Important Ressources

campo is the virtual counterpart to the Student Records Office and the Examinations Office. You can

• manage your personal account
• register for exams
• get your transcript
• print out your official documents and certificate of enrolment
• register for / deregister from exams

Important:

• Deregistration is not allowed for miniprojects and literature reviews after topic allocation!
• Registration is needed for exams but not for the participation in the lectures
• Registration periods (1/semester) are to be met
• Registration period differs from lecture period!

The university has set up computer rooms for its students at around 30 locations across the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg. FAU students can access the computers, printers and scanners in the CIP pools after activating their IdM ID. The RRZE provides a list with the exact locations of the CIP pools.

For MAP students, the CIP pools 0.157 EEI (Cauerstr. 7) and 00.157 WW (Martenstr. 5/7) grant access without previous activation every day during given operating hours, except for public holidays or weekends without prior written permission. Additionally, it is advisable to check the status of the EEI CIP room on campo by searching the term “11501.00.157”, since this specific room can be booked and therefore would not be available for anyone else. The Department Elektrotechnik-Elektronik-Informationstechnik (EEI) provides further information on this room.

International students who need to submit a certificate from the university to the immigration authorities for extending their residence permit can download this document from campo under:

“Home” – “My Studies – My achievements” – PDF: “Bescheinigung zur Vorlage bei der Ausländerbehörde / Confirmation for submission to immigration authorities”.

When corresponding with the university’s staff via email, please exclusively use your FAUMail-address. This has multiple reasons:

• Data Protection Guidelines: you must use your university email or an university portal such as StudOn for all mail traffic regarding your studies once enrolled.
• Reliability: emails from other providers often are directly classified as spam and will not reliably reach the intended contact person.

Please also refer to our email etiquette at at the FAQ entry “Important remarks for your start of studies”.

You will be de-registered automatically after the end of the semester in which you submitted your thesis. However, there is also a possibility to exmatriculate yourself earlier. Please refer to FAU’s general regulations regarding exmatriculation. The form for de-registration can be found on the website of the Student Records Office. The form states: “You may choose whether you wish to be de-registered at the end of the semester (30 September or 31 March respectively) or on a specific date of your choice. However, it is usually sensible to be de-registered at the end of the semester, as this means that your health insurance will not expire (…)”
For more detailed advice and counseling in these questions, please contact the Student Records Office: https://www.fau.eu/study/current-students/student-records-office/

The growing diversity of students makes it necessary to raise awareness of stereotypes, to reduce discrimination and to promote the dialogue about diversity. The Diversity Committee consists of peer mentors for students who represent diverse experiences. Students of non-traditional ages, with a migration or international background, disabilities, caretaking responsibilities, different sexual orientations and gender identities, or who come from a non-academical family background, can connect with the Diversity Committee, especially at the beginning of their studies at FAU. The Diversity Committee helps students to get oriented at the FAU and create networking opportunities around the topic of diversity. The FAU website provides additional information about the Diversity Committee.

Depending on your pre-knowledge on English, it might be an option to attend specialized English courses at the Sprachenzentrum Kursangebot – Sprachenzentrum der FAU. All English courses are free of charge for FAU students. Registration starts about 3 Weeks before the beginning of the lecture period. There are fitting courses for students who are interested in more subject-related English courses. We recommend the courses at level 3 or 4 at our Language Center (these correspond to C1 level).

As of 01.04.2024, changes to the General Study and Examination Regulations for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs of the Faculty of Engineering came into force (current version see https://www.fau.de/fau/rechtsgrundlagen/pruefungsordnungen/tech/#allg-po-ba-ma). The time limit for exceeding the standard period of study in Master’s programs has been increased from one to two semesters, so that all degree programs (Bachelor’s, Master’s and the respective part-time variants) can now be completed in two semesters more than the standard period of study.

If you anticipate exceeding the standard period of study by more than two semesters, please submit an application for an extension to the Examinations Office in good time before the start of the semester (1 October or 1 April) in which the overrun occurs (see form at Examinations Office – Faculty of Engineering | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg).

Many German banks offer student accounts free of charge. A comparison of different banks can be found e.g. on the following pages:
Comparison of Student Bank Account Offers (English)
Comparison of Student Bank Account Offers (German)

You can find information about studying abroad and internship possibilities on the FAU website and the DAAD website.

MAP also provides a StudOn section on opportunities for semesters abroad (login to StudOn needed).

Health insurance
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research provides this document with information for foreign students.

Students enrolled at a state or state-approved university in the Federal Republic of Germany are required to have statutory health insurance. This also applies to students enrolled at universities in Germany who are not usually resident in Germany. The FAU-Website provides more information on this aspect. For further information on health insurance for students, questions or consultation feel free to contact Mr. Andreas Schaller:
Andreas Schaller campus consultant
Mobil +49 151 – 12 65 91 38
Andreas.Schaller@tk.de
https://www.tk.de/kontakt/Andreas.Schaller

Liability insurance
In Germany a lot of people have a lot of insurances. However, there is a big discussion about which ones are really necessary and which ones are not. It is mandatory for everyone to have a health insurance and, in case you own a car, an insurance for damages you cause with your car. All other insurances are voluntary.
As an international student temporarily residing in Germany, most offered insurances are not necessary. The only one which is strongly recommended is a liability insurance (German: “Haftpflichtversicherung”). This insurance pays for each damage which you cause to anything in your private life (if it was not by a car), for example if you accidentally damage someone else’s glasses or any valuable device or object in their apartment. The annual fees for such an insurance range from about 40 to 80 Euros, which makes them relatively affordable.
Often times, your bank institute offers an additional liability insurance when you open your bank account, so it is worth considering this option when you do. There are also dozens of other companies offering liability insurances. By signing the rental contract you undertake to care for the condition of the accommodation, furniture and the keys you were given. In case of losing your apartment or building key but the building has a master key system, you will be held liable for the entire system being changed. This can result in considerable costs. We strongly recommend having a liability insurance for situations as such, as it covers many types of damages to a third party or their property. Please ensure that your liability insurance covers damage by water, the exchange of master key systems and similar things.

IdM stands for identity management and is used for

• Management of user ID
• Overview of all personal user accounts
• FAUCard
• and many other additional sections

• Our program requires attendance, punctuality and active participation in all obligatory classes, scientific skills courses und excursions.
  In our soft skills courses, lecturers can and will withhold certificates if students show up late.
• Please be on time for lectures, meeting points at field trips etc.
• Make sure to be present for the first lectures.
  Check campo for time and location in the first week.
• Make sure to refer to the MAP Office staff and not to senior students for organizational details and questions on examinations. Several regulations have changed during the past years.
  Take your chance to give fair feedback on lectures and thereby to improve MAP: electronic evaluations will be conducted at the end of each semester.
• We highly recommend you joining the LinkedIn MAP alumni group (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/5051053/) already at this stage to exchange on career paths and to identify internship opportunities.
• We highly recommend a private liability insurance policy. It covers many claims for unintended damages that you might cause other people or their properties (e.g. results of minor bicycle accidents, possible loss of apartment keys, but not results of car accidents!)
• First steps – information for international students aims to introduce you to life in Germany and answer some of the most important questions you may have when you first arrive. Further information about the online services of the FAU are also explained in this news article.

Email etiquette
Use only your official @fau.de email address for all communications related to your studies. Emails from other providers are sometimes directly sorted as spam or treated as such from professors who often get more than 100 emails per day.

Writing to a professor (or any other uni staff member)

• Watch out for colloquial expressions which might be misinterpreted
• Don‘t be submissive – Professors here prefer proud, communicative students
• Remember that professors and university staff receive huge numbers of emails! Help them and make a good impression by being polite, systematic and concise
• In German there is not an equivalent for „Sir“, „Madam“ „Ma‘am“ etc. – do not use these expressions!
• Never start an email with „I am <xy>“ etc. The reader can read your name at the bottom of the email!

Germans use names:

• First names if you are on „Du“ terms
• Surnames (preceded by Herr oder Frau) if you are on „Sie“ terms (the default for you with respect to university professors and staff).
• The safest option is to use this rule in English: Most younger (<50 yrs) professors in Erlangen seem to apply the Anglo-American „standard“ (if they address you in English with your first name and sign off with their first name, you should address them with their first name)

Emails to someone whose name you know
Starting

• NOT OK: Hello, Hi, good day, good morning, Respected Sir, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear (on its own!)
• OK: Dear Frau Will, Dear Dr. Will, Dear Prof. Vogel

Ending

• NOT OK: Tschüss, Bye, Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen, see you, cu, thanking you, yours, yours truly, take care
• OK: Best regards, Kind regards, Regards, Bests, Best, yours sincerely (a bit formal)

Emails to someone whose name you don‘t know

• Start with Dear Sir/Madam
• End with Yours faithfully, Best regards, Best wishes, etc.

