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FAQ for Bachelor's and Master's Degree Courses

Here you will find answers to frequently asked questions about the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes of Faculties 07 and 08. Information on doctoral studies can be found in the ‘Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.)’ section of this website.

Affidavit - Appeals - Appointments - Artificial Intelligence - BAFöG - Collection Times - Compulsory Elective Modules - Credit Recognition - Definitive Failure - Digitalisation - Disadvantages, Adjustments for - Doctor's Notice - Doctoral Matters - Documents - Duplicate Copies - ECTS Conversion Tables - Elective Modules (Faculty 02) - Examination Board - Exams (Deregistration) - Exams (Withdrawal) - Exmatriculation - Email Enquiries - FlexNow - General Regulations - Grade Lists (Lecturers) - Leaving Certificate (Collection) - Leaving Certificate (Issuing) - Legal Certifications - Letterboxes - Missing Examination Requirements - Placement in Higher Semesters - Provisional certificates - Responsibilities - Specific Regulations - Stays Abroad - Thesis (B.Sc., M.Sc.) - Thesis Extension - Transcripts of Records

Adjustments for Disadvantages

  • If, due to a long-term or permanent physical or mental impairment, an examination cannot be taken in the prescribed form, it is possible to apply for adjustments to compensate for this disadvantage.
  • The application must be submitted informally to the relevant examination board (the chairperson) and must include the following:
    • The reasons for the application and as detailed a description as possible of the desired accommodation. Please be as specific as possible (information).
    • A medical certificate from a specialist and/or a psychological assessment and/or a copy of your disability card; the supporting documentation should refer to the desired accommodation and justify it. You and your treating doctors are best placed to assess which forms of assistance are appropriate and which you will be able to make good use of (information).
  • Further information on adjustments can be found on the corresponding website of JLU.

Affidavit

  • Please use this affidavit to include in your Bachelor's or Master's thesis.

Appeals

  • You may lodge an appeal against a decision issued by the Natural Sciences Examination Office or the Examination Board – for example, regarding the final failure of a module – within the time limit specified in the notice of appeal; further details are set out in Sections 68 et seq. of the Administrative Court Regulations.
  • Submit your reasoned appeal in writing by post to the chair of your Examination Board via the Examination Office. Further options for submitting an appeal are set out in Section 70 of the Administrative Court Regulations. Please enclose a copy of the decision against which you are appealing with your letter.

Appointments

  • Please arrange appointments with our colleagues by phone or email if required or necessary.
  • Particularly regarding doctoral matters, it is important to arrange a time with Ms Wiltheis for the submission of documents or to view reports.

Artificial Intelligence

BAFöG

  • If you require a certificate for the BAföG office, please contact the BAföG coordinators for your degree programme directly. You can find their contact details on your degree programme’s webpage under ‘Examination Board’.

Collection Times

  • During the collection times for certificates – currently Mondays and Fridays between 10 am and 12 noon – other documents may also be handed in or collected from us in person. Please check our website regularly. There you will find information on when the Examinations Office is closed or when certain processes can only be handled to a limited extent due to holidays or illness. The Examinations Office is generally unstaffed at weekends and on public holidays and long weekends.
  • On Wednesdays, the Examinations Office is generally closed to the public.
  • For data protection reasons, please enter the Examinations Office one at a time when visiting.

Compulsory Elective Modules

  • The available compulsory elective modules are often listed in the module descriptions (special regulations). If a module is listed there but cannot be selected in FlexNow, please contact us so that the module can be added to FlexNow.
  • If the module does not appear in the subject catalogue of the specific regulations, you must apply for recognition from the relevant Examination Board Chair (PAV). You can find the contact information under your respective degree programme in the Bachelor's or Master's section of our website.
  • Either you can have a certificate issued after passing the module and then submit this to the PAV for recognition, or you can obtain confirmation in advance that the module will be recognised and submit this confirmation to us, together with the certificate, after passing the module.

Credit Recognition

  • Credit recognition for coursework and examination results from other degree programmes or other higher education institutions is carried out by the chair of the Examination Board or the credit recognition officer for the degree programme you are now applying to. You can find the contact details for the relevant degree programmes on our Bachelor’s and Master’s programme pages.
  • To apply for recognition, please use this form. Please also send the Chair of the Examination Board or the Credit Transfer Officer an overview of your academic achievements and, where applicable, the relevant module descriptions for the modules to be recognised.
  • We will transfer the recognised credits to Flexnow as soon as the recognising body has confirmed them to us.

