Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

No. As we are a public university and don’t charge tuition fees, FAU does not dispose of a scholarship system. But you can apply for scholarships at other institutions, such as the German Academic Exchange service (DAAD). To gain a comprehensive overview about scholarship options in Germany, please click here.

In addition to the information above, we would like to draw your attention to these scholarship offers:

• IMPRS-PM scholarship, provided by our local Max Planck Center for Physics and Medicine
• Scholarships for Latin American students, provided by our Bavarian Center for Latin America (BAYLAT)
• Scholarships for students from Pakistan and Afghanistan, provided by the Hanns Seidel Foundation
• Scholarships for German-speaking students, provided by the Norbert Janssen Foundation

Yes. You can find an overview of student groups and initiatives here. Moreover, ‘Volunteers for Internationals (VFI)’ ist a group for and organized by international students. You are welcome to join!

The most important thing first: you are not alone! Almost all students are familiar with the experience of reaching a low point in their studies, feeling overwhelmed or not knowing what to do. The good news is that you can do a lot by yourself to feel better and experience success and satisfaction in your studies again. Here are some measures you can take right away:

• Self-help material for various psychological problems (recommended by our psychologist!)
• Self-help material for managing stress by WHO in various different languages (recommended by our psychologist!)
• If you need to talk to a professional in person: make an appointment with our psychological counselors at the Faculty of Engineering or the University Outpatient Clinic for Psychotherapy.
• If you have trouble adapting to the German university system and establishing a good routine for studying: Please read our booklet “Mastering your studies”.
• If you need to improve your physical wellbeing and get out of your head: join a sports course offered by our University Sports
• If you are concerned that you might not pass your conditional subjects within one year or might fail the third (i.e. last) attempt of an exam: Please apply to another English-taught Master’s program for the next semester (so that you have a backup plan) and make an appointment with your study advisor. 
• If you feel lonely and would like to make friends: join one of our student initiatives or the language exchange events of Studentenwerk. Female students are cordially invited to join the monthly International Women’s Café (Students’ Edition), organized by the Erlangen Women Center. The international student association DEGIS has produced this great video on how to make friends in Germany, which is a good starting point.
• If you find that the content of our study program is simply not for you (i.e. you don’t know what the professors are talking about in class and/or you are barely passing or not passing your exams), there is absolutely no shame in admitting that and in looking for alternatives. Plaese be honest with yourself early on and assess if our Medical Engineering program is the right fit for you. If you lie to yourself (and your family) you will lose a lot of time and money and end up without a degree. If you admit that you made the wrong choice, you can apply to other programs (e.g. at Universities for Applied Sciences) and find a career that matches your skillset.

…and talk about your struggles with fellow students. They may be feeling just like you and be glad that you bring up the topic. Everything is easier when you share it with others!

First of all, it is important for you to know that you are not entitled to a letter of recommendation. Our academic staff is very busy and free to decide wether they want to issue you a recommendation letter or not. Please note that only professors can issue you a recommendation letter. Your study advisor or PhD students are not authorized to write recommendation letters.

Who should I approach about a recommendation letter?

It only makes sense to ask professors for a recommendation letter if you have studied with them for some time (i.e. have taken several, preferably smaller courses with them) and have had excellent grades in those courses (1,0 – 1,3). Of course, their courses must be related to the subject/purpose you need the recommendation letter for. Ideally, you already have a more personal relationship with your professor, e.g. you are doing your master’s thesis with them or work for them as a student assistant.

What do I need to prepare for the recommendation letter?

If you want anyone to do you the favor of writing you a recommendation letter, you need to make it as little time-consuming and easy for them as you can. This means that you should already prepare a pre-written text about your academic accomplishments, which your professor can easily adapt for their official version of the letter. You can find many styles of recommendation letters online to give you an idea. Please be aware that German recommendation letters are very fact-based and must not include any emotional statements. Please send this text template together with a current grade overview and cv to your professor of choice and ask them very kindly and politely if they are willing to write you a recommendation for the summer school X or scholarship Y. If they do, make sure to thank them because they took some time out of their busy day to help you with something that does not have any benefit for them.

Please log into www.idm.fau.de, go to the section “self-service” – “email” and click on the magnifying glass symbol next to your FAU email address. Enter the private email address to which you want to forward your FAU communication and click on the “update” button.

SS 20, WS 20/21, SS 21 and WS 21/22 were officially declared “covid semesters” and therefore count as zero when your official duration of studies is assessed. Please don’t be confused – all semesters are counted in the semester count that you can see in your Campo overview (as well as in your enrollment certificate), but if you studied during the covid semesters you can deduct them from this number. This is also explained in the footnotes of your enrollment certificate.

Example: If you started your studies in WS 21/22 and your Campo account shows 5 semesters you can deduct the covid semester, hence you are officially only in your 4th semester.

In order to ensure your and your child’s safety during your studies, you must inform our Student Records Office of your pregnancy as soon as possible. In order to do so, please send an email to ibz-mutterschutz[at]fau.de . Our study advisor for pregnant students, Ms Susanne Kramarenkoff, will provide you with all the information you need. This concerns the kind of courses you are allowed to take or shouldn’t take (e.g. certain lab courses), the flexibilities you are entitled to with regards to your studies (leave of absence, flexible rules regarding exams) as well as the support services FAU can offer you (childcare facilities, parent-child meetups for students etc.).

If you are a non-EU student with a visa/residence permit for study purposes you are generally not allowed to change to part-time studies because your visa/residence permit for study purposes depends on your status as a full-time student. Exception: Pregnant students with a visa/residence permit for study purposes might get permission from the immigration authorities to study part-time. If this is your case, please consult with your local immigrations office before you change to part-time at our Student Records Office.

If you are a non-EU student but have a residence permit that allows you to work full-time (e.g. work visa) or if you are an EU citizen, you can choose between full-time and part-time studies. More details on the rules for part-time studies can be accessed here.

Generally speaking, you should find yourself a general medical practitioner (family doctor or primary doctor, “Hausarzt” in German) close to your place of residence as soon as you arrive in Erlangen. Make sure that the doctor speaks English (they might say so on their website or you can assume it if the doctor is of younger age). Make an appointment with them shortly after your arrival (via their website or by calling their practice) and ask them to check if you have all necessary vaccinations that are considered standard in Germany. All those vaccinations are covered by your health insurance, meaning that they are free of cost for you. You can trust that all kinds of medical examinations or treatments your doctor carries out are also free of cost. If you are prescribed medication, you only have to pay a small contribution (not more than 5-  10 Euros) when you pick up your prescription at a pharmacy.

Your “Hausarzt” is usually the first doctor you go to see when you are sick. They will examine you and can prescribe medication. They will also come to see you at home if you are so sick that you cannot leave your house. They will refer you to a specialist or a hospital if necessary. Please note that if you have public health insurance (AOK, TK, Barmer etc.) you generally cannot consult with a specialist on your own without your general doctor’s referral. Exceptions from this rule are dentists, gynecologists and ophthalmologist, whom you can make an appointment with without consulting with your general doctor first. Doctor’s practices are usually open between 8 am and 6 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, often with a short break around noon. On Wednesdays, most practices only open in the morning.

If you urgently need to see a doctor outside of the above consultation hours, but don’t consider your condition to be life-threatening, you can go to the Erlangen Medical Center or one of the Medical Centers (“Bereitschaftspraxis”) in Nürnberg. If you are so sick that you cannot leave the house and need a doctor to come to see you, you can call 116 117 to arrange a doctor’s visit.

All of the above medical doctors/medical institutions can issue you a medical certificate to confirm your inability to participate in an exam if you need to withdraw from a registered examination.

If you find yourself or others in a life-threatening situation, always call an ambulance via the emergency number 112. The costs of the ambulance will be covered by the sick/injured person’s health insurance. You don’t have to fear that you will have to pay for the ambulance yourself. On the other hand, if you see a person in a medical emergency and don’t call an ambulance, criminal charges can be held against you for failure to lend assistance.

