The requirements of the free economy on computer scientists are very different. The KIT offers students the opportunity to specialize in different directions. This means that it is necessary to issue a certificate that is meaningful for employers and covers special qualifications that go beyond the choice of “Vertiefungsfächer”.
The discrepancy, which now exists especially in the field of IT security, is faced by other universities through special IT security study programmes. The KIT is not only able to close the gap in its portfolio with the KASTEL certificate, but also enables students to complete a general, wide-ranging computer science study program and at the same time obtain evidence of specialization in the IT security field. The certificate is therefore comparable to a specialized master’s degree. This improves the position of students in the employment market.
The students should be able to fulfil the requirements necessary for the certificate during their studies by completing regular academic achievements. The activities are divided into three categories.
Required basic knowledge is taught in the mandatory part (I). Events from the second category (II) deal in detail with individual aspects of security and provide a sound knowledge of the respective topic. In the third category (III) students can broaden their knowledge in areas that are closely related to information security, but do not deal directly with security at heart – be it because their focus is not on security-related topics or because the level at which the topics are dealt with is too much abstracted from the way in which they can be realized.
The scope of the necessary achievements for the certificate amounts to 30 ECTS points plus the final thesis from the field of information security. Of these, 6 points and the final thesis come from the mandatory part. At least 14 points come from the second category. The remaining 10 points can be collected with events from the second and third categories. However, one of the events must be a practical course.