Definitive Failure

  • If you fail a module definitively (having used up all your examination attempts), we will first inform you of this by email. This gives you the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings or errors in the records directly.
  • Subsequently, the Examination Office will send you an official notification of the final failure. In accordance with the information on legal remedies provided in the notification, you may lodge an appeal against the decision within one month.
  • An appeal must be submitted in writing, signed by hand, and sent by post or delivered in person to the office specified in the information on legal remedies.
  • Until the decision becomes final (expiry of the appeal period or final resolution of the appeal proceedings), it is possible to sit further examinations. Registration for these must be made via the Examination Office.

Deregistration (Sect. 25 Gen.Reg.) vs. Withdrawal (Sect. 29 Gen.Reg.) from Exams

  • You may deregister from an exam (Section 25 General Regulations) up to 3 days before the examination for which you are registered, either by yourself via Flexnow or, outside the registration and deregistration periods, by emailing the Examination Office.
  • As the specific regulations for degree programmes sometimes contain special provisions regarding deregistration, you will find the relevant forms on the respective degree programme pages in the Bachelor's or Master's sections.
  • If you have already failed an examination or have been granted a withdrawal under sect. 29 (including for health reasons), it is no longer possible to withdraw from the examination for subsequent dates in the degree programmes of Faculty 08 (as well as currently still in the BSc Geography).
  • In the degree programmes of Faculty 08 (and currently also in the BSc Geography), once you have withdrawn, you will be automatically registered for the next available exam date.
  • An application for withdrawal from an examination (Section 29 AllB) may be submitted at any time; however, in the case of a compulsory examination following a fail or a previous withdrawal, or within three days prior to the examination in degree programmes within Faculty 08 (as well as currently in the BSc Geography), only withdrawal is permitted. The application to withdraw from an examination must be submitted to the Chair of the Examination Board and must always be justified. The justification must be substantiated, e.g. in the case of illness by submitting a medical certificate confirming inability to sit the examination. Once your withdrawal from an examination has been approved, you will be registered for the next available examination date in the degree programmes of Faculty 08 (as well as, for the time being, in the BSc Geography); in these degree programmes, it is no longer possible to withdraw from this or any subsequent examination dates for the same module in accordance with sect. 25 AllB.
  • For degree programmes in Department 08 (as well as currently still in the BSc Geography), we require information in both cases regarding the respective examination date and the next available resit date, as we are obliged to adhere to the relevant deadlines and register you for the next available date.

Digitalisation

  • The Examinations Office is working hard to make its processes as digital and sustainable as possible. Most forms can therefore be completed digitally and submitted by email (as a scan if necessary). Please ensure the quality is sufficient and submit the forms as PDF files where possible.

Doctor's Notice

  • We are unable to accept standard medical certificates or certificates of incapacity for work (‘yellow certificate’). Instead, you must hand in a certificate of inability to take an examination. Fill in the lower part of the form and then print it out. Please then have the rest of the form completed by your doctor and submit it to the Examinations Office. You can find the relevant form on our website in the forms section.
  • For oral examinations, please always inform the examiners as well as the Examinations Office. Please submit medical certificates for partial examinations to the module coordinators. Medical certificates for final module examinations must be submitted to the Examinations Office.

Doctoral Matters

  • For any queries regarding doctoral matters, please refer to the 'Doctorate' section of our website. 
  • For further information or to arrange an appointment to register for your doctorate or submit your thesis, please contact Ms Wiltheis (0641 - 99 24521, pruefungsamt-natwiss).

Documents

  • Please note that the requirements for the documents to be submitted must be met, such as signed appeals or CVs, affidavits, or the provision of all necessary information in the event of exam withdrawals.
  • In most cases not directly relating to the thesis, it is sufficient to submit documents digitally via email.

Duplicate Copies

  • If you require a replacement for your certificates and documents, it is possible to have a duplicate issued. This incurs an administrative fee of 50 euros per document and is legally equivalent to the original.
  • Duplicates are issued if
    • the original has been wholly or partially destroyed, or
    • the original has been lost and
    there is a valid reason to replace it. Furthermore, in certain cases, a change of name may constitute a valid reason to replace an original (see below).
  • Duplicate copies are issued only upon written request, stating the reason. If you wish to request a duplicate copy, please contact us by email and let us know which degree programme you were on and when you graduated from JLU.
  • Name changes: In the case of standard name changes (e.g. due to marriage, civil partnership, etc.), no duplicate certificate will be issued. However, persons whose names have been changed through adoption, pursuant to the Act on Self-Determination Regarding Gender Entry, or on the basis of similar legal provisions (e.g. witness protection) must be legally protected against the disclosure or investigation of their former names. Therefore, in such cases, a duplicate copy of certificates and documents must be issued upon request. The names must be amended accordingly and the changes documented in the file.