First of all, if the waiting period between the sending date and the current date is less than 7 days, you shouldn’t do anything but just wait until the 7 days have passed. Our staff receive hundreds of emails everyday, therefore it is perfectly normal that they cannot get back to you right away. Just be patient! This statement holds even more true if there were public holidays or school holidays in Bavaria since you sent your email. Please inform yourself about those holidays online and deduct them from the 7 day-rule if applicable.

After the 7 regular days (non-holidays) have passed, you can send a friendly reminder to the recipient and ask them whether they already found the time to look into your email.

What else could be the reason you don’t receive an answer?

• What you are asking about has already been explained elsewhere (on a website, in a StudOn course, in a lecture or at an information event). Therefore, the recipient sees no need to reply to you.
• You have not selected a helpful subject for your email. A good email subject primes the reader for the topic of the email and helps them to decide if/when to read it or to whom to forward it. “Question”/”inquiry”/”need help” are not good subjects. “Problem with registration for exam 1234567” is.
• Your email doesn’t address the person with their name and title, you have spelled their name wrong or used a wrong name.
• You have addressed the person with the wrong gender (for example “Dear Sir” for a female recipient).
• Your email was generated with the use of ChatGPT and therefore transmits to the recipient that you are not willing to put any effort in your communication with them.
• Your email was too long. As a rule of thumb, your email should not be longer than 3 – 5 sentences maximum and you should get to the point right away.
• You message was not understandable for the recipient. You can check this by putting yourself in the recipient’s spot: Does somebody who doesn’t know your current situation understand what you are talking about? For example, if you talk about “my exam” without giving any specific information, the recipient will not know which exam you mean. It should be possible for the recipient to understand your request without asking you any questions back for clarification.
• You have not signed your email with your full name (first name(s) and last name(s)) and student number.
• You have not added an apropriate salutation and a thank you to your email.
• There are a lot of spelling and/or grammar mistakes in your email, which makes it hard to read.
• Your email contains severe formating errors, which makes it hard to read. A normal font size for emails is 11 or 12, your text should be left-aligned or in a block setting, never right-aligned, when writing in English or German.

You can greatly improve your chances of receiving an early answer if you check for the above aspects in any email that you send.

Your study advisor will be happy to help you with any question you might have concerning the Medical Engineering program. In addition to that, various introductory events are held at the beginning of every semester to provide you with general tips and information about your studies. We highly recommend that you attend those events, as the knowledge provided there is oftentimes the decisive factor in whether international students study successfully and obtain their degree (or not).

If you have questions that are specific to your status as an international student (e.g. regarding your visa situation, specific working conditions for Non-EU students etc.) you are welcome to contact our International Office.

Moreover, FAU offers a “buddy program”, in which international students are assisted by an experienced German volunteer from their faculty. Your personal “buddy” can help you with everyday problems, show you the city etc. and hopefully will become a good friend! You can apply for this program here.

Our student body representatives, who participate in various committees of the university and help shaping the study conditions at FAU, also have a working group for international students. If you would like to become a member of this group or are just looking for support, please contact them here.

In Germany, “professor” is not only a job description but an academic title that is obtained after a doctorate/PhD. A person who teaches at university is not automatically a professor, therefore you should only call them “Prof.” in emails or in direct communication if they actually hold the respective title.

In the 20th century, after their doctorate, German scholars who wished to go into academia usually worked towards a Habilitation by writing a second thesis, known as the Habilitationsschrift. Once the scholar passes their Habilitation, they are eligible for a call to a chair. Only if their application for a university chair (e.g. Chair for Pattern Recognition etc.) is successful they are now considered a professor and can bear the respective title.

Since 2002 alternative paths can also lead to a full professorship. One can reach a professorship at a university by habilitation, a successful evaluation as a junior professorship (after 5 years), a tenure track period (6 years) or equivalent performance. In engineering this is often attained through expert knowledge in the industry.

It is important for you to know who of your university teachers have a PhD and who are professors in the German understanding of the word, as only the “real” professors are authorized to assign you a thesis topic or supervise a PhD project.

Experience shows that it is close to impossible to graduate from our master’s program within the standard period of studies of 4 semesters if you need to work a significant amount of hours (~20 hours per week) alongside your studies. This is due to the fact that study programs in Germany are designed to be a “full-time job”, meaning that you will only be able to pass your exams and fulfill the standard workload of 30 credits per semester if you actually make your studies your main priority and dedicate most of your time to them. A regular full-time job is defined as a time commitment of 35 to 40 hours per week, which you spend attending classes and preparing/revising your course material at home.

Studying with a low time commitment (due to work obligations etc.) will either result in your eventual deregistration from the program (due to failed last exam attempts) or in the need to extend your study period to 5, 6 (or, in justified cases, even more) semesters. Please be aware that this extension will affect your planned financial budget significantly! Unfortunately, we have seen many, especially international, students drop out of our study program because they were unable to handle the double burden of work and our highly demanding study system. Please take care of yourself and assess your financial possibilities as well as your mental and physical health before you take on this challenge.

• Grocery shopping: The communally organized food cooperative Teilerei in Erlangen sells food that doesn’t look “pretty” enough to be sold in regular supermarkets or produce from the gardens of local citizens etc. There is no fixed price for the goods but everybody can pay what they can afford at the moment.
• Transportation: Make sure to get the student discount ticket for public transport.
• Furniture and household items: You can get very affordable second hand items in good condition at Erlanger Trödelhalle. The facebook group “Erlangen verschenkt” (i.e. Erlangen donates) is an online space where people post anything from matrasses to smaller items which they either donate or sell for a very low price.
• Smaller household items and clothes: You can make great bargains at the outdoor second hand market which takes place on Bohlenplatz in Erlangen on every first Saturday of the month (open from the early morning until the afternoon). It is also a good idea to get your own sales stand there at the end of your studies if you have any items you would like to sell before you leave Erlangen.
• Clothes: The second hand shop KleiderKaffee close to the Faculty of Engineering sells mainly clothes but also smaller household items. ALDI supermarket sells affordable new clothes and shoes from time to time; those offers are announced in the weekly info leaflet you can pick up at Aldi or you can look them up online. Since these products are extremely sought-after, you have to be there early in the morning on the day they are are introduced to make your bargain.
• Notebook/tablet, books or other study materials: Students in need can apply for the Oskar Karl Forster scholarship to receive financial support to buy necessary study materials.

The ideal job candidate for engineering positions on master’s level on the German job market is expected to do more than just receive orders and complete the tasks they are assigned.

You are expected to:

– have good grades,

– possess a solid German level (B1 or higher),

– be communicative, a team player and a good networker,

– have own opinions on work-related topics and to come up with your own, creative solutions for problems.

You have to convey the above aspects in job interviews to show recruiters that you fit well into their team. The best way to train this kind of skillset is to engage actively in your studies, e.g. by forming study groups, joining a student initiative and interacting with many different students (including German students) on campus. Since these communicative, cultural and social skills cannot be learned last-minute at the end of your studies, you should approach the whole duration of your studies as a journey towards a future job in Germany (or Europe, for that matter). Start on day one of your studies and make use of the regional benefits of the Medical Valley by attending company and networking  events, trade fairs, job fairs, scientific talks etc.

The best way to always be updated on these events is to:

– read the emails by you study advisor,

– follow your favorite FAU labs on social media,

– follow your favorite companies on social media,

– follow regional tech hubs such as the Medical Valley Center and Zollhof Tech Incubator on social media,

– regularly have a look at the notice boards on campus.

Futhermore, we highly recommend that you participate in the info and advisory sessions offered by our FAU Career Service and book a personal consultation with the representative of the German Employment Agency, who offers regular one-to-one consultation on campus: michael.huemmer[at]arbeitsagentur.de.

