The program has been set up by the Weiterbildungsakademie der Hochschule Aalen (Professional Development Academy of the University of Aalen) and the Hochschulföderation SüdWest (South West University Federation – HfSW), and is intended to prepare graduates for the digital transformation process. The target audience includes engineers who want to gain an academic Master’s qualification alongside their work without having to take a career break. The content of the program covers technical, economic and ethical-legal topics. Examples include mobility concepts, sensor systems and machine learning. Programming internships and transfer projects complement the program. The teaching staff are professors from the participating universities and industry experts.

The Master’s in “Autonomous Driving” brings together the expertise of the universities of Aalen, Esslingen, Heilbronn, Mannheim, Ravensburg-Weingarten and Reutlingen and Stuttgart Media University, explains the chairman of the HfSW, Professor Dieter Leonhard. The concept is “a benefit to the vehicle industry, which is currently investing massively in alternative engines, networking, assistance systems and autonomous driving”.

There are also specialized courses relating to autonomous driving elsewhere. The Technical University of Ingolstadt, for example, offers a three-semester Master’s program in “Automated driving and vehicle safety” . The Bachelor’s program “Geo-informatics and navigation” of the University of Munich focuses primarily on geo-related issues for autonomous driving.