ECTS Conversion Tables

  • Our graduates can download the ECTS conversion tables themselves; these can be found for the relevant degree programmes at Bachelor’s and Master’s level on our website under ‘Forms’.

Elective Modules at Faculty 02

  • All students taking modules in economics as a minor or compulsory elective must register during the FB02 registration periods. It is not possible to register retrospectively via the Natural Sciences Examination Office. If you encounter any issues in this regard, please contact the Economics Examination Office [Email].
  • The examination dates and registration deadlines for courses offered by FB 02 can be found on the website of the Examination Office of Faculty 02.

Examination Board

  • We regularly update the composition of the examination boards for our degree programmes. You can find this information under your respective degree programme in the Bachelor's or Master's section of our website. There you will also find the contact details of your examination board chair and other officials.

Exmatriculation

  • The General Regulations state in § 18 (4): "[...] At the beginning of the first atempt at an examination, the examinee must be enrolled in the respective degree programme. Exmatriculation or a change of subject does not interrupt the legal examination relationship; [...]"
  • Accordingly, you may withdraw from the university after sitting your final examination or after registering your thesis. If you still need to use the university’s services or facilities whilst working on your thesis, please check in advance whether this is still possible whilst you are withdrawn from the university.
  • If you deregister whilst your studies are still ongoing, i.e. before registering your thesis, e.g. due to a change of degree programme, please let us know whether we can delete any outstanding exams (resits) from Flexnow or whether you would still like to sit them (Resit exams can still be taken after deregistration).

Email Enquiries

  • Email enquiries from enrolled students will only be processed if they are forwarded to us from your university email address. Exceptions to this rule are enquiries made after you have withdrawn from the university or, where applicable, enquiries regarding doctoral research projects. Please check your university email account regularly, as we generally send our correspondence there.

FlexNow

  • You are required to check your exam registrations and withdrawals in Flexnow on a regular basis. This will help to avoid the need for many email enquiries.
  • The registration and withdrawal deadlines for your degree programme can be found on the Flexnow website. Please note that outside the registration and withdrawal deadlines for your degree programme, we may only register you for an exam with the written approval of the chair of the Examination Board.
  • To request deregistration outside the FlexNow deadlines, please use the relevant form for your degree programme, which can be found in the Bachelor's or Master's section of our website. 

General Regulations

Leaving Certificate (Collection)

  • If you would like to collect your certificate, please indicate this on the thesis submission checklist. We will notify you by email when your certificate is ready and can be collected. Collection times can be found on the homepage of our website. Please bring a form of ID with you when collecting your certificate, and ideally a clear plastic sleeve for the documents.
  • If you would like your certificate to be sent to you, please hand in a pre-stamped, self-addressed envelope with a stiff backing to the Examinations Office when you submit your thesis. Please choose an envelope size that fits an A4 document.

Leaving Certificate (Issuing)

  • You only need to request your leaving certificate if module grades are still to be entered after your thesis mark has been recorded. In this case, we will not be aware that your transcript is ready to be issued. A brief email from you will suffice.
  • Please contact the relevant lecturer to follow up on any missing module grades required for the issuance of your transcript.
  • If the thesis mark is the last mark to be entered, it is not usually necessary to contact us. However, we would still appreciate a brief message to ensure your request does not get overlooked.

Lecturers: Grade Lists

  • Lecturers are kindly requested to always include the relevant accompanying form with their grade lists, as it contains important information that we require in order to approve the grades.
  • Individual grades may be sent by email, but please also provide us with the examination date alongside the grade. This may be relevant for the preparation of the transcript. If the student has failed the examination, we also require information on when the examination can be retaken.

Legal Certifications

  • The Examinations Office is not authorised to issue certifications. Further information can be found here.