1. Scams/involment in criminal activities (laundry washing): Unfortunately, international students are often the target of scammers/criminals, either in the form of an accommodation scam or a job scam. Please watch this video so that you are able to recognize the most common scam situations and avoid them. If you accept an illegal job, you will be punished for criminal activity!

2. Fraud via email (phishing emails etc.): If you receive emails alerting you about the urgent need to click on a link and enter your personal data, be very suspicious and verify who the sender is! German banks, our university computer center and other official institutions in Germany will never approach you in such a way, therefore, chances are high that you are confronted with an email scam. Don’t react and direct the email to your spam folder. When in doubt, call the official institution and ask them whether they sent you such an email. Please note that our FAU professors and other FAU staff will NEVER send you emails to aks you for favors, e.g. to send them money or to buy things for them (google play cards or similar). If you receive such an email from an FAU member, it means that their email account has been hacked. Please report this to our Computer Center: rrze-zentrale[at]fau.de

2. Getting severely ill due to lack of vaccination: The German authorities recommend these vaccines to all individuals living in Germany, all of which are covered by your German health insurance and therefore free of cost for you. Make sure to find a general medical practitioner (family doctor) as soon as you arrive in Germany and make an appointment with them to discuss which vaccines you need. The last thing you want to happen to you is to get severly ill while you are in a foreign country and don’t know anybody who can support you. Luckily, this is easy to avoid if you take care of getting all required vaccines. The same applies to your spouse and children if you came to Germany with a family.

The website and phone hotline “Make it in Germany” by the German government gives you general information about the different options to work in Germany and their respective requirements.

Mr. Michael Hümmer from the German Employment Agency offers regular in-person consultation hours at our Faculty of Engineering. You can make an appointment with him via email.

Our FAU Career Service offers useful workshops and events regarding topics such as job opportunities, presenting youself well during job interviews etc. In addition, they review your application documents and give you helpful tips on how to improve them.

It is highly recommendend to make use of these resources at the beginning of your studies, as it gives you time to acquire crucial skills your application profile might be lacking. Don’t wait until the end of your studies to inform yourself!

In contrast to seminars and lab courses, attendance in lectures is not mandatory. You will find that most of your lecturers provide you with materials via our online platform StudOn, thus making it possible for you to revise the content at home. For many lectures, you will find recent or older recordings on our video platform www.fau.tv

Despite these resources, it is strongly recommended that you attend lectures in person! Many scientific studies have shown that students who attend lectures in the lecture hall have a higher chance of passing their exams and obtaining their degree. Here you can find scientifically proven tips on how to use lectures and lecture recordings to your benefit.

Knowing the general community rules for living with other students in a dorm or shared apartment is crucial for your stay in Germany. Not only will it help you keep your accommodation and avoid you costly repairs, fines etc. – it will also ensure a harmonious community life. Please find a comprehensive brochure in different languages here.

The regular recommended workload per semester is 30 ECTS points, as our master’s program consists of 120 ECTS points and the regular duration of studies is 4 semesters. You can find the recommended distribution of credits per term in the module catalog (see “Information for current students”). However, you don’t have to stick to the exact same study plan, you are free to make your own choices and take less or more modules/credits per semester.

From the university’s perspective, there is no minimum amount of credits that you have to acquire per semester and nobody will check on how many courses you are taking. All master’s students have the guarantee that the general duration of studies will be extended to a 6th semester if  they need it. The extension to the 6th semester can be achieved simply by re-registering for the respective semester by transferring the semester fee during re-registration week (i.e. first week of July or first week of February).

Please note two important aspects, however:

1. If you need a 7th, 8th or even more semesters for your studies you have to file an application with our examinations office before the start of the respective semester and give justified reasons for it. In addition to that, you will also have to prove that you had a “regular” study progression so far, meaning that there is a realistic chance that you will be able to finish your studies soon.
2. If you are in Germany on a study visa the immigration authorities will regularly ask you to submit a document issued by the university in which your regular study progression is confirmed. You can generate this document yourself in your Campo account – provided that you acquire on average at least 20 ECTS per semester. If you are unable to generate this document because you don’t fulfil said requirement, you have to contact our Student Records Office and give justified reasons why you cannot prove a regular study progression. It will then be evalutated whether you will receive the confirmation or not.
   

Conclusion: Although the university itself does not obligate you to obtain a certain amount of credits per semester, it is highly recommended – especially for Non-EU students – to acquire between 20 and 30 ECTS per term.

Especially during your first semester, when you are still getting used to your new university and study program, it can make sense to take rather 20 than 30 credits.  If you feel you need a lot of time to study for some of your courses it can also be a good idea to accompany those courses with less time-consuming options, such as a softskills course for “M8/Free Choice Uni” or medical modules from module group M1.

VHB stands for “Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern” (Virtual University of Bavaria), an online study platform that FAU students can use without any costs. Please click in the top right corner of the VHB page for the English version. You have to register once (please select “Gesundheitstechnik” as your study program/”Studienfach”) and get access to several online courses, some of which are available in English. Exams are mostly taken online, sometimes on-site examinations are offered at different universities in Bavaria. The use of VHB courses is mainly recommended for your personal gain, i.e. to learn German or to improve your skills in certain areas (e.g. C++ programming).

Please note: VHB-exams which are taken online at your home computer (without video supervision by an examiner) cannot be accredited for our Medical Engineering program!

If you take an on-site exam for a VHB course, you might be able to use it for your module group M8/Free Choice Uni. Please consult with your study advisor beforehand in this case.

Yes, the FAU language center offers free German courses during the semester and intensive courses (with a fee) during the holidays. Please check the German department’s website for more information. You can use all language courses offered by our language center for the “Free Choice Uni” module (M8 from FPO 2018 onwards) if you wish to.

You can also take free German language courses  and courses on German culture via the virtual learning platform VHB (www.vhb.org – please register with the study program “Gesundheitstechnik”). Please note, though, that you cannot use these course for your Master’s studies.

If you prefer learning German in an informal atmosphere and making new friends at the same time, you should consider registering for an online language exchange platform such as tandem.net or apply to be matched with a real-life tandem partner by our FAU tandem partner service.

No, you stay registered as a student for the entire semester in which you have completed your last achievement. This means that you keep your student status until the end of the semester (30th of September or 31st of March respectively), hence you can continue to work as a student assistant/working student and continue to live in a students residence until that date. This also applies if you have already received your Bachelor´s or Master´s certificate. If you wish for an early de-registration (e.g. for job purposes), please contact our Student Records Office.

All master’s students are granted 6 semesters (if you can prove a regular study progress and re-register in time by transferring the semester fee). After that, you can only get a 7th or 8th master’s semester (and beyond) by applying for it at our Examinations Office (please find the respective form here and submit it in due time before your 7th, 8th etc. semester starts). In order to get the extension, you have to give justified reasons for it (e.g. master’s thesis already registered, but not finished yet; severe illness etc.).

Please note that the extension to a 7th semester and beyond will only be given if you can prove a regular study progress (i.e. you took and passed a reasonable amount of exams and were not close to or completely inactive) and there is a realistic chance that you will be able to finish your studies soon if given the extension.

Please note that SS 20, WS 20/21, SS 21 and WS 21/22 were so-called “covid semesters” and count as zero with regard to your official duration of studies.

You need to submit your bachelor’s certificate to our Student Records Office (not your study coordinator). Only if you submit your bachelor’s certficate in time (i.e. until the end of your second semester at the very latest), you can be re-registerd for your third semester.

A leave from studies is a semester in which you stay an enrolled student (i.e. you re-register and pay the semester fee) but which doesn’t count as a regular semester (i.e. it counts as zero). It can/should be taken if you cannot study in a regular fashion in a given semester because:

• you are seriously ill for a prolonged period of time and a medical doctor in Germany (not a psychologist!) certifies that you will be unfit to study for the whole semester
• you are pregnant or on parental leave
• you are doing a voluntary internship at a company which covers at least 7 weeks of the lecture period
• you are studying abroad in the framework of an exchange program
• you provide care for a sick family member who resides with you in Germany and can provide proof of the same.

