New admission procedures from academic year 2028/2029
Starting from academic year 2028/29, the admission procedures for the Master of Science in High Performance Computing Engineering will change.
The new procedures distinguish between three groups of candidates:
- Students with a first-level degree obtained at Politecnico di Milano.
- Students with a first-level degree obtained at other Italian universities.
- Students with a foreign qualification comparable to an Italian first-level degree.
What will change in practice?
If you are studying at Politecnico di Milano, you will be able to access the Master of Science through two routes: automatic admission if you meet specific conditions, or admission subject to eligibility assessment.
Automatic admission
Automatic admission is available only to students coming from specific Bachelor’s degree programmes at Politecnico di Milano, in particular Computer Science and Engineering and Mathematical Engineering, and requires specific conditions regarding academic progress and study plan.
In particular, to be admitted automatically, you must:
- be a regular third-year student in academic year 2027/2028, after having enrolled in the first year in academic year 2025/2026;
- have obtained at least 135 credits after the fifth semester;
- have a weighted average grade of at least 23/30;
- have included in your study plan, or completed, specific courses required for your degree programme, as indicated in the table below.
| Degree Class | Study Programme | Specific courses in the study plan |
|---|---|---|
| L-8 Information Engineering | Ingegneria Informatica (Engineering of Computing Systems) | 054221 Fondamenti di calcolo numerico 083220 Fondamenti di ricerca operativa |
| L-8 Information Engineering / L-9 Industrial Engineering | Ingegneria Matematica (Mathematical Engineering) | 056974 Algoritmi e architetture per il calcolo ad alte prestazioni |
If you meet all these conditions, admission to the Master of Science is automatic: assessment by the Admission Committee is not required.
Admission subject to eligibility assessment
If you do not qualify for automatic admission, or if you come from another degree programme at Politecnico di Milano, from another Italian university, or from a foreign university, that is not a problem. In this case, your application for admission will be assessed by the Admission Committee, which will evaluate your previous academic background and the suitability of your preparation in relation to the objectives of the Master of Science in HPC Engineering.
For some candidates, additional educational requirements or specific indications regarding curricular choices in the Master’s study plan may be assigned.
Admission Requirements
In case of specific gaps in skills considered essential for HPC, the evaluation of the admission request may result in the assignment of study plan obligations ("obblighi formativi"), which are specific exams that must be included in the Master's study plan, replacing one or more elective courses.
Useful advice: plan ahead!
If you are studying for a Bachelor’s degree at Politecnico di Milano
If you are in the second or third year of a Bachelor’s degree at Politecnico di Milano and are considering continuing with the MSc in HPC Engineering, we recommend that you include in your current study plan the courses indicated in the table for automatic admission.
This choice is useful even if you do not meet, or think you may not meet, all the other conditions required for automatic admission. Having already taken these courses will allow you to start the Master of Science with stronger preparation that is more consistent with the HPC Engineering study course.
In addition, if you are admitted through eligibility assessment, having already passed relevant exams may help you avoid any additional educational requirements to be fulfilled during the Master’s programme.
If you come from another Bachelor’s degree programme at Politecnico di Milano, other than Computer Science and Engineering or Mathematical Engineering, you may consider using your elective credits to include courses that are useful for access to the Master’s degree, especially if your programme does not already include equivalent exams. When these courses are not part of the standard educational offer of your Bachelor’s degree programme, in many cases it is possible to propose their inclusion through an autonomous study plan ( piano autonomo). This choice must be approved by the study plan advisor of your current degree programme, who will verify the compatibility of the courses with the rest of your academic curriculum and with the programme regulations.
If you would like to check how well your current study plan aligns with continuation onto the HPC Master’s programme, and whether you may receive any additional educational requirements upon admission, you can contact hpc-master@polimi.it
If you are studying at another university
If you are studying at another university, the recommendation is similar: where possible, we suggest that you include in your current study plan exams that cover, in part or in full, the topics indicated above (fundamentals of numerical analysis, operations research, but also computer architectures and algorithms) so as to ensure a solid foundation in the required disciplines and facilitate continuation of your studies in HPC.
English proficiency requirements
Admission to the Master’s programme is also subject to an English language verification process, through the submission of one of the certifications accepted by the University and in compliance with the minimum scores required for each test. Please check the details of the English requirements.