Hybrid teaching, electronic remote examinations and extended deadlines

An outlook on the studies in the summer semester

Can I study the semester online? Will my exams take place – and how? Can I complete my internship? Will the deadlines for the completion of the minimum credit requirements of the academic progress check be extended? There are many questions about studying in the summer semester and not all of them can be answered. The pandemic remains unpredictable and requires great flexibility as well as foresight. With the experience of the past semesters, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has enacted regulations that will allow all students to study safely and successfully, even if they are unable to be on campus due to the pandemic. The most current information is available at http://www.tum.de/en/corona/studies. 

What is hybrid teaching?

Teaching in the summer semester will once again be hybrid. This means that online events are combined with on-campus teaching formats. Digital teaching ensures that many courses remain accessible regardless of time and place. This is especially true for lectures in which many students participate.

If the pandemic allows, online teaching is supported by in-person tutorials or project groups. The balance between digital and on-campus can change during the course of the semester. First-semester studnts in particular should be given the opportunity to get to know their campus.

Nevertheless, the planning reliability remains guaranteed: Everything that starts digitally will also end digitally. This means that international students can also reliably plan their semester.

Hygiene concept: tests, mask and QR codes against the virus

Courses such as lectures or seminars digitize well, but some classes can only be held on campus. For example, there are laboratory courses that cannot be completed remotely, even with the greatest effort.

For these cases, TUM has developed a comprehensive hygiene concept to protect the safety and health of students and teachers. Central to this: distance - hygiene - masks. In addition, the QRONITON system is used to record the contact data of all persons who take part in courses or examinations in attendance. The highest standards of data protection and transparency apply.

What about the exams?

TUM continues to rely on electronic remote examinations that all students can take, no matter where they are. In the case of proctored remote examinations, there is still the option to alternatively take the exam on campus.

Which exams will be taken online and which will be taken on campus will depend on developments in the coming weeks and months. One thing, however, is certain: TUM will do everything it can to avoid restrictions on exams wherever possible.

Are examination and other deadlines being extended?

The standard duration of study (Regelstudienzeit) again is extended by one semester for summer semester 2021. It ensures that no one loses BAföG entitlement because of Corona. A corresponding confirmation can be found on the certificate of enrollment.

At the same time, the deadlines to achieve academic progress requirements will be extended - across the board for everyone who is enrolled and not on a leave of absence. This means that everyone will have one semester longer to meet the academic progress requirements.

All of this is in addition to the rules that have been in place for the past two semesters. Already existing extensions of the deadlines to achieve academic progress requirements and of the duration of study will remain in effect.

Mandatory registration for exams is also suspended for another semester. But: All exams you voluntarily register for will count regularly.

The framework for the summer semester 2021 creates more leeway in other areas, for example in Fundamentals and Orientation Examinations (GOPs), fundamentals module examinations, and also in final theses. We provide up-to-date information on the exact provisions at www.tum.de/en/corona/studies.