Important Resources

De-registration from literature reviews and miniprojects is not possible after a topic has been assigned to you.

Disabled and chronically ill students (i.e. physical or psychical disturbance for longer than 6 months or illnesses over more than one year which are needed to be treated by a doctor at least once in three months) have the possibility of a disadvantage compensation (e.g. longer exam times). The cases will be dealt with on an individual basis. For the disadvantage compensation, a card/certificate which officially proves the disability is not necessary. The disadvantage compensation is not indicated in the transcript of records. Further information is provided under “Compensation for disadvantages during examinations”

MAP lecturers are responsible for exam organization (date and time) and grade registration via campo.
Exception: MAP Office organizes the dates for the Basics exams due to the involvement of several lecturers.

Within one week and even within one day, several exams might be scheduled. Inform the MAP lecturer about other exams to avoid overlap.

The two parts of each basics examination count as separate examinations. You can decide if you take both parts on the same date or at different times.

1.0 / 1.3 = very good – excellent performance

1.7 / 2.0 / 2.3 = good – performance significantly above average requirements

2.7 /3.0 / 3.3 = satisfactory – corresponds to average requirements

3.7 / 4.0 = pass – has deficits but still meets the requirements

4.3 / 4.7 / 5.0= fail – performance has significant deficits and does not meet the requirements

• https://www.fau.eu/education/advice-and-services/examination-offices/examinations-office-faculty-of-engineering/#collapse_4
• https://www.fau.eu/education/advice-and-services/examination-offices/#collapse_2
• https://www.fau.eu/education/advice-and-services/examination-offices/taking-examinations-withdrawal-illness-and-adjustments-to-examination-arrangements/

The MAP program is regulated by the “Allgemeine Prüfungsordnung” (general exam regulations) and the “Fachprüfungsordnung” (subject exam regulations). Only the German version is legally binding.

In the first semester, you will take lab courses that are selected for you based on your previous qualifications.

To pass the module, you must actively participate in the experiments and submit the lab reports to the supervisor in a timely manner. Late or insufficient lab reports will result in a fail.

The students must familiarize themselves with the relevant documentation before the start of the experiments. If they are insufficiently prepared, the students will be excluded from the experiments.

The MAP Office does not have information on the failure of students.
Students who are subject to the failure rule will be exmatriculated (=deregistered from the university) at the end of the semester .
It is the student’s responsibility to assess whether he/she is in danger of failing the MAP program.

No warning will be issued by the MAP office!

We therefore strongly advise to:

• Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the examination rules of the program
• Regularly check all your examination results on campo 
• In case you have failed an examination:
  • go to the official post-exam review date offered by the examiners and check for possible mistakes in grading or grade calculation as well as to learn from your mistakes.
  • in case of miniproject reports or literature reviews, schedule an appointment to discuss the comments of the examiner.
• Ask the MAP Office in case of doubt regarding your individual situation.

What happens in case you are subject to the failure rule and have failed the program:

• Any official information is provided through the central examinations office (“Prüfungsamt”).
• Notifications about exmatriculation are sent after the end of the respective examination period (November/December for SS; May/June for WS).
• An objection to such notification can be filed within four weeks.
• After four weeks the exmatriculation becomes legally binding.

1.0 / 1.3 = very good – excellent performance

1.7 / 2.0 / 2.3 = good – performance significantly above average requirements

2.7 /3.0 / 3.3 = satisfactory – corresponds to average requirements

3.7 / 4.0 = pass – has deficits but still meets the requirements

4.3 / 4.7 / 5.0= fail – performance has significant deficits and does not meet the requirements

The MAP program is regulated by the “Allgemeine Prüfungsordnung” (general exam regulations) and the “Fachprüfungsordnung” (subject exam regulations). Only the German version is legally binding.

In the first semester, you will take lab courses that are selected for you based on your previous qualifications.

To pass the module, you must actively participate in the experiments and submit the lab reports to the supervisor in a timely manner. Late or insufficient lab reports will result in a fail.

The students must familiarize themselves with the relevant documentation before the start of the experiments. If they are insufficiently prepared, the students will be excluded from the experiments.

