Frequently asked questions about the organisation of the geoecology courses

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A

Stay abroad

Schritt 1: Expression of interest:
Interested students contact the Erasmus representative (currently Dr. Christophe Neff) and find out about the current framework conditions and partner study programmes. You can participate in the information event of the International Students Office (IStO), which takes place once a month.

Step 2: Application:
By 20 December, students must submit their written application to the Erasmus coordinator, including a letter of motivation, proof of previous achievements, a draft Learning Agreement and, if applicable, language certificates. At the same time (as of WS 2019/2020), they must fill in the general application forms available on the IStO website. After selection by the subject coordinator, the coordinator will forward your application to the IStO. The subject coordinator will inform you of the current status. After a successful application, you will receive further administrative support from IStO. The subject coordinator remains the contact person for technical matters, such as changes to the Learning Agreement during the stay abroad.

Step 3: Recognition:
Recognition of the studies abroad is carried out by the Erasmus coordinator on the basis of the Learning Agreement.

E

Examiner: Who can give me grades or otherwise evaluate performance?

The "Prüfungserlaubnis" is transferred by the examination board. Teachers of the course of studies are eligible for this, if they have acquired a scientific qualification relevant to the respective examination (at least at B.Sc. level for the Bachelor's degree, at least at M.Sc. or Diplom level for the Master's degree). For other "examiners" an exception must be applied for at the examination board. Special rules apply to final theses (see Degree thesis ' Who can supervise me).

Examination board

The examination board Geoecology (for the Bachelor and Master Geoecology) consists of five voting members: three university professors, two academic staff and one student in an advisory capacity. Applications to the examination committee must be printed out, signed and submitted to the secretary Mr. Neff in time. In urgent matters the chairman of the examination committee decides. The committee meets once or twice per semester. Disclaimer

 I

Internship: General procedure

The internship lasts at least six weeks. These six weeks apply to full-time employment. The procedure is as follows: (1.) You look for a suitable internship position outside the university (e.g. in the private sector, in government agencies or in research institutions that are not affiliated with a university - the point is, after all, to think outside the box), (2.) you look for a supervisor at the internship site, (3.) agree on the contents of the internship with the supervisor and the IfGG internship officer (currently F. Faßnacht). The contents must convey an impression of practical professional activity in geoecology. (4.) You record the contents in writing in a training agreement. There is a form for this at Downloads. (5.) Upon completion of the internship, you will prepare a short internship report indicating the nature and time scope of the activities. This report must be countersigned by the internship institution. (7.) The report is handed in to the internship officer of the IfGG.
Below are some frequently asked questions about the professional internship. Please read them carefully. If you have any further questions, please contact F. Faßnacht.

Internship: When should I register for the vocational internship in the campus system?

Registration for the internship is relatively flexible, as the exam is offered every semester. I.e. you can register for the exam both before the internship begins and after it has ended. It is important that you inform the internship officer in which semester you are registered for the examination when you hand in the internship certificates (internship agreement and internship report) in order to enable a quick assignment of the achievements.

Internship: When should I hand in the internship agreement?

The internship agreement can be handed in immediately after the internship employer has signed it or, alternatively, together with the report on the professional internship after the internship has been completed.

Internship: When should I hand in the professional internship report / Is there a deadline?

There is no fixed deadline for the submission of the internship report. The date on which the report was handed in is entered as the examination date. Note that acccording to examination regulations, the last exam in the degree programme should be graded. This means that you should plan to participate in at least one graded course (or other assignment) after completing the internship. There is no fixed deadline for the submission of the report on the internship.

Internship: Where can I find templates for the internship agreement and the internship report?

Templates for the internship agreement and internship report can be found on the IfGG homepage under Downloads.

Internship: How detailed must the description of activities be in the internship agreement?

The field "Description of activities" in the internship agreement is intended to give a very brief overview of the planned activities in the internship. Keywords are sufficient.

Internship: What should the internship report contain?

The internship report is relatively self-explanatory due to the template (found at downloads). Generally, care should be taken to ensure that the internship description is sufficiently detailed so that other students can get some idea of what to expect from the internship provider should they decide to complete their internship there as well.

Internship: I would like to do my professional internship abroad. Is this possible and what do I need for it?

An internship abroad is possible and in principle follows exactly the same procedure as an internship in Germany. In some cases, it may be necessary to have an internship agreement or cover letter in English. In this case, you can contact the internship officer of the IfGG (currently F. Faßnacht).

Internship: Can I have my external HiWi job credited as an internship?

In principle, it is possible to have HiWi jobs credited as internships if the number of hours required for the internship (240 h) can be proven in a more or less continuous period of time (it is not necessary that the hours were completed within the specified six weeks, but only that the Hiwi contract ran long enough for the total number of hours to be accumulated). The HiWi job must be at an institution outside KIT. In some cases, it can make sense to have HiWi jobs credited as internships, but in general it is advisable not to miss the chance to get an additional "sneak peek" at a potential future employer.

Internship: Which internships are recognised? Are there any specific requirements?

As indicated above, the internship should be able to give an impression of professional practice in geoecology. However, this definition is relatively broad and the main goal of the internship is to give you a chance to get an insight into a working environment in which you could imagine working later on. Since individual interests vary widely and geoecology is a broad subject, many internship positions can theoretically be considered and many positions are accepted. If you are not sure, you are welcome to ask the IfGG internship officer (currently F. Faßnacht). Generally not recommended are internships in which you are only confronted with monotonous work processes (e.g. planting trees abroad - this is certainly a nice experience but at the same time rather not a realistic future occupation).