Good example

• “Dear Prof. Klupp Taylor,
  Unfortunately, due to illness I will not be able to attend your particle technology lecture tomorrow. Please could you send me the lecture notes. Thanks in advance.
  Best regards,
  <your name>, MAP 1st Semester Student“

Recording of Lectures

In Germany, it is not allowed to record any lecturer (voice or video) without his or her explicit consent. Germany is a two-party consent state, meaning “call recording without the consent of both or, when applicable, more participants, is a criminal offense”. (German Crimecode –Section 201)
Students, staff and external parties have rights regarding their work, participation and content for any lecture or event.
The easiest way to deal with laws against secret live recordings of lectures is to avoid them completely. If you would like to record a professor’s lecture, you can ask for his or her permission and for that of all the other participants.

For general advice on study related matters:

• Student Records Office: helps you with enrolment, re-registration, de-registration, application for reimbursement of semester fees, leave and regulations on study leave, application to change degree program, studying for two degrees, guest students and mature students, health insurance for students, reporting accidents, issuing confirmation of duration of studies, change of name (e.g. after marriage or change of identity), semester tickets for public transportation
• Student Advice and Career Service (ZSB): helps you with every step of the way before, during and after studying. They take the time to explore the various options open to you. However, we advise you to first consult the MAP Office with questions concerning your MAP studies, before contacting the ZSB.
• Student Service Center at Technical Faculty: individual advice around issues pertaining to foreign matters
• Faculty of Engineering for an overview of MAP’s host faculty
• Library – Science and Technology Branch (TNZB)
• Students’ councils of the Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering Departments
  Students’ councils (Fachschaften) are student organizations linked to departments or degree programs in which students represent their fellows’ interests, are contact persons for them and organize events. Although MAP students elect two students per year group to represent them, MAP does not (yet) have an own students’ council. MAP students are explicitly encouraged to get involved in the two mentioned students’ councils.
• FAU Examinations Office: is responsible for examination matters and  recognition of studies and examinations when changing study programs
• MAP section on StudOn for lecture material. It is encouraged to visit this site to download course material and carry out certain administrative activities relating to your course (registration of miniprojects, signing up for exams etc.)

For technical, electronic and IT support: 

• Where? How? Why?
  background information on the electronic FAU support
• Regionale Rechenzentrum Erlangen (RRZE): IT support
• FAU FabLab: Open workshop geared towards computer-controlled production. They offer facilities to lasercut, make stickers, print or embroider textiles, fix a seam or two, make printed circuit boards, populate them and find any mistakes, 3D-Print, and mill, turn and work with wood and metals.

To help you navigate being an international student in Germany:

• Language center for German and other language courses
• Central Office for International Affairs (RIA): can help you organize a stay abroad and offers a welcome program for international students
• First steps – Information for international students aims to introduce you to life in Germany and answer some of the most important questions you may have when you first arrive
• Housing – Student accommodation at FAU
• Studying in Germany in 10 Steps
• Online student A-Z: There is a lot to learn in your first semester including many foreign words, abbreviations and technical terms. Here is an A to Z of some of the most important terms which you will need during your time at FAU. Some useful links with information which should help you to adjust to student life and put you on the right track have been included as well.
• Stuve International: The Working Group for International Students bundles the problems and challenges of international students to ensure a better representation of the interests of international students within the student representation and at the university
• Translator service for international students: supports non-German-speaking citizens in communicating with public authorities, social institutions, schools or when visiting the doctor
• Open consultation hour for international students (en) » Studierendenwerk Erlangen-Nürnberg

For personal advice and psychological support:

• Career Service: advice for your professional life; you can participate in a personal career talk, that is recommended to support young researchers in their professional development: Funding opportunities – Faculty of Engineering
• Support for students in crisis regions: a new information page is available with information on FAU’s approach to rules, applications and support for university members from crisis regions.
• Psychologisch – Psychotherapeutische Beratungsstelle: Students of the Faculty of Engineering are provided with on-site psychological services at the Counseling and Psychological Center for the Faculty of Engineering. Mental health services are provided to students in need of counseling, consultation and crisis intervention. The Counseling and Psychological Center helps with a wide-range of psychological problems including: exam and speaking anxiety, learning difficulties, procrastination and motivational problems, stress management, anger management, loneliness, low mood, feelings of guilt, anxiety, panic, self harm and suicidal thoughts, coping with a chronic illness or disability, relationship or family problems, identity problems; gender or sexual orientation issues, homesickness and problems in living away from family and friends, addiction and substance abuse, difficulties integrating into German university and society. Counseling is offered in both German and English.
• FAU’s Office for students with disabilities and chronic illnesses: offers confidential consultations for students with disabilities and chronic diseases in all matters relating to studying at FAU (admission to the degree program, accessibility, examinations)
• Office for Gender and Diversity: for any issue related to sexual harassment and discrimination
• The Women’s Representative: supports women at FAU’s Faculty of Engineering and provides a variety of events and support services for women at all stages of their education and careers including ARIADNE techmentoring program, doctoral thesis award, guest lectures, funding for travel etc.
• and additional video help for those in need of advice (IBZ)
• Familienservice: The FAU Family Service supports in all questions related to work-family balance. In case of a pregnancy, contact the MAP Office for questions and referral to the responsible University institutions! If pregnant, you should get acquainted with relevant risk assessments (“Anlasslose Gefährdungsbeurteilung von Studiengängen im Rahmen des neuen Mutterschutzgesetzes“), find further information on the FAU Website.
• Legal Advice for Students: The Studentenwerk Erlangen-Nürnberg provides numerous advice offers. For international students, the advice in legal issues might be very important.
• Caritas Erlangen offers a service for psychiatric support (in German)
• “Heimwegtelefon” – home phone: For the way home in the dark, there is the “Heimwegtelefon” in Germany, should you feel unsafe. Volunteers work here and take calls nationwide so that you have someone to talk to. Geodata can be used to identify where the caller is at the moment, so that help can be sent quickly in the event of an emergency.
  Number: 030/12074182 (Sunday-Thursday 6pm-0am, Friday-Saturday 6pm-3am)

For advice on leisure matters (culture, religion, sports): 

• List of supported student groups and initiatives by the Studierendenvertretung
• Religious groups:
  • Groups for students of all subjects, nationalities, denominations, and religions organized by Christians:
    • Welcome-Program: Germans offer hospitality for international students
    • International group
    • Evangelische Studierenden & Hochschulgemeinde / Internationals
    • Katholische Hochschulgemeinde / Internationals
  • For Muslims
• University sports program (Allgemeiner Hochschulsport)

If you are looking for a clear and concise overview of residence, social and employment regulations for international students in Germany, the flyer “Job regulations for international students” from the Service Point for Intercultural Competence presents these in an easily understandable manner.

FAU Career Service

The FAU Career Service offers a diverse range of professional events and consultation services for members of all of FAU’s faculties designed to support students, graduates and doctoral candidates when planning and starting their careers. This service is available for up to one year after graduation and includes:

• career advice
• advice on applications
• application workshops and seminars
• career information and talks

In the StudOn section of the FAU Career Service, you can find guides on how to apply for jobs, how to prepare for job interviews, as well as valuable advice and informational events on working as an international student in Germany.

For further information, please refer to FAU’s Career Service and to the Career Service consultants.

Relevant links for your job search and application

• Searching for student jobs:
  https://www.jobs.fau.de/
  https://www.berufsstrategie.de/jobboersen/jobsuche-stellenangebote-studenten-azubis.php
• Searching for jobs abroad:
  http://www.berufsstrategie.de/jobboersen/jobsuche-stellenangebote-ausland.php
  https://www.absolventa.de/karriereguide/arbeiten-im-ausland
• Salary analysis:
  https://www.gehalt.de/gehaltsvergleich

Required documents to work as student assistant

• document proving that you are a matriculated student (“Immatrikulationsbescheinigung”)
• social security number (from health insurance/ “Krankenkasse”?
• cover letter: Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job/internship interview or having your resume ignored
  • devote the necessary time and effort to writing effective cover letters
  • ask a friend to help proofread your cover letter, (if the application documents are in German, the proofreader should, of course, be German or fluent in German)
  • Get professional advice and have your application documents checked by the FAU Career Service

Understanding your payslip

You can find a description on how to read your payslip on the website of Simple Germany.

Even if you do not need to know German for your studies, we know from experience that you will find it easier to find accommodation and deal with bureaucracy if you do know German, e.g. when extending your visa, and to find a job during and after your studies.

