At the start of the 2020/21 winter semester, the Institute of Philosophy switched to organising, registering for and submitting marks for examinations online. On this page, you will find all the key information about the process. We will first explain the basic principles. This is followed by some frequently asked questions about the process and about the organisation of examinations at the Institute of Philosophy in general.

General Procedure

At the start of the semester, students enrol in the courses within the module they wish to take and obtain the cumulative course result sheet for the relevant module. This can be found on the page Module Registration Form . Depending on the module, the student collects the signatures for the required coursework and attendance from the lecturers of the courses attended during or by the end of the semester. Information on what is required to complete the respective module can be found on the relevant cumulative course result sheet. A module is only considered completed once the relevant cumulative course result sheet has been fully completed; that is, it must contain the signatures for all courses and – in the case of a portfolio – all assessment components must be entered and signed off by the lecturers. However, the following must be noted when registering for a module examination:

It is only possible to sit a module examination if you have registered for it. Students must therefore register for the examination before sitting the examination (seminar paper, presentation or oral examination) or the first part of the examination (in the case of the portfolio). This also applies if part of the examination is taken in a later semester. The only exception is the phi250 (see below).

The registration procedures for the examinations for each module are explained individually below.

Bachelor’s modules

• phi101: Register for the examination with the lecturer of the seminar you are attending.
• phi110 and phi120: Register for the examination with the lecturer of one of the two seminars taken for the module. If the module is studied over several semesters, registration must be made with the lecturer for whom the first part of the examination is taken. (It is not possible or necessary to register for the examination with the tutor.)
• phi111 and phi121: Register for the examination with the lecturer of the seminar associated with the module. (It is not possible nor necessary to register for the examination with the tutor.)
• phi130: Register for the examination (written exam) with the lecturer who teaches the lecture for module phi130.
• phi210, phi220, phi230 and phi240: Register for the examination with the lecturer with whom the examination (seminar paper, presentation with written report or oral examination) is to be taken.
• phi250: Register for the examination with the lecturer for whom the major graded portfolio component is to be completed, even if the minor ungraded components have been completed beforehand.
• phi260: Register for the examination with the lecturer who is delivering the lecture.
• phi270: Register for the examination with the lecturer for whom the examination component (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination) or the larger part of the portfolio is to be completed. If the portfolio components are spread over several semesters, registration for the examination must be made with the lecturer for whom the first component is completed.
  Special feature of the phi270 module: As part of the phi270 specialisation module, students may put together their own programme of courses (in accordance with the guidelines in the subject-specific appendices) based on their interests (from the range of courses offered in modules phi210–phi240). However, care must be taken to ensure that no seminars are chosen which are already being studied as part of another module. It is not possible to receive credit for the same seminar in two modules.
  Once you have selected the two courses you wish to take as part of the phi270 module, please speak to the lecturer with whom you wish to sit the module examination at the start of the semester and inform them of your choice. This is absolutely essential so that the lecturer can activate the exam for this module. This does not happen automatically, as the allocation of the phi210–240 seminars to phi270 is carried out according to students’ needs in the respective semester.

Master’s modules

• phi210, phi220, phi230 and phi240: Register for the examination with the lecturer who will be marking the examination (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination).
• phi311, phi321 and phi331: Register for the examination with the lecturer under whose supervision the examination (seminar paper, presentation with written report or oral examination) is to be taken.
• phi340: Register for the examination with the lecturer with whom the examination component (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination) or the majority of the portfolio is to be completed. If the module is studied over several semesters, registration must be made with the lecturer with whom the first part of the portfolio is to be submitted.
• phi350, phi360, phi370: Register for the examination with the lecturer under whose supervision the examination component (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination) or the majority of the portfolio is to be completed. If the module is taken over several semesters, registration must be made with the lecturer to whom the first part of the portfolio is submitted. Registration with the other lecturer is then no longer required (nor is it technically possible).
• phi410: Register for the examination with the lecturer who leads the lecture accompanying the training module you are taking (Theoretical Philosophy, Logic and Studium Elementare: Prof. Dr Mark Siebel; Practical Philosophy: Prof. Dr Tilo Wesche).
• phi420: Register for the examination with the lecturer for whom you are taking the accompanying course for the practical module.
• phi430: Register for the examination with one of the two module coordinators.
• phi510, phi520, phi530, phi540: Register for the examination with the lecturer with whom the examination (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination) is to be taken.
• phi610: Register for the examination with the lecturer with whom you are undertaking the colloquium (i.e. the ungraded oral examination).

