FAQs

• The student advisory service will mainly provide you with information. Topics are all questions about your programme, such as questions about the examination regulations, the module handbook or the processes at the faculty. In this context, the student advisory service also issues the necessary certificates. In addition, the student advisory service also serves as the first point of contact for general problems during your studies, for example if you have doubts about your studies or in the event of personal emergencies.
• The examination board is responsible for the recognition of study achievements and also decides on the approval of deadline extensions. You contact them through the respective secretariat of the examination office.
• Your achievements are administered in the examination office. You can ask all questions about incorrectly or differently booked credits there. This also applies to achievements to be recognized from other programs or from abroad, whereby these decisions are made by the respective examination board. You will also receive your transcript of records here. In addition, final theses are registered and submitted in the examination office, and final certificates are issued. The examination office operates separate secretariats for the subjects Mathematics and Scientific Computing on the one hand and Computer Science on the other.
• The deans of study are responsible for study planning, that is for ensuring that all types of courses are offered in sufficient quantities and that standard courses of our faculty offered in the same semester do not overlap. They are also the point of contact for serious problems in topics of teaching, such as serious complaints about lecturers.
• The student council is not an official body of the faculty, so you cannot receive any binding information here. On the other hand, this unofficial character together with the student perspective often enables a valuable addition to the knowledge of the faculty and the university. Since the student council represents the interests of the students in the faculty, they are also a good point of contact for problems with lecturers or current study planning. Furthermore the student council offers services such as script printing or collections of exam questions.

If you have general questions about your programme, it is best to contact the academic advisory service - but please also read the answer to the previous question. The best way to get information about current courses is directly from the respective lecturer.

• If you are studying in one of the programs Bachelor Mathematics 100%, Bachelor Mathematics 50%, or Master Mathematics, the Mathematics Examination Board and the Examination Office Mathematics are responsible for you.
• If you are studying in one of the programs Bachelor Computer Science 100%, Bachelor Computer Science 50%, or Master Data and Computer Science, the Computer Science Examination Board and the Examination Office Computer Science are responsible for you.
• If your program is the Master of Scientific Computing, the Scientific Computing Examination Board and the Examination Office Mathematics are responsible for you.
• If your program is the Master of Education, there is a central examination office for you at the HSE. However, the Examination Office Mathematics resp. Computer Science is responsible for the processing of services in your specific subject.

You can find the contact details of the secretariat of the examination office responsible for you on their web page, or you can contact them by email using the general contact form (envelope on the right). Please contact your examination board through the secratariat of the examination office responsible for you.

This differs from study program to study program. We have compiled all information on this topic here on the homepage of the faculty on the pages Application Bachelor Programs and Application Master Programs.

The Bachelor programs at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science do not assume much in terms of content, since the required concepts are reintroduced more thoroughly than at school. Thus, no special prior knowledge is required. However, a firm understanding of the school material and an already existing grasp of the subject matter is of course beneficial for acquiring the study contents in the first semesters. Programming knowledge is also not necessary, but desirable, especially for the study of computer science. Within the context of the preliminary course before the start of studies, the student council offers a programming course.

Enrollment in the undergraduate programs (Bachelor) of our faculty is only possible in the winter semester. The master's programs are offered each semester.

Yes, this is possible and encouraged by the student council, especially during the annual introductory course that takes place before the start of lectures in the winter semester.

In the two weeks before the start of lectures of each winter semester, the student council offers a preliminary mathematics course for first-year students in mathematics and computer science. Here you will get an insight into the curriculum of the first semester, get to know the premises and the procedures at the university and meet your fellow students. If you are interested, you can take part in a programming course beforehand, just be sure to register for it.

The student council offers a preliminary course in the last two weeks before the start of lectures of each winter semester. Here you will get answers to organisational questions as well as an insight into the contents of the first semester and get to know your future fellow students. The location and date of the first meeting of the preliminary course can be found on the website of the student council.

If you are enrolled in a study programme with us, you have already managed the most difficult organizational part. We recommend that you attend the student council's preparatory course in the last two weeks before the start of lectures in the first semester. There, the most important topics related to the beginning of your studies are explained and you will get to know many students from both your and later semesters. If you would like a written source for such information, please refer to the brochure Ersti-Info, which the student council compiles every year. You can also find interesting information here on the page This is how you ace your studies.

