Information for
Quick links
Faculties
Information for students
Teaching and studying – General information
Yes, the Coronavirus Ordinance has been extended to cover summer semester 2021 by continuing the rules and regulations that applied during the summer semester of 2020 and the winter semester of 2020/21.
Coronavirus Ordinance summer semester 2021
The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.).
Please also refer to the information provided by the Centre for Teacher Education (Zentrum für Lehrerbildung – ZfL):
On a side note, the name ‘Coronavirus Ordinance’ is a short form of ‘Ordinance to Enact the General Implementing Provisions at Saarland University’.
This semester will not be counted when assessing whether a student has reached or exceeded the relevant standard period of study or the maximum period of study. As set out in Section 8 of the Coronavirus Ordinance, any deadlines linked to the standard period of study will be extended by one semester for students enrolled in the summer semester of 2021. This also applies to cross-enrolled students and to students on leave of absence in that semester.
When assessing student academic progress, any constraints or issues that affect a student’s academic performance within the standard period of study will be taken into consideration.
The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.).
No. There will be no disadvantages regarding BAföG. For all students enrolled in the summer semester 2021, the standard period of study will be extended by a further semester beyond the winter semester 2020/2021 already covered, thus ensuring continued payment of BAföG.
Further information will be find here.
During the pandemic, the university is operating on the basis of its pandemic response plan. All important university activities and functions are either being conducted on site or by university staff working from home. For more details about the guidance and assistance provided by the various advisory services, please refer to the information on the Saarland University website:
You will also find information on the best way to get in touch with these services so that everyone stays safe.
The services of the Contact Point for Studying with Disability (KSB) are currently available to the students and the teachers via Microsoft Teams, Telephone and Emails instead of face-to-face consultations. Students can contact us to apply for the Compensation for Disadvantages as well as to borrow learning aids for hybrid and online lectures. We are here to support all students to receive accessible education and to prevent interferences in your studies due to inaccessibility. We request you to contact us soon if you think you might need to apply for compensation. If you are on campus and need a quiet room to rest or work, you can now request access to our ‘Diversity Room’ in the building E1 2.
- The latest updates and more information can be found on the KSB website.
- You can also contact your teacher or department to request appropriate accommodations or to discuss your learning needs.
Because of the infection prevention and control measures currently implemented, only a few student workspaces are available on the Saarbrücken campus. A small number of self-study work spaces are available in the central library building (SULB), which can be reserved no more than 24 hours in advance. Work spaces can be booked for a maximum of two hours, although a few work spaces can be booked for up to eight hours. For more information, please visit the SULB website.
SULB - Work spaces and technical equipment
Please try and arrange your study schedule so that your in-person and remote learning sessions are combined in a manageable way. As far as possible, please only come to campus when you need to attend an in-person teaching activity. Please also make use of the available digital learning resources, which allow you, for example, to view recordings of lectures at a time convenient to you.
Enrolment and re-registration
There are no special features regarding enrollment in the summer semester 2021.
Information on application and enrollment can be found here:
You will receive an IT account notification letter (Kennungsschreiben) containing your UdS ID code and the information you need to log in to the university’s IT systems. If you are enrolling at Saarland University for the first time, you can download your IT account notification letter as soon as you have completed the enrolment process. Please note that this does not apply to those degree programmes for which applications have to be submitted via the hochschulstart portal, i.e. medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, biology and psychology.
Downloading IT account notification letter
Applicants who already have a UdS ID code from an earlier programme of study will not see a notification letter in the SIM portal. In such cases, the document will need to be generated by the HIZ service desk (HIZ: Saarland University IT Centre).
In addition to the option of downloading the IT account notification letter, students enrolling for the first time at Saarland University will usually also be sent their IT account information together with their UdS Card by post (if their postal address is in Germany, France, Luxembourg or Switzerland).
Sources:
FAQ on application and enrolment procedures (compiled by the Central Student Advisory Service)
FAQ for international students (compiled by the Welcome Center / International Office)
The Central Student Advisory Service has created a webpage with the most important information for students starting to study at Saarland University:
Please note the information on the reduction of the semester fee for the summer semester 2021.
There are no others corona-related special features during re-registration.
Teaching activities / Online and digital teaching
- Start of the semester: 1 April 2021
- Courses start: 12 April 2021
- Courses end: 23 July 2021
- End of the semester: 30 September 2021
The courses offered in the summer semester of 2021 are listed in the online course catalogue (HIS-LSF portal):
Important:
- In summer semester 2021, all courses are generally held online
- For infection prevention and control reasons, you must register before taking part in an in-person teaching activity. Please register via the online course catalogue (HIS-LSF) unless students on your study programme have been told to use another method of registration.
Please refer to the online information provided for your programme of study.
Against the background of current developments in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the university management has decided that courses are generally held online during summer semester 2021.
Exceptions to this are practical skills classes which cannot be carried out in digital format. These include lab courses and practical workshop classes as well as practical classes in degree courses in the field of clinical medicine and smallest working groups (max. 10 participants). Exceptions to this rule further include introductory events and counselling services for first-year students.
