School of Business and Economics

FAQs for master's students

Information for entering students and basic information

When does the lecture period begin and when does it end?

The lecture time varies every year as well as the lecture-free time. You can find the current dates and those of the next semesters under the semester dates and application deadlines on the university website.

How do I sign up for classes?

You do not have to register for most of the courses offered by the School of Business and Economics. The course catalogue on the alma-portal indicates whether and how you have to apply for the respective courses. The compulsory lectures are almost all without compulsory attendance, therefore you attend the course without having to prove your attendance or register for it. This may vary in the higher semesters, please refer to the respective information in the alma-portal or the information on the websites of the individual chairs.

In the module manual and on alma certain requirements for courses are specified. What exactly does this mean?

The requirements that you will find in the module handbook or on alma for a specific module or course are primarily meant to be a guide for students. No one will check whether you have passed certain exams. For example, the module "E424 Advanced Microeconomics" is a prerequisite for the module "E427 Globalization and Labor Markets". You can also take "E427 Globalization and Labor Markets" if you have not yet passed the examination for "E424 Advanced Microeconomics". However, you should be aware that certain contents from the module mentioned are helpful and will not be explained again. You may therefore have to be prepared to review any missing requirements during the semester.

Where can I find the lecture materials?

Each chair sets up a folder in Ilias (https://ovidius.uni-tuebingen.de). All relevant lecture materials will be placed there. Check this regularly to make sure you do not miss any information provided there. All information provided in ILIAS is considered to be public knowledge.

How do I get the password of the lecture folder in Ilias?

You will receive the password in the first lecture. If you cannot attend the first lecture, please ask your fellow students for the password. During the corona period it is sometimes possible to join the courses on ILIAS without a password. Sometimes the ILIAS passwords are published in the course catalog on alma (--> Course offerings --> Show course catalog), sometimes you can find the passwords on the pages of the chairs.

Exams

I am studying in a Master's program with 90 ECTS credits, but have only completed 180 ECTS credits in the Bachelor's program, how can I earn the additional 30 ECTS credits?

According to the Bologna Rules, students must complete a total of 300 ECTS credits from their Bachelor's and Master's programs. If you have completed a Bachelor's programme with 180 ECTS credits and are now enrolled in a Master's program with 90 ECTS credits, you must complete 30 additional ECTS credits by the time you close your credit point account. These 30 additional ECTS credits are neither included in the B.Sc. grade nor in the M.Sc. grade, i.e. they only have to be completed.

There are various options for the additional 30 ECTS credits:

  • modules in economics or business administration from the third B.Sc. year (number begins with 300, e.g. B351 Tax Accounting)
  • courses and modules listed in the module handbook for extra-curricular events
    • advanced language courses (at the Language Learning Centre or at the Faculty of Humanities) that go beyond the mandatory part of your B.Sc. studies
    • extra-curricular courses (e.g. psychology, mathematics, computer science, law or sociology) according to the module handbook for extra-curricular courses
  • master modules in economics and business administration, i.e. you can select additional courses from the course programme of the Master programs.

How do I sign up for exams?

You can register for the exams during the registration phase via the alma portal. To do this, please look under the tab "Exam administration / Examination registration and deregistration". Now you can select the respective modules of your course of studies and register the corresponding event. You can also cancel your registration for the examination during the entire registration phase. You will then no longer be able to unsubscribe afterwards, nor will you be able to register for an exam. For the registration of your language courses, please contact your lecturer; this also applies to extra-curricular courses in the field of Elective Studies (computer science, psychology, maths, ...). If you receive a certificate ("Schein") for your examination performance, please bring it to the Examination Office (submit original and copy). Please note the separate registration periods for the main and follow-up dates. If you have any questions, please contact the Examination Office at Haußerstrasse 11.

If you are not enrolled in a major or minor degree programme in the School of Business and Economics, participation in examinations is only possible for students of certain courses of study in the context of the neighbouring programme ("Nachbarfach"). You can download the relevant information sheet here. The registration for the examination is done in a written form at the examination office during the same registration period.

Have you registered for an exam and are now unable to participate?

Cancellation via alma is possible until a certain deadline that You can find here. If you become sick, you can withdraw from the exam within three working days after the exam. To do this, you write an enquiry to the chairman of the examination board and enclose a medical certificate. If the reason is acknowledged, you will not get an unsuccessful attempt for the exam!

What's relevant to the exam?

In principle, everything that was covered in a lecture and/or exercise is relevant to the written exam. Any deviating regulations will be announced by the lecturer.

Where can I find the exam dates and locations?

