptitude has been confirmed.

Application
Your application takes place in two steps. You must
https://fk8.uni-wuppertal.de/de/studium/bewerbung/studienzugang/hochschulwechsel/anrechnungen/eignungsanerkennung/industrial-design/

1. submit an application for recognition of your artistic-creative aptitude. To do so, you submit your portfolio and your certificates at the same time.
   Once we have reviewed your documents and you have received our acceptance and thus admission and classification into the programme (and only then!), you must

2. submit the application for recognition of your previous coursework and examination achievements (form) and list your previous coursework and examination achievements.
   The following documents must be submitted for step 1 (determination of artistic-creative aptitude):

3. The application for determination of the programme-related artistic-creative aptitude (form)

4. The certificate of the general or relevant subject-specific higher education entrance qualification as a certified transcript or as a certified copy

5. Tabular CV (a passport photo is welcome).

6. A portfolio (German or English) as a pdf – approx. 20 of your own, freely selected works or projects on a maximum of 40 pages, including a presentation of your process

Please send the documents for step 1 to the Dean's Office of Faculty 08 (see form for the address).
Further information and the forms can be found at https://fk8.uni-wuppertal.de/de/studium/bewerbung/studienzugang/hochschulwechsel/anrechnungen/eignungsanerkennung/industrial-design/

The following documents must be submitted for step 2 (recognition of coursework):
Only once you have passed the artistic-creative aptitude assessment can you have your previous coursework recognised.
To do so, you submit the following:

1. The application for recognition of your previous coursework and examination achievements (form)
2. Proof of previous coursework and examination achievements (Transcript of Records with the stamp and signature of your previous university) in the original or in the form of officially certified copies in German or English
3. The tabular comparison of the module components you have completed (you can find the table at www.uwid.uni-wuppertal.de/service-fuer-studierende.html). For visualisation purposes, please enclose meaningful documents on the coursework and examination achievements completed (one A4 page per module component with a visualisation of work samples and/or with explanations of the content).

Please send everything for step 2 to the Central Examination Office (see form for the address)
You can find the forms here: Link

Dates
The deadline for submitting the application documents coincides with the submission deadlines for the Bachelor's programme (usually in May). Classifications are generally only made for the winter semester. On request, we are also happy to admit students for the summer semester.

Procedure
Documents submitted on time to the commission for determining the programme-related artistic-creative aptitude for the Bachelor's degree programme Industrial Design are forwarded to the examination commission after a formal review. After a possible further assignment, the applicant receives an appointment for an oral examination (usually in June), in which a decision is made on the programme-related artistic-creative aptitude and, if applicable, on classification into a corresponding subject-related semester. A written notification is then issued.

Further information can be found in the primer for career changers
Informationsfibel