Frequently Asked Questions about the Cognitive Systems Study and Examination Regulations
The general provisions 2022 and the general provisions 2017 and the subject-specific examination regulations for the MSc Cognitive Systems 2017 define important rules about your studies. We expect that you familiarise yourself with the study regulations, but for your conveniance, we summarise some important rules in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) here.
General Questions
Losing the right to examination means that you permanently loose the right to study for any degree programme that is deemed similar to Cognitive Systems in all German universities. In order to not loose the right to examination "by accident'' (not knowing the rules), it is so important that you familiarise yourself with the examination regulations.
Since the general provisions 2022 (§24) this is indeed possible. For (compulsary) elective areas, the best graded modules count up to the required minimum number of credit points for the area. In particular that means that an early "bad" exam grade cannot be compensated with one of the grades that you did obtain once the required number of credits was reached (extra credits for the area).
Important Deadlines
You have to complete your studies by the beginning of the examination period of your 7th semester (usually that is early February). If you fail to do so, you lose your right to examination (see first point).
Remark: Due to the Corona pandemic all deadines were extended by two semesters for students who were enrolled in the MSc Cognitive Systems in both summer term 2020 and winter term 2020/2021 and for one semester for students who enrolled into the programme in winter term 2020/2021.
Deadlines defined by the rules might be extended (e.g., when you suffer a long-term illness, have certain disabilities, provide child-care or care for elderly relatives). Such exceptions have to be granted by the subject-specific examination board before any deadlines are violated and sufficient proof, e.g., in the form of medical certificates, are to be provided. See the exam board web pages for further details.
If you want to use study achievements that you obtained outside of the MSc Cognitive Systems study programme within your MSc Cognitive Systems study programme, you need to apply to the the subject-specific examination board for recognition of such study achievements within the first semester after starting your studies or within the first semester after obtaining the study achievements (e.g., when for a stay abroad).
Remark: You can not use study achievements that were required as entry requierements for the MSc Cognitive Systems (e.g., from your BSc in Computer Science).
Requirements for Exams or Courses
While the first-semester courses do not need a registraton, some courses in the later semester do require a pre-registration. We will inform you about this before the registration deadline.
Yes, you need to register at the latest five days before the exam via our Campus Management System.
Yes, you can de-register for a written exam in our Campus Management System up to one day before the exam day. After that deadline, you need to present an official sick note to the office of the registrars. Please note that de-registering for an oral exam needs to be done by contacting the exminer and the office of the registrars.
You need to get a medical certificate on or before the day of the exam, stating that you are unable to take the exam. There is an official form for the certificate and this certificate is to be handed-in to the registrar's office. It could be useful to print some forms beforehand, so that you have a copy ready when needed. The exminer enters a "not passed" grade, which is then annotated with a "withdrawal with attestation" (in German: Rücktritt mit Attest - RAT).
Yes, exams can be repeated twice (MSc thesis only once).
For a mandatory module, you loose your right to examination (see first point for an explanation of what that means). For an elective module, you can try another module. Only if no further modules can be chosen you loose your right to examination.
Well, there are several aspects to this. The subject-specific examination board provides plagiarism guidelines, where this is addressed in detail.
Even if you have enough credits in the Special or Applied Subject, your degree is incomplete if all the credits are within one area. You will need to take at least one course from a second area to finish your studies.
MSc Thesis
You have to register your MSc thesis no later than three months after taking the last module examination. If you fail to do so, your master’s thesis is graded as not passed in the first attempt.
Before you can register your MSc thesis, you have to pass all courses in the basic and in the interdisciplinary subject and you need at least 60 credit points.
Yes. One examiner, however, has to be from the current list of examiners for Cognitive Systems. Any examiner not on the list needs to be approved by the subject-specific examination board before you can register the thesis.
Please check the website of the subject-specific examination board for extension reasons and for the procedure.
You can return your topic once within the first month of registering your thesis. You then need to register another thesis within six weeks. Contact the registrar's office for this (and your thesis supervisor).
You can repeat the MSc thesis module once. If you also fail the second attempt, you loose your right to examination (see first point for what that means).
There is no prescribed format, but the general exam regulations require that your submission includes a declaration that the work was undertaken by you and that other sources are cited appropriately. For the exact wording, please refer to the general regulations §16c (10). For your conveniance, the university offers, however, Word and Latex templates that you may use (accassible from within the university network). Zou maz also ask your examiner whether he or she has a preference for a certain template.