• In the first semester of the Bachelor Mathematics 50%, the lectures Linear Algebra 1 and Analysis 1 are planned; in the Bachelor of Mathematics 100%, also the Introduction to Practical Computer Science and an event in the field of application have to be taken.
• In the bachelor's programme in Computer Science 100%, you take the Introduction to Practical Computer Science, the Introduction to Technical Computer Science, and the IPK programming course in the first semester. In addition, you have to attend mathematics lectures, for which there are three variants: you may attend the lecture Mathematics for Computer Scientists 1 or one or both of the lectures Linear Algebra 1 and Analysis 1. In the Bachelor Computer Science 50% this is reduced to the Introduction to Practical Computer Science and Mathematics for Computer Scientists 1.

The homepages of the respective lecturers provide information on this. Registration for the exams is also announced on these pages - either by the lecturer himself or by their teaching assistant. Even if you do not have a university account yet, you can use most of the faculty's offers, such as the MaMpf e-learning platform or the exercise management at MÜSLI. If you cannot use a service due to your missing university account, please contact the assistant for the relevant course.

A computer in the narrower sense (i.e. not a smartphone or tablet, but a device with a keyboard) is not absolutely necessary, but highly recommended. You do not need any special books at first, as materials are provided in the respective lectures and you have access to extensive libraries. Of course, you are welcome to buy a selection of your favorite books later on so that you always have them at hand and annotate them to your heart's content.

• Summer semester: between february and march,
• Winter semester: between july and august 

To apply for a proseminar or a seminar, please contact the relevant lecturer. Usually, towards the end of the previous semester, there is a notice with a description of the content, contact details and an invitation to a preliminary meeting in which the lectures are presented and given to interested students.

To a certain extent, you can attend lectures that are not related to the subject and have them credited. Please ask the examination office for details.

With the large number of courses at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, overlaps cannot always be avoided. This is all the more true if courses from other faculties are also to be taken into account. In the case of large lectures, there is usually not much left to do and you have to decide on one lecture. In the case of smaller courses, it is worth trying to get the lecturer to give a new lecture date. 

It is. In case of illness or other serious hindrances please contact your lecturer, best in advance of the examination.

That is different for different lecturers. Please ask your lecturer about the modalities.

Although we try to schedule the module examinations so that they do not overlap, we unfortunately do not always succeed. This applies in particular to the coordination with the examinations for the areas of application and second main subjects. If you are affected by such an overlap, please contact the respective lecturer in order to clarify the problem directly with them. A typical solution is that you only take one of the two exams and that your participation is confirmed by the lecturer. For the other course, this confirmation is then equivalent to a sick leave and you will be assigned an alternative date.

For the first notification of illness, a notification from the doctor is generally sufficient, unless the lecturer expressly wishes to have the notification of illness different. The latter is then noted on the course homepage.

In Computer Science, the admission to a module examination stays valid for two semesters. In Mathematics, this is not possible in general. However, there is a goodwill rule according to which you can take the exam admission with you if the following three conditions hold:

• the module in question is a compulsory module in your examination regulations,
• you took part in the exam and did not pass it,
• you take the next opportunity of an exam in this module.

If you want to make use of this rule when repeating the module, please contact the team for the relevant course early so that this can be taken into account.

No, this is expressly excluded in the examination regulations.

• If you failed a module examination for the first time, you can repeat it at least once. To find out how many repetitions are possible for your module, please refer to your examination regulations.
• If you have exhausted all permitted repetition options for a module and failed the examination, you have definitely failed this module. In the case of a compulsory module, you lose the right to be examined in your subject; in the case of an elective or elective module, you can replace the relevant module with an equivalent one.
• Our bachelor's degree programmes require you to take an orientation test. If you have not passed this at the end of your third semester, you will lose the right to be examined in your subject.

You can get a transcript of records by e-mail request to the responsible secretariat of the examination office.

All modules that are completed in the course appear in the transcript of records. Only the modules that are necessary for the respective degree appear in the certificate.

You can see your grades via the LSF of the university in the Notenspiegel (transcript of records) under the tab Prüfungsverwaltung (examination administration).

Starting in 1987, ERASMUS is the mobility program of the European Union (EU). The aim of this program is to enhance both the collaboration between universities within the EU and other European countries (EU accession countries, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey), and the mobility of students and lecturers.

"Erasmus Plus" enters 2021 a new program period (2021-2027), with focus on social inclusion, green and digital inclusion and promoting young people's participation in democratic life.