You cannot get a leave from studies because

• you want to visit your family in your home country
• you need more time to work in order to finance your life in Germany
• you are overwhelmed with your studies and need a time buffer to finish them
• you want to extend your study visa.

Please note that you are not allowed to register any  first attempts for exams while you are on a leave from studies. You cannot register or submit your master’s thesis or give the thesis presentation either. You are allowed to take repeat exams, however.

In order to take a leave from studies, you need to re-register for the upcoming semester (in the first week of July or in the first week of February) and submit the respective form together with the relevant certificates to our Students Records Office before the lecture period of the new semester starts. Only exception: If the reason for the leave (severe illness, pregnany, care for a sick family member) occurs afte the lecture period has already begun, you can still apply for the leave from studies until two months after the beginning of the lecture period. You cannot take a leave from studies after this deadline or for semesters that have already passed.

The official legal guidelines for the leave from studies can be found here (in English).

Six semesters are granted for the master’s program, provided that you do not fail any exam in your last (= 4th) attempt. If you cannot finish your studies in 6 semesters max., you have to apply for an extension of studies.

You can only apply for an extension for the next upcoming semester (extensions beyond the susequent semester are not possible). In order to apply for an extension for the next semester, you must submit the application form for an extension of studies to Mrs. Helga Jahreis of our Examinations Office, ideally mid-semester of the current semester (by the end of December for an extension for the summer semester and by the end of  May for an extension for the winter semester). The decision is made by the examinations commission of the Faculty of Engineering and will be communicated to you as soon as possible.

Yes, definitely, there is no ECTS credit limit for taking additional modules and/or additional exams. If you don’t communicate another preference at the end of your studies, our Examinations Office will automatically account the modules with the best grades for your master’s degree. The other modules and grades will only be listed in your Transcript of Records, but not in the Master’s certificate.

You may also use the modules you take additionally in other module groups, according to the rule for switching modules that is explained at the bottom of your module catalog – or in the module groups M7 (Felixible Budget Faculty of Engineering) and M8 (Free Choice Uni).

It is also ok if the modules you want to use to complete a certain module group exceed the ECTS requirement for the respective group. E.g. it is no problem if you use a 5 ECTS module and a 7,5 ECTS module to complete module group M7 (which only has an ECTS requirement of 10 ECTS). Please note, however, that in this case 2,5 ECTS of the module with the worse grade of the two will be lost. You cannot split up modules and use the remaining ECTS elsewhere.

Yes, but only some of them – according to the following rules:

• For module M3 you can use a module/modules worth max. 5 ECTS points in total from the module groups M2 and M5 of your own specialization or from M2, M3 and M5 of the other specializations of our Medical Engineering program (i.e. “Medical Image and Data Processing” or “Medical Robotics” or “Health & Medical Data Analytics and Entrepreneurship” or “Medizinelektronik” or “Medizinische Produktionstechnik, Gerätetechnik und Prothetik”). The specializations with German names are generally taught in German, but you might find some English-taught modules in their course catalogs,.
• For module M5 you can use a module/modules worth max. 5 ECTS points in total from the module groups M2 and M3 of your own specialization or from M2, M3 and M5 of the other specializations of our Medical Engineering program (i.e. “Medical Image and Data Processing” or “Medical Robotics” or “Health & Medical Data Analytics and Entrepreneurship” or “Medizinelektronik” or “Medizinische Produktionstechnik, Gerätetechnik und Prothetik”). The specializations with German names are generally taught in German, but you might find some English-taught modules in their course catalogs.

Other modules which are not in alignment with the above rules, cannot be used for your module groups M3 or M5.

You can ask Mrs. Jahreis (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de to move your modules to another module group until the very end of your studies, before your final degree documents are issued.

For this module group (10 ECTS), you can generally take any graded course offered by our Faculty of Engineering which is offered as a mandatory subject or “compulsory elective” in a Master’s program of our Faculty of Engineering. You can find out which faculty and study programs a certain course belongs to by consulting our online course platform Campo.

Please search for your desired course under “studies offered” – “search for courses”.

1. Under “parallel groups/dates” you can find the lecturer of the course. Please click on their name in order to find out about their affiliation with a chair/lab. By clicking on the arrow next to their name, you can see the department structure which the chair/lab belongs to. If you want to use the course in M7, your lecturer has to be a member of a lab/chair that is part of the Faculty of Engineering.
2. Please click on the “basic data” section of the course. Here, you can find out if the course is part of the curriculum of at least one Master’s program of the Faculty of Engineering (“TechFak”). If this is the case, the cours is suitable for M7.
3.  The course has to be graded.

In addition to the above-mentioned engineering modules, you can also use a defined set of modules from the field of economics, which are listed in your module catalog for M7.

Exception for HMDA students:  If you are studying in the specialization “Health & Medical Data Analytics and Entrepreneurship” (HMDA), you can only choose your modules for M7 from the list you can find in your module catalog for module group M7. This is due to the fact that for HMDA students, all M7 modules have to be related to economics, innovation or entrepreneurship.

IMPORTANT: Former conditional subjects (“Engineering Mathematics”, “Probability and Stochastic Processes”, “Algorithms, Programming and Data Representation”, “Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering”) cannot be used in M7, as they are considered courses on Bachelor’s level, the contents of which are prerequisites to start our master’s program.

If the module description in Campo states explicitly that the module cannot be used for M7, this statement applies.

If you are unsure about whether a certain module falls into these categories please contact your study advisor.

Yes. All lectures can be complemented by additional exercises and practical courses offered by the same lecturer to accompany the respective course. This way, you can increase their ECTS value of the grade that you obtain by taking the respective exam.

The Examinations Office automatically selects the best achievements from the module group while issuing the BA or MA certificates. The remaining achievements will not count towards your grade average. If you want to decide for yourself which subjects should be counted for your Bachelor’s/Master’s degree, please contact the Examinations Office in due course before your final certificate is issued. The remaining achievements will not be listed in the certificate but in the transcript of records under the category “Zusatzleistungen” (additional achievements).

For this module, you can take any graded technical or non-technical course offered at any faculty of FAU. Please make sure that you receive a grade in that course. Just browse through our online course platform Campo and see which courses look interesting to you. You can also use courses offered by the Virtual University Bavaria (VHB), provided that they offer an exam with identity control (= exam under supervision, either on-site or remotely via zoom/camera) or a written paper.

Possible courses include but are not limited to: economics, language courses, psychology, literature, history, any module of our Faculty of Engineering or the Medical Engineering degree program itself or your conditional subjects. In case you don’t feel inspired we can recommend “Nailing your Thesis” (by Prof. Dirk Riehle), as it is a good preparation for your Master’s thesis.

If you were admitted with conditional subjects you can also use your conditional subjects in module group M8.

You can also take more modules and exams for M8 and thus acquire more ECTS credits than the required amount of ECTS points for M8 (5 ECTS). If you complete more exams than needed and do not state any preference at the Examinations Office, it will select the best possible grades when issuing your Master’s certificate.

If you take classes outside of our Facutly of Engineering, it is possible that the exam registration cannot be conducted via the Campo portal. In this case, please contact the lecturer or Mrs. Jahreis of our Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de) and ask them to register your exam manually.

Yes, if you are satisfied with the grade you achieved in your conditional subjects you can use them for your module group “Free Choice Uni/M8” (according to Study Regulation/FPO 2018 and 2019). You cannot use them for any other group, as these other groups have to consist of Master’s level content, which the conditional subjects are not – by definition.

In order to have your conditional subject moved to the “Free Choice Uni/M8” section of your Campo account, just send an email to Mrs. Jahreis of our Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de) and ask her to do so.