We therefore recommend that you use apps like Duolingo or Babbel to get started.

FAU offers German courses at the Language Center / Sprachenzentrum free of charge. These are great courses, however, the University’s German courses are limited. Therefore, apply early and repeatedly to get one of the places. Once you get one, take the opportunity and take the course.

Certain German courses offered by the Language Centre are not free of charge. In the case of very specific courses (intensive courses for German FIT), the MAP program can partially reimburse the costs as an educational grant in consultation with the MAP Office. Please get back to our MAP Office staff.

When you finish your MAP studies, please make sure that the MAP Office can still be in contact with you in the future. Please send us your current private e-mail address. FAU’s Rechenzentrum provides instructions in German language on how to set the properties in your IdM to forward emails that you receive on your FAU address to your private email address in the future. You can also apply for an FAU alumni email address. For statistical reasons, please let us know where and in which position you are taking up your first job after graduation.

Please be aware of visa regulations after your studies. If you liked to stay in Germany beyond your time as a student and have not found a job jet, you need to apply for the job-seeker-visa. The website of Bundesportal (an official website of the Federal Republik of German) and e. g. My German University provide more information.

Exchange students: Before you leave FAU/Germany, there are a few things you need to do to ensure that you do not encounter any problems later and that you are able to continue your studies successfully at your home university. The FAU website provides an informational section on leaving FAU.

The FAU website offers students versatile opportunities of receiving psychological and physiological advice and support.

In addition to occasional events for mindfulness and resilience training, they have a list of addresses and contacts for specific psychological needs.

Furthermore, they offer advice on how to stay physically fit and balanced during stressful times. In their video portals Pausenexpress and Bewegungspfad, you can find quick and easy exercises to do during your study breaks.

The FAU website provides a lot of information related to re-registration and semester contributions, e.g. dates, amount of semester fees etc.

In General:
Winter semester: October – March
Summer semester: April – September

For exact dates, as well as the respective lecture periods, please see also:
https://www.fau.eu/study/current-students/semester-dates/

What is the 38€ ticket?
A Germany ticket discounted by €20 for all trainees, volunteers and students in Bavaria.
The 38€ ticket can be purchased as a monthly cancelable subscription at the local transport association (VGN in our case). The verification will probably take place with the student ID.
The ticket will be offered in the apps “VGN Fahrplan & Tickets” and “Nürnberg Mobil”.

FAU and the AK IT der Stuve Erlangen-Nürnberg provide more information.

StudOn is FAU’s platform for online learning and course management. Students can register for courses via StudOn and access or store seminar handouts, reading lists and general information. In addition, StudOn is used for submitting homework and reports. StudOn allows direct exchange between students and lecturers in forums, chats and Wikis. StudOn is also used for online examinations. Students can log on with their University user account:www.studon.fau.de

MAP section on StudOn
The main MAP page (login necessary) provides information like

• Curriculum: courses of the MAP Master’s program with the respective lecture notes (responsibility of lecturers)
• Matriculation groups: course administration, general information and information on social events

and additional sections of interest

• Overview of upcoming events with relevance for MAP students (e.g. research presentations, colloquia, career-related events etc.)
• Job, internship and PhD opportunities
• Information on scholarships
• Forms and templates
• Opportunities for different research projects (miniprojects, master thesis etc.)
• Compilation of relevant information for MAP students (student wiki)

In theory, it is possible for you to take a leave semester. However, the MAP Office recommends this only in exceptional cases. Please check details with the Student Records Office. They offer the request for leave on their website.

For online seminars and courses that take place entirely online, you can find advice on studying online from student Jennifer Shurka on the FAU website.

Academic Support

Chairs:

Support in administration and various personal matters

MAP Office

When you start your studies, you will be given your FAUcard which functions as your student ID card and library card and can be used to make cashless payments at cafeterias and restaurants, pay for copying and access certain buildings. In addition to those functions, it is important to note that you bindingly must bring your FAUcard with you to identify yourself for examinations, post-exam reviews and all other events where your identity as a student must be proven. In all cases, your student ID needs to be validated each semester to be considered valid. You can find more information or where the devices for validation are located at FAUcard for students | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.

The MAP Office does not have information on the failure of students.
Students who are subject to the failure rule will be exmatriculated (=deregistered from the university) at the end of the semester .
It is the student’s responsibility to assess whether he/she is in danger of failing the MAP program.

No warning will be issued by the MAP office!

We therefore strongly advise to:

• Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the examination rules of the program
• Regularly check all your examination results on campo 
• In case you have failed an examination:
  • go to the official post-exam review date offered by the examiners and check for possible mistakes in grading or grade calculation as well as to learn from your mistakes.
  • in case of miniproject reports or literature reviews, schedule an appointment to discuss the comments of the examiner.
• Ask the MAP Office in case of doubt regarding your individual situation.

What happens in case you are subject to the failure rule and have failed the program:

• Any official information is provided through the central examinations office (“Prüfungsamt”).
• Notifications about exmatriculation are sent after the end of the respective examination period (November/December for SS; May/June for WS).
• An objection to such notification can be filed within four weeks.
• After four weeks the exmatriculation becomes legally binding.

1.0 / 1.3 = very good – excellent performance

1.7 / 2.0 / 2.3 = good – performance significantly above average requirements

2.7 /3.0 / 3.3 = satisfactory – corresponds to average requirements

3.7 / 4.0 = pass – has deficits but still meets the requirements

4.3 / 4.7 / 5.0= fail – performance has significant deficits and does not meet the requirements

The MAP program is regulated by the “Allgemeine Prüfungsordnung” (general exam regulations) and the “Fachprüfungsordnung” (subject exam regulations). Only the German version is legally binding.

In the first semester, you will take lab courses that are selected for you based on your previous qualifications.

To pass the module, you must actively participate in the experiments and submit the lab reports to the supervisor in a timely manner. Late or insufficient lab reports will result in a fail.

The students must familiarize themselves with the relevant documentation before the start of the experiments. If they are insufficiently prepared, the students will be excluded from the experiments.

What money is available?

Within the MAP budget there is a limited amount of money available to support students who wish to undertake additional educational activities during the course. The exact amount received will depend on the type of planned activity and the available funds. No student is automatically entitled to the money – it will only be granted if a clear need is demonstrated. The MAP speakers and administrators will decide fairly on a case-by-case basis on receiving a written application from the students.

What is the money for?

The grants are provided in order to support academic or German language activities not already supported by MAP. These should be outside of the lecture period of the semester, apart from in exceptional cases. Preferably, such events should involve active participation and development of personal skills and for events meeting these criteria all students will be supported at suitable levels if they wish to attend. On the other hand, for seminars and conferences where the attendees are essentially passive, funds for only a small number of attendees will be granted. This is particularly the case for international research conferences as these have a limited value for a Masters-level student and in terms of the huge travel and registration costs are not efficient uses of the money. There are of course exceptions, for instance when the international conference has a session or workshop for undergraduates or masters students or if the MAP student has submitted an abstract to the conference e.g. from their Masters work.

Who can get it?

All current MAP students will be considered for a grant, based on the type of activity proposed (active or passive involvement) and its academic and professional relevance.

You may apply for a MAP educational grant also as MAP alumni if you:
1) Intend to present the results of your MAP Master’s Thesis
2) If the conference takes place within 6 months after handing in your Master’s Thesis

How to apply for it?

Support can only be granted after formal application to the MAP Office. A full written application is required at least 2 months before the event. The application form (including information on required supporting documents) is available on the StudOn template section: https://www.studon.fau.de/studon/goto.php?target=cat_1511543

What happens next?

The MAP Chairs and administrative team will consider each application fairly and if necessary discuss with the student for clarification. The student will be told how much of the applied-for funds will be granted. Students should be aware that until this written information is received by them, no money is guaranteed. Hence, where international flights are involved, an early application is encouraged.
If support is granted, the student must sign a declaration stating that he/she:

• will provide pictures and a short report (200-250 words) of the event in return for the financial support
• agrees that these pictures and the report can be published by MAP for the purpose of promotion
• will use the MAP logo on power point presentations, posters etc.
• is aware that it is his/her responsibility to provide all required documents for the refunding within 4 weeks after his/her return at the latest

You can find information about studying abroad and internship possibilities on the FAU website and the DAAD website.

MAP also provides a StudOn section on opportunities for semesters abroad (login to StudOn needed).

Program structure

The MAP program consists of two parts:

1. The primary course of 120 ECTS (mandatory for all students).
2. The Additional Qualifications with research focus (with additional research qualifications) or with industry focus (with additional qualifications for business and industry) – optional for all students. We recommend participation in the complete set totaling 30 ECTS points.