You will find the examination dates from around mid-November or mid-May on the website of the Examination Office.The lecture theatres in which the examinations take place will be announced by the examination office on the homepage mentioned a few days before the corresponding exam. Please note that the allocation is by surname, i.e. not all students write the same exam in the same lecture hall.

Which aids are permitted for the exams?

A non-programmable calculator is admitted to all examinations in the first semester. Details (details of the calculator and whether further aids are permitted) will be explicitly announced by the lecturer in the individual lectures.

Can I use a dictionary in the exams?

You may use a dictionary in the exam. The dictionary may not contain any notes or remarks.
 

How often can I write an exam?

You can find information on how often you may rewrite an exam if you fail it in the general section of the study and examination regulations which can be downloaded here. Once you have passed an exam, you will not be able to take the same exam again. 

How and when do I get to know my exam results?

The examination results for main subject students are posted on alma after correction by the examination office. They are also published by the Examination Office.

When does the post-exam review take place?

Each chair/research unit organises the post-exam review itself. Please inform yourself on the homepages of the chairs/research units. After correction, the dates will also be published at the examination office at https://uni-tuebingen.de/de/129171.

Who should I contact regarding further questions concerning the exams?

Please contact the Examination Office directly if you have any further questions concerning the organisation of the examinations. You will find the contact details of your contacts here. If you have any questions regarding the content of the courses, please contact the responsible persons at the respective chair.

Application for switching courses of study, studying two courses of study simultanously

Entering an advanced semester in a master's program

There are general admission restrictions for the advanced semesters in the following Master's programs:

  • M.Sc. Accounting and Finance
  • M.Sc. Data Science in Business and Economics
  • M.Sc. Economics and Finance
  • M.Sc. International Business
  • M.Sc. General Management
  • M.Sc. Management and Economics

Currently, applications are possible for both the summer term (deadline January 15) and the winter term (deadline July 15). Prerequisites for the admission to an advanced semester are a professional qualification from the field of business and economics graded “good” (2.5 or better), a minimum number of recognized credits from the field economics and business, and a free study place in the corresponding semester.

Please contact us via masterspam prevention@wiwi.uni-tuebingen.de about getting your credits from previous coursework recognized. For this purpose, you should enclose a current transcript with your previous academic achievements. Information on how to apply for admission to an advanced semester can be found in the their section about admission to an advanced semester.

Admission to an advanced semester of the other Master programs is free. However, an application form has to be submitted. The deadline for advanced semesters in admission free Master programs is March 15 or September 15. Prerequisite for entering an advanced semester are a first professionally qualified degree in economics or business administration graded "good" (=2.5 or better) and a minimum number of recognized academic achievements in economics or business administration so that you can be placed in an advanced semester. For double-degree programs, the course of study usually does not allow you to enter an advanced semester.

Please check with us at masterspam prevention@wiwi.uni-tuebingen.de for information on the classification and recognition of your previous academic achievements. You can find further information on how to enter an advanced semester here.

I would like to enrol and need a certificate of academic counselling in order to do so. How do I proceed?

You will find the form you need to register on this page. We will be happy to advise you and issue the form for you during our office hours. If you need the form very urgently for enrolment and cannot reach someone in our office immediately, you can extend the deadline for enrolment at the Student Administration (in person during opening hours or by telephone). We will then be able to advise you on the next possible date.

- Which courses can be transferred if I want to apply for a higher semester in another program in business and economics?

You can transfer everything that is creditable both in your original program and in the program You wish to transfer to. You will find information on the study plans in the module handbook (see our download section). We'll be happy to advise You.

Can I be enrolled in two programs in business and economics at the same time?

No, you can only be enrolled in one program in business and economics at the same time.

studying abroad

What possibilities are there to complete a semester abroad and where can I get information about the application procedure, the options and formalities?

In order to complete a semester abroad, it is important that you have enough time for planning. The application deadlines for the individual Erasmus (EU) and overseas programmes vary considerably and often require the relevant documents more than one year before the start of the semester abroad.
For more information on how to apply and the deadlines, see the links below.

studying abroad within a master's program

Erasmus

International Office

I am returning from abroad and would like to have my courses credited, how do I proceed?

After an exciting semester abroad, it is now important to have the courses taken credited by the University of Tübingen. There are some formalities to be observed. A total of 30 ECTS credits can be credited in the Master's program . The crediting is carried out by the respective chairs. Since crediting usually has to be carried out at several chairs one after the other and takes some time to process, you should allow sufficient time for crediting and do this as early as possible after your return from the semester abroad.

