FACULTY OF

COMPUTER SCIENCE

How should I select the courses to take?

First you should consult the module catalogue of your degree program. You can find all of them here. Some programs may have some mandatory courses you are required to take. Your also may consider the following criteria:

• Am I interested in the subject of the course?
• Does the course contribute to the profile I am aiming for?
• Do I have the prerequisites necessary for the course?
• Does the credit count as a part of my degree?

Please be aware that many of the available master courses will require some computer science knowledge, like programming and software development skills. 

If you are not sure what courses to take you can ask the mentors of your degree program for some advice.

For students of Digital Engineering: If you have little or no programming or software development experience, we strongly recommend the courses Introduction to Computer Science for Engineers (winter term) and Introduction to Software Engineering for Engineers (summer term). They are mandatory for students coming from an engineering BSc. You can find them both in the LSF Portal.

How can I find the courses that are offered in the upcoming semester?

You can find all the available courses in the LSF Portal. In the right top corner you can select the semester you would like to choose your courses for. Then you can either look at the “Curricula Timetable”, or choose either “Search for Courses” or “Course Overview” options. In the “Course Overview”, select “Fakultät für Informatik” -> “Courses sorted by Degree Programmes” and then select your degree program.

How do I find what courses map to what area?

You can find the information on which courses are applicable for which area in the module catalogue of your degree program, which you can find here. Search for the course you would like to attend, and refer to the “Zuordnung zum Curriculum”. Usually, this information is also mentioned in the course description in LSD under “Curriculae”. The information is also condensed in the module lists for the specific degrees that can be found on the same page. Here all courses are listed by only their names under the topic areas of the degree program.

How many courses/ credits do I need in each area?

You should look through study regulations of your degree program, which you can find here. You can refer to the recommended study and examination schedule table where the amount of credits is listed for each area (as of February 2023).

Who can help me with questions regarding my studies?

Depending on your question, you can contact either a mentor, degree advisor of your degree program or the examinations office. Before you contact the person, make sure whether your question falls into their area of responsibility. The first point of contact is usually an email. If it is something urgent you can look up the person's office hours.

Which courses are offered in English?

The language of a course should be stated in the LSF Portal or in the module description, as well as in the module lists. Usually the courses with English titles are offered in English. You can also specify the language as the filter in the “Search for Lectures” tab under “Courses”.

How do I register for a course?

The registration process depends on the course. Some do not require a registration, so you can just go to the course when it is scheduled. Sometimes the registration happens in person in the first lecture, so be sure to attend it!

If some type of registration is necessary, it is usually stated explicitly in the description of the course on the LSF or on the course website along with the timeframes and deadlines. This could be either through LSF, E-Learning portal or an e-mail, so read the description of the course carefully.

If you are not sure if registration is necessary, do not hesitate to ask!

Please note the exam registration does not happen automatically, you have to register for every exam you would like to take.

How much time do I actually need for a course?

The amount of time needed for the course is indicated with the amount of credit points students can receive by completing it. According to the official guidelines, a Credit Point (CP) amounts to 30 hours of work over the duration of the course or module. 

For example, for a 6 CP course you should plan to invest 180 hours of work, including time spent in the lecture, on homework and exam preparation.

Be aware that the time needed for the course can also increase significantly, when you are lacking some of the preliminary knowledge necessary for the course. Be prepared to put in extra effort, as the lecturers will usually not lower their expectations or the course level. Most courses are visited by students from different degree programs, with varying levels of preliminary knowledge.

Where do I find Module descriptions?

You can find the module catalogues for study programs here.

How to build your personal Semester schedule using LSF?

First consult the study regulations for the areas in which you need CPs, and then check the module catalogue for the courses that map to that area.

 If you are using the LSF for the first time, you can check these videos for tutorials. You can also read about the LSF here.

Here is an overview of the basic steps:

1. Login into LSF Portal. You can change the language in the upper right corner, by selecting the British flag. Also make sure you select the right semester at the top of the page.
2. You can either search for a specific course by using “Search for courses” or use “Courses Overview”.
• If you are using the “Courses Overview” navigate to “Fakultät für Informatik” -> “Courses sorted by Degree Programmes” and then select your study program. There you will find the list of the courses for your program. They are usually ordered according to the areas defined by study regulations. The mapping of the courses to these areas is usually mentioned in the LSF.
• Please keep in mind that it is possible that not all the courses are displayed or mapped accurately. Consult study regulations and module catalogue to be sure.
• Please note that LSF lists only the courses that are available for the selected semester (at the top of the page). This means that roughly half of the courses from module catalogue could be unavailable, due to being offered in the alternate semester.
• If you are a DE student, you might not see all of your courses, since some courses are organised by different faculties, so use the “Search for courses” option for the specific course,
3. Your personal schedule is available under the “My Functions'' -> “Schedules”. The following describes how to add a course to your schedule:
• on the course page, find the “preselect” checkbox below the table with the dates and times of the lecture, and check it.
• then click on the “Schedule preselected” button (this will automatically lead to your personal schedule).
• hit the “Save schedule” button.

For any course that has more than one LSF entry (usually a lecture (Vorlesung) accompanied by an exercise (Übung)) you will need to add both the lecture and the exercise to your schedule, since usually you are expected to visit both.

For entries that have different exercise groups with different dates you have to choose one of the groups, with the time that fits your schedule best. The selection process is the same as described above.

1. For some courses where you have to actually register in LSF ( they might only have a limited capacity) , you can find a “apply now / cancel application” button.
   Please mind the application period mentioned in the description of the course.
• On the course page, click on “apply now / cancel application” and click on the “apply”
• Additionally, you have to add the course by the usual scheduling process, In order to place it into your schedule (described above in the point 3).
2. Any clashes in your schedule will be highlighted in red boxes. You can also delete entries by clicking the “x” for a specific entry.
3. When you are done, you can also save your schedule as PDF(upper right, “Print (PDF)”.

Please note that the following text (or something similar) appears when hitting “save schedule” on your schedule:

• “Sie haben sich 7 Termine unverbindlich vorgemerkt. Das Vormerken dieser Termine ermöglicht noch keinen Besuch der Veranstaltung. Bitte vergessen sie nicht, Ihre Veranstaltungen zu belegen. 3 Veranstaltungen sind bereits belegt.”
• This can be translated to : "You have preselected 7 course-dates non-binding. Preselecting course-dates does not enable or guarantee you being able to visit the course. Please do not forget to register/apply for the Courses, where applicable. Three course-dates have been successfully applied for."

This text is there just for your information, and does not require any additional actions.

What is a Seminar / Blockseminar?

A seminar in the university setting is a special type of course usually consisting of an individual presentations of the participants on the topic of the seminar. Blockseminar has the same structure but is confined in a smaller time frame.

A seminar in Germany is characterised mainly by the individual presentations of the participants. Usually seminars are organised as follows:

• One or more introductory events (lecture / meeting) with all participants, for establishing the rules of the course and as well as selection of topics
• Individual work including: finding and reading necessary material, individual preparation of a presentation (possibly also papers); some seminars also require you to do something practical (implementing, testing, ect.) based on original paper’s content
• There also might be individual feedback meetings / presentation or discussion of preliminary versions of final documents
• Handing in of papers (if required)
• Presentation of prepared material in front of seminar participants
• Attending and giving feedback on the presentations of seminar participants
• Usually during the seminar presentations take place every week at scheduled time slot
• In case of a block seminar, all of the presentations take place within 1 or 2 days

You can refer to the seminar's website - if one is available - or contact the lecturer on the particular structure of the seminar.

How to register for German language courses on campus?

You can find information about the German language courses and registration here.