This answer might be very surprising for those of you who come from different academic system, but here at FAU you usually don’t need to register in order to be able to participate in a course (this applies to lectures, which make up the biggest part of our Master’s curriculum, because they usually have an unlimited number of participants). You can use the first weeks of the lecture period to attend different lectures without making a commitment to any of them. You can find out about the lectures that are offered in a certain semester as well as their time and place by reading the module catalog for your specialization and look up the respective courses in our online course platform Campo. You can just go and attend a lecture meeting one week and then continue to attend it if you like it or never attend it again. You neither need to inform your lecturer nor your study advisor of these decisions – they are completely up to you.

You only “commit” to a lecture to a certain degree when you register for its exam. The exam registration takes place a few weeks after the beginning of the lecture period, hence you have time to make up your mind. And even if you register for exams, you can still delete the registration until the end of the 3rd working day befiore the exam date, which means that you still have a lot of flexibility.

Only if you plan to attend a seminar (module group M4 in the Master’s program) or a practical course (module group M6 in the Master’s program), the rules are a little stricter. Since the number of participants for seminars and practical courses is limited, you have to pre-register for these courses (usually about a month before the lecture period starts). In order to find out about the modalities for registration (usually via our e-learning platform StudOn or via email to the lecturer in rare cases), please look up the course in our online course platform Campo and follow the instructions given there. Please note, however, that seminars and practical courses are only recommended for advanced students. You should only register for them if you have already acquired around 60 ECTS credits.

Please contact Mrs. Jahreis of our Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de). Your study advisor cannot make any changes in your module/grade overview in Campo. It is only possible to move modules to a certain module group if it is in compliance with the rules explained in your module catalog (see the footnotes there). You can have your modules moved until the very end of your studies, before your final degree documents are issued.

If you only render the ECTS points required for the module group, the individual module grades are weighed according to the average grade. The grade will be calculated not by rounding it, but only takes the first decimal into account.

Example: Flexible Budget of master degree program (M7 of FPO 2013, 10 ECTS points):

• Achievement of 5 ECTS points: grade 1.0
• Achievement of 2.5 ECTS points: grade 1.0
• Achievement of 2.5 ECTS points: grade 2.0
• Average grade: (5 x 1 + 2.5 x 1 + 2.5 x 2) : 10 = 1.25

–> The average grade of 1.2 weighs 10 ECTS points into your final Master grade. The calculation of the total Master grade is based on 110 ECTS points, because of module group M6 being ungraded.

If you render more than the ECTS points required for a module group, the Examinations Office will automatically select the best possible combination that fulfills the modules ECTS requirements when issuing the certificate. Additional modules will not be taken into account. Modules are always weighed by their full ECTS value. A proportional calculation of ECTS points is invalid according to the General Examination Regulations (ABMPO TechFak), even if the ECTS requirement has been met for the module group!

Example: Flexible Budget of master degree program (FPO 2013, 10 ECTS points):

• Achievement of 5 ECTS points: grade 2.0
• Achievement of 2.5 ECTS points: grade 1.0
• Achievement of 2.5 ECTS points: grade 1.0
• Achievement of 2.5 ECTS points: grade 1.0
• Average grade: (2.5 x 2 + 2.5 x 1 + 2.5 x 1 + 2.5 x 1) : 12.5 = 1.25

–> The average grade 1.2 will be accounted for the grade with 10 ECTS points. The calculation of the total grade is based on 110 ECTS points, because of module group M6 being ungraded.

If you have rendered more than the ECTS points required for the module group and do not wish for the automatic selection of the best possible combination, you can contact the Examinations Office before it issues the certificate and communicate which achievements should be considered for your Master’s certificate.

Sometimes a course achievement (for example for a seminar or a practical course) can not be processed via the Online Portal-Campo platform. In this case your lecturer will issue you a paper certificate stating your name, the course title, your grade and the ECTS value of the course. You have to take this certificate to Mrs. Jahreis at the examinations office in order to have her enter your course achievement in your Campo account.

No, if they are the last exams of your studies, you do not have to re-register. You can take those exams even if the dates are in the new semester. You can still see your grades in the Campo portal and even have the possibility to take the respective repeat exams in the subsequent semester if necessary.

When you learn that you failed your penultimate attempt, you should contact your study advisor as early as possible in order to be optimally prepared for the last attempt and to inform yourself about possible study alternatives.

It is important for you to understand that if you fail a last attempt in your current specialization of our master’s program in Medical Engineering, you will be de-registered from the program as a whole and will be blocked from entering our Medical Engineering program ever again. This is also true for our other specializations, meaning that if you failed in one specialization, you cannot change to another one (as they both belong to the same study program, which you are permanently blocked from).

If you fail our master’s program in Medical Engineering, you are still allowed to apply to all other master’s programs at FAU, however. Please be aware that in order to transfer to another master’s program at FAU, you need to formally apply for this alternative program via the Campo portal within the official application period and be granted admission to this program. Therefore, you MUST apply to other suitable English-taught master’s programs at FAU in the semester in which you have your last exam attempt. In addition to programs at FAU, you MUST also apply to programs at other German universities in order to broaden your chances. Please inform yourself early on about the application deadlines! Public universities tend to have earlier deadlines. Private universities (e.g. in Fürth) might offer you the chance to apply until shortly before the start of the new semester, but they charge high tuition fees. If you get admission to the alternative study program, you have a backup plan for the following semester if you cannot continue your studies in the Medical Engineering program. You have to inform the immigration office when you change your study program. Please note, however, that the immigration authorities will usually only allow you to change your study program once.

If you feel unable to take the last exam attempt on the examination day, you must withdraw from it before it takes place by submitting a medical certificate to the Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de). If you suddenly feel ill during the exam, you have to inform your exam supervisor immediately, leave the exam and directly go to an officially recognized doctor (Vertrauenssarzt). After you have finished the exam, it is generally not possible to declare it invalid  retroactively (for example due to illness or personal crisis).

If you have failed your exam in the last attempt, this means that you will lose your enrollment status in our program by the end of the semester. If you don’t have admission for another program you can transfer to, you won’t be an enrolled student anymore and subsequently lose your student status. If you are in Germany on a study visa this visa becomes invalid, meaning that you become “illegal” and may have to leave Germany and the Schengen area immediately. PLEASE TAKE THIS MATTER VERY SERIOUSLY! You must inform your local immigration authority as soon as you learn that you will lose your student status. Your responsible immigration officer will inform you of your next steps. If you have a student job, you will also lose it from the moment you are not an enrolled student anymore. The same applies if you live in a student residence/student dorm. Please make sure to inform the responsible officers in due time in order to avoid legal problems.

What else can you do?

If you have a bachelor’s degree with good to very good grades,  at least intermediate German skills (B1/B2) and are motivated and open to other options, you can try to find a STEM job in Germany and apply for a conversion of your study visa to a work visa. If this is a viable path for you, please seek advice from our officer of the German Employment Agency, Mr. Hümmer (michael.huemmer[at]arbeitsagentur.de) as soon as possible.

Yes, even if you have already obtained the required 120 ECTS points for the master’s degree, you have the possibility to take additional modules and exams in order to improve your overall grade (as long as you stay within the study period of six semesters, which is granted to all master’s students).

Please contact Ms. Jahreis of our Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de) when your 120 ECTS are complete and let her know that you would like to take more exams in the current semester and therefore don’t want her to issue your degree certificate yet. It is no problem if the exams you want to take take place in the second examination period, i.e. if the exam dates lie in the subsequent semester. You are still allowed to take them without having to re-register for the subsequent semester.

If you want to extend your studies by another semester to take additional exams (and will stay within the 6 semester limit), you can do so so by re-registering and informing Mrs. Jahreis of your plans.

After you have completed your additional exams, please inform Mrs. Jahreis that you would like her to issue your degree certificates now and let her know which exams you want to use for your master’s degree and which ones should only be listed in the “Additional Achievements” section of your transcript of records (i.e. without counting towards your degree).

