Frequently asked questions

One faculty becomes two: After an intensive discussion process, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities has decided to restructure itself in the form of two faculties – the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies. This reorganisation was formally decided in 2022. The two new faculties officially started operation on 1st April 2023.

We expect the reorganisation to bring about greater flexibility, a clearer profile and more dynamic interlinkages within the University. In other words, the two new faculties will be smaller but more agile – and therefore stronger. This overall enhanced agility is seen as crucial for the future contributions of the subject areas to the strategic development of the University in terms of research, teaching and transfer.

Following the adoption of the initial resolutions by the Extended University Executive and the University Council, a faculty working group carefully deliberated on the reorganisation. All status groups, including student representatives, were included in this working group. The proposal that emerged in this way successfully completed the committee run last year and is now being implemented.

The University has essentially financed this process from its own resources. This required the establishment of an additional Dean's Office, which the State Ministry of Science and the Arts supported by establishing additional staff positions.

On 15 December 2021, the University Council unanimously decided on the future structure of the previous Faculty of Humanities as two faculties, one with an educational and social-science focus, the other with a humanities and cultural-studies focus – thus following the resolution of the Faculty of Humanities of 14 July 2021. In the first half of 2022, a detailed proposal for the reorganisation was elaborated with the involvement of all status groups, which then passed through the governing bodies and reached the decisive milestone with the amendment of the University's constitution by the University Council on 22 June 2022. Formally, the new structure has been in effect since October 2022. The actual implementation will begin at the start of summer semester 2023, almost exactly two years after the original faculty decision.

There will be no new faculty building, nor will the library locations change. Nevertheless, it is part of university life that people or areas can be reassigned from time to time and so have to relocate to new offices. It cannot be ruled out that a small number of such changes will take place. In any event, you can rest assured that any changed contact details, such as addresses, room and telephone numbers, are always displayed on our website.

In principle, students exercise their voting right within the faculty that administers their degree programme. Your existing faculty affiliation is printed on your enrolment certificate, which you can view from the University's Campus Portal. In addition, all students will receive an election notification via Stud.IP in May (in the second half of the month before the electoral roll is published) – you can also see your current faculty affiliation there. The electoral roll will be put on display on 2nd, 5th and 6th June 2023 at the Elections Office (room N12 117, Nikolastrasse 12) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Students who study in several faculties usually choose at the time of enrolment which of the faculties they wish to exercise their membership rights in. Unless you explicitly decide otherwise when enrolling, the assignment to a faculty is made according to the first subject of your (first) degree programme. If, for example, your first subject in the teacher education programme is mathematics, you would therefore be eligible to vote (and be elected) at the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics.

This is important for teacher education students who study at more than one faculty: Any change of subject made before the electoral roll closes (on 7 June 2023) may affect your existing assignment to a faculty. And: You can apply to the Elections Office to have your existing faculty affiliation changed by the electoral roll closing date, 7 June 2023.

The reorganisation as two faculties is primarily intended to make the structures clearer and procedures more efficient for academic and support staff. More homogeneous units can make cooperation in teaching, research and administration more efficient and transparent overall, which – we expect – will also have a positive impact on your studies and supervision. In your everyday student life you will notice that some structures have been duplicated: for example, there will be two Dean's Offices and two student committees in future. Similarly, both faculties will have their own representation in the various governing bodies of the University.

Your faculty affiliation is automatically derived from your degree programme.

In the future, the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences will administer the educational science and psychology subjects as well as the social-science-oriented subjects:

• B.A. Governance and Public Policy
• B.A. Journalism and Strategic Communication
• B.A. Geography / Sustainability (planned)
• B.Ed. Secondary Education
• M.A. Teaching and Learning Processes
• M.A. Development Studies
• M.A. Geography: Culture, Environment and Tourism
• M.A. Governance and Public Policy
• M.A. Communication in Digital Societies
• M.A. Sustainability (planned)
• All four teacher education programmes (primary school and secondary school).

The following degree programmes will be administered by the Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies in the future:

• B.A. European Studies
• B.A. European Studies Major
• B.A. Historical Sciences
• M.A. International Cultural and Business Studies
• B.A. Media and Communication
• B.A. Language and Text Sciences
• M.A. Caritas Science and Values-based Management
• M.A. European Studies
• M.A. Historical Sciences / M.A. History and the Public Sphere
• M.A. International Cultural and Business Studies
• M.A. Semiotics of Texts and Culture

By and large this will not affect you, since the other faculties are not being reorganised. However, if you are attending courses offered by one of the two new faculties, you will see the new faculty designations in the course catalogue in Stud.IP. For example, under the heading "Study areas" you can see which faculty is now administering the course. This will not have any direct impact on the content of your studies.

The programme coordination team will not be split up and will continue to coordinate the programmes of both faculties. Their duties with regard to the study programmes will remain unchanged.

What is for certain is that every faculty will hold a graduation ceremony, just like today. The constellation in which these will take place is still being decided. We will keep you posted as we update these FAQs from time to time.

The degree certificates will bear the name of the respective new faculty as of 1 October 2023. Degree certificates issued during summer semester 2023 will still show the name of the former Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

Your faculty is always the one that officially administers your degree programme.

Yes, each faculty will have its own student committee. However, since the committee members have to be elected by our students first, the current Fachschaft Philo team will be providing its services to students from both faculties for the initial period. After the university election on 5 July 2023, there will be two elected student representative bodies, which will take office in winter semester 2023–24.

Your contact persons will largely be the same as before the reorganisation. Depending on your exact question, you can contact the programme coordinators, the Academic Advice Service, the programme advisers, the Examinations Office or the Student Committee. Visit our service page for a rundown of key contact points for all matters related to your studies.

As before, students who are studying degree programmes administered by two different faculties are assigned to both faculties. If you have any questions about your studying for two programmes, the Academic Advice Service will be happy to help.

For the Examinations Office Team (centrally organised examinations) and the examiners at the chairs and professorships (non-centrally organised examinations), the changeover to two faculties will bring about new or changed procedures and responsibilities with regard to exam organisation and other areas. These are currently being worked on in the background. We do not expect that any additional effort will be required of students when it comes to exam organisation.

You can also find up-to-date information about the examinations on the Examinations Office website.

Our Erasmus partnerships will continue as before. Existing exchange programmes of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities will be assigned to both faculties in the future; programme-specific exchange programmes will be assigned to the faculty administering the respective programme. Are you interested in studying or working abroad? Find out more about on the International Office website.

You can continue studying for your doctoral degree in accordance with the provisions of the 2013 doctoral degree regulation. You will be assigned to the faculty to which your supervisor is assigned. Upon request and with the approval of your supervisor, you can switch to the subject-specific doctoral regulation of the corresponding faculty if you meet the requirements. Please contact your faculty's Dean's Office. The subject-specific doctoral regulations of both new faculties have already been adopted and can be viewed online.

The subject-specific doctoral degree regulations of both new faculties came into force on 1 April 2023 and can be viewed online. You will continue your doctoral study according to the provisions of the subject-specific doctoral regulation that applies to you. You will be assigned to your supervisor's faculty and will be informed separately of this.

You will continue to work towards your habilitation at the faculty to which the chairperson of your thesis committee is assigned. The previous habilitation regulation will continue to apply until further notice. The habilitation regulations of the two new faculties will not be adopted by the governing bodies until summer semester 2023.