What money is available?

Within the MAP budget there is a limited amount of money available to support students who wish to undertake additional educational activities during the course. The exact amount received will depend on the type of planned activity and the available funds. No student is automatically entitled to the money – it will only be granted if a clear need is demonstrated. The MAP speakers and administrators will decide fairly on a case-by-case basis on receiving a written application from the students.

What is the money for?

The grants are provided in order to support academic activities not already supported by MAP. These should be outside of the lecture period of the semester, apart from in exceptional cases. Preferably, such events should involve active participation and development of personal skills and for events meeting these criteria all students will be supported at suitable levels if they wish to attend. On the other hand, for seminars and conferences where the attendees are essentially passive, funds for only a small number of attendees will be granted. This is particularly the case for international research conferences as these have a limited value for a Masters-level student and in terms of the huge travel and registration costs are not efficient uses of the money. There are of course exceptions, for instance when the international conference has a session or workshop for undergraduates or masters students or if the MAP student has submitted an abstract to the conference e.g. from their Masters work.

Who can get it?

All current MAP students will be considered for a grant, based on the type of activity proposed (active or passive involvement) and its academic and professional relevance.

You may apply for a MAP educational grant also as MAP alumni if you:
1) Intend to present the results of your MAP Master’s Thesis
2) If the conference takes place within 6 months after handing in your Master’s Thesis

How to apply for it?

Support can only be granted after formal application to the MAP Office. A full written application is required at least 2 months before the event. The application form (including information on required supporting documents) is available on the StudOn template section: https://www.studon.fau.de/studon/goto.php?target=cat_1511543

What happens next?

The MAP Chairs and administrative team will consider each application fairly and if necessary discuss with the student for clarification. The student will be told how much of the applied-for funds will be granted. Students should be aware that until this written information is received by them, no money is guaranteed. Hence, where international flights are involved, an early application is encouraged.
If support is granted, the student must sign a declaration stating that he/she:

• will provide pictures and a short report (200-250 words) of the event in return for the financial support
• agrees that these pictures and the report can be published by MAP for the purpose of promotion
• will use the MAP logo on power point presentations, posters etc.
• is aware that it is his/her responsibility to provide all required documents for the refunding within 4 weeks after his/her return at the latest

You can find information about studying abroad and internship possibilities on the FAU website and the DAAD website.

MAP also provides a StudOn section on opportunities for semesters abroad (login to StudOn needed).

Program structure

The MAP program consists of two parts:

1. The primary course of 120 ECTS (mandatory for all students).
2. The Additional Qualifications with research focus (with additional research qualifications) or with industry focus (with additional qualifications for business and industry) – optional for all students. We recommend participation in the complete set totaling 30 ECTS points.

Further details on the structure and the content of the additional qualification modules can be found on the MAP website and in the module handbook.

Organizational details

Registration for taking additional qualifications:

The MAP curriculum foresees the modules of the AQs in the second and third semester. Therefore, you should decide before the second semester whether you would like to take part in the AQs.

You can download a process and grading sheet (“Laufzettel”) in the download section of StudOn (you need to be logged in in StudOn), which will be used to register and document the AQs. The AQs consist of the following modules:

Until when to finish the AQs?

The deadline to submit the completed process and grading sheet of the AQs at the MAP Office is the date of submission of your Master’s Thesis. Until this date, you will need to have passed all modules (documented via the process and grading sheet). We highly recommend to submit your second miniproject not later than the day you start your Master’s Thesis to ensure that the grading will be finished before the deadline. Neither the MAP Office nor the Examinations Office can accept grades or confirmations that are submitted later than your Master’s Thesis. Such modules cannot be counted for the AQs nor will they appear on your final transcript of records.

Recognition of the AQs

When the complete set of modules of the AQs is finished and submitted on time, you will receive an official certificate for the AQs. This certificate will include all modules and the amount of ECTS points obtained in the course of the AQs. If you have completed only single modules of the AQs on time, those modules will be added to the transcript of records as “additional modules”. The grades of the AQs will not count to the final grade of the Master’s examination. The final grade of the Master’s examination is only calculated by the grades of the primary courses.