Further details on the structure and the content of the additional qualification modules can be found on the MAP website and in the module handbook.

Organizational details

Registration for taking additional qualifications:

The MAP curriculum foresees the modules of the AQs in the second and third semester. Therefore, you should decide before the second semester whether you would like to take part in the AQs.

You can download a process and grading sheet (“Laufzettel”) in the download section of StudOn (you need to be logged in in StudOn), which will be used to register and document the AQs. The AQs consist of the following modules:

Elective Course

1. MAP students obtain the permission to participate in the respective lecture and to take the exam (signature of the lecturer on the process and grading sheet). As there are so many options for the elective course, we are currently not in a position to offer our MAP students to register for the elective course on campo themselves. Since there is the possibility to attend lectures that are not part of the MAP program, registration via campo is not possible in some cases. Please contact the examiner with a request to manually register you for the examination in campo, or register in the list “Registration for Examination for Elective Courses” on StudOn in the section for your matriculation group and we will forward your registration to the Examinations Office. Keep in mind that your entry in StudOn is a binding registration for the exam. To ensure that you fulfill all the prerequisites for attending the course, ask the lecturer to give you a permit to attend on the routing slip at the beginning of the course.
2. You will take the examination for the elective course as described in the module handbook, that means no special exams for MAP students. Please be aware that for courses which are offered for different study programs at the same time, the lecture / exercises might be the same, but the exams might look different. In this case, you need to decide under which exam number you will participate in the exam and ask the MAP Office to add your name to the respective exam list on campo.
3. MAP “fundamentals” courses cannot be counted as elective course in the Additional Qualifications.

Miniproject (max. 6 months to work on)

1. The second miniproject can be started only after the first miniproject has been finished. MAP students are required to obtain a certificate that the first miniproject report has been submitted and fulfills the requirements (“4.0-Bescheinigung”).
2. Your supervisor inserts the starting day and title of the second miniproject and confirms by his / her signature and a stamp on the process and grading sheet.
3. Your supervisor inserts the day you submit your second miniproject report and confirms by his / her signature and a stamp on the process and grading sheet.

Soft Skills

1. As a rule, one soft skills course is offered per semester by the MAP office. Registration for these courses can be done via StudOn.
2. Special soft skills seminars offered by the MAP office are only offered if at least five MAP students participate.
3. The MAP office confirms successful participation in the soft skills seminars by signing and stamping the process and evaluation sheet.
4. Alternatively, the soft skills courses offered by the Faculty of Engineering can be chosen. The Faculty of Engineering offers various (English) seminars on job application, interview training, presentation and communication skills. Registration starts 4 weeks prior to the course; obligatory attendance once registered. Should you not be able to attend, cancel your participation as soon as possible!
5. Courses from the Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (VHB) are usually also eligible. Please check with the MAP office in advance to see if a course is offered to see if the course can be credited as a soft skills course.

Internship

1. Minimal time: 12 weeks corresponding to a fulltime position or equivalent.
2. MAP students need to document participation via a certificate of the company. This certificate should at least include, where the internship took place, the period / time frame and the content of the internship. The MAP office will confirm the successful participation in the internship by signature and stamp on the process and grading sheet.

After completion of all modules of the additional qualifications, you need to hand in your process and grading sheet at the MAP Office. The MAP Office team will validate all modules and submit the information to the Examinations Office.

Until when to finish the AQs?

The deadline to submit the completed process and grading sheet of the AQs at the MAP Office is the date of submission of your Master’s Thesis. Until this date, you will need to have passed all modules (documented via the process and grading sheet). We highly recommend to submit your second miniproject not later than the day you start your Master’s Thesis to ensure that the grading will be finished before the deadline. Neither the MAP Office nor the Examinations Office can accept grades or confirmations that are submitted later than your Master’s Thesis. Such modules cannot be counted for the AQs nor will they appear on your final transcript of records.

Recognition of the AQs

When the complete set of modules of the AQs is finished and submitted on time, you will receive an official certificate for the AQs. This certificate will include all modules and the amount of ECTS points obtained in the course of the AQs. If you have completed only single modules of the AQs on time, those modules will be added to the transcript of records as “additional modules”. The grades of the AQs will not count to the final grade of the Master’s examination. The final grade of the Master’s examination is only calculated by the grades of the primary courses.

Registration of single modules of the AQs

If you cannot finish the 30 ECTS points of the AQs, all passed modules will be checked and submitted to the Examinations Office by the MAP Office. These modules will appear on your final transcript of records.

Failure regulations

If you fail one module of the AQs you do not fail the MAP Program. Any successful modules will be shown on your transcript of records as “additional modules”.

Further details regarding the elective course

• When to take the elective course? The elective course can be taken during any of your study semesters.
• Deregistration from the elective course? You can deregister from your elective course during the usual deregistration period by informing your examiner. After having passed the exam once, you cannot deregister anymore. If you want to change your elective course after your first trial you can do so.
• Splitting of 5 ECTS? You can take two 2,5 ECTS courses. However, the transcript then may not exactly state the names of the two courses you have chosen.
• Which “Modulkatalog” counts? If an elective course is offered for different study programs, different “Modulkataloge” might be offered. In this case, the exams have different exam numbers. You choose the Modulkatalog that you want to be examined by. Be aware to select the exam / Modulkatalog that offers the needed ECTS points.

Further details regarding the internship

• Be aware to apply early on for an internship.
• The MAP Office will provide a letter of support upon request. Many companies only provide internships if they are mandatory for the study program. We will confirm that the internship is part of the AQs and therefore requested by the MAP Program.
• Compulsory professional internships do not count towards the 120/240-day rule. Students are allowed to carry out these activities beyond this regulation.

• Compulsory interdisciplinary lectures which provide the “basics” of the focal subjects
• Written exam at the end of the 1st semester, comprising the content of Basics I lectures
• Basics II lectures will take place in the 2nd semester
• (Alternative: Combined exam at the end of the 2nd semester)

• You need 2 excursions with (at least) 0,5 ECTS each
• The MAP Office offers each semester at least 1 excursion

In the course of the first semester, you will be asked to choose two of the four focal subjects. Please note that once a choice has been made, it can only be changed in consultation with one of the MAP Chairs and the respective Focal Subject Head.

Focal Subject Heads:

• Advanced Processes: Prof. Maro Haumann
• Biomaterials and Bioprocessing: Prof. Aldo Boccaccini
• Computational Materials Science and Process Simulation: Prof. Michael Engel
• Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology: Prof. Mathias Göken

Each Focal Subject consists of three modules, each worth 5 ECTS. In some Focal Subjects, you can choose from several modules.

It is not possible to choose modules from other Focal Subjects in order to complete a specialization, but additional modules can be chosen voluntarily within the Focal Subject and will be added to your transcript of records.

If a Focal Subject offers a choice from several modules, there is no guarantee that all modules will be set up in such a way that there is no overlap and that all modules can be chosen.

• Each student has discussed / will discuss his/her individual timetable with one of the MAP Chairs or MAP lecturers
• Changes in your fundamental subjects are only possible with written agreement of one of the MAP Chairs or the MAP lecturer who assigned one’s Fundamentals.
• Written examinations (“Studienleistung”)
• Pass/Fail subjects
• Exam dates are scheduled by the lecturer

General information

An internship of at least twelve weeks is a mandatory part of the (Additional Qualifications) curriculum. Internships that exceed this time period are explicitly supported by MAP.

Internship in research OR industry

This module aims to develop our students’ research- or industry-related knowledge and transferable work skills and capabilities. Students are required to organize the internship independently. However, the MAP office and professors involved in MAP are always happy to provide support and advice.

Crediting of relevant prior work experience

If you have prior MAP-relevant work experience, this can potentially be credited.
Please contact the MAP Office in written

• stating that the respective experience did not already count towards your Bachelor’s degree and
• attaching the related proof documents (most importantly: work certificate clearly stating your name, employment duration with dates, tasks performed)

Work permit

According to your student visa, you are allowed to do a mandatory internship. The internship required by MAP, due to being mandatory, does not even fall under the regulation of international students being allowed to work 140 days/year (https://www.fau.eu/international/international-applicants/important-information/employment-and-placements/)

Internship certificate

The internship certificate stating duration, tasks etc. needs to be handed in and approved by the MAP Office after internship completion.

Confirmation that internship is mandatory

A personal copy of a signed confirmation that the internship is mandatory (Bestätigung Pflichtpraktikum) can be received from the MAP Office. Please let us know by email.

In a series of lectures, the students learn the basic principles of finding and managing scientific literature, scientific writing as well as effective scientific communication with posters. They then put these concepts into practice by writing a short literature review.

