In 2008, Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) and Hasso-Plattner-Institute (HPI) at University of Potsdam have agreed to offer a dual degree. The program supports the exchange of students between Blekinge Institute of Technology and Hasso-Plattner-Institute at University of Potsdam. The aim is to enable students to receive the master degrees of both institutes.

This agreement applies to

• BTH students in the computer science master program, as coordinated by the BTH board for undergraduate education and described in the BTH descriptor for Master of Science Programme in Computer Science.

and

• HPI students in the IT Systems Engineering master program, as coordinated by the HPI studies board (“Studienausschuss”) and described in the HPI study and examination conditions (”Studien- und Prüfungsbestimmungen”) from Jun 24th 2004.

Both parties guarantee that participants of the dual degree program will be selected according to their academic, personal, and linguistic qualifications. The home institute proposes a list of selected students to the host institute. The host institute is entitled to inspect the list and to confirm chosen students. In case of problems the partners will make consensual regulations via their International Offices.

On the assumption of program equivalence and based on mutual trust in the academic quality of the curriculum, it is agreed that:

• Students holding a Bachelor degree feasible for entering the BTH computer science program are allowed to join the HPI master program in IT-Systems engineering.
• Students holding a Bachelor degree or undergraduate degree (“Vordiplom”) feasible for entering the HPI master program are allowed to join the BTH master program in computer science.

It is assumed that a 6 CP course in the HPI credit point system has the same work effort as a 7.5 CP course in the BTH credit point system (ECTS).

Students work on their Master thesis and all relevant prerequisites for the thesis (mandatory courses etc.) at their home institute. The relevant prerequisites are defined by the master program of the home institute. Courses taken at the host institute should be considered as part of the Master thesis prerequisites at the home institute according to the rules of this agreement.

Students with HPI as their home institute need to collect mandatory credit points in different topic areas. BTH computer science courses therefore need to be classified as “software engineering”, “soft skills”, or “specialization topic” course, based on their recent syllabus. The following courses are classified by this agreement:

All other courses should be treated as “specialization topic”, if not decided otherwise by the HPI studies board. All further details are handled by the responsible boards of the institutes.

The following mapping should be applied in the acknowledgement of course gradings from the host institute:

During the studies in the host institute, the according local examination regulations are valid.

Students with BTH as their home institute should spend their third term (autumn semester, September - January) at HPI, and obtain 24 HPI graded credit points in this time.

Students with HPI as their home institute should spend their third semester (winter semester, October - February) at BTH, and obtain 30 BTH graded ECTS credit points in this time.

After successful completion of the above-mentioned amount of courses, the student  receives a M.Sc. degree from both HPI and BTH.

Participants of the dual degree program are responsible for their own travel and living expenses during the exchange, if there is no third party funding, such as ERASMUS. The home as well as the host institution will, however, try to get accommodations in a student dormitory, if wanted and possible.

Students participating in this dual degree program will pay their normal tuition and registration fees at their home institutes. During the term of the agreement the host universities agree to waive all tuition fees for incoming students visiting under this agreement.