K

Key qualifications - What are they and how can I get them recognised for my studies?

Key qualifications include skills that are not subject-specific but are relevant to the profession. Examples of content include social skills, time management, learning and writing techniques, programming and software skills, foreign languages, presentation or rhetoric. The chosen courses are suitable to support a future professional activity. Key qualifications are offered at KIT by the House of Competence (HoC), the Language Center (SPZ), and the Steinbuch Center of Computing (SCC), among others. The courses offered there under the label key qualifications are generally recognized as such. In other cases, please contact the examination office (Mr. Neff) in writing (not by email) before the start of the respective course to clarify the suitability of the course. Enclose a description of the contents (e.g. from an annotated course catalogue).

M

Master: Start in advance - How does it work?

This option allows a smooth transition from Bachelor to Master. It is open to students of the Bachelor of Geoecology who are at least in their 5th semester and who can prove that they have at least 120 LP according to the grade sheet. A maximum of 30 LP per semester can be included.

Applications are addressed to the examination board and submitted in writing to the Examination Office (Mr. Neff), stating the individual courses you would like to attend. Courses from "Fachbezogene Ergänzungen" can be included while courses from "Vertiefung Geoökologie" and "Methoden der Umweltforschung" are excluded. After approval, registration via the study portal is possible from SPO 2015 onwards.

An approved application does not entitle the student to a master study place!

MINT - How can I integrate MINT events into my studies?

MINT stands for mathematics, information technology, science and technology. According to the study and examination regulations, students of the Bachelor Geoecology have access to courses of the MINT-Kolleg at KIT up to and including the 3rd semester.

When participating in the MINT-Kolleg, up to two semesters are added to the standard period of study under certain conditions. This means that the orientation examination can be shifted accordingly. Prerequisite for the recognition of a semester is that at least two courses of the MINT-Kolleg (total workload 10 SWS) have been attended and that at least 80% of the attendance has been proven. The MINT-Kolleg issues a certificate of attendance.

 O

Orientation examination

The so-called orientation examination in the Bachelor Geoecology includes the three module examinations in G1 Mathematics 1, F1 Climatology and M1 Scientific Work in Geoecology 1.

The orientation examination, including possible repetitions, must be completed by the end of the examination period of the 3rd semester, otherwise the right to be examined is lost. A second repetition of the orientation examination is excluded. An extension of the period of the orientation examination can be achieved by a "qualified" attendance at the MINT-Kolleg (see MINT).

 Q

Qualification goals

Where does the B.Sc./M.Sc. program take me? You can read about it here.

 R

Recognition of achievements

Achievements within and outside the course of study can be recognised. The application for recognition must be submitted within one semester after admission to the course of study. Submissions go to the examination board or to the course coordinator.
In order to evaluate whether the external performance can be recognised, the subject examiners and possibly those responsible for the module are involved in the decision. For recognition, the student must identify equivalent achievements in the curriculum. The student enters these credits in a form and makes an appointment with the respective subject examiners or module responsibles. They can confirm that the achievements are equivalent. The examination board then issues the binding recognition.
The recognition of achievements outside the university system is carried out with the corresponding recognition form of the Bachelor examination board (http://www.ifgg.kit.edu/downloads/Anmeldeformular.pdf). Recognition is possible if the acquired competences contribute to achieving the qualification goals of the programme.
The examination board examines to what extent the knowledge and skills acquired can be recognised and which parts of the university course can be replaced by this. A maximum of 50% of the university studies may be replaced.

S

Supervisor

s. Thesis: Who can supervise me

T

Thesis: How to choose a topic?

You can choose one of the offered topics or suggest one yourself. This page offers suggestions.

Thesis: Who can supervise me?

Theses (B.Sc. and M.Sc. Geoecology) are evaluated by two people ("examiners"). One of the two will supervise you and assign the topic. The choice of examiners is reviewed after registration. In any case, a university lecturer must be part of the evaluation team. University lecturers are professors, junior professors and senior scientists (the latter on Campus North or Campus Alpine). Possible combinations of examiners are shown in the table below. It also shows in which cases an application to the examination board is required. It is always a good idea to discuss the selection of examiners with the academic advisor (F. Hogewind). 

For master theses:

Thesis: How do I register?

In the Download area there is an IfGG registration form which your examiners will fill in and sign in agreement with you. You or your supervisor will hand in the completed and signed registration form to the IfGG1 secretariat (Ms Kajtazi-Zizmann). In the campus management system an individual subtest will then be created with the title of your thesis (you will be notified by email). You will then have to register in the campus management system for the subtest.

Thesis: What do I hand in?

The work will be handed in three copies to the secretariat IfGG1 (Ms Kajtazi-Zizmann). An electronic version (pdf) must be attached.

Thesis: lecture

It is no longer necessary to present your work in the form of a lecture. However, it is possible to present the research upon invitation in the Vortragsreihe Lehre of the IfGG. For further information please contact F. Faßnacht.

Disclaimer

The statements made here are not legally binding. Only the Studien- und Prüfungsordnungen are legally binding.

Student Guidance
Dr. Florian Hogewind
Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00 and by appointment.
During the semester break office hours by appointment only.

Tel. +49 (0)721 - 608-47849
florian.hogewind∂kit.edu
Building 10.50, Room 703.2