Letterboxes

  • The Examinations Office has a letterbox outside the building (HBR 17-19) by the facility management’s entrance on level -2, as well as a deadline letterbox directly in front of the Examinations Office. You have 24/7 access to the external letetrbox; the deadline letterbox is accessible during the opening hours of the Chemistry Department and Lab Course Building, HBR 17. You can post forms and theses there yourself outside our opening hours, so there is no need to send them by post.

Missing Examination Requirements

  • In some cases, certain prerequisites (lab courses, seminars, tutorials, etc.) must be completed in order to be admitted to examinations; this is specified in the relevant module descriptions.
  • If you have not completed these prerequisites and were therefore not eligible to sit an examination, the module coordinator will notify us of this via the mark submission for the regular examination session. You will then only be re-registered for the next cycle (year or semester) so that you have the opportunity to complete these prerequisites.
  • Please always check in FlexNow, to ensure that the corresponding entries have actually been made.

Placement in Higher Semesters

  • Certificates regarding a placement in a higher semester are issued by the Examination Board of the degree programme you are now applying to join. To obtain one, you will need a transcript of your previous degree programme; please submit this to the Chair of your current (new) Examination Board, requesting that they place you in a specific semester and, where applicable, recognise your modules. This does not have to happen at the same time. Module recognition can also take place after enrolment.
  • Please use this form for module recognition.
  • The placement in a higher semester should be certified using this form.
  • We can only enter the module recognitions into FlexNow after you have enrolled in the new degree programme.

Provisional certificate/certification of 'completion of degree programme'

  • Please only request both certificates if it is truly urgent.
  • We are able to issue you with a certificate confirming that you have successfully completed your degree programme. To do this, we require confirmation from both examiners that they have awarded your thesis (and the defence) a grade of at least ‘pass’. The remaining modules must already be entered in FlexNow.
  • If all grades have already been entered in your FlexNow tree, it is possible to generate a provisional transcript, which will be signed by the Examinations Office.

Responsibilities

  • Please note that we are not responsible for Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes or state examination programmes in other faculties than 07 and 08 (such as Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Environmental Management or Nutritional Sciences), nor for teacher training programmes.
  • Enrolment and exmatriculation procedures are managed by the Student Office. We are unable to provide any information on these matters and ask that you contact the relevant officer at the Student Office.
  • For enquiries regarding Stud.IP, please contact the relevant course organisers or the Stud.IP-Support-Team.

Specific Regulations

  • We strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the applicable rules set out in the specific regulations for your degree programme before you enrol, particularly regarding withdrawal from examinations and modules or the requirements for your thesis. The specific regulations also include sample study plans and module descriptions for the individual modules in your degree programme. These provide information on the module coordinators and the frequency with which the modules are offered.
  • You can find the specific regulations in the University of Giessen’s announcements and in the Bachelor's and Master's sections of our website.

Stays Abroad

Thesis and Thesis Submission (B.Sc., M.Sc.)

  • All information, from thesis registration to collecting your degree certificate, is summarised on this overview page.
  1. The Examination Office Natural Sciencesrequires only one printed copy of the thesis and an electronically searchable version (PDF, max. 15 MB) sent by email. You should submit the printed copy by post (the date of the postmark applies) or drop it into the on-site postbox (facility management entrance to the Chemistry Institute building HBR 17-19 or the deadline postbox at the Examination Office).
  2.  Students must send copies of their thesis to their two supervisors themselves. Please discuss with your supervisors the format in which they would like to receive the thesis (printed, digital or both).
  3. It is mandatory that you submit the thesis submission form, fully completed and signed, together with your thesis.
  4. You will not automatically receive your leaving certificate by post. If you would like your certificate to be sent to you, please provide us with a stamped and addressed envelope (C4) with a rigid backing. If we do not have an envelope, we will inform you by email as soon as your certificate is ready for collection.

Thesis Extension

  • All information, from thesis registration to collecting your degree certificate, is summarised on this overview page.
  • If you need to apply for an extension to the deadline for completing your thesis, please draft a formal request, which must be signed by both you and your supervisor. This application should include a justification and the period by which the completion period should be extended. You should submit this application directly to your examination board chair or via us.
  • Thesis extensions due to illness can be applied for directly through us with a certificate of incapacity to sit examinations.

Transcripts of Records

  • If you are still enrolled as a student, you can generate your own German-language transcript of records directly via Flexnow. This will then include a verification code. English-language transcripts of records can be requested from us.
  • If you have already withdrawn from the university, please contact us to request a transcript; we will usually send you a scanned copy by email. Original copies must be collected in person from our office.