Advantages of the ERASMUS program

• Tuition fee waiver at host university
• Transfer of credit points for study accomplishments
• Support and guidance at the host university
• Financial support for studying abroad

The winter semester begins October 1 and ends March 31, the summer semester begins April 1 and ends September 30. These dates correspond to the German traditional semester/lecture periods.

The lecture period times – mostly about 10-14 days after the beginning of the semester – can be found here.

Here you find an overview of the holiday days  for Heidelberg University (in accordance with the State of Baden Württemberg).

Please note that 7-10 days before the official beginning of the lecture period, the International Relation Division (D7) - Section Erasmus - offers several activities. At the Institute of Computer Science, the “Fachschaft”, the departmental student committee, offers also a “Vorkurs”, a preliminary course in Mathematics and Computer Science shortly before the beginning of the lecture period.

The “vorbereitender Deutschkurs”, the (optional) intensive pre-semester German course for exchange students is also taking place generally 2-3 weeks before the beginning of the lecture period, i.e., in September or March.

There is no common exam period for the whole university. Nevertheless, most of the written and oral exams take place in the two last weeks of the lecture period.

Some exams may also take place in the first week after the end of the lecture period.

Central Erasmus Coordinator of Heidelberg University

• German language courses (intensive courses before lecture period and German courses during lecture period)
• Accomodation in a student residence hall
• Help with room hunting
• Help with issues at public authorities
• Enrollment as a student (enrollment/removal from the register of students, Certificate of Host University)

Contact information
Address: Erasmus Büro, Incoming-Bereich, Alexandra Braye
Webpage
Email

Departmental Erasmus Coordinator Computer Science/Mathematics at Heidelberg University

• Learning Agreement (LA)
• Changes to LA after confirmation of home university
• Issuing and sending the Transcript of Records (ToR) to Departmental coordinator or Institutional Coordinator of the home university by providing "Scheine" (certificates of course completion)
• Support in terms of teaching related issues
• Credit points/ECTS questions („Scheine“)
• Mentoring

The Learning Agreement has to be signed by the Erasmus Coordinators both of your home and host university.

In order to attend courses abroad that are not specified in the Learning Agreement, the student must first obtain the approval of the relevant course coordinator by e-mail. In the next step, he/she must contact the examination office and ask whether an accreditation is possible. Additionally, the approval of the coordinator on site is required. Without this, a change of courses is not possible. The changes must be registered in the Learning Agreement form (received from the Erasmus Office after acceptance for the grant) so that it is complete and correct.

The "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" for the faculty - the course catalog - can be found online (LSF and the Faculty's home page) in March for the summer semester and in September for winter semester, respectively. Some information such as location of the lecture may not have been set by the time of the first publication so always check regularly these sources.

Information about the course content and the number of credit points granted can be found in the module handbooks for Computer Science and for Mathematics. Please always use the latest module handbooks. For some courses, you have to register beforehand. See the information given on the LSF or on the webpage of the instructor.

If you are interested in courses specific to Technical Computer Science (Computer Engineering), please also have a look at the courses offered by the ZITI, the Institute for Computer Engineering.

The theoretical and practical knowledge are mediated by lectures, tutorials, seminars and practicals. Classes take place regularly during the semester. Exceptions might occur, so practicals might take place during semester breaks.

The course catalog (“Vorlesungsverzeichnis”) is only available online. The course contents can be found in the ”Modulhandbuch”.

For "Vorlesungen" and "Übungen" you mostly can registrate in MOODLE or/and MÜSLI, the two systems used at the Faculty. Please note that for "(Pro)Seminare", "Pratikum" it is best to contact beforehand the lecturer via email. The courses have a limited number of participants to ensure teaching quality so that after the selection process, your application may be accepted or rejected.

In principle, credit points are granted only for courses you have participated in and you have successfully passed the final exam. Depending on the number of semester hours (SWS) and the difficulty of the course, a certain number of credit points are granted according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The number of credit points granted is given in the "Modulhandbuch" of the respective study program.

Generally:

• 2h per week: 3-4 credit points (seminar, tutorial)
• 4 h per week: 6 credit points
• 6h per week: (4 h lecture + 2 h tutorial): 8 credit points

Some courses can have up to 12 credit points. These values are slightly different from one Faculty to another. Please always use the most recent catalog for checking the number of credit points. Courses without credit points can by request be sanctioned by a "Teilnahmebescheinigung" (certificate of participation). Make sure to inform yourself about the requisite to obtain this certificate prior to the start of the course. By presenting the certificate, the course will appear on your Transcript of Records (ToR), but with no credit points and no grade.