Registration of single modules of the AQs

Failure regulations

Further details regarding the internship

• Be aware to apply early on for an internship.
• The MAP Office will provide a letter of support upon request. Many companies only provide internships if they are mandatory for the study program. We will confirm that the internship is part of the AQs and therefore requested by the MAP Program.
• Compulsory professional internships do not count towards the 120/240-day rule. Students are allowed to carry out these activities beyond this regulation.

• Compulsory interdisciplinary lectures which provide the “basics” of the focal subjects
• Written exam at the end of the 1st semester, comprising the content of Basics I lectures
• Basics II lectures will take place in the 2nd semester
• (Alternative: Combined exam at the end of the 2nd semester)

• You need 2 excursions with (at least) 0,5 ECTS each
• The MAP Office offers each semester at least 1 excursion

• Advanced Processes: Prof. Maro Haumann
• Biomaterials and Bioprocessing: Prof. Aldo Boccaccini
• Computational Materials Science and Process Simulation: Prof. Michael Engel
• Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology: Prof. Mathias Göken

• Each student has discussed / will discuss his/her individual timetable with one of the MAP Chairs or MAP lecturers
• Changes in your fundamental subjects are only possible with written agreement of one of the MAP Chairs or the MAP lecturer who assigned one’s Fundamentals.
• Written examinations (“Studienleistung”)
• Pass/Fail subjects
• Exam dates are scheduled by the lecturer

General information

An internship of at least twelve weeks is a mandatory part of the (Additional Qualifications) curriculum. Internships that exceed this time period are explicitly supported by MAP.

Internship in research OR industry

This module aims to develop our students’ research- or industry-related knowledge and transferable work skills and capabilities. Students are required to organize the internship independently. However, the MAP office and professors involved in MAP are always happy to provide support and advice.

Crediting of relevant prior work experience

If you have prior MAP-relevant work experience, this can potentially be credited.
Please contact the MAP Office in written

• stating that the respective experience did not already count towards your Bachelor’s degree and
• attaching the related proof documents (most importantly: work certificate clearly stating your name, employment duration with dates, tasks performed)

Work permit

According to your student visa, you are allowed to do a mandatory internship. The internship required by MAP, due to being mandatory, does not even fall under the regulation of international students being allowed to work 140 days/year (https://www.fau.eu/international/international-applicants/important-information/employment-and-placements/)

Internship certificate

The internship certificate stating duration, tasks etc. needs to be handed in and approved by the MAP Office after internship completion.

Confirmation that internship is mandatory

A personal copy of a signed confirmation that the internship is mandatory (Bestätigung Pflichtpraktikum) can be received from the MAP Office. Please let us know by email.

General Information on the Master’s Thesis

• Students start the Master’s project after having passed all other exams and program requirements: normally a practical work, documented by a written thesis (typically 80 – 100 pages)
• The project can be carried out at any MAP, CBI, WW chair at FAU. Please contact the chair of your interest in good time to discuss projects available.
• Projects carried out externally (e.g. in industry) are discouraged and require approval of a MAP, CBI or WW professor (not normally given except for when there is an established collaboration between the professor and the industrial host)
• Duration: exactly 6 months from the registration day
• The Master’s Thesis should comprise original and unpublished work (publications can be written based on the completed thesis).
• Typical contents of the thesis: introduction to the topic, scientific background (relevant theory and recent literature), materials and methods, results and discussion of the results, conclusion, summary and outlook, bibliography
• Graded (by the supervising MAP, CBI or WW professor)
• The research and documentation work of the Master’s project cannot be combined with a job as a student assistant (“Hiwi”).

Registering your Master’s Thesis
For the registration of a Master’s Thesis the Examination Office needs to receive an official letter from your supervising professor stating

1. student name and matriculation number
2. starting date
3. topic of the thesis.