area of specialisation

• pb001, pb002, pb003: Register for the examination with the lecturer under whose supervision the examination (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination) is to be taken.
• pb010, pb011 and pb397: Register for the oral examination with the lecturer with whom you will sit the oral examination. Your tutor will inform you of the relevant lecturer. Please note: Modules pb010, pb011 and pb397 cannot be selected by students of the subject Philosophy/Values and Norms!
• pb022: Register for the examination with the lecturer who will be marking the examination (seminar paper, presentation with handout or oral examination).
• pb036: Lecture + Tutorial variant: Register for the written exam with the lecturer who teaches the lecture for module phi130. Please note: The VL+TU cannot be selected by students of the subject Philosophy/Values and Norms!); Option VL+SE: Register for the examination with the lecturer who is supervising the examination (seminar paper, presentation with supporting paper or oral examination).
• pb080 and pb081: Register for the examination with the lecturer with whom the examination component (seminar paper, presentation with written paper or oral examination) or the majority of the portfolio is to be completed. If the module is studied over several semesters, registration must be made with the lecturer with whom the first part of the portfolio is to be submitted.

Important information regarding the cumulative course result sheets and exam registration

The cumulative course result sheets serve as proof that all required work for a module has been completed. However, they do not constitute official examination documents. Rather, they are internal departmental documents. Therefore, please do not bring or send any cumulative course result sheets to the Examinations Office, as they cannot be accepted there.
As a rule, fully completed and signed cumulative course result sheets are either archived by the lecturers – who are the last to sign the sheet – or forwarded to the Philosophy Office, where they are then archived. Should you, however, receive your fully completed and signed cumulative course result sheet back from the lecturer, please take it to the Philosophy Office yourself. If the office is unstaffed at the time, you may also place the cumulative course result sheet in the office’s postbox. This is located in room V 03 1-M114 (top left). In this case, please attach a note to the cumulative course result sheet stating that it is to be archived.

You must always register for a module examination with just one lecturer! This applies even if the examination components (e.g. for a portfolio) are assessed by different lecturers.

Please note that your registration for the written exam is binding. If you do not wish to sit the written exam, please withdraw your registration in good time. If you fail to attend the written exam or the oral examination on the specified date, or fail to submit your written work by the deadline, this will result in you failing the written exam. Any exceptions to these rules must be agreed with the relevant lecturers in good time, i.e. before the submission deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions (Students)

1. How and where do I register for a module examination?

You must register for all examinations via Stud.IP. To do this, log in to Stud.IP using your login details and click on ‘Studium’ --> ‘Meine Credits’ at the top of the page. Then click on ‘Aktuelle Prüfungen’ on the left-hand side. You can use the filter settings on the left-hand side to find the relevant exam.

2. Under ‘General Procedure’, it says ‘Register for the exam with the lecturer...’ and under the first question, ‘You must register for all exams via Stud.IP.’ What does this mean?

These two pieces of information should not be understood as an ‘either… or’ situation; rather, both apply. From now on, students must therefore register with the relevant lecturer via Stud.IP. Registration via email or solely by submitting a cumulative course result sheet is no longer sufficient. In addition to any arrangements made, such as dates for presentations or oral examinations and/or the submission of cumulative course result sheets, you must therefore always also register for the examination via Stud.IP with the relevant lecturer.

3. I would like to register for an exam via Stud.IP, but I cannot find the lecturer and/or the module/type of examination. What could be the reason for this?

If you cannot find an exam on Stud.IP, there may be various reasons for this, e.g. the lecturer is not offering the exam or type of examination that semester, or the lecturer has not yet created the exams, or they have not yet been activated by the Examinations Office. If in doubt, please check with the lecturer for whose exam you wish to register first. If the lecturer informs you that everything is in order on their end (i.e. that the exams have been set up and activated), please contact the Examinations Office directly to resolve the issue.

4. I would like to register for an exam via Stud.IP and have found the exam listed by the relevant lecturer in the general overview of current exams on Stud.IP, but it is not displayed in my list of exams, so I cannot register. What should I do?

5. I would like to take my Master’s modules early. What do I need to do?

If you wish to take Master’s modules early, you must apply to the Examinations Office. You can find the relevant form on the Examinations Office website. Once you have received approval to take the modules early, you may register for the examinations in the modules you wish to take early. For further details, see the next question.

