Information for new Master’s students starting in SS 2023!

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Source: David Hartfiel

You have been admitted to our Master’s in Medical Engineering for the summer semester 2023 intake? Congratulations and welcome to the program!

These are the next steps for you to take:

  1. Please generate your request for enrollment via the Campo portal. Please note that in order to complete the enrollment process, you will also need to send hard copy documents via surface mail (post), transfer the semester fee and get a German statutory health insurance. This part of the enrollment is explained in the PDF document which you can find under “print request” in the Campo portal. Enrollment via post starts on Feb 20th 2023, the deadline for your postal documents to reach us is March 31st 2023. You can find further information concerning enrollment via post here. Depending on the post/courier and bank services in your country, it can take several weeks until your documents and money arrive, so please make sure they reach us until the deadline. Due to the thousands of cases of enrollment our colleagues at the Student Records Office have to process, they cannot confirm the arrival of your documents. Please track the arrival of your documents via your courier service. You will see that everything is going well when your status in Campo switches to “enrollment in process” (this can take several weeks after the arrival of your documents). Important: In order to enroll at a German university, a German statutory health insurance provider must submit your health insurance status digitally to FAU. This is also necessary if you are still abroad at the time of enrollment. The process of how to get this confirmation sent to FAU is explained here. You can request this confirmation from any of the German statutory health insurance providers (more information here).
  2. 3 to 4 weeks after successful enrollment, you will receive your login data for our identity management system IdM via post. In parallel, the IdM login information will also be made availabel to you in the Campo Portal (section “Student Services”). Please follow the steps explained in this youtube video to activate your IdM account, select an FAU email address and generate your student ID card (FAUcard).
  3. Summer semester 2023 starts on April 1st and and lectures start on April 17th. At FAU, we have returned to on-site teaching, hence we expect our students to be present in Erlangen when the lecture period starts. We offer this small set of online courses for students who arrive late due to visa problems, but please note that this is only an “emergency offer” with limited course options. Most of our exams will take place on-site in Erlangen, therefore you need to arrive at the beginning of July at the very latest. The document that you need to apply for a student visa at the German Embassy in your home country is part of the admission letter that you can download from our Campo portal. An additional document stating the living costs in Germany is available for download here. An official letter confirming the language of instruction (English) can be downloaded here. An official document confirming the exact enrollment period, start of lectures, regular duration of studies and the option to start your studies online (late arrival) is available here. During your travel preparations, we recommend that you keep a constant eye on our regularly updated COVID info. IMPORTANT: Do not choose the bank BAM! for your blocked account, as severe problems have been reported with this provider.
  4. Entering Germany: Please pay close attention to the current entry restrictions, testing and quarantine regulations.
  5. Regarding accommodation, it is important for you to know that German universities do not provide housing facilities. You have to rent a room or apartment on your own. Our Accommodation Service can only assist you to a certain extent to get an offer by a students’ residence or private landlord. We cannot guarantee that you will find suitable accomodation in time. The housing market in Erlangen and surroundings is extremely tense and unfortunately, many students report that it is very difficult for them to find a place to stay. You should expect that you will have to stay in an airbnb or hotel for some time until you find permanent housing – please plan your financial budget accordingly! We strongly advise not to be picky and accept the first decent offer you can afford. Please also consider offers in the surrounding villages and nearby cities, such as Nuremberg, Fürth, Forchheim or Bamberg. The campus of our Faculty of Engineering ist well-connected by public transport and easy to reach, no matter where you are located. Please find more information on how to find accommodation here.
  6. If your admission letter mentions so-called “conditions” you have to take additional subjects in parallel with your Master’s studies and pass those conditional subjects within one year after enrollment. This one year-deadline is non-negotiable and cannot be extended, not even in case of illness or other severe circumstances. Please find more information on this topic here. Please note that the conditional subjects in your admission letter cannot be changed, deleted or accredited.
  7. Courses: It is a unique characteristic of our Master’s program that it is extremely flexible and therefore adaptable to your interests. Please find a general explanation of the program structure here. Students starting their Master’s program in summer semester 2023 study according to the examination regulation 2022 (in German: “FPO 2022”). You will find the updated course catalogs for FPO 2022 on the Medical Engineering website by the end of March 2023. The individual courses and their content can be looked up in our online course portal www.campo.fau.de. Most of the courses in our study program are lectures, which do not require any kind of registration by the student. Hence you can relax and wait for our Master Welcome Day (see below) until you design your individual class schedule. German courses do require registration. More information can be found on the website of our Language Center. Please note that your enrollment has to be completed (you need your IdM login and password) in order for you to use our registration systems and get access to our online courses and course materials.
  8. You have questions about life in Erlangen and your studies at FAU? Our Central Office of International Affairs and our Faculty of Engineering offer a series of introductory events for international students in March/April 2023. Please find detailed information here.
  9. If your questions are more specific to our Medical Engineering program, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)! Concrete information about the structure of the Medical Engineering program, your courses, class schedule etc. will be provided to you on our Master Welcome Day for Medical Engineering. The Master Welcome Day Medical Engineering takes place on-site in Erlangen on Friday April 14th from 9.00 am to 1:00 pm in lecture hall H4 (Martensstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen). A shortened online version of the Master Welcome Day takes place on the same day, Friday April 14th from 3.00 to 5.00 pm (CEST) via zoom. If you are curious in the meantime, please have a look at this info material. If you would like to get in touch with seniors and your future fellow students, you are welcome to join our facebook group for international Master’s students. For more peer-to-peer information, you are welcome to contact our student association for Medical Engineering (FSI MedTech) and check out the youtube channels of our Medical Engineering graduates.

The whole team of the Medical Engineering program is looking forward to meeting you!