Please make sure that you can be reached via the student e-mail address assigned by the UdS. Here you can find out how to set up a forwarding to a private e-mail address (sorry, only available in german):
As a precautionary measure during the current pandemic, you must register before taking part in any in-person teaching activities (see ‘How do I register for a course that is being taught in-person?’).
Please note: Courses are generally held online until during summer semester 2021.
It is compulsory to wear medical face coverings within the buildings as well as when participating in courses or exams at all locations of the university (with the exception of the presentation of a justified medical certificate). It is strongly recommended to wear medical face coverings in outdoor areas. In all areas where there is an increased gathering of people outside, including when entering and leaving the buildings and in waiting areas, the medical face coverings should be used. If possible, please come to the in-person teaching activity already tested negatively. Please preferentially use the municipal test offers for this purpose. Otherwise, you can also take advantage of testing opportunities at the University, for more information visit Corona-FAQ. All participants should wash their hands before entering the premises. Upon entering the UdS premises, you are required to register in the Staysio App. Please also remember to log out when leaving the room.
For information on what to do if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms and for information about all the other measures required to ensure compliance with the hygiene rules, please refer to the regularly updated FAQs that are published on the dedicated Saarland University coronavirus webpage.
Please register for an in-person teaching activity using the registration function in the online course catalogue (HIS-LSF portal).
For some courses, registration is not done via the HIS-LSF portal. In these cases, your programme coordinator will notify you about the registration procedure to be followed.
Instructions on how to register for a course in the online course catalogue (HIS-LSF portal) are available here:
Moodle is Saarland University’s central e-learning platform. For more information on Moodle, click the link below:
To take part in a live event in MS Teams or a video stream via MS Stream, you will need to sign in to Microsoft 365 using your university ID code (https://login.microsoftonline.com/) and then download MS Teams.
Your username is your student email address minus the ‘stud’ subdomain.
For example, a username would look like this: s8xxx@uni-saarland.de and not s8xxx@stud.uni-saarland.de.
Further information on using MS Teams (including useful links to other sites) can be found here:
If you have problems signing in, please report your problem to the staff at the IT Centre (HIZ) using the ticketing system.
Please have a look at the websites of your subject. There you will find networking opportunities such as regulars' tables, introductory events
etc.
Examinations and academic assessments
As a precautionary measure during the current pandemic, you must register before taking part in an in-person examination or assessment (see ‘How do I register for an in-person examination?’).
It is compulsory to wear medical face coverings within the buildings as well as when participating in courses or exams at all locations of the university (with the exception of the presentation of a justified medical certificate). It is strongly recommended to wear medical face coverings in outdoor areas. In all areas where there is an increased gathering of people outside, including when entering and leaving the buildings and in waiting areas, the medical face coverings should be used. If possible, please come to the examination already tested negatively. Please preferentially use the municipal test offers for this purpose. Otherwise, you can also take advantage of testing opportunities at the UdS, for more information visit Corona-FAQ. All participants should wash their hands before entering the premises. Upon entering the UdS premises, you are required to register in the Staysio App. Please also remember to log out when leaving the room.
For information on what to do if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms and for information about all the other measures required to ensure compliance with the hygiene rules, please refer to the regularly updated coronavirus FAQs.
The usual examination registration procedure for your degree programme applies. If registration for an examination has not always been compulsory, please contact your Examination Office to find out how the compulsory registration for in-person examinations, which is a preventive measure in the context of the current pandemic, is being handled.
No, you do not need to take the examination in person. As provided for in Section 3(4) of the Coronavirus Ordinance, a candidate may withdraw from an in-person examination even after the withdrawal deadline has passed, if they can demonstrate that they are particularly vulnerable to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.). If you have questions about special rules that apply during the coronavirus pandemic, please contact your programme coordinator.
In accordance with Section 6 of the Coronavirus Ordinance, no academic progress checks will be carried out for winter semester 2019/2020, summer semester 2020 , winter semester 2020/2021 and summer semester 2021. However, students may still receive notification of their academic progress for information purposes only.
The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.).
Yes, according to Section 3(2) of the Coronavirus Ordinance, completion times for individual written academic assessments, such as essays, term papers, Bachelor’s theses, Master's theses or theses in state-examined subjects shall be adjusted appropriately to reflect the challenging conditions that students have faced during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.).
No, you do not need to take the examination in person. As provided for in Section 3(4) of the Coronavirus Ordinance, a candidate may withdraw from an in-person examination even after the withdrawal deadline has passed, if they can demonstrate that they are particularly vulnerable to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.). If you have questions about special rules that apply during the coronavirus pandemic, please contact your programme coordinator.
Yes retakes are allowed. According to Section 7(1) of the Coronavirus Ordinance, if you took an examination or assessment for which the associated teaching activity was in the summer semester of 2020, the winter semester of 2020/2021, the summer semester 2021 or the examination or assessment was originally scheduled during the campus shutdown period (17 March 2020 until 4 May 2020) and you were awarded a fail grade, you may submit a request to the relevant examination board to have the examination or assessment reclassified as ‘not attempted’. The decision to grant the request rests with the examination board whose members will consider applications favourably whenever reasonable grounds exist. However, this does not apply to seminar papers or final-year theses.