The letter needs to be signed by a MAP, CBI or WW professor with “Prüfungsberechtigung”. At the time of registration, all courses and exams “Prüfungsleistungen” need to have been passed by the student. The student’s transcript needs to show 90 ECTS (to be shown by the student to the supervising professor at the time of registration). Your supervisor has to send the registration letter to Ms. Fischer-Willmanns, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Prüfungsamt der Technischen Fakultät, Halbmondstr. 6, 91054 Erlangen. After registration, you will receive information on the further procedure and requirements directly from the Central Examination Office.

If the title of your Master’s Thesis at the time of the registration differs from its title at the time of submission, the title of your supervisor’s grading information to the Examinations Office (address see above) will be used for your transcript of records. For this grading information, there is no official form needed. The letter has to include the following information:

• matriculation number
• Your name
• Final title of the thesis
• Date of submission
• Date of presentation
• Grade of the Master’s thesis
• Grade of the presentation
• Signature of your supervising professor

FAQs about the Master’s Thesis
1) Is there a way to start the Master’s Thesis before all mandatory courses have been passed?
The MAP regulations are very clear on this: at the time of registration of your Master’s Thesis, all mandatory courses and exams must have been passed by the student, which means that you need to have acquired 90 ECTS on your transcript. Actually you would even need to show your transcript to your supervisor to proof that you have fulfilled all requirements before starting with your Master’s Thesis.
You can ask your supervisor if you may nevertheless already start preparing your Master’s Thesis. Officially, you have 6 months time to work on your thesis after you have started. However, you may also hand in your thesis earlier, even shortly after the official registration.

2) When and where will I have to hand in my thesis?
Information will be provided by the Central Examination Office following your registration.

3) In what form will I have to hand in the thesis?
There are certain regulations on that, too. The most important is that the thesis needs to be bonded and includes a short statement, the so-called “Declaration of Authorship” signed by you (not the professor) and stating that you have done the thesis by yourself and all sources are cited. More detail (professor, title etc. pp.) should be included, but this information will be provided by your supervisor. We would suggest to include the logo of FAU as well as the MAP logo on the cover page.

4) What happens if I cannot finish my thesis in time?
In case any difficulties (severe illness, technical problems, refurbishing the lab etc.) occur in these six month, please let the Central Examination Office know immediately. Do not rely on your supervisor only. Regulations on extensions are very strict indeed. The rules are quite explicit. You are requested to apply as soon as a problem occurs for an extension of the thesis period. It is next to impossible to get an extension one week before the deadline! Of course, you may have heard of cases, where that worked out well. However, more often than not, an extension is not granted.
In this respect, we need to point out, that the deadline for handing in the thesis is a very strict one. If you miss the deadline by a day only, the Master’s Thesis counts as not handed in at all and you failed.

5) When will I get my degree certificate?
This is up to the Examinations Office. There, they will issue the official transcript as well as the Master’s certificate. Please take care that both the MAP Office and the Examinations Office will have your current address. This is especially important for those who are planning to leave Erlangen after graduation.

Additional information
Prolongation in case of sickness:
Please send a medical certificate to Ms. Fischer-Willmanns of the Examination Office directly (please copy that certificate to the MAP Office). Ms. Fischer-Willmanns will then add the period stated on the doctor’s certificate to the duration granted for finishing your thesis. Be careful, that your doctor confirms not only the time of the operation/stay in hospital, but the full period of your not being able to work on your Master’s Thesis. Please send the doctor’s certificate together with an accompanying letter stating the above mentioned to:

Kerstin Fischer-Willmanns
L 6 Prüfungsverwaltung
Halbmondstr. 6
CC MAP-Office

Prolongation for other reasons:
Your supervising professor needs to send a letter stating the reasons as well as the duration of the requested prolongation to the Examinations Office.

Nachweis Studienabschluss/ 4,0-Bescheinigung / 4.0 confirmation
For a corresponding certificate a letter of your MAP, CBI or WW supervising professor is needed confirming that he/she already assessed your Master’s Thesis to an extent, that he/she can confirm, that you will at least achieve a 4.0 as grade for your Master’s Thesis in keeping your submission deadline.
With this letter the Central Examination Office (Ms. Fischer-Willmanns) can prepare the requested 4.0-Bescheinigung.

