Index

Identity Management (IdM)

IdM stands for identity management and is used for

  • Management of user ID
  • Overview of all personal user accounts
  • FAUCard
  • and many other additional sections

Miniproject

General information

The miniprojects should be carried out in one of the institutes of the Chemical and Biological Engineering or Materials Science and Engineering Departments. The miniproject can also be carried out at another department or faculty, or at an external institution (HIERN, Helmholtz), provided that a supervisor from the WW or CBI departments is willing to co-supervise. The suggested project should be concise, have a realistic goal that takes into account the short timescale and enables a certain degree of independent work from the student. The work includes a review of current literature on the chosen topic, the planning and execution of experiments and simulations to expand existing knowledge and the critical interpretation and discussion of the results of the study in a (graded) written project report (10 ECTS; workload of around 250-300 hours). No “splitting” of the miniproject is foreseen.
The grade will be based on your carrying out of the project and on the report.
A miniproject cannot be combined with a job as a student assistant (“Hiwi”).
Deadline for students to submit the miniproject report: at the latest 6 months after the starting date

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. 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

Based on our experience with MAP miniprojects we can give a few tips in order to ensure successful establishment and execution of the projects:
  1. Rather than approach professors about potential miniprojects, you might want to take a look at institute websites and see which doctoral/postdoctoral researchers are working on what topics. Ideally you should read some of the researchers’ relevant journal papers. Approach them regarding your interest (which should be as genuine as possible – don’t say you read a paper when you just read the title/abstract!) and ask if they can define a miniproject topic. Very often researchers have little “side projects” which they would like to carry out but do not have the time for themselves. These are good miniproject topics because you may get to do something completely new and you help out your supervisor at the same time.
  2. Be sure to tell your direct supervisor from the start what is expected of you. Make sure they know that you have to write a report by a certain deadline and preferably get their commitment “up-front” that they will check drafts of your report.
  3. Communicate well with your direct supervisor. That means you should make it clear from the outset what is and what is not expected and also when you will work on the miniproject. We do hear from supervisors that students agree to do a miniproject and then simply do not appear. This sets a very poor impression and is likely to count against you in the final grade.
  4. Conversely to the previous point, we also sometimes hear MAP students complain that their supervisor has vanished off the face of the earth. This is another case of poor communication, either on the part of the student, the supervisor or both. Since the miniproject might stretch over the summer months, be sure to check with your supervisor when they will be not there. If they are away for a long time then ask for a “fill-in” supervisor who you can turn to in case of questions/problems. This is especially critical if your direct supervisor has to do some characterization of your samples which you cannot do (SEM, TEM, XPS etc).
  5. Your direct supervisor will be a PhD or Postdoc researcher – these are often highly stressed people with many responsibilities. For the most part, the supervision of MAP miniprojects goes very smoothly. However, the direct supervisors are also people still undergoing their professional training and like all humans have their strengths and weaknesses. If you feel that your direct supervisor does not supervise your miniproject in a satisfactory way (be reasonable here, we are talking about things like if they communicate the problem unclearly, do not satisfactorily answer your questions or do not adequately train you in necessary techniques or safety measures) please make an appointment to discuss your concerns with the professor. Professors should deal with this appropriately and in a confidential way. Please do not leave any potential problems with your supervisor to simmer and just write up the report anyway. This can backfire on your grade and by that late stage a professor will always side with his or her PhD/Postdoc if you make a complaint because they will assume you just want to improve your grade. Any problems you bring up prior to submission of the report would be easier to negotiate. Of course, any issues can also be discussed with the MAP Chairs on a confidential basis.
  6. Remember that most professors will probably ask the direct supervisor to suggest a grade. Therefore, make sure you prepare the report in sufficient time that your direct supervisor can check it. If your direct supervisor requests changes to your report then once you have made those changes show him/her the report again. Do not assume that once you have made requested changes everything is fine. Scientific reports often take several iterations to get complete. Only go ahead and submit your report when your direct supervisor gives you a clear OK.

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.

Literature review

In a series of lectures, the students learn the basic principles of finding and managing scientific literature, scientific writing as well as effective scientific communication with posters. They then put these concepts into practice by writing a short literature review one the current state-of-the-art on a subject related to one of the MAP focal topics.
  • Coordination of the module: Prof. R. Klupp Taylor
  • Review should be on recent developments in a specific field related to one or more of the MAP focal topics
  • Registration of topic (StudOn)
  • Registration of exam (campo)
Submission procedure
  • Submit your literature review by email as pdf-file directly to your MAP supervisor, copy to Prof. Klupp Taylor by the fixed deadline
  • Email subject : “Submission of MAP literature review by <surname>”
Forms and templates
All forms and templates are provided by Prof. Klupp Taylor
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 to hand in on time
Your literature review will be graded as “failed” if your supervisor and Prof. Klupp Taylor don’t receive your work by the set deadline.
Other than the fixed deadlines for summer and winter semester, there are no specific regulations for your 2nd attempt. As you are repeating an “exam”, you can either work on the same topic or agree on a new one. Kindly discuss this with your supervisor directly.

