Integrated product design

The binding principles of the training guarantee the high standard of Coburg graduates. Word of this has now spread to many design offices and creative departments in companies.

Coburg University of Applied Sciences offers the opportunity to complete a study or practical semester abroad. To this end, Coburg University of applied sciences and arts maintains relationships with foreign partner universities. Further information is available from the university’s Study Abroad service.

From the 3rd semester onwards, for example, you will design real products in collaboration with companies. These could be medical devices, guest bathrooms, multimedia products or coffee machines. We cooperate with a number of very different companies and research institutes. You will be closely supervised in these projects. You will receive weekly feedback and learn more than just design. This includes research, teamwork and time management. You will also work under time pressure – just as you will later in your career. We don’t believe in letting creative people just tinker freely during their studies – without any framework conditions.
This only leads to many talented people being underchallenged and later having difficulties gaining a foothold in real professional life. Moreover, experience shows that only those who know the limits – economic or technical – can overcome them and set off for new shores: In the form of future-oriented products and services.

Intellectual flights of fancy in design must always be measured against reality. Basic training in our workshops is therefore integrated into the first and second semesters, amounting to 18 semester hours per week. Here you will familiarize yourself with techniques such as turning, milling and drilling. You will learn “craftsmanship” in the truest sense of the word – your hands will create sculptures, shapes and objects from a wide variety of materials. In the workshops, you will learn all aspects of model making, including the use of computer-aided processing machines.

The 5th semester is a complete internship semester of 18 weeks, which you spend in a design office – worldwide. There you can put into practice much of what you have learned during your studies. This is accompanied by a practical seminar.

Prospective students with a general higher education entrance qualification, subject-specific higher education entrance qualification or entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences and – under certain conditions – prospective students without an Abitur can apply. The degree program is not admission-restricted, i.e. there is no numerus clausus (NC). Instead, an aptitude test must be taken.

Applicants for the Integrated Product Design degree program are selected via an aptitude test. It is an assessment procedure to determine the artistic, creative and constructive skills of the applicants as well as their social competence. In addition to general skills such as a high level of motivation, commitment and willingness to perform, you need to have a figurative and spatial imagination and the ability to express yourself creatively. Components of the aptitude test will include analysis of function and effect, the connection between handling and design and the link between use, material and form. During the aptitude test, we are particularly interested in your creative design skills. An interview is also part of the aptitude test. It offers applicants the opportunity to compare their own skills with the requirements of the degree program.

The next aptitude tests are expected to take place in July 2025. The dates will be determined around the beginning of 2025.