The FPR-B is research-oriented. Students are expected to acquire the ability to design, carry out, analyse, record and present challenging physics experiments, and to gain experience with modern measurement and data analysis techniques in experimental physics.

For students on the Bachelor’s degree programme in Physics, the FPR-B comprises the following:

(a) For students who commenced their studies before the winter semester 11/12, the FPR-B constitutes the training module of the area of specialisation and comprises 15 credit points. Of these, 3 CP are allocated to the FPR-B seminar (see below) and 12 CP to 7 experiments, each lasting 2 experimental days of 8 hours each (on Fridays from 9 am to 5 pm). The grades for the practical sessions are weighted at a total of 12/15 and count towards the final grade for the module.

(b) For students commencing their studies in the winter semester 11/12 or later, the FPR-B forms part of the training module within the area of specialisation and is worth 9 CP. Of these, 1.5 CP are allocated to the FPR-B seminar (see below) and 7.5 CP to 7 practical sessions, each comprising 2 days of practical work, 8 hours per day (on Fridays from 9 am to 5 pm). The grades for the experiments contribute a total of 7.5/9 to the final grade for the module.

For students on the Master of Education degree programme in Physics, specialising in secondary school teaching, the FPR-B is worth 6 KP. Of these, 1 credit point is allocated to the FPR-B seminar (see below) and 5 credit points to 4 experiments, each comprising 2 experimental days of 8 hours each (on Fridays from 9 am to 5 pm). The grades for the experiments contribute a combined weighting of 5/6 to the final grade for the module.

Accompanying the FPR-B is a seminar in which students deepen their knowledge and skills in presenting the fundamentals, methodology and results of physics experiments using multimedia tools.

For students on the Bachelor’s degree programme in Physics, the seminar is worth 3 KP if they commenced their studies before the winter semester 11/12, and 1.5 KP if they commenced in the winter semester 11/12 or later. Regular attendance at the seminar is compulsory. Each participant must deliver a seminar presentation. The seminar mark contributes to the final mark for the module with a weighting of 3/15 or 1.5/9, respectively.

For students on the Master of Education in Physics degree programme, the seminar is worth 1 credit point. They attend only selected sessions of the seminar. They too must give a seminar presentation. The seminar mark contributes 1/6 to the final mark for the module.

For students on the Bachelor’s degree programme in Physics, Technology and Medicine: as part of the training module, students make a selection of an experiment from the range of experiments offered by the FPR-B.

To ensure a sufficiently broad experimental training, experiments must be carried out in at least four different areas of experimental physics.

Students may choose to specialise in one area. In this case, thematically closely related experiments are carried out as part of a block lab course. The scope of a block lab course may correspond to that of a maximum of three individual experiments.

The block practicals: ‘Psychophysics, Neurosensorics and Auditory Signal Processing’ and ‘Digital Signal Processing’ are usually held before the corresponding winter semester (in September) and, for organisational reasons, are selected separately in advance during registration. The scope of one of these block practicals corresponds to that of three individual experiments.

Some experiments in the field of materials and solid-state physics take place as a block (in February/March, commencing 14 days after the end of the winter semester). These are individual experiments that are scheduled as a block solely for organisational reasons.

The FPR-B can therefore be undertaken in the following formats:

The allocation of experiments and presentations will take place on the first session of the FPR-B seminar.

For the FPR-B module, an overall grade is awarded, calculated as the weighted average of the individual marks for the experiments and the seminar mark. Further details will be announced when places are allocated (first seminar session).