Internship

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.

Fundamentals

  • 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

Focal subjects

In the course of the first semester, you will be asked to choose two of the four focal subjects. Please note that once a choice has been made, it can only be changed in consultation with one of the MAP Chairs and the respective Focal Subject Head.
Focal Subject Heads:
  • 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
As a rule, all MAP Focal Subjects examinations are module examinations, i.e. the contents of several courses of a semester are assessed together in one examination. However, for organizational reasons it is sometimes not possible in terms of time to organize a joint examination, in which case there are exceptionally two individual examinations.
Nevertheless, you will receive an overall grade for the entire module. The examiners do not award an individual mark for their part of the examination, but jointly determine an overall module mark.
If one part of the examination is passed and the other is failed, but you still achieve a good overall grade (4.0 or better), the module examination is considered passed and you cannot repeat the failed part.

Excursions

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

Basics

  • 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)

Additional Qualifications (AQ)

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:

Elective Course

  1. MAP students obtain the permission to participate in the respective lecture and to take the exam (signature of the lecturer on the process and grading sheet). As there are so many options for the elective course, we are currently not in a position to offer our MAP students to register for the elective course on campo themselves. Since there is the possibility to attend lectures that are not part of the MAP program, registration via campo is not possible in some cases. Please contact the examiner with a request to manually register you for the examination in campo, or register in the list “Registration for Examination for Elective Courses” on StudOn in the section for your matriculation group and we will forward your registration to the Examinations Office. Keep in mind that your entry in StudOn is a binding registration for the exam. To ensure that you fulfill all the prerequisites for attending the course, ask the lecturer to give you a permit to attend on the routing slip at the beginning of the course.
  2. You will take the examination for the elective course as described in the module handbook, that means no special exams for MAP students. Please be aware that for courses which are offered for different study programs at the same time, the lecture / exercises might be the same, but the exams might look different. In this case, you need to decide under which exam number you will participate in the exam and ask the MAP Office to add your name to the respective exam list on campo.
  3. MAP “fundamentals” courses cannot be counted as elective course in the Additional Qualifications.

Miniproject (max. 6 months to work on)

  1. The second miniproject can be started only after the first miniproject has been finished. MAP students are required to obtain a certificate that the first miniproject report has been submitted and fulfills the requirements (“4.0-Bescheinigung”).
  2. Your supervisor inserts the starting day and title of the second miniproject and confirms by his / her signature and a stamp on the process and grading sheet.
  3. Your supervisor inserts the day you submit your second miniproject report and confirms by his / her signature and a stamp on the process and grading sheet.

Soft Skills

  1. As a rule, one soft skills course is offered per semester by the MAP office. Registration for these courses can be done via StudOn.
  2. Special soft skills seminars offered by the MAP office are only offered if at least five MAP students participate.
  3. The MAP office confirms successful participation in the soft skills seminars by signing and stamping the process and evaluation sheet.
  4. Alternatively, the soft skills courses offered by the Faculty of Engineering can be chosen. The Faculty of Engineering offers various (English) seminars on job application, interview training, presentation and communication skills. Registration starts 4 weeks prior to the course; obligatory attendance once registered. Should you not be able to attend, cancel your participation as soon as possible!
  5. Courses from the Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (VHB) are usually also eligible. Please check with the MAP office in advance to see if a course is offered to see if the course can be credited as a soft skills course.

Internship

  1. Minimal time: 12 weeks corresponding to a fulltime position or equivalent.
  2. MAP students need to document participation via a certificate of the company. This certificate should at least include, where the internship took place, the period / time frame and the content of the internship. The MAP office will confirm the successful participation in the internship by signature and stamp on the process and grading sheet.
After completion of all modules of the additional qualifications, you need to hand in your process and grading sheet at the MAP Office. The MAP Office team will validate all modules and submit the information to the Examinations Office.

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

If you cannot finish the 30 ECTS points of the AQs, all passed modules will be checked and submitted to the Examinations Office by the MAP Office. These modules will appear on your final transcript of records.

Failure regulations

If you fail one module of the AQs you do not fail the MAP Program. Any successful modules will be shown on your transcript of records as “additional modules”.
Further details regarding the elective course
  • When to take the elective course? The elective course can be taken during any of your study semesters.
  • Deregistration from the elective course? You can deregister from your elective course during the usual deregistration period by informing your examiner. After having passed the exam once, you cannot deregister anymore. If you want to change your elective course after your first trial you can do so.
  • Splitting of 5 ECTS? You can take two 2,5 ECTS courses. However, the transcript then may not exactly state the names of the two courses you have chosen.
  • Which “Modulkatalog” counts? If an elective course is offered for different study programs, different “Modulkataloge” might be offered. In this case, the exams have different exam numbers. You choose the Modulkatalog that you want to be examined by. Be aware to select the exam / Modulkatalog that offers the needed ECTS points.

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.

Program structure

Please refer to program structure explained in detail on our MAP website.