In case you failed some of the addional exams, you can ask Mrs. Jahreis to deactivate them. (This is only possible since you already have acquired the necessary 120 ECTS in this scenario).

First of all, exam registration is only possible during exam registration period (usually three weeks in the middle of the lecture period – you will be informed by your lecturers and your study advisor). For most of your exams you will be able to register online via our Campo platform. However, there are some exceptions:

• For courses offered at VHB (Virtual University of Bavaria) by lecturers who are not members of FAU, you cannot register via the Campo platform. Please read the course information on the VHB website (it’s mostly in German – please use google translate or ask a German-speaking friend). It will tell you whether you have to register online via the VHB website, via email with your lecturer or in a different way.
• For most courses outside the Medical Engineering curriculum, you won’t be able to register via the “study planner with module plan” in Campo. This will mostly be the case for courses which you want to take within the module groups “Flexible Budget Faculty of Engineering”/M7 and “Free Choice Uni/M8”. In order to register for these exams, you have to select “Register for electives” in Campo and use the search function. This works best if you search for the exam title or the exam number:

• • Option 1: Search for the exam title, which is in most cases identical or very close to the title of your module/course.
  • Option 2: Ask your lecturer in the next lecture session or in the StudOn forum to give you the exam number. Please avoid asking your lecturers for the exam number via email in order to save them from being bombarded with emails!
  • If you cannot find your desired exam via option 1 or 2: Please contact your study advisor.

• There are some courses which are part of the Medical Engineering module catalogs but don’t appear in the Campo exam registration. This is mainly the case for seminars and practical courses. Please ask your lecturer how you can register for those achievements. If you have to register with them personally (i.e. not via the Campo system), they will issue you a paper certificate (“Schein”) after the successful completion of the module, which states your name, the course title, the amount of ECTS credits and your grade. Please send this certificate to Mrs. Jahreis of our Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de) in order to have your coursework registered in the Campo system.

All modules that are required to fulfill the ECTS requirements of a module group are included in the average grade for this module group, weighted according to their ECTS value. In doing so, the calculated grade value is not rounded up, but truncated after the first decimal place:

Example: module group M5 in the Master’s program (10 ECTS):

• Performance with 5 ECTS: grade 1.0
• Performance with 7.5 ECTS: grade 2.3

Average grade: (5 x 1 + 7.5 x 2.3) : 12.5 = 1.78

The average grade of 1.7 is included in the Master’s examination with 10 ECTS. The calculation of the master’s examination grade is based on 110 ECTS, since module group M6 is ungraded.

If you acquire more than the ECTS required for a module group, the examination office automatically selects the modules with the best grades necessary to fulfill the ECTS requirement of the module group when issuing the certificate. Additional modules are not included in the calculation.

If you have taken more than the required ECTS points in a module group and do not want the modules with the best grades in each case to be automatically credited, you can inform the Examinations Office before your certificate is issued which achievements should be included in your Bachelor’s or Master’s examination.

From the calculated overall grade of the Bachelor’s or Master’s examination, the second decimal place is truncated (i.e. not rounded), e.g. 2.35 becomes 2.3.

This decision is up to you!

If you don’t communicate any preference to our Examinations Office, the modules with the best grades will be used by default to be counted for your degree and to calculate your final Master’s grade. The remaining modules will not be listed in your Master’s degree certificate, but in your transcript of records in the section “Additional achievements”. You can even move the modules which are marked as mandatory in your catalog to the section “Additional achievements” if desired.

If you have other preferences and want to have a certain module with a not so good grade, but which you find important,  listed in your Master’s cerificate, please inform Mrs. Jahreis of out Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de). You can make the decision until the end of your studies but you have to notify Mrs. Jahreis before your final degree documents are issued.

Achievements from previous studies and studies abroad can only be accredited towards the Medical Engineering program if they have been evaluated positively by your accreditation officer for Medical Engineering.

In order to apply for accreditation of previously acquired credits and grades, please read the information on accreditation carefully and follow the process described here: https://www.medical-engineering.study.fau.eu/current-students/recognition-of-academic-achievements/

As explained in the footnotes in your module catalog, you can interchange some modules between the other specializations (which you have not chosen) and your own:

You can use a modul/modules with max. 5 ECTS from M2, M3 or M5 of the other specializations or from M2 or M5 of your own specialization for your module group M3 and another modul/modules with max. 5 ECTS from M2, M3 or M5 of the other specializations or from M2 or M3 of your own specialization for your module group M5. In total, this means that you can use 10 ECTS of those “external” modules, namely a module/modules worth 5 ECTS in your module group M3 and (an)other module/modules worth 5 ECTS in your module group M5.

Please note that only complete 2,5 ECTS and 5 ECTS modules can be used for this purpose, as modules cannot be split up (i.e. a 5 ECTS module cannot be divided into two 2,5 ECTS modules). It is not possible to only use parts of a module with a higher amount of ECTS, either (i.e. a module worth 7,5 ECTS cannot be downgraded to or split up into a 5 ECTS module for his purpose).

If you want to take exams from the other specializations you cannot register for them as part of the “tree structure” for your specialization in Campo. Please register for the exams in Campo as “electives”, i.e. register them as part of your module group M8/Free Choice Uni or “additional achievements”. After you have passed the exams you have time until the very end of your studies to ask Mrs. Jahreis (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de) our Examinations Offices to move them to your desired module group.

Prof. Andreas Maier has published a very useful video which explains the elements of a good scientific presentation. Please find it here.

No. The grade that you receive when you have passed an exam (and the date for the exam inspection has passed – regardless of whether you have attended the exam inspection or not) is definitive. Passed exams cannot be repeated.

Many (international) students are surprised or even shocked when they receive their first exam results. If you received several grades between 3,0 and 4,0 it means that you are struggling with your studies. It is not uncommon for students who join a completely foreign academic system to find out that their lecturers’ expectations and exam design differs extremely from what they are used to. If this “shock” has happened to you once, it is time to adapt your strategies for studying and exam preparation:

• Go to the exam inspections of all of your exams and find out where you made mistakes and what you can improve in the future. Ask the tutors of the exam inspection any question you might have.
• Make it a habit to attend all of your courses physically and regularly. If you need to work a lot alongside your studies and have trouble attending your courses physically, choose fewer courses (15 – 20 ECTS) that do not clash with your work schedule and invest your full energy into those courses.
• Start preparing your courses from the first week of the lecture period on. Prepare each course session by looking up the material that is available in StudOn and writing down questions. Attend the physical lecture and ask your questions there. It is important to know that our lecturers love it when their students engage in class and ask questions (if this is different in your home country, adapt this new mindset of “asking questions is showing interest and respect for your lecturer’s work”). Sit down after every course session and revise the contents. If you are still unsure about some topics, look them up online or get additional literature from the library. You can also ask your lecturer for recommended literature. Always attend the last course session of the lecture period, as your lecturers will sum up the course content and oftentimes will give you hints regarding the exam.
• If your lectures are accompanied by additional exercises and/or tutorials, attend them regularly and use this time to clear your doubts. The tutors are literally being paid for helping you with your questions.
• Observe the other students in your lecture and find out who seems to have a good understanding of the topic. Approach those students after class and suggest to form a study group. Important: You cannot be passive and expect your study buddies to be your teachers, you have to do your part, too. But studying in a group can help you to stay motivated and to compare your learning progress with others. Go through the lecture slides on your own and meet up weekly or bi-weekly with your study group to work through old exams, which you can get from the study association for Medical Engineering (FSI MedTech). Increase your study sessions as the exam date approaches.
• Make a time schedule for your exam preparation. For example, you can plan to study from Monday to Friday for 6 hours each day, but rest on the weekend. Use your online calendar and mark in advance on which day you are going to study for which exam for which amount of time. Develop a strategy to prepare for several exams in parallel. It can help to study for one exam in the morning and for the other one in the afternoon or to study in the library for one exam and at home for the other etc. Map out how many topics/lecture slides you need to revise for each exam and estimate the time you will need to complete each task. Start studying early! As a rule of thumb, you should start at least 8 -12 weeks before the exam dates. Organize your study time in chunks – the pomodoro technique has proven to be very helpful for many students and can also be facilitated via several online tools. Be consistent but also plan in time for breaks and unforeseeable events such as illness etc. When in doubt, rather plan in more time so that you can stay ahead of your schedule and don’t experience time pressure.
• Talk to fellow students who have already passed the exam you are studying for. Ask them about their experience, how they prepared for the exam and how much time in advance they started studying.
• If you feel stressed or anxious and these feelings are keeping you from studying, make an appointment with our psychologists early on. The earlier you tackle this problem, the more successful you will be in your studies.