Features:

• Coordination of the module: Prof. R. Klupp Taylor
• Content: Review should be on the current state-of-the-art on a subject related to one of the MAP Focal Subjects.
• Registration: Campo and StudOn

De-registration or prolongation of deadline:
In line with the stipulations set by the Central Examinations Office, a prolongation is only possible under very specific circumstances and with the required proof documents (e.g. doctor’s certificate). A withdrawal is not permitted after topic allocation.

General Information on the Master’s Thesis

• Students start the Master’s project after having passed all other exams and program requirements: normally a practical work, documented by a written thesis (typically 80 – 100 pages)
• The project can be carried out at any MAP, CBI, WW chair at FAU. Please contact the chair of your interest in good time to discuss projects available.
• Projects carried out externally (e.g. in industry) are discouraged and require approval of a MAP, CBI or WW professor (not normally given except for when there is an established collaboration between the professor and the industrial host)
• Duration: exactly 6 months from the registration day
• The Master’s Thesis should comprise original and unpublished work (publications can be written based on the completed thesis).
• Typical contents of the thesis: introduction to the topic, scientific background (relevant theory and recent literature), materials and methods, results and discussion of the results, conclusion, summary and outlook, bibliography
• Graded (by the supervising MAP, CBI or WW professor)
• The research and documentation work of the Master’s project cannot be combined with a job as a student assistant (“Hiwi”).

Registering your Master’s Thesis
For the registration of a Master’s Thesis the Examination Office needs to receive an official letter from your supervising professor stating

1. student name and matriculation number
2. starting date
3. topic of the thesis.

The letter needs to be signed by a MAP, CBI or WW professor with “Prüfungsberechtigung”. At the time of registration, all courses and exams “Prüfungsleistungen” need to have been passed by the student. The student’s transcript needs to show 90 ECTS (to be shown by the student to the supervising professor at the time of registration). Your supervisor has to send the registration letter to Ms. Fischer-Willmanns, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Prüfungsamt der Technischen Fakultät, Halbmondstr. 6, 91054 Erlangen. After registration, you will receive information on the further procedure and requirements directly from the Central Examination Office.

If the title of your Master’s Thesis at the time of the registration differs from its title at the time of submission, the title of your supervisor’s grading information to the Examinations Office (address see above) will be used for your transcript of records. For this grading information, there is no official form needed. The letter has to include the following information:

• matriculation number
• Your name
• Final title of the thesis
• Date of submission
• Date of presentation
• Grade of the Master’s thesis
• Grade of the presentation
• Signature of your supervising professor

FAQs about the Master’s Thesis
1) Is there a way to start the Master’s Thesis before all mandatory courses have been passed?
The MAP regulations are very clear on this: at the time of registration of your Master’s Thesis, all mandatory courses and exams must have been passed by the student, which means that you need to have acquired 90 ECTS on your transcript. Actually you would even need to show your transcript to your supervisor to proof that you have fulfilled all requirements before starting with your Master’s Thesis.
You can ask your supervisor if you may nevertheless already start preparing your Master’s Thesis. Officially, you have 6 months time to work on your thesis after you have started. However, you may also hand in your thesis earlier, even shortly after the official registration.

2) When and where will I have to hand in my thesis?
Information will be provided by the Central Examination Office following your registration.

3) In what form will I have to hand in the thesis?
There are certain regulations on that, too. The most important is that the thesis needs to be bonded and includes a short statement, the so-called “Declaration of Authorship” signed by you (not the professor) and stating that you have done the thesis by yourself and all sources are cited. More detail (professor, title etc. pp.) should be included, but this information will be provided by your supervisor. We would suggest to include the logo of FAU as well as the MAP logo on the cover page.

4) What happens if I cannot finish my thesis in time?
In case any difficulties (severe illness, technical problems, refurbishing the lab etc.) occur in these six month, please let the Central Examination Office know immediately. Do not rely on your supervisor only. Regulations on extensions are very strict indeed. The rules are quite explicit. You are requested to apply as soon as a problem occurs for an extension of the thesis period. It is next to impossible to get an extension one week before the deadline! Of course, you may have heard of cases, where that worked out well. However, more often than not, an extension is not granted.
In this respect, we need to point out, that the deadline for handing in the thesis is a very strict one. If you miss the deadline by a day only, the Master’s Thesis counts as not handed in at all and you failed.

5) When will I get my degree certificate?
This is up to the Examinations Office. There, they will issue the official transcript as well as the Master’s certificate. Please take care that both the MAP Office and the Examinations Office will have your current address. This is especially important for those who are planning to leave Erlangen after graduation.

Additional information
Prolongation in case of sickness:
Please send a medical certificate to Ms. Fischer-Willmanns of the Examination Office directly (please copy that certificate to the MAP Office). Ms. Fischer-Willmanns will then add the period stated on the doctor’s certificate to the duration granted for finishing your thesis. Be careful, that your doctor confirms not only the time of the operation/stay in hospital, but the full period of your not being able to work on your Master’s Thesis. Please send the doctor’s certificate together with an accompanying letter stating the above mentioned to:

Kerstin Fischer-Willmanns
L 6 Prüfungsverwaltung
Halbmondstr. 6
CC MAP-Office

Prolongation for other reasons:
Your supervising professor needs to send a letter stating the reasons as well as the duration of the requested prolongation to the Examinations Office.

Nachweis Studienabschluss/ 4,0-Bescheinigung / 4.0 confirmation
For a corresponding certificate a letter of your MAP, CBI or WW supervising professor is needed confirming that he/she already assessed your Master’s Thesis to an extent, that he/she can confirm, that you will at least achieve a 4.0 as grade for your Master’s Thesis in keeping your submission deadline.
With this letter the Central Examination Office (Ms. Fischer-Willmanns) can prepare the requested 4.0-Bescheinigung.

External Master Thesis
Please refer to the information sheet by L1 on allocating topics for and completing external Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral theses. The thesis must be completed under the supervision of a MAP, CBI or WW professor. In certain cases the examination regulations may permit the topic of the thesis to be suggested by a third party – a company in this case. In such cases it must be ensured that the candidate is supervised by a suitable person in the company and that permission is given by a MAP, CBI or WW examiner. Permission must also be given by the examinations committee of the Faculty of Engineering. The precise topic of the thesis and the entire formal process for this element of the thesis remain the sole responsibility of the MAP, CBI or WW professor supervising the thesis. Good collaboration between the MAP, CBI or WW supervisor, the company, and the person acting as supervisor there is essential.

Master-Thesis Printing
Student suggestions for places to print your Master’s Thesis:

• The Copy Arena at Karlsbader Straße in Erlangen, which is not far from the Technical Faculty: http://www.erlangen-copyshop.de/copy-arena/
• Copy & Druck: https://www.copydruck-erlangen.de/

General information

The miniprojects should be carried out in one of the institutes of the Chemical and Biological Engineering or Materials Science and Engineering Departments. The miniproject can also be carried out at another department or faculty, or at an external institution (HIERN, Helmholtz), provided that a supervisor from the WW or CBI departments is willing to co-supervise. The suggested project should be concise, have a realistic goal that takes into account the short timescale and enables a certain degree of independent work from the student. The work includes a review of current literature on the chosen topic, the planning and execution of experiments and simulations to expand existing knowledge and the critical interpretation and discussion of the results of the study in a (graded) written project report (10 ECTS; workload of around 250-300 hours). No “splitting” of the miniproject is foreseen.
The grade will be based on your carrying out of the project and on the report.

A miniproject cannot be combined with a job as a student assistant (“Hiwi”).

Deadline for students to submit the miniproject report: at the latest 6 months after the starting date

If the student chooses to gain Additional Qualifications in research or industry, an additional miniproject of 10 ECTS is taken during the 3rd semester.

Step by step

1. For registration of the MAP miniproject please use the registration from which you can find in the MAP StudOn templates section (login needed). The registration of your miniproject needs to be confirmed by your principal supervisor by signing the registration form as stipulated. At this stage, you don’t have to inform the MAP office.
   Once you have finished your miniproject, please hand in your report directly to your supervisor for grading, either an electronic version or the original paper version, depending what your supervisor prefers (please check beforehand!). At the same time, you need to upload your report as PDF file and insert some further information (such as final project title) in the on the MAP StudOn curriculum section (login needed, please choose the specific semester there).
   After your supervisor has graded your miniproject and has added the grade and his stamp (or that of his chair/institute) on the registration form, please hand in the original document to the MAP office.
   The last section on the miniproject registration sheet will then be filled in by the MAP office staff. We will also forward your grade to the examination office for registration.
   Another possibility is, to ask your supervisor to send your graded miniproject to the MAP office. For legal reasons, the scanned version can only be sent to the MAP Office by the supervisor in person.
2. The number of working hours given (250 – 300) are to be understood as a guideline for a miniproject with 10 ECTS. The work load does not only refer to the time you do practical lab work but as well to the time you spend on preparing and studying at home or in the library.
   Thus, it depends a lot on the nature of your project, how much time you will actually spend with practical work in the lab. Your supervisor might be able to better judge this time frame, depending on the topic and the expected development.
3. Before you can register for your Master’s thesis, you need to have successfully fulfilled all requirements of the MAP primary course, which is the case once you have achieved 90 ECTS.
   Any additional courses – either the full 30 ECTS block of the Additional Qualifications or individual courses – need to be graded and registered either on campo or with the MAP Office before you hand in your Master’s thesis. After this date, the Examinations Office cannot accept any further course achievements for your transcript.