Later, your university can still decide to grant you credit points.

If the credit points at the foreign university are already specified in ECTS, these can be adopted. Otherwise, the credit points are determined in individual cases on the basis of the SWS studied. For the grades, there are university-internal conversion tables for each foreign university.

You submit your transcript from the foreign university to our examination office; this can also be done by e-mail.

• Teilnahmebescheinigung: attendance certificate       
• Unbenoteter Schein (very rare): certificate of course completion without indicating a grade
• Benoteter Schein, Schein: certificate of course completion (with grade), certificate of achievement

Of course, it helps if there is an equivalent module in Heidelberg. However, it is also possible to have other examination results recognized in consultation with the examination board of your degree program.

Please see the information provided by the Institutional Coordinator through the “Erasmus Büro” of the International Relations Division. In the documents and emails sent by the Institutional Coordinator, you will receive information and application forms for German courses with special rates for Erasmus students.

Note that you can take an Intensive German course [taking place before the start of the lecture period (so September or March)] and a weekly course during the semester. Depending on the kind of German course, the number of credit points might differ. On the Learning Agreement (LA) just indicate the course(s) you want to take and put the number of credit points given. More information about credit points can be found on the page of the “Internationales Studienzentrum” (ISZ).  We presume that you have already reached at least level A2/B1 in German.

A placement test will decide which course level is the most appropriate for you. The coordination for Erasmus students is ensured by the Institutional Coordinator. At the end of the course, a “Schein” (certificate of course completion) will be issued and has to be provided in original to the Erasmus Office.

Yes, language courses can be accredited. Please check with your Erasmus coordinator.

By free elective course we mean

1. recreational and sports courses; see, e.g., Hochschulsport for respective offerings
2. a series of conferences/talks offered to students of all Faculties (e.g., 'Studium Generale')
3. a course offered by a Faculty to students of other Faculties at appropriate level
4. introductory courses to learn computer languages such as Python, C++, Java ...

For 1. and 2., Heidelberg University does not grant credit points. For 3., some courses have credit points, others do not. More details can be found under „Veranstaltungen für Hörer aller Fakultäten“ in LSF. For 4., see the programming courses related to the basic lecture “Einführung in die Praktische Informatik” (with credit points) at our Faculty (only offered in winter semester!) or proposed as one or two-weeks crash course (C++, Python) taking place just before the lecture period begins. These courses can be found in the category “Praktika and Kurse”.

Also remember the courses offered by the URZ (Universitätsrechenzentrum, Heidelberg University Computing Centre). These URZ-courses give NO CREDIT POINTS.

Please contact the student advisory service immediately if you have any doubts as to whether your programme is right for you. It is important to us that you are completely convinced of your choice and we are happy to talk to you about your problems. Many problems that students may encounter are already known to us and we can help to classify your difficulties and, if necessary, find ways out.

Heidelberg University also offers central advice for those who are doubtful of their studies. Your study situation may be dealt with less precisely there, but the employees in the central advisory service are specially trained psychologically for such questions and can offer valuable decision-making aids.

The right contact for such questions is the academic advisory service. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

This question comes up particularly often in the first semester, as the presentation of the material takes place in a new way and at high speed. A word of reassurance at this point: Very few first semesters are able to follow their lectures in real time. To help you here, we offer extensive exercises for our lectures. If you (honestly) are able to score sufficient points on the exercise sheets week after week, then there is nothing to worry about!

It is possible to apply for a semester of illness through the central university administration. You need a corresponding certificate from your doctor in order to do this.

In principle, any math-related subject offered at Heidelberg University can be considered as an area of ​​application. The subjects astronomy, life sciences, chemistry, computational linguistics, computer science, philosophy, physics, psychology and economics are expressly approved. Details on which modules you have to take within your application area can be found in the module handbook for the Bachelor Mathematics 100%.

Any person who has been granted the right to examine mathematics by the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science can be considered as a supervisor of a bachelor thesis. This group includes all professors of the faculty as well as some lecturers on permanent positions - if in doubt, you can ask.

It is not possible to write a bachelor thesis at another university. You can write your bachelor thesis in a company if the thesis is registered under a supervisor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science.