Please note that Covid-19 disease in your social environment or the previous number of examination attempts is not decisive for the possibility to apply. The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.).
According to Section 7(2) of the Coronavirus Ordinance, if you took an examination or assessment for which the associated teaching activity was in the summer semester of 2020 , the winter semester of 2020/2021, the summer semester 2021 or the examination or assessment was originally scheduled during the campus shutdown period (17 March 2020 until 4 May 2020), you may retake the examination or assessment on one further occasion in order to improve the grade attained. In case of examinations or assessments associated with courses held in the summer semester of 2020 or that were originally scheduled during the campus shutdown period, examinations or assessments must be retaken by no later than the summer semester of 2021. In case of examinations or assessments associated with courses held in the winter semester of 2020/2021, examinations or assessments must be retaken by no later than the winter semester of 2021/2022. In case of examinations or assessments associated with courses held in summer semester 2021, examinations or assesments mus be retaken by no later than the summer semester2022.
Please note that Covid-19 disease in your social environment or the previous number of examination attempts is not decisive for the possibility to apply. The Coronavirus Ordinance does not apply to degree programmes that are governed by regional or national regulations (medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical science, law) nor to programmes that lead to the award of a Master of Laws qualification (LL.M.).
Rules and regulations governing on-campus activities
Please refer to the university’s coronavirus FAQs.
Please refer to the university’s coronavirus FAQs.
Please refer to the university’s coronavirus FAQs.
If you are due to take an in-person examination, you should contact the examinations office and your examiner without delay. If you have a teaching activity that you are required to attend in person, you must contact the course instructor. If you are not scheduled to take an in-person examination or to attend a mandatory in-person class during this period, no notification is required.
If you are unable to attend a mandatory in-person teaching activity or examination and if no alternative arrangements have been put in place (e.g. online examinations or remote teaching resources), your failure to attend will be treated similarly to absences due to illness. In such cases, the relevant supporting document is the email notification you received informing you that a case of coronavirus infection had occurred.
Please follow the instructions of the infection chain management
and the instructions of the "Gesundheitsamt".
If you are scheduled to take an in-person examination or to attend a mandatory in-person teaching activity during your period of self-isolation, please submit a doctor’s note at the earliest opportunity to the relevant examinations office and to the examiner, or to your course instructor.
Get well soon!
Quarantine restrictions can only be imposed by the local health authority.
In the event of a positive test result, university members who have tested positively for Corona virus will still be prohibited from entering university premises during the quarantine period or must leave the university premises immediately. All contact persons are advised to behave responsibly and limit their social contacts in the coming days.
For more details, please refer to the university’s coronavirus FAQs.
A coronavirus telephone hotline is available for students and university employees. For more information, please refer to the university’s coronavirus FAQs.
Rules for dealing with coronavirus infections
However, the university has the right to determine who may access university premises. In order to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases, the university has ruled that all persons who were present in the same room as an infected person may not enter university premises for the period provided for in the quarantine regulations in force at that time (currently 14 days or five days on submission of a negative test result).
For more details, please refer to the university’s coronavirus FAQs.
Other topics
Please visit the Welcome Center (International Office) webpage:
We have compiled detailed information for international students who will be studying at Saarland University, including the names and contact details of relevant members of staff and advisers.
If the Federal Foreign Office has issued a tourist travel warning for a particular country or region, the university strongly advises you not to travel to that country or region for study-related activities. However, it may well be reasonable to spend a study abroad period within the greater Saar-Lor-Lux region. If a tourist travel warning from the Federal Foreign Office is in place, careful and thorough preparation is essential before travelling to that country or region for study-related purposes. When planning a study trip abroad, please remember that health and safety must always be your priority.
The laws and regulations of the host country must also be observed at all times. In the event of an emergency while staying abroad, you should contact the relevant German diplomatic mission in the host country. If you are planning to spend an extended period abroad, please register with the elefand database maintained by the Federal Foreign Office (https://elefand.diplo.de/elefandextern/home/login!form.action).
Please take note of the following information:
- Entry restrictions for the host country and/or quarantine rules after entry
- Conditions/restrictions that apply when studying, working or staying at the host institution
- Letter from your insurance provider confirming that you have adequate health insurance, personal accident insurance and public liability insurance for the relevant region (we recommend taking out repatriation insurance covering transportation back to Germany in the event of illness or injury)
- - Availability of transport services for the outbound and return journeys (please note that the cost of travel may have increased); travel tickets should be purchased with a ticket cancellation and refund option
- The Federal Foreign Office has announced that it will not be organizing any further repatriation flights for German nationals abroad.
- Anyone returning to Saarland from a stay abroad must comply with Saarland’s health and quarantine regulations.
- Funding bodies such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will not be providing funding for study abroad trips to regions for which the Federal Foreign Office has issued a travel warning. If you are nevertheless currently planning a DAAD-funded study abroad period, please note that force majeure cannot be used as the basis for cost refund claims.
The University Sports offers students many opportunities to keep fit during the Corona pandemic. All offers and information can be found on the pages of the