General recommendations

Based on our experience with MAP miniprojects we can give a few tips in order to ensure successful establishment and execution of the projects:

1. Rather than approach professors about potential miniprojects, you might want to take a look at institute websites and see which doctoral/postdoctoral researchers are working on what topics. Ideally you should read some of the researchers’ relevant journal papers. Approach them regarding your interest (which should be as genuine as possible – don’t say you read a paper when you just read the title/abstract!) and ask if they can define a miniproject topic. Very often researchers have little “side projects” which they would like to carry out but do not have the time for themselves. These are good miniproject topics because you may get to do something completely new and you help out your supervisor at the same time.
2. Be sure to tell your direct supervisor from the start what is expected of you. Make sure they know that you have to write a report by a certain deadline and preferably get their commitment “up-front” that they will check drafts of your report.
3. Communicate well with your direct supervisor. That means you should make it clear from the outset what is and what is not expected and also when you will work on the miniproject. We do hear from supervisors that students agree to do a miniproject and then simply do not appear. This sets a very poor impression and is likely to count against you in the final grade.
4. Conversely to the previous point, we also sometimes hear MAP students complain that their supervisor has vanished off the face of the earth. This is another case of poor communication, either on the part of the student, the supervisor or both. Since the miniproject might stretch over the summer months, be sure to check with your supervisor when they will be not there. If they are away for a long time then ask for a “fill-in” supervisor who you can turn to in case of questions/problems. This is especially critical if your direct supervisor has to do some characterization of your samples which you cannot do (SEM, TEM, XPS etc).
5. Your direct supervisor will be a PhD or Postdoc researcher – these are often highly stressed people with many responsibilities. For the most part, the supervision of MAP miniprojects goes very smoothly. However, the direct supervisors are also people still undergoing their professional training and like all humans have their strengths and weaknesses. If you feel that your direct supervisor does not supervise your miniproject in a satisfactory way (be reasonable here, we are talking about things like if they communicate the problem unclearly, do not satisfactorily answer your questions or do not adequately train you in necessary techniques or safety measures) please make an appointment to discuss your concerns with the professor. Professors should deal with this appropriately and in a confidential way. Please do not leave any potential problems with your supervisor to simmer and just write up the report anyway. This can backfire on your grade and by that late stage a professor will always side with his or her PhD/Postdoc if you make a complaint because they will assume you just want to improve your grade. Any problems you bring up prior to submission of the report would be easier to negotiate. Of course, any issues can also be discussed with the MAP Chairs on a confidential basis.
6. Remember that most professors will probably ask the direct supervisor to suggest a grade. Therefore, make sure you prepare the report in sufficient time that your direct supervisor can check it. If your direct supervisor requests changes to your report then once you have made those changes show him/her the report again. Do not assume that once you have made requested changes everything is fine. Scientific reports often take several iterations to get complete. Only go ahead and submit your report when your direct supervisor gives you a clear OK.

Forms and templates

All forms and templates are available at our MAP StudON section (login needed).

De-registration or prolongation of deadline

In line with the stipulations set by the Central Examinations Office, a prolongation is only possible under very specific circumstances and with the required proof documents (e.g. doctor’s certificate). A withdrawal is not permitted after topic allocation.

Failure / late hand in

It is your responsibility to find a new miniproject with a new supervisor during the next semester.

The MAP program is regulated by the “Allgemeine Prüfungsordnung” (general exam regulations) and the “Fachprüfungsordnung” (subject exam regulations). Only the German version is legally binding.

In the first semester, you will take lab courses that are selected for you based on your previous qualifications.

To pass the module, you must actively participate in the experiments and submit the lab reports to the supervisor in a timely manner. Late or insufficient lab reports will result in a fail.

The students must familiarize themselves with the relevant documentation before the start of the experiments. If they are insufficiently prepared, the students will be excluded from the experiments.

campo is the virtual counterpart to the Student Records Office and the Examinations Office. You can

• manage your personal account
• register for exams
• get your transcript
• print out your official documents and certificate of enrolment
• register for / deregister from exams

Important:

• Deregistration is not allowed for miniprojects and literature reviews after topic allocation!
• Registration is needed for exams but not for the participation in the lectures
• Registration periods (1/semester) are to be met
• Registration period differs from lecture period!

The university has set up computer rooms for its students at around 30 locations across the cities of Erlangen and Nuremberg. FAU students can access the computers, printers and scanners in the CIP pools after activating their IdM ID. The RRZE provides a list with the exact locations of the CIP pools.

For MAP students, the CIP pools 0.157 EEI (Cauerstr. 7) and 00.157 WW (Martenstr. 5/7) grant access without previous activation every day during given operating hours, except for public holidays or weekends without prior written permission. Additionally, it is advisable to check the status of the EEI CIP room on campo by searching the term “11501.00.157”, since this specific room can be booked and therefore would not be available for anyone else. The Department Elektrotechnik-Elektronik-Informationstechnik (EEI) provides further information on this room.

International students who need to submit a certificate from the university to the immigration authorities for extending their residence permit can download this document from campo under:

“Home” – “My Studies – My achievements” – PDF: “Bescheinigung zur Vorlage bei der Ausländerbehörde / Confirmation for submission to immigration authorities”.

When corresponding with the university’s staff via email, please exclusively use your FAUMail-address. This has multiple reasons:

• Data Protection Guidelines: you must use your university email or an university portal such as StudOn for all mail traffic regarding your studies once enrolled.
• Reliability: emails from other providers often are directly classified as spam and will not reliably reach the intended contact person.

Please also refer to our email etiquette at at the FAQ entry “Important remarks for your start of studies”.

You will be de-registered automatically after the end of the semester in which you submitted your thesis. However, there is also a possibility to exmatriculate yourself earlier. Please refer to FAU’s general regulations regarding exmatriculation. The form for de-registration can be found on the website of the Student Records Office. The form states: “You may choose whether you wish to be de-registered at the end of the semester (30 September or 31 March respectively) or on a specific date of your choice. However, it is usually sensible to be de-registered at the end of the semester, as this means that your health insurance will not expire (…)”
For more detailed advice and counseling in these questions, please contact the Student Records Office: https://www.fau.eu/study/current-students/student-records-office/

The growing diversity of students makes it necessary to raise awareness of stereotypes, to reduce discrimination and to promote the dialogue about diversity. The Diversity Committee consists of peer mentors for students who represent diverse experiences. Students of non-traditional ages, with a migration or international background, disabilities, caretaking responsibilities, different sexual orientations and gender identities, or who come from a non-academical family background, can connect with the Diversity Committee, especially at the beginning of their studies at FAU. The Diversity Committee helps students to get oriented at the FAU and create networking opportunities around the topic of diversity. The FAU website provides additional information about the Diversity Committee.

Depending on your pre-knowledge on English, it might be an option to attend specialized English courses at the Sprachenzentrum Kursangebot – Sprachenzentrum der FAU. All English courses are free of charge for FAU students. Registration starts about 3 Weeks before the beginning of the lecture period. There are fitting courses for students who are interested in more subject-related English courses. We recommend the courses at level 3 or 4 at our Language Center (these correspond to C1 level).

As of 01.04.2024, changes to the General Study and Examination Regulations for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs of the Faculty of Engineering came into force (current version see https://www.fau.de/fau/rechtsgrundlagen/pruefungsordnungen/tech/#allg-po-ba-ma). The time limit for exceeding the standard period of study in Master’s programs has been increased from one to two semesters, so that all degree programs (Bachelor’s, Master’s and the respective part-time variants) can now be completed in two semesters more than the standard period of study.

If you anticipate exceeding the standard period of study by more than two semesters, please submit an application for an extension to the Examinations Office in good time before the start of the semester (1 October or 1 April) in which the overrun occurs (see form at Examinations Office – Faculty of Engineering | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg).