To do this, you have to submit the registration forms Anzeige der Bachelorarbeit and Erklärung zur Bachelorarbeit at the examination office. Your supervisor's signature is required on the first form. Basically: You can only register your Bachelor thesis in the Bachelor Mathematics 100% if you have already booked 120 CP.

The processing time for the bachelor thesis is 3 months. The registration and submission dates are shown on the notification form for the bachelor thesis and are binding.

The Bachelor in Mathematics 50% can basically be combined with all other subjects at Heidelberg University that offer a 50% degree. When registering, please note that you can only write your bachelor thesis in the first major, and enter your subjects accordingly in order to avoid to later formally have to change your programme.

You do not have to attend a special didactics event, as the required 2 CP in didactics are already covered by attending the proseminar and the seminar.

Any person who has been granted the right to examine mathematics by the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science can be considered as a supervisor of a bachelor thesis. This group includes all professors of the faculty as well as some lecturers on permanent positions - if in doubt, you can ask.

You are only entitled to write a bachelor thesis in mathematics if your second subject is one of the following: computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, economics. Other subjects can be admitted on request in individual cases. 

To register your bachelor thesis, you have to submit the registration forms Anzeige der Bachelorarbeit and Erklärung zur Bachelorarbeit at the examination office. Your supervisor's signature is required on the first form. Basically: You can only register your Bachelor thesis in the Bachelor Mathematics 50% if you have already booked 58 CP in mathematics and 30 CP in your second subject.

The processing time for the bachelor thesis is 3 months. The registration and submission dates are shown on the notification form for the bachelor thesis and are binding.

Officially, this is not possible. However, the faculty tolerates this for the elective lecture and the subject didactic lecture in the Master of Education. The interleaving modules form the core of the Master of Education and cannot be brought forward.

Please first read paragraph 7 of the examination regulations: "Crediting of study and examination achievements and degrees".

Achievements that you have completed at other universities can, in principle, be credited to achievements in your degree program. Important: credit can only be given for those achievements which can be proven to have been achieved and graded by means of an oral or written examination. Only in justifiable exceptional cases is an accreditation possible if you have not received a grade for the performance. Furthermore, achievements can only be credited if they correspond in type and scope to achievements required by us (ECTS specification). The procedure is now as follows:

1. Create a list of those achievements that you consider to be creditable and wish to have accredited.
2. Compare the type and scope of your achievements with those required by us and indicate in each case for which of our modules your achievements should be credited.
3. Formulate the request for credit to the chair of the examination board. For this purpose, use only the corresponding form on the computer science website (to be found under "Important Forms")!
4. Come to the Examination Office during opening hours and bring with you all those certificates of achievement for which credit is requested. (The original for checking and a copy as an attachment). To be on the safe side, you should also bring the module descriptions of those courses that you have attended for comparability of performance. In case of courses that are not directly from the field of Computer Science, it may be necessary to obtain information from the examination board of the other field.

If the module Introduction to Practical Computer Science (IPI) is still not passed after the third semester, the deadline for taking the orientation exam has expired and paragraph 13 (3) of the examination regulations becomes effective: "... If the deadline is missed, the examinee loses the right to take the examination, unless he/she is not responsible for missing the deadline." Since IPI is the introductory course to the study program, you should in any case ask yourself Computer Science is a suitable field of study for you. Therefore, please also consult sour student advisor, if necessary.

The Bachelor in Computer Science 50% can basically be combined with all other subjects at Heidelberg University that offer a 50% degree. When registering, please note that you can only write your bachelor thesis in the first major, and enter your subjects accordingly in order to avoid to later formally have to change your programme.

Any person who has been granted the right to examine mathematics by the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science can be considered as a supervisor of a bachelor thesis. This group includes all professors of the faculty as well as some lecturers on permanent positions - if in doubt, you can ask.

The processing time for the bachelor thesis is 3 months. The registration and submission dates are shown on the notification form for the bachelor thesis and are binding.

Please clarify as early as possible how the transition between your Bachelor's program and the desired Master's program is regulated. In many cases there is a standard regulation here, for example when changing from the Bachelor 100% Mathematics or Data and Computer Science to the respective Master's program of the same name or when changing from the Bachelor 50% with teaching option to the Master of Education. In this case, it is sufficient to apply for the Master's program in time; details on the Master's application can be found on our page. If there is no standard regulation, you have to consult the admission regulations of the desired Master's program. The best way to do this is to visit the departmental student advisor for your subject.