External Master Thesis
Please refer to the information sheet by L1 on allocating topics for and completing external Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral theses. The thesis must be completed under the supervision of a MAP, CBI or WW professor. In certain cases the examination regulations may permit the topic of the thesis to be suggested by a third party – a company in this case. In such cases it must be ensured that the candidate is supervised by a suitable person in the company and that permission is given by a MAP, CBI or WW examiner. Permission must also be given by the examinations committee of the Faculty of Engineering. The precise topic of the thesis and the entire formal process for this element of the thesis remain the sole responsibility of the MAP, CBI or WW professor supervising the thesis. Good collaboration between the MAP, CBI or WW supervisor, the company, and the person acting as supervisor there is essential.

Master-Thesis Printing
Student suggestions for places to print your Master’s Thesis:

• The Copy Arena at Karlsbader Straße in Erlangen, which is not far from the Technical Faculty: http://www.erlangen-copyshop.de/copy-arena/
• Copy & Druck: https://www.copydruck-erlangen.de/

General information

If the student chooses to gain Additional Qualifications in research or industry, an additional miniproject of 10 ECTS is taken during the 3rd semester.

Step by step

1. 1. For registration of the MAP miniproject please use the registration from which you can find in the MAP StudOn templates section (login needed). The registration of your miniproject needs to be confirmed by your principal supervisor by signing the registration form as stipulated. At this stage, you don’t have to inform the MAP office.
      Once you have finished your miniproject, please hand in your report directly to your supervisor for grading, either an electronic version or the original paper version, depending what your supervisor prefers (please check beforehand!). At the same time, you need to upload your report as PDF file and insert some further information (such as final project title) in the on the MAP StudOn curriculum section (login needed, please choose the specific semester there).
      After your supervisor has graded your miniproject and has added the grade and his stamp (or that of his chair/institute) on the registration form, please hand in the original document to the MAP office.
      The last section on the miniproject registration sheet will then be filled in by the MAP office staff. We will also forward your grade to the examination office for registration.
      Another possibility is, to ask your supervisor to send your graded miniproject to the MAP office. For legal reasons, the scanned version can only be sent to the MAP Office by the supervisor in person.
   2. The number of working hours given (250 – 300) are to be understood as a guideline for a miniproject with 10 ECTS. The work load does not only refer to the time you do practical lab work but as well to the time you spend on preparing and studying at home or in the library.
      Thus, it depends a lot on the nature of your project, how much time you will actually spend with practical work in the lab. Your supervisor might be able to better judge this time frame, depending on the topic and the expected development.
   3. Before you can register for your Master’s thesis, you need to have successfully fulfilled all requirements of the MAP primary course, which is the case once you have achieved 90 ECTS.
      Any additional courses – either the full 30 ECTS block of the Additional Qualifications or individual courses – need to be graded and registered either on campo or with the MAP Office before you hand in your Master’s thesis. After this date, the Examinations Office cannot accept any further course achievements for your transcript.
      
      Especially if you plan to do an second miniproject within the Additional Qualifications, we strongly recommend to have it finished before you start with your Master’s thesis, as you need to consider some time for grading as well.

General recommendations

Forms and templates

All forms and templates are available at our MAP StudON section (login needed).

De-registration or prolongation of deadline

In line with the stipulations set by the Central Examinations Office, a prolongation is only possible under very specific circumstances and with the required proof documents (e.g. doctor’s certificate). A withdrawal is not permitted after topic allocation.

Failure/ late hand in

It is your responsibility to find a new miniproject with a new supervisor during the next semester.

The MAP program is regulated by the “Allgemeine Prüfungsordnung” (general exam regulations) and the “Fachprüfungsordnung” (subject exam regulations). Only the German version is legally binding.

In the first semester, you will take lab courses that are selected for you based on your previous qualifications.

To pass the module, you must actively participate in the experiments and submit the lab reports to the supervisor in a timely manner. Late or insufficient lab reports will result in a fail.

The students must familiarize themselves with the relevant documentation before the start of the experiments. If they are insufficiently prepared, the students will be excluded from the experiments.