Early studies

The Institute of Computer Science offers pupils from year 11 onwards the opportunity to find out how a degree course generally works. The early study program also helps

• recognize whether studying computer science is the right choice.
• see how lectures and examinations are conducted.
• exchange experiences with other students.
• take exams now for a later degree course in computer science.

After passing the exam at the end of the semester, the corresponding lectures can be credited to the degree course, which saves a semester during the Bachelor's degree course if all courses are completed. During their early studies, pupils are officially enrolled students at TU Clausthal, but of course do not pay tuition fees.

We offer up to two lectures per semester for early studies. Students decide for themselves how many of these they would like to attend. These lectures are listed in the following table. You can also see when they are held, the approximate weekly workload (including homework) required to successfully complete the course and the prerequisites for each lecture.

The prerequisites listed in the table above are generally binding for students without computer science knowledge. However, they can be waived in individual cases by arrangement if the student has the necessary prior knowledge. In this case, the missing basics are to be worked through by the students themselves, whereby the professors and exercise instructors are available to answer questions.

The lecture "Fundamentals of Programming" can only be credited in business studies, as it has an introductory character, as described below. It is also suitable for students with no prior knowledge of computer science. The other three lectures, on the other hand, can be credited for the Bachelor's degree course in Computer Science.

The two programming courses consist of a two-hour lecture and a two-hour exercise. Lecture and exercise are both scheduled in the late afternoon, so that a collision with school events is avoided. The two computer science courses, on the other hand, consist of two lectures and an exercise of two hours each. Attendance at the tutorial is also compulsory here in order to be able to take part in the exam at the end of the semester. However, so that the students do not have to come to Clausthal several times a week, they can watch the corresponding lectures as videos online at any time.

The two programming courses are primarily designed to be practical, while the Computer Science 1 and 2 lectures teach you the theoretical basics. This includes discussing general solution methods for various problems and explaining how these can be effectively implemented for computer processing.

The following is a list of which lectures teach you which subject matter:

Fundamentals of programming:

• Structure of a computer
• Data representation in the computer
• Basics of programming with Java
• Procedure models

Programming course:

• Methodologies of object orientation
• Design of object-oriented programs
• Graphical user interfaces with Swing
• Distribution with RMI

Computer science 1:

• Boolean algebra and circuit networks
• Von Neumann architecture
• Machine-oriented programming
• imperative and functional programming

Computer Science 2:

• Algorithms and data structures
• Algorithm techniques
• Complexity analysis
• verification

Further questions by e-mail to:
fruehstudium@in.tu-clausthal.de

Please register via:

Ms. Balthaus
Adolph-Römer-Str. 1
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Fax: 05323 / 72-3168
katrin.balthaus@tu-clausthal.de

Information on registration and registration form can be found here.