The following steps must be observed when crediting courses:

  1. Yellow routing slip: The Examination Office is responsible for the final crediting and registration of the courses in your Transcript of Records. All courses have to be entered on a yellow routing slip which can be obtained from the service office of the Examination Office.
  2. On the respective homepages of the chairs you will usually find a concrete list of which documents are required for crediting. This can vary for the different chairs.
  3. You will find the grade conversion table and the information sheet for the recognition of foreign academic achievements on the Homepage of the Examination Office.

I'm leaving early for my semester abroad and can't participate in the Tübingen exams. What can I do?

I am going abroad early and cannot take the exams here. What can I do? The semester times in most countries differ significantly from the German semester times. Therefore, starting your semester abroad before the exam period, e.g. already at the end of July/beginning of August, may mean that you are no longer in Germany for the exams of the pre-semester. When planning the - in this example summer semester - you can already make sure that you choose courses where either no final exam is required but e.g. a term paper or you look for courses that take place in a blocked form and where the exam dates are thus earlier in the semester. The academic advisory service will be happy to assist you in finding suitable courses.

It may also be necessary for you to write the exam abroad. You can find the requirements and the application form here: https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/122572#c661045 (Application for remote exam).

Internships, internship certificates and leave semester

I need a certificate for my internship in order to apply for a semester break, how do I get the form?

On our website you will find the certificate for the internship under this link. If you complete this certificate and send it to us, we will gladly send it back to you scanned. If required, you can also pick up the original document from us at Nauklerstrasse 47 or we will send it back to you by post. (In this case, of course, we still need your address).

Questions on graduating

Can I complete more ECTS credits than my degree program requires?

In each program offered by the School of Business and Economics, students can earn 30 ECTS credits more than the number of points they are required to earn in their program. For example, students studying in the M.Sc. Economics can earn up to 150 ECTS credits. Of course, only the 120 ECTS credits that are required for the study program will be credited. The additional credits are listed on the transcript under voluntary additional credits with a grade, but are not included in the final grade. When closing the credit point account (form on the Examination Office's website), the students decide which credits are to be credited and which are to be counted as voluntary credits. Of course, the compulsory modules have to be credited and you have to keep to the sum of the required ECTS points in the specialization areas and elective areas.

How do I apply for a Master's thesis?

The School of Business and Economics has decided to introduce a new mechanism of registering your interest in writing a master thesis in order to facilitate the process for you. We ask every student who plans to start on their thesis in the next semester via e-mail to fill out a short survey listing which modules they have already taken, their grades and the work unit (Lehrstuhl) they would like to be supervised by (you need to provide 5 different priorities). The survey will usually start in December for the summer term and in June for the winter term. After the application deadline we will pass on a list of all students who listed a specific work unit as their first priority to that work unit. Should they not be able to supervise all of them they will inform us of who they cannot supervise (possibly after speaking with you first) which means that we will then get in touch with those students’ other priorities.

We can make the following promises if you fill out this survey correctly, have earned a minimum of 30 ECTS in your M.Sc. degree and upload your transcripts:

1.    You will be made an offer of supervision at the end of this process by one of your priorities.
2.    The work unit you listed as first priority will receive your application first.
3.    We will keep you informed about the status of your application.
4.    All of your information is confidential and only used to facilitate the registration process for the Master Thesis. Only the conductor of the survey and the academic staff with have access to your information to process your application.

I was assigned to a work unit for thesis supervision! How do I register the thesis?

After you have applied and been assigned to a work unit for M.Sc. thesis supervision, your next step should be to discuss the timeline and process for writing your thesis with your supervisor. Once you have agreed on these questions, you may register at the examination office with this form (Formular).The examination office verifies your admission requirements (regular matriculation, required minimum number of credits). After your admission requirements are verified, you will receive an approval document signed by the head of the examination board. The handling time for the process at the examination office is approximately one or two weeks. After having received the approval document by the examination office, you have one month to start writing your thesis. Please pay attention to the dates on the approval document!

Can i write my Master thesis in cooperation with a company?

Yes, at many chairs a master thesis in cooperation with a company is possible. However, there are a number of special considerations to be taken into account. We have compiled some notes as well as an overview of the chairs where such a cooperation with a company is possible on this information sheet. Please clarify details with the respective chairs.

Do I still have to be enrolled for the Master's thesis?

You must be enrolled for the registration to the Master's thesis, also for the submission. In the event that you do not pass the Master's thesis, you will also have to be enrolled.

Your studies are drawing to a close: the last exam will soon be written, the final thesis submitted - what now?

Here, you'll find all the information on completing your studies.