6. I would like to register for an exam in a Master’s module that I am taking early, but I cannot find the module listed in my exams. How should I go about registering for the exam?

Students who are taking Master’s modules early must contact the Examinations Office to register for the examination. In this case, it is not possible to register directly for the examination via Stud.IP. This ensures that only those students who have officially submitted a proposal and have also received authorisation to bring forward the relevant modules can register.

7. By when must the module examination be taken?

As a general rule, the module examination should be taken by the end of the respective semester (winter semester: 31 March; summer semester: 30 September), or the seminar paper (essay, project) should be submitted by then. In the core modules, the smaller assessments should, where possible, be completed throughout the semester. Different deadlines may apply in the case of block seminars. In this case, please clarify the submission deadline with the examiner.

8. Can I still have my module examination certified with a module certificate, as before?

The Presidential Board’s decision stipulates that module marks must be submitted online via Stud.IP to the Examinations Office. Should you wish to deviate from this rule (only in justified exceptional cases!), you must clarify this with your examiner and the Examinations Office.

9. Will the module records also be discontinued with the switch to online examination organisation?

Registering for an examination via the Stud.IP platform merely replaces the (blue/pink/green) module certificates used previously. The module records, however, must still be maintained. Maintaining the module records (entering grades and signatures) can also be done digitally.

10. Where can I find the module record sheets for the modules in the subject Philosophy/Values and Norms?

The cumulative course result sheets are available on the page Module Records .

11. Do I need a separate module record sheet for each module?

12. Where should I hand in my completed module record sheet?

Students are responsible for obtaining all the necessary signatures and grades on their module record sheets. Once the module record sheet has been fully completed, please hand it in to your examiner. It is also possible to submit it digitally (as an attachment via email).

13. What should I do with my partially completed module record sheet from a previous semester?

Old module forms do not expire; they can continue to be used until all signatures and results have been completed. Once this is the case, follow the procedure outlined under ‘General Procedure’.

14. I still have an old, fully completed cumulative course result sheet from a previous semester. What do I need to do to have the grade entered?

If you still have an old, fully completed cumulative course result sheet from a previous semester, please ensure the grade is entered as soon as possible by registering online for the examination in this module during the current semester. Select as the examiner the lecturer with whom you completed the majority of the examination work or, in the case of a portfolio, the majority of the assessment. Then forward the cumulative course result sheet to the relevant lecturer and ask them to enter the grade. Please note: This applies only to cumulative course result sheets created before the introduction of the online examination procedure, i.e. before the winter semester 2020/21.

15. I still have an old, fully completed module assessment form from a previous semester, but the lecturers with whom I took the module and sat the exam or parts of the exam at that time are not offering the exam for that module in the current semester. What do I need to do to ensure my grade can still be recorded?

16. I completed a module before the 2020/21 winter semester, but have only just received re-registration confirmation or the cumulative course result sheet. Do I still need to register online for the module examination?

Ask the lecturer who sent you the complete cumulative course result sheet whether the grade has already been forwarded (this may be the case if the module grade was available before 31 October 2020). If so, you do not need to take any further action. If not, please follow the procedure outlined in the answer to question 14.

17. Where can I find out which lecturers are authorised to set examinations for which modules?

You can find the list of authorised examiners here. As a general rule, you can assume that a lecturer who teaches a course in a particular module is also authorised to set examinations for that module.

18. The lecturer who examined me for a module examination in a previous semester is no longer employed at the university, but the grade has not yet been recorded. What do I need to do to ensure my grade is recorded?

Please contact the module coordinator for the module in question and explain the situation to them. You should then register for the module examination with the module coordinator and send them your complete cumulative course result sheet. The module coordinator can then enter the grade.

19. I recently received my complete cumulative course result sheet by email from my lecturer. Can I assume that they have already forwarded the grade to the Examinations Office, or do I need to take any further action to ensure the grade is entered?

Ask the lecturer from whom you received the cumulative course result sheet whether the grade has been forwarded. If so, you do not need to take any further action. If not, follow the procedure outlined in the answer to question 14.

20. How many assessment tasks do I have to complete in the advanced modules?

In principle, one assessment is required per module (not per seminar!). In the 12 KP advanced modules, this consists of a presentation with a written paper, a seminar paper or an oral examination. In the 6 KP advanced modules, the assessment consists of a portfolio comprising 3–4 small components (depending on the module), a seminar paper, a presentation with a written paper, or an oral examination. Please refer to the module description for the relevant module or the examination regulations for further information.