Officially, this is not possible. Within the framework of a goodwill rule of the faculty, a limited amount of achievements of the Master's program can already be made in the Bachelor's program and booked there as additional achievements. After transfer to the Master's program, these achievements are then transferred. 

Note: Especially in the transition between Bachelor Mathematics 50% and Master of Education, no interleaving modules can be taken; these must be taken in the master program.

You should find out as early as possible about the admission regulations and application deadlines for the master's program at the target university: If you are still studying for a semester with us in the Bachelor's program, you may still be able to take the courses required for admission with us and thus make the transition to the Master's program smoother. In addition, the application deadlines for external students often end very early. A typical problem in this context is that not all Bachelor's achievements are available by the application deadline and, for example, the grade of the Bachelor's thesis is still pending. In this case, many universities offer the possibility of submitting additional work. If time is very tight, the supervisor of your Bachelor thesis can confirm that it has been passed before the actual assessment and submit the grade later.

..., and no answers: If you have any questions that should be answered here, please contact Hendrik Kasten.

That is absolutely possible. Please e-mail a request for crediting your external study achievements to the examinations office and to the study advisor including the following details:

• a list of modules, that should be credited and what you are expecting them to be credited for,
• a module description of the courses that should be credited, at best a link to this description,
• a copy of the transcripts, that list the modules in question.

After we received your request the study commission will discuss about it and the accepted modules will be added to your transcript.

By decision of the study committee, of the four mandatory modules in the master program Economics the modules Advanced Mathematics and Advanced Econometrics cannot be picked for the application area. They are too close to our master's program and students from the master Scientific Computing should already know most of the content. The other two Advanced microeconomics and Advanced macroeconomics as well as all elective modules and the seminars – if you get a seat in them! – can be picked.

Many faculties are offering own courses to teach basics in mathematics and computer science. These courses are off limits for our students: They do not count towards the application area. However, some "package deals" include single modules from this group. This is a compromise to make the package deals self-contained and manageable. The course combinations in the package deals are confirmed in this exact combination. Picking several courses from different package deals (modules near to maths and computer science) will not be confirmed by the study committee. 

General advice: Select courses from the application area itself: Real physics courses in physics, real economics courses in economics. Granted, many of these courses also teach maths, but this is the natural effect of maths as a language of models.

The master's program has a rather direct approach to define specializations. The specialization is usually difficult to define beforehand. Instead, all modules directly influencing your master research project are part of your specialization. The selection is defined by the thesis advisor. When you start your research project, the thesis advisor will check your modules and compile a list of those modules that he/she sees fitting as directly linked to your research. Any of these modules (from Maths and Computer Science) can count towards your load in the specialization. This is one of the reasons why you should contact possible thesis supervisors early.

Remark: The specializations listed on the web pages for the master's program can be regarded as examples for specializations. Usually it is not a problem for a student to fill the mandatory specialization credits.

For master students of Scientific Computing two options are available to get access to GPU Clusters.

• The faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science established two compute servers for projects of master students. The faculty handles access to these two servers. Please contact the Dean's office for access to the servers.
• As a member of an IWR research group, please contact the head of your research group. She resp. he can register you as an IWR student member and then you can access the IWR compute servers. These servers are for IWR members only.

The early membership option for master students is meant for students who start their master research project and have an above-average grade score. The application is done through your supervisor: She resp. he has to write an application letter to the graduate school stating that

• your grades so far are exceptional (CV and transcript),
• your master topic can be a basis for a PhD project,
• should you continue to develop in the same track, she resp. he will offer you a PhD position in the work group.

Based on such a recommendation, the coordinators of the graduate school will decide on your master student membership within 4 weeks. Optionally, the school will also offer you a scholarship to fund your research period.

Finding a thesis supervisor is an important task for a student. You should talk to potential supervisors already during your second semester and make sure to find a supervisor as early as possible. The supervisor might ask you to complete additional courses before you start your thesis. To work on your thesis, you usually will start with defining the current state-of-the-art in the topic of your research. This will be done by reading relevant publications to familiarize yourself with the research topic. Once you start your research, you have to register your master's thesis with the faculty. For this, please collect the relevant document at the examinations office, complete the form and hand it back in.

