Career prospects

The HCI Master was developed based upon our experiences with the long-standing Computer Science for Digital Media Master programme. CS4DM graduates have all readily found employment in industry and academia, in R&D departments at large companies (e.g. Volkswagen, BMW), research institutes (e.g. Fraunhofer), as well as at universities, with many continuing into a PhD. 

The ability to design complex systems and interfaces with regard to usability and appropriateness for the usage context increases in importance. HCI graduates can work both in software development, in particular in conception and development of novel interface technologies, and in the area of usability and user research, which both grow in demand on the job market. Our unique project-based study approach provides graduates with a skill set that qualifies them both for research and industry careers.

Meanwhile, many students have graduated, and indeed - a number of our HCI graduates work in UX/Usability, e.g. as UX/UI Researcher (or UX Designer) or UX Design-Technologist in industry, several have embarked on a PhD (e.g. in HCI, VR or Visualisation), while others went for a more technical job in IoS or mobile development as well as VR development/design. As the local IT industry keeps growing with high demand for tech-experts, increasing numbers of students found jobs with IT companies nearby in Jena and Erfurt.

Some graduates also develop startups. BUW offers support for this via the startup hub neudeli incubator, which consults and trains in entrepreneurship and has office spaces and an uni-internal pre-seed funding program.

In 2024 BUW further starts the „Bauhaus Career Track - Local Networks for Global Talents" program (funded by the DAAD) which aims at easing access to the German and especially the local job market for international students. This will provide offers for German language courses before, during and after studying, coaching for job finding, alumni-mentoring, workshops on specifics of the German job market, career fairs and company visits. (news report)