21. How and where can I obtain a certificate of attendance for the accompanying course for my final thesis (bam, mam), and how and where do I register for the course?

Frequently Asked Questions & Answers (Lecturers)

1. What do I need to do to enable students to register for my exam?

At the start of each semester, you must find out from students what exams they require and create the relevant exams in Stud.IP via the ‘My Exam Management’ tab.

2. Where can I find information and technical support for setting up my exams?

On the page Paperless Exam Organisation run by the Examinations Office, you can find general information from the University on paperless exam organisation. A study group has also been set up for all lecturers at the Institute of Philosophy, and philosophy lecturers have been added to this group. You can find the study group in your courses under the ‘Teaching’ tab (not under ‘Study Groups’). Detailed instructions on setting up and managing examinations can be found under ‘Files’. If you have any questions, please contact Anna Plader.

3. Do I have to create the examinations individually for each course?

No, examinations only need to be created once per module and per type of examination.

4. How can I create the ‘Oral Examination’ type of examination?

5. A student would like to sit an exam with me as part of the phi270 specialisation module. What do I need to do?

6. A student would like to sit an exam with me for the module phi610 – Self-study. What do I need to do?

A so-called ‘dummy course’ has been created for this module. From the 2020/21 winter semester onwards, all lecturers authorised to set examinations for phi610 will be entered as lecturers in this ‘course’. This is not a real course. The entry simply ensures that you appear in the system as a (potential) lecturer for the module and thus also have the option to create an exam for the module if required. Of course, you only need to do this if you intend to set at least one examination for the module in the current semester. Otherwise, you can ignore this dummy course.

7. A student would like to enrol on one of my seminars as an accompanying course for their final thesis. How can I issue a certificate confirming that they have enrolled on the “bam” or “mam”?

8. A student has told me that they have registered for an exam with me, but I cannot find them on the list of registered students. What could be the reason for this?

First, make sure that you are in the correct semester on the portal and that you have selected the correct module and the correct type of examination. If the student you are looking for still does not appear on the list, the error may lie with the student themselves. For example, they may have accidentally registered with a different lecturer, for the wrong module, or for an exam in a different semester. You should therefore first rule out these possible errors. Once you have done so, you or the student must contact the Examinations Office to find out where the error lies and, if necessary, have the student manually added to the examination register there. The contact details for the Examinations Office are:

9. How can I mark an exam as ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ (without a grade)? This applies to the modules phi410, phi420, phi430, phi610, bam and mam.

Enter a plus sign (+) in the marks field for ‘pass’ and a minus sign (-) for ‘fail’.

10. Can I also create exams for previous semesters in Stud.IP?

No, this is not possible. Exams can only be created for the current or future semester.

11. A student would like to sit an exam with me for a module in which I am not offering a course this semester. Can I still create the exam for that module?

Yes, that is possible. Select a seminar in which you offer the relevant type of examination (e.g. seminar paper). Announce the examination date as usual and enter in the ‘Note for the Examinations Office’ field the module for which the examination is to be additionally enabled.
Example: You are offering a seminar in module phi230 in which the ‘seminar paper’ type of examination is available. You now wish to offer an additional type of examination in module phi210 during the same semester. You can set up this type of examination via the relevant seminar if you enter this information for the Examinations Office (‘Please set up the seminar paper examination additionally for module phi210.’). You can also set up further types of examination retrospectively (though only for the current semester, not retroactively for past semesters). This means that even if you announced your examinations for the current semester some time ago and they have already been activated, you can still register additional examinations. In the above-mentioned case, when registering an exam or type of examination retrospectively, you should enter in the ‘Note for the Examinations Office’ field that the requested activation is only to apply to the additional module (in this case, phi210), otherwise the exams that have already been created may appear twice.
IMPORTANT: Activating an additional exam does not mean that the seminar through which the exam was created now belongs to this module. The assignment of the seminar to the modules remains unaffected. The relevant seminar is simply used as the route via which to create an examination. This situation may arise, for example, if examination performances from previous semesters are subsequently assessed/marked retrospectively because their completion or submission was delayed (e.g. due to the student’s illness) and they were unable to register for the examination in time during the original semester and were therefore unable to sit it.