Index

Health and liability insurance

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.

German bank accounts

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)

Important remarks for your start of studies

  • 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.

Confirmation for immigration authorities

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”.

Exceeding the standard period of study

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).

De-registration from literature reviews and miniprojects

De-registration from literature reviews and miniprojects is not possible after a topic has been assigned to you.

Examination of the “Basics”

The two parts of each basics examination count as separate examinations. You can decide if you take both parts on the same date or at different times.

German academic grading scale

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

Postponement of examinations

You are legally entitled to deregister from your exams via campo (at least until 3 working days before the date of the exam). However we highly recommend to take the exams as they are scheduled:

  • The MAP curriculum is ambitious and challenging and your workload will NOT decrease in the coming semesters.
  • Anybody shifting exams will simply postpone the problem, which may become more severe with additional lectures/reports and miniprojects to take care of as well.
  • Postponement can lead to a violation of the maximum period of studies (6 semesters) and therefore create visa problems.

Plagiarism and artificial intelligence

MAP enforces strict academic ethics.

  • A report of plagiarism in any MAP-related written work (literature reviews, lab reports, miniproject reports, posters, thesis etc.) will lead to failure and information of the MAP office as well as the Examinations Office.
  • In repeated or severe cases, plagiarism can lead to exclusion from the program.

Use of artificial intelligence by students in exams:

  • The general rule is that if artificial intelligence is not explicitly allowed, it constitutes unauthorized assistance. This in turn means that the exam is considered failed due to cheating.
  • This is especially important for exams such as term papers, seminar papers, miniprojects and Master’s theses.