If you have adapted your exam preparation strategies according to the above tips but your grades are not improving and you feel that your studies are torturing you, start thinking about an exit strategy:

• With a grade average between 3,0 and 4,0 you will have a hard time finding a supervisor for a master’s thesis as well as applying for a job in Germany. If you are planning to return to your home country after your studies anyway and believe that your grade average will be considered acceptable on your local job market, you can take the risk and continue your studies. It might still make sense to look into the options outlined below.
• Start looking for English-taught master’s programs at German Universities for Applied Sciences. They are less theory-based and teach with a more hands-on approach. Therefore, our FAU students usually find that they receive better grades when they transfer to a University of Applied Sciences. You can find an overview of all German Universities of Applied Sciences and their study programs in this database. Study programs at Universities for Applied Sciences are often more structured and students are usually guided more by their professors regarding their course selection, their final thesis etc. If you feel our study system at FAU is too free for you, a University for Applied Sciences might be better suited for you.
• If your main goal is to work in Germany you need to develop a plan of action:
  • Take German classes every lecture period (for free) and in every lecture-free period (with a fee) to improve your Germans skills. Make it your top priority to learn German fast. Being an enrolled student at FAU is the last time you will get German courses for free or at a low fee. Your German skills are going to be one of the crucial criteria for your job hunt.
  • Improve your programming skills in C/C++, Java, Python and Matlab as much as you can. Take any course you can find at FAU and VHB to improve your skills in this area.
  • Consult with our officer of the German Employment Agency (michael.huemmer[at]arbeitsagentur.de) about your chances to enter the German job market. Use your remaining study time to acquire the necessary skills and qualifications. With the help of Mr. Hümmer’s advice, apply for jobs based on your bachelor’s degree, German skills and solidified programming skills. It might not be necessary for you to finish your master’s degree in order to find a well-paid job in the STEM area.
  • Consult with Mr. Hümmer about options to join an apprenticeship program at one of our local global players (Siemens, adidas, DATEV etc.). The German apprenticeship system is highly renowned worldwide and offers you attractive career options. To start an apprenticeship in Germany, usually German skills on B2 level are required.
• If you are having a hard time taking a decision about your academic and professional future, our psychologists are here to support you.

If you use unauthorized aids in an examination, copy from fellow students or communicate with them, the examination will be graded with a 5.0 and the case of cheating will be reported to our Examinations Office. The same applies to plagiarism and missing or incorrect citations in seminar papers and the master’s thesis.

If several attempts at cheating are reported to our Examinations Office, you will be de-registered from the study program.

If you have failed an examination in the compulsory elective area (=all module groups in the master’s program with the exception of the compulsory modules, see footnotes in your module catalog), you have two options:

1. You can repeat the same examination in one of the following semesters. Please note that there is no automatic compulsory registration, but you must actively register yourself for the repeat exam in your desired semester via the Campo portal during the official exam registration period.
2. Alternatively, you can simply not register for the repeat examination and instead register for other examinations from the same module group.

In any case, you must fulfill the ECTS requirement for the module group by the end of your studies, e.g. you must have passed modules worth 10 ECTS or 20 ECTS from the respective module group.

In the elective area (Free Choice Uni/M8 and Flexible Budget Faculty of Engineering and Economics/M7), you can also either repeat your original examination or choose to register for a new examination permitted for this area.

In both cases, if you register for a new examination, the failed attempts of the old module will not be transferred. You therefore start each newly registered exam again with a first attempt.

First of all, it is important for you to understand that the exam system at FAU is probably very different from what you are used to from your home country. Hence, it is not recommended to approach the exams at FAU with your expectations and preparation strategies that you are used to, as they may lead you to failure and consequently, at lot of frustration.

On a positive note, you have a good chance at doing well in your exams if you are aware of the following:

• You will not be able to pass exams if you just memorize the lecture content and reproduce it in the exam. You can also not expect that the exam questions will cover exactly what has been taught in the lecture and exercises. The teaching philosophy at FAU is that you should understand the course contents on such a deep level that you are able to apply the acquired knowledge to new tasks, even if you have never seen those tasks before. The exam design and questions vary from semester to semester. If you have to take a repeat exam, it is not going to look the same as your previous exam.
• All exams can only be taken once per semester. They either take place in the first exam period (= first two weeks of the holidays) or in the second one (last four weeks of the holidays – the second exam period partly coincides with the beginning of the new semester). Exams will only be offered in one of those two periods. Please be aware that both examination periods can be slightly extended (regarding their start or end date), if there are public holidays within those periods or major time/room conflicts occur. It is therefore not recommeded to book flights/holiday trips etc. close to the exam periods.
• You have to register for exams via the Campo system. It is only open for registration for three weeks in the middle of the lecture period. Your lecturers and study advisor will let you know when the exam registration starts. Attending a lecture doesn’t mean that you have to take the corresponding exam or are automatically registered for it. You have to register for every exam you want to take otherwise you cannot participate!
• You generally have a maximum of four attempts for each exam (exception: you have only two attempts for the master’s thesis). If you fail an exam you can decide if and when you want to register for the repeat exam. For the few mandatory modules in your program (see footnotes in your module catalog), you have to pass the exam at some point during your studies, but you can decide if you want to take the repeat exam(s) in the following semester(s) or later. We strongly recommend that you register for your repeat exams in the semester following your failed attempt, as it is not guaranteed that the repeat exam will be offered for a prolonged period of time. You should avoid postponing exams and tendencies of procrastination, as you will self-sabotage your studies this way (please keep your duration of studies and your study visa in mind!). If you fail a non-mandatory exam, you can choose not to register for the repeat exam but to take another exam from the same module group instead. For this new module, you will start again with your first exam attempt.
• If you fail a fourth attempt for any exam, you are deregistered from our Medical Engineerig program and cannot return to it.
• If you have registered for an exam and don’t feel well-prepared you can undo your registration via your Campo account until the end of the third working day (Mon-Fri, public holidays don’t count) before the exam day. After that deadline, you can only cancel your registration with a medical certificate, which you have to send to our examinations officer Mrs. Jahreis (helga.jahreis[at)fau.de).
• If you have passed an exam you cannot repeat it in order to improve your grade. Failed exam attempts will not be listed in your final transcript of records or Master’s certificate. All passed exams will be listed in your transcript of records.
• The best grade in the German academic system is 1.0, the worst passing grade is 4.0:

• You can withdraw from any examination (regardless of whether it is a first attempt or a repeat examination) up to the end of the third working day (Monday-Friday, excluding public holidays) before the examination date. Within this period, you can withdraw from examinations via the Campo portal without giving any reasons. Withdrawal cancels your registration for the examination and you must register for the examination in the following semester if you wish to take it then.
• You can still withdraw shortly before each examination (after the deadline of three working days) if you have a valid reason. This reason could be illness, which must be confirmed by a medical certificate for the examination day(s). The medical certificate must include a description of your symptoms and a diagnosis (exact requirements for the certificate can be found here, but any medical certificate with symptoms and diagnosis is sufficient). A scan of the medical certificate and this form (“notification of illness”) must be sent immediately by e-mail to our Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de). Afterwards, the original certificate must also be submitted within 7 days (by post or in person). If you miss this deadline, the examination will be graded as “insufficient”.
• If you are unable to take part in an examination for other reasons for which you are not responsible (e.g. traffic jam, accident or strike in public transport), you must also inform the Examinations Office (helga.jahreis[at]fau.de) immediately, otherwise the examination will be graded as “unsatisfactory”. The reasons for the withdrawal must be credibly explained by e-mail to the Examinations Office (with supporting documents, photos etc.).
• If you are unable to submit your medical (or other) certificate before the examination or on the day of the examination, the Examinations Office may grant you a grace period of 7 days after the examination date at the latest to submit the missing document. Please note, however, that students are not entitled to this grace period.
• If you fall ill during an examination, you can and should leave the examination. In this case, you have to inform the exam supervisors and must consult an officially authorized medical doctor immediately after leaving the exam. An information sheet and a list of the officially authorized medical doctors can be found here.
• If you take the exam as normal, you confirm that you are healthy and can take the exam – you cannot subsequently apply for the cancelleation of your exam attempt (not even with a medical certificate).
• If you do not appear for an examination that you have registered for and do not submit a medical (or other) certificate to the Examination Office in good time, the examination will be counted as a failed attempt. This also applies if you have only informed your examiners (which would be polite in the case of a smaller course with few participants), but not the Examinations Office (which you must always inform).

The authority for foreigners or non-residents (Ausländerbehörde/Rathaus) often requires a document in order to ensure your current status as a student (“ein aktuelles Schreiben der Universität über das voraussichtliche Studienende” or “Bescheinigung zur Vorlage bei der Ausländerbehörde/Confirmation for submission to immigration authorities”) in order to extend your study visa. You can download this document with the title “Bescheinigung zur Vorlage bei der Ausländerbehörde/Confirmation for submission to immigration authorities”  in the section “My Studies” – “Transcripts” in Campo.

The confirmation refers to the “individual duration of study pursuant to certificate of enrollment”. This means that if you studied during the official “covid semesters” (SS 20, WS 20/21, SS 21 and WS 21/22), these semesters are mentioned as such in your certificate of enrollment and count as zero. You need to submit your certificate of enrollment together with the confirmation at the Immigrations Office. Hence, the officers there will deduct the covid semesters from your duration of studies.

The confirmation also refers to the “approved extension in accordance with the examination regulations”. This means that, from the university’s point of view, all master’s students can get 2 additional semesters after the regular duration of studies of 4 semesters (4+2 = 6 semesters) if needed. In principle, this extension by two semesters is guaranteed. However, if you are a Non-EU student with a residence permit for study purposes, it is important for you to understand that the question of whether you can make use of this study extension or not depends on whether you can prove to the immigrations office that you are studying actively and successfully and qualify for a visa extension.

If you cannot access the confirmation in Campo it is due to the fact that you did not acquire enough credits in relation to your duration of studies, meaning that you are not studying actively and succesfully (enough). If this is true for you, please contact our General Study Advisory Service and ask for an individual letter.

This is a serious issue! Please note that the deadline for submitting your original bachelor’s certificate (1 year after the beginning of your master’s studies) cannot be extended under any circumstances. This deadline is imposed on the university by the Bavarian law, which means that no person at FAU can change, adapt or overrule it.

If you fear that you might not be able to submit your original degree certificate in time, it is crucial that you apply for several other English-taught master’s programs at FAU as well as for English-taught master’s programs at other German universities so that you have a backup plan. Your residence permit for study purposes is tied to your student status. Hence, if you lose your enrollment status in our Medical Engineering program due to your missing certificate, you will also lose your visa and become “illegal”. This means that you have to leave Germany and the Schengen area immediately.

You can find an overview of all English-taught programs at FAU here. This database contains all study programs taught at all German universities.

Please pay close attention to the application deadlines! You will not be able to apply for another study program last minute. Therefore, it is of great importance that you start doing your research of suitable alternative programs at the beginning of your second semester, even if you still have some hope that you might receive your degree certificate in time. It is better to be safe than sorry!

It is important for you to understand that if your residence permit is for study purposes, it is in most cases tied to your enrollment in a specific study program in Germany (please check the permit in your passport for the respective information). This means that you are only allowed to stay in Germany as long as you are an enrolled student in your study program. Your visa shows a specific period of validity, but regardless of this, it will automatically lose its validity when you lose your enrollment. If you fail an exam for the last time, you will lose enrollment in the following semester and consequently lose your visa status on the first day on which you are not enrolled anymore (i.e. 1st of October or 1st of April of the following semester). If you don’t have a valid visa anymore you become “illegal”, meaning you have to leave Germany and the Schengen area and return to your home country.

Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to you to keep your student status at all times. 

Please be aware that in order to transfer to another master’s program at FAU, you need to formally apply for this alternative program via the Campo portal within the official application period and be granted admission to this program. Therefore, you MUST apply to other suitable English-taught master’s programs at FAU in the semester in which you have your last exam attempt. In addition to programs at FAU, you MUST also apply to programs at other German universities in order to broaden your chances. Please inform yourself early on about the application deadlines! Public universities tend to have earlier deadlines. Private universities (e.g. in Fürth) might offer you the chance to apply until shortly before the start of the new semester, but they charge high tuition fees. If you get admission to the alternative study program, you have a backup plan for the following semester if you cannot continue your studies in the Medical Engineering program.

You have to inform the immigration office when you change your study program. Please note, however, that the immigration authorities will usually only allow you to change your study program once.

Please take this matter very seriously or else you will get into serious trouble with the immigration authorities.

You stay an enrolled student until the end of the semester in which you graduate. Hence, your residence permit for study purposes also stays valid until the end of the semster in which you graduate. If you want to stay in Germany after graduation, you need to apply for a job-seeking visa (duration: 18 months) in due time before you graduate!

We grant you the possibility for late arrival until May 15 for the summer semester and November 15 for the winter semester. If you are unable to travel to Erlangen until this deadline, you cannot join our program in the respective semester anymore. In this case, you must deregister from the semester you are currently enrolled in (please find the deregistration form on the website of our Student Records Office). If you deregister until May 15/November 15 the semester will not count towards your studies. However, you will not receive your semester fee back.

After you have de-registered from our program you can re-apply to our master’s program for the following semester. In order to do so, you must apply within the official deadline, submit all required documents again and, aditionally, upload your previous admission letter. Once you are done, please send an email to zimt-qfv[at]fau.de and inform our officers of your re-application to accelerate the process.

If you received your first admission letter in winter semester 23/24 or later, we will admit you again – without you having to retake the digital admission test.

You will stay an enrolled student of our Medical Engineering program until the end of the semester in which you graduate, but you cannot extend your enrollment beyond that deadline.

Since your residence permit for study purposes expires at the end of the semester in which you graduate, you need to apply for a job seeker visa in due time in order to be able to stay in Germany after that. The job seeker visa is valid for 18 months, starting from your graduation date. Please inform yourself about this option at your responsible immigrations office in time.

If you want to enroll in another English-taught master’s program at FAU in the subsequent semester after your graduation you need to officially apply for this program and receive admission for it. In addition, you must obtain the permission by the immigration authorities to start another study program (even if you plan is not to finish it and just to buy some time this way, e.g. to take German courses or look for a job).

Graduates of German universities can apply for a job seeker visa of 18 months and use this time to find employment in Germany. Please find further information here: https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/visa-residence/types/job-search-opportunity-card

If you still need to communicate to Ms. Jahreis from the Examinations Office which modules you want to use in which module group, please contact her by email or in person and let her know your desired assignments of modules  (of course always in accordance with the rules for the inclusion or exchange of modules in certain module groups).

To initiate the issue of your final documents, please fill out the form for the issuing of graduation documents linked here and send it to Ms. Jahreis by email.

If you would like to attend the next graduation ceremony of our Faculty of Engineering, please register here.