Many German banks offer student accounts free of charge. A comparison of different banks can be found e.g. on the following pages:
Comparison of Student Bank Account Offers (English)
Comparison of Student Bank Account Offers (German)

You can find information about studying abroad and internship possibilities on the FAU website and the DAAD website.

MAP also provides a StudOn section on opportunities for semesters abroad (login to StudOn needed).

Health insurance
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research provides this document with information for foreign students.

Students enrolled at a state or state-approved university in the Federal Republic of Germany are required to have statutory health insurance. This also applies to students enrolled at universities in Germany who are not usually resident in Germany. The FAU-Website provides more information on this aspect. For further information on health insurance for students, questions or consultation feel free to contact Mr. Andreas Schaller:
Andreas Schaller campus consultant
Mobil +49 151 – 12 65 91 38
Andreas.Schaller@tk.de
https://www.tk.de/kontakt/Andreas.Schaller

Liability insurance
In Germany a lot of people have a lot of insurances. However, there is a big discussion about which ones are really necessary and which ones are not. It is mandatory for everyone to have a health insurance and, in case you own a car, an insurance for damages you cause with your car. All other insurances are voluntary.
As an international student temporarily residing in Germany, most offered insurances are not necessary. The only one which is strongly recommended is a liability insurance (German: “Haftpflichtversicherung”). This insurance pays for each damage which you cause to anything in your private life (if it was not by a car), for example if you accidentally damage someone else’s glasses or any valuable device or object in their apartment. The annual fees for such an insurance range from about 40 to 80 Euros, which makes them relatively affordable.
Often times, your bank institute offers an additional liability insurance when you open your bank account, so it is worth considering this option when you do. There are also dozens of other companies offering liability insurances. By signing the rental contract you undertake to care for the condition of the accommodation, furniture and the keys you were given. In case of losing your apartment or building key but the building has a master key system, you will be held liable for the entire system being changed. This can result in considerable costs. We strongly recommend having a liability insurance for situations as such, as it covers many types of damages to a third party or their property. Please ensure that your liability insurance covers damage by water, the exchange of master key systems and similar things.

IdM stands for identity management and is used for

• Management of user ID
• Overview of all personal user accounts
• FAUCard
• and many other additional sections

• Our program requires attendance, punctuality and active participation in all obligatory classes, scientific skills courses und excursions.
  In our soft skills courses, lecturers can and will withhold certificates if students show up late.
• Please be on time for lectures, meeting points at field trips etc.
• Make sure to be present for the first lectures.
  Check campo for time and location in the first week.
• Make sure to refer to the MAP Office staff and not to senior students for organizational details and questions on examinations. Several regulations have changed during the past years.
  Take your chance to give fair feedback on lectures and thereby to improve MAP: electronic evaluations will be conducted at the end of each semester.
• We highly recommend you joining the LinkedIn MAP alumni group (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/5051053/) already at this stage to exchange on career paths and to identify internship opportunities.
• We highly recommend a private liability insurance policy. It covers many claims for unintended damages that you might cause other people or their properties (e.g. results of minor bicycle accidents, possible loss of apartment keys, but not results of car accidents!)
• First steps – information for international students aims to introduce you to life in Germany and answer some of the most important questions you may have when you first arrive. Further information about the online services of the FAU are also explained in this news article.

Email etiquette
Use only your official @fau.de email address for all communications related to your studies. Emails from other providers are sometimes directly sorted as spam or treated as such from professors who often get more than 100 emails per day.

Writing to a professor (or any other uni staff member)

• Watch out for colloquial expressions which might be misinterpreted
• Don‘t be submissive – Professors here prefer proud, communicative students
• Remember that professors and university staff receive huge numbers of emails! Help them and make a good impression by being polite, systematic and concise
• In German there is not an equivalent for „Sir“, „Madam“ „Ma‘am“ etc. – do not use these expressions!
• Never start an email with „I am <xy>“ etc. The reader can read your name at the bottom of the email!

Germans use names:

• First names if you are on „Du“ terms
• Surnames (preceded by Herr oder Frau) if you are on „Sie“ terms (the default for you with respect to university professors and staff).
• The safest option is to use this rule in English: Most younger (<50 yrs) professors in Erlangen seem to apply the Anglo-American „standard“ (if they address you in English with your first name and sign off with their first name, you should address them with their first name)

Emails to someone whose name you know
Starting

• NOT OK: Hello, Hi, good day, good morning, Respected Sir, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear (on its own!)
• OK: Dear Frau Will, Dear Dr. Will, Dear Prof. Vogel

Ending

• NOT OK: Tschüss, Bye, Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen, see you, cu, thanking you, yours, yours truly, take care
• OK: Best regards, Kind regards, Regards, Bests, Best, yours sincerely (a bit formal)

Emails to someone whose name you don‘t know

• Start with Dear Sir/Madam
• End with Yours faithfully, Best regards, Best wishes, etc.

Good example

• “Dear Prof. Klupp Taylor,
  Unfortunately, due to illness I will not be able to attend your particle technology lecture tomorrow. Please could you send me the lecture notes. Thanks in advance.
  Best regards,
  <your name>, MAP 1st Semester Student“

Recording of Lectures

In Germany, it is not allowed to record any lecturer (voice or video) without his or her explicit consent. Germany is a two-party consent state, meaning “call recording without the consent of both or, when applicable, more participants, is a criminal offense”. (German Crimecode –Section 201)
Students, staff and external parties have rights regarding their work, participation and content for any lecture or event.
The easiest way to deal with laws against secret live recordings of lectures is to avoid them completely. If you would like to record a professor’s lecture, you can ask for his or her permission and for that of all the other participants.

For general advice on study related matters:

• Student Records Office: helps you with enrolment, re-registration, de-registration, application for reimbursement of semester fees, leave and regulations on study leave, application to change degree program, studying for two degrees, guest students and mature students, health insurance for students, reporting accidents, issuing confirmation of duration of studies, change of name (e.g. after marriage or change of identity), semester tickets for public transportation
• Student Advice and Career Service (ZSB): helps you with every step of the way before, during and after studying. They take the time to explore the various options open to you. However, we advise you to first consult the MAP Office with questions concerning your MAP studies, before contacting the ZSB.
• Student Service Center at Technical Faculty: individual advice around issues pertaining to foreign matters
• Faculty of Engineering for an overview of MAP’s host faculty
• Library – Science and Technology Branch (TNZB)
• Students’ councils of the Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering Departments
  Students’ councils (Fachschaften) are student organizations linked to departments or degree programs in which students represent their fellows’ interests, are contact persons for them and organize events. Although MAP students elect two students per year group to represent them, MAP does not (yet) have an own students’ council. MAP students are explicitly encouraged to get involved in the two mentioned students’ councils.
• FAU Examinations Office: is responsible for examination matters and  recognition of studies and examinations when changing study programs
• MAP section on StudOn for lecture material. It is encouraged to visit this site to download course material and carry out certain administrative activities relating to your course (registration of miniprojects, signing up for exams etc.)

For technical, electronic and IT support: 

• Where? How? Why?
  background information on the electronic FAU support
• Regionale Rechenzentrum Erlangen (RRZE): IT support
• FAU FabLab: Open workshop geared towards computer-controlled production. They offer facilities to lasercut, make stickers, print or embroider textiles, fix a seam or two, make printed circuit boards, populate them and find any mistakes, 3D-Print, and mill, turn and work with wood and metals.

To help you navigate being an international student in Germany:

• Language center for German and other language courses
• Central Office for International Affairs (RIA): can help you organize a stay abroad and offers a welcome program for international students
• First steps – Information for international students aims to introduce you to life in Germany and answer some of the most important questions you may have when you first arrive
• Housing – Student accommodation at FAU
• Studying in Germany in 10 Steps
• Online student A-Z: There is a lot to learn in your first semester including many foreign words, abbreviations and technical terms. Here is an A to Z of some of the most important terms which you will need during your time at FAU. Some useful links with information which should help you to adjust to student life and put you on the right track have been included as well.
• Stuve International: The Working Group for International Students bundles the problems and challenges of international students to ensure a better representation of the interests of international students within the student representation and at the university
• Translator service for international students: supports non-German-speaking citizens in communicating with public authorities, social institutions, schools or when visiting the doctor
• Open consultation hour for international students (en) » Studierendenwerk Erlangen-Nürnberg

For personal advice and psychological support:

• Career Service: advice for your professional life; you can participate in a personal career talk, that is recommended to support young researchers in their professional development: Funding opportunities – Faculty of Engineering
• Support for students in crisis regions: a new information page is available with information on FAU’s approach to rules, applications and support for university members from crisis regions.
• Psychologisch – Psychotherapeutische Beratungsstelle: Students of the Faculty of Engineering are provided with on-site psychological services at the Counseling and Psychological Center for the Faculty of Engineering. Mental health services are provided to students in need of counseling, consultation and crisis intervention. The Counseling and Psychological Center helps with a wide-range of psychological problems including: exam and speaking anxiety, learning difficulties, procrastination and motivational problems, stress management, anger management, loneliness, low mood, feelings of guilt, anxiety, panic, self harm and suicidal thoughts, coping with a chronic illness or disability, relationship or family problems, identity problems; gender or sexual orientation issues, homesickness and problems in living away from family and friends, addiction and substance abuse, difficulties integrating into German university and society. Counseling is offered in both German and English.
• FAU’s Office for students with disabilities and chronic illnesses: offers confidential consultations for students with disabilities and chronic diseases in all matters relating to studying at FAU (admission to the degree program, accessibility, examinations)
• Office for Gender and Diversity: for any issue related to sexual harassment and discrimination
• The Women’s Representative: supports women at FAU’s Faculty of Engineering and provides a variety of events and support services for women at all stages of their education and careers including ARIADNE techmentoring program, doctoral thesis award, guest lectures, funding for travel etc.
• and additional video help for those in need of advice (IBZ)
• Familienservice: The FAU Family Service supports in all questions related to work-family balance. In case of a pregnancy, contact the MAP Office for questions and referral to the responsible University institutions! If pregnant, you should get acquainted with relevant risk assessments (“Anlasslose Gefährdungsbeurteilung von Studiengängen im Rahmen des neuen Mutterschutzgesetzes“), find further information on the FAU Website.
• Legal Advice for Students: The Studentenwerk Erlangen-Nürnberg provides numerous advice offers. For international students, the advice in legal issues might be very important.
• Caritas Erlangen offers a service for psychiatric support (in German)
• “Heimwegtelefon” – home phone: For the way home in the dark, there is the “Heimwegtelefon” in Germany, should you feel unsafe. Volunteers work here and take calls nationwide so that you have someone to talk to. Geodata can be used to identify where the caller is at the moment, so that help can be sent quickly in the event of an emergency.
  Number: 030/12074182 (Sunday-Thursday 6pm-0am, Friday-Saturday 6pm-3am)

For advice on leisure matters (culture, religion, sports): 

• List of supported student groups and initiatives by the Studierendenvertretung
• Religious groups:
  • Groups for students of all subjects, nationalities, denominations, and religions organized by Christians:
    • Welcome-Program: Germans offer hospitality for international students
    • International group
    • Evangelische Studierenden & Hochschulgemeinde / Internationals
    • Katholische Hochschulgemeinde / Internationals
  • For Muslims
• University sports program (Allgemeiner Hochschulsport)

If you are looking for a clear and concise overview of residence, social and employment regulations for international students in Germany, the flyer “Job regulations for international students” from the Service Point for Intercultural Competence presents these in an easily understandable manner.

FAU Career Service

The FAU Career Service offers a diverse range of professional events and consultation services for members of all of FAU’s faculties designed to support students, graduates and doctoral candidates when planning and starting their careers. This service is available for up to one year after graduation and includes:

• career advice
• advice on applications
• application workshops and seminars
• career information and talks

In the StudOn section of the FAU Career Service, you can find guides on how to apply for jobs, how to prepare for job interviews, as well as valuable advice and informational events on working as an international student in Germany.

For further information, please refer to FAU’s Career Service and to the Career Service consultants.

Relevant links for your job search and application

• Searching for student jobs:
  https://www.jobs.fau.de/
  https://www.berufsstrategie.de/jobboersen/jobsuche-stellenangebote-studenten-azubis.php
• Searching for jobs abroad:
  http://www.berufsstrategie.de/jobboersen/jobsuche-stellenangebote-ausland.php
  https://www.absolventa.de/karriereguide/arbeiten-im-ausland
• Salary analysis:
  https://www.gehalt.de/gehaltsvergleich

Required documents to work as student assistant

• document proving that you are a matriculated student (“Immatrikulationsbescheinigung”)
• social security number (from health insurance/ “Krankenkasse”?
• cover letter: Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job/internship interview or having your resume ignored
  • devote the necessary time and effort to writing effective cover letters
  • ask a friend to help proofread your cover letter, (if the application documents are in German, the proofreader should, of course, be German or fluent in German)
  • Get professional advice and have your application documents checked by the FAU Career Service

Understanding your payslip

You can find a description on how to read your payslip on the website of Simple Germany.

Even if you do not need to know German for your studies, we know from experience that you will find it easier to find accommodation and deal with bureaucracy if you do know German, e.g. when extending your visa, and to find a job during and after your studies.

We therefore recommend that you use apps like Duolingo or Babbel to get started.

FAU offers German courses at the Language Center / Sprachenzentrum free of charge. These are great courses, however, the University’s German courses are limited. Therefore, apply early and repeatedly to get one of the places. Once you get one, take the opportunity and take the course.

Certain German courses offered by the Language Centre are not free of charge. In the case of very specific courses (intensive courses for German FIT), the MAP program can partially reimburse the costs as an educational grant in consultation with the MAP Office. Please get back to our MAP Office staff.

When you finish your MAP studies, please make sure that the MAP Office can still be in contact with you in the future. Please send us your current private e-mail address. FAU’s Rechenzentrum provides instructions in German language on how to set the properties in your IdM to forward emails that you receive on your FAU address to your private email address in the future. You can also apply for an FAU alumni email address. For statistical reasons, please let us know where and in which position you are taking up your first job after graduation.

Please be aware of visa regulations after your studies. If you liked to stay in Germany beyond your time as a student and have not found a job jet, you need to apply for the job-seeker-visa. The website of Bundesportal (an official website of the Federal Republik of German) and e. g. My German University provide more information.

Exchange students: Before you leave FAU/Germany, there are a few things you need to do to ensure that you do not encounter any problems later and that you are able to continue your studies successfully at your home university. The FAU website provides an informational section on leaving FAU.

The FAU website offers students versatile opportunities of receiving psychological and physiological advice and support.

In addition to occasional events for mindfulness and resilience training, they have a list of addresses and contacts for specific psychological needs.

Furthermore, they offer advice on how to stay physically fit and balanced during stressful times. In their video portals Pausenexpress and Bewegungspfad, you can find quick and easy exercises to do during your study breaks.

The FAU website provides a lot of information related to re-registration and semester contributions, e.g. dates, amount of semester fees etc.

In General:
Winter semester: October – March
Summer semester: April – September

For exact dates, as well as the respective lecture periods, please see also:
https://www.fau.eu/study/current-students/semester-dates/

What is the 38€ ticket?
A Germany ticket discounted by €20 for all trainees, volunteers and students in Bavaria.
The 38€ ticket can be purchased as a monthly cancelable subscription at the local transport association (VGN in our case). The verification will probably take place with the student ID.
The ticket will be offered in the apps “VGN Fahrplan & Tickets” and “Nürnberg Mobil”.

FAU and the AK IT der Stuve Erlangen-Nürnberg provide more information.

StudOn is FAU’s platform for online learning and course management. Students can register for courses via StudOn and access or store seminar handouts, reading lists and general information. In addition, StudOn is used for submitting homework and reports. StudOn allows direct exchange between students and lecturers in forums, chats and Wikis. StudOn is also used for online examinations. Students can log on with their University user account:www.studon.fau.de

MAP section on StudOn
The main MAP page (login necessary) provides information like

• Curriculum: courses of the MAP Master’s program with the respective lecture notes (responsibility of lecturers)
• Matriculation groups: course administration, general information and information on social events

and additional sections of interest

• Overview of upcoming events with relevance for MAP students (e.g. research presentations, colloquia, career-related events etc.)
• Job, internship and PhD opportunities
• Information on scholarships
• Forms and templates
• Opportunities for different research projects (miniprojects, master thesis etc.)
• Compilation of relevant information for MAP students (student wiki)

In theory, it is possible for you to take a leave semester. However, the MAP Office recommends this only in exceptional cases. Please check details with the Student Records Office. They offer the request for leave on their website.

For online seminars and courses that take place entirely online, you can find advice on studying online from student Jennifer Shurka on the FAU website.

Academic Support

Chairs:

Support in administration and various personal matters

MAP Office

When you start your studies, you will be given your FAUcard which functions as your student ID card and library card and can be used to make cashless payments at cafeterias and restaurants, pay for copying and access certain buildings. In addition to those functions, it is important to note that you bindingly must bring your FAUcard with you to identify yourself for examinations, post-exam reviews and all other events where your identity as a student must be proven. In all cases, your student ID needs to be validated each semester to be considered valid. You can find more information or where the devices for validation are located at FAUcard for students | FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.