Information for new Master’s students starting in WS 23/24!

You have been admitted to our Master’s in Medical Engineering for the winter semester 23/24 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 (67 euros) 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 July 24 2023, the deadline for your postal documents to reach us is September 30 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 your future academic institution. 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 “Study 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. Winter semester 23/24 starts on October 1 and and lectures start on October 16. FAU is an on-site university, hence our students should be present in Erlangen when the lecture period starts. We offer a 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 February 2024 at the very latest. If you know that you won’t be able to arrive in Germany by February 2024, online studies are not a suitble solution for you. Please contact our study advisor in this case to find out about your options. The document that you need to apply for a student visa at the German Embassy in your home country is 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. IMPORTANT: Do not choose the bank BAM! for your blocked account, as severe problems have been reported with this provider.
4. Regarding accommodation, it is important for you to know that German universities do not provide housing facilities and that German households don’t have domestic servants/maid service. You have to rent a room or apartment on your own and take care of cooking, cleaning, washing your clothes etc. 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. Beware of scams and contact your study advisor when in doubt before you transfer any money!
5. If you didn’t submit your official bachelor’s certificate during your application, you will be enrolled under the condition that you hand it in to our Student Records Office within the first year of your studies. Please note that this deadline cannot be extended. If you cannot provide your official (not provisional) certificate until the deadline, you will be deregistered from our program, lose your student visa and have to leave the country. Please take this matter very seriously and do not enroll if you are not 100% sure that you will receive your certificate in time!
6. 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 winter semester 23/24 study according to the examination regulation 2023 (in German: “FPO 2023”). You will find the updated course catalogs for FPO 2023 on the Medical Engineering website by the end of Septermber 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.
   
7. 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 September/October 2023. Please find detailed information here .
8. 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 October 13 from 9.00 am to 12.00 (noon) in lecture hall H4. A shortened online version of the Master Welcome Day takes place on October 13 from 3 pm to 5 pm (Central European Time) via  Zoom. If you want to prepare for your studies 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!