Remark: According to the examination regulations, §14.2, you can register your master thesis once you have completed and registered 45 credits towards your degree.

All students in the Scientific Computing master's program have to complete three regular seminars at the faculty of mathematics and computer science listed as seminars for this master's program in LSF:

• a seminar in mathematics,
• a seminar in computer science (can be replaced by an advanced practical),
• a master seminar.

The master seminar is a regular seminar in mathematics or computer science. However, you cannot select freely what seminar to attend, but you have to follow the guidelines of your thesis supervisor when choosing the master seminar. Usually she resp. he will ask you to attend one of his regular seminars or point you to a suitable other seminar. The topic of this seminar should be chosen in preparation of your thesis, but the master seminar is not a seminar about your thesis research.

Remark: At the end of the thesis, the student gives an open presentation on the finding of their thesis research. This presentation is part of their thesis. It has nothing to do with the above mentioned master seminar. Note that the master's program Data and Computer Science has different regulations!

First things first - please keep your visa expiry in mind, so you can start your visa extension in proper time! You should start preparing your documents six to eight weeks before your visa expires. One of the documents you need, is the Studienstandsbescheinigung. It is issued by the international relations office after handing in a signed statement by the study counsellor of the program, Dr. Michael Winckler. For receiving this statement you need to make an appointment with Dr. Winckler, to which you bring along

1. the form Studienstandsbescheinigung from the university's international relations office,
2. a course list, filled in in advance of the appointment,
3. your current transcript of records.

Dr. Winckler signs the Studienstandsbescheinigung and you can take both forms to the international relations office, where the "Studienstandsbescheinigung" is issued within 10 working days.

The field of application should continue the field of application from the Bachelor's degree. If this is not possible, for example due to a change of university, please clarify with the examination board how you can proceed. As a rule, it is not possible to include an introductory lecture in an application area as an examination credit in the Master's degree.

The Master's examination regulations do not prescribe which courses you have to attend in the application area. You basically have two options:

1. You create a plan of courses in the application area in consultation with the student advisor of the application area, as they have an overview of which advanced courses are useful. You have this plan confirmed there and submit it to us in the examination office.
2. You integrate an interdisciplinary project: For this purpose you have to look for a lecturer from computer science and from the application area and determine the content of the project and the necessary courses from the application area in consultation with these two lecturers. Again: At the beginning of the project, please ask both lecturers to confirm this specification and submit it to us in the examination office. If you do not have any contacts in the application area, first look for the person in Computer Science. This person can then probably establish contacts in the application area.

The 18 LP in the application area are to be taken through non-informatics modules at Bachelor's or Master's level. Of the 18 LP, up to 10 LP can be done through an interdisciplinary project.

• You have to have the choice of the application area and the modules or the project for it approved by the examination board Master Data and Computer Science before starting the module IAG. Of course, you can also use proposals that have already been approved.
• You have to submit a confirmation from the Dean of Studies (or the student advisor) of the application area, which approves this choice from the point of view of the application area and confirms it as reasonable.
• The selection of courses in the chosen field of application is binding and can only be changed in well justified exceptional cases.
• The modules in the application area must be graded, ungraded modules will only be accepted in well justified exceptional cases.
• If you want to do a project, a confirmation of the lecturers from both computer science and application area must be submitted. If you do not have contacts in an application area, first find the person in Computer Science. This person can then probably establish contacts in the application area.

The state of Baden-Württemberg is currently looking for more teachers in the subjects of computer science and physics. In order to simplify the transition to the teaching profession, it is currently possible to be admitted to the Master of Education with a purely subject-related Bachelor's degree in computer science or physics. For students who take this route, however, this means that they have to make up for the missed study of a second subject (in this case often mathematics) and educational sciences to the extent of the Bachelor's degree 50% with a teaching option.

You can write your master's thesis in one of your two subjects or in education.

Yes and no: The first supervision of a Master's thesis in the Master of Education can only be done by a member of our faculty; consequently, the topic has a subject-specific focus. However, a part of the thesis can also contain didactic aspects. If this is the case, the second supervision should be done in consultation with the first supervisor by an external person accredited by the faculty as authorized to conduct examinations - for example from the PH. Since this should not be at the expense of the professional quality of the thesis, careful and trusting coordination between all parties involved is necessary. Due to the increased effort - especially for the second supervisors who are not otherwise involved in final theses at the university - such interdisciplinary work is only possible as an exception.