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• The active participation of students in 
research projects which are mostly 
funded by private companies and deal 
with practical, sometimes development 
oriented subjects. 
• The availability of financial support for 
most of the students, w’hich comes 
from the external sponsors and 
companies. 
Photogramme try courses at all levels have 
been brought up to date and cover a 
complete spectrum from basic optics to 
analytical point positioning methods and 
digital image analysis. In the advanced 
courses which are offered for PhD 
students, a comprehensive coverage of 
image analysis and digital photogram- 
metry is achieved. 
A student wishing to pursue a doctoral 
degree must be accepted into this program 
by the Graduate Studies Committee. 
Acceptance is based on a grade point 
average of at least 3.4. Students with a 
degree from other universities may be 
admitted on an individual basis, taking 
into account criteria such as TOEFL 
score, recommendation letters, tran 
scripts, etc. 
A minimum of 90 graduate credit hours 
beyond the Master’s degree is required. 
Five advanced photogrammetry courses 
are offered forming the nucleus of the 
program. The first course exposes 
students to Spectral Analysis and Raster 
Geometry. Fourier analysis is applied to 
optics, signal and image processing, 
digital halftoning and digital elevation 
models. Raster geometry summarizes the 
principles before focusing on dealing 
with shape, including shape matching and 
shape recognition. 
In the course Advanced Photo gramme trie 
Applications, the emphasis is on applying 
theory to practical problems in analytical 
and digital photogrammetry. Students 
work in small groups, perform a 
complete project, and thus tire exposed to 
project management, scheduling, and 
resource management. Typical projects 
include (digital) camera calibration, 
precise point determination with digital 
cameras, etc. 
The subject of digital photogrammetry is 
covered in depth in three advanced 
courses. Advanced Digital Image 
Acquisition is concerned with forming an 
image, digital sensor technology, as well 
as image acquisition systems including 
their calibration and quality assessment. 
The next course, Advanced Methods of 
Processing Digital Imagery, entails topics 
such as image enhancement techniques, 
image restoration, point determination in 
a controlled environment, stereopsis 
(human visual system, computer vision 
paradigm), theory of edge detection, and 
the correspondence problem. Finally, 
Advanced Pattern Recognition and 
Interpretation Methods in Digital Mapping 
which deals with middle and high level 
vision topics—from feature extraction to 
structural descriptions and image 
understanding. A review is given of the 
basic concepts of artificial intelligence and 
expert systems including object oriented 
languages. To further deepen the 
material, the courses are supported by 
extensive exercises carried out in our 
modem laboratories. 
Beside the courses mentioned, the 
students in the PhD program are advised 
to take courses in electrical engineering 
(e.g. signal processing, computer 
vision), mathematics and computer 
science. More than half of the required 90 
credit hours, however, are earned by 
active participation in current research 
projects and individual studies. 
It is noteworthy that students from other 
universities with a MS degree (or 
comparable) may be directly admitted to 
the PhD program, without going through 
the Master’s program. After the advanced 
courses are taken, students have to pass 
the General Examination. Then they can 
concentrate on individual research topics 
and write their dissertation which they 
have to defend before a committee of 
faculty. Also, after having successfully 
passed the General Examination, a MS 
degree is awarded automatically. 
Alter finishing a degree at our depart 
ment, graduates have become experts in 
digital photogrammetry and have the