FAQ for international students
We have collected the most frequently asked questions for incoming students at the KIT Department of Economics and Management here and are updating this list regularly. In case you cannot find the answer to your question below, please feel free to contact us via email:
International RelationsEtu7∂wiwi kit edu.
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS AND COURSES
Which language requirements do I have to fulfill as an exchange student?
To fulfill the language requirements of the KIT – Department of Economics and Management, you will need:
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a B1 CEFR level of German language certificate, if only courses taught in German will be attended or
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a B2 CEFR level of English language certificate, if only courses taught in English will be attended or
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both language certificates (a B1 CEFR level of German and a B2 CEFR level of English), if courses in both languages will be attended.
Please note that English is not spoken everywhere in Germany/at KIT. Thus, participation in the pre-semester German course offered at KIT is mandatory to all applicants, who don’t have any/sufficient German language proficiency. For more information please see: https://www.intl.kit.edu/istudies/3171.php.
Will the final grade of the language course appear on the Transcript of Records?
If you attend the courses regularly (at least 80%) AND pass the final exam, you will get credits. When you register for the language course you can choose between “Schlüsselqualifikation” (with a final exam, grade, and credits) or “Teilnahmeschein” (just participation without exam). You can find more information in the FAQs of the Sprachenzentrum.
Are there also courses taught in English?
You can find all courses taught in English in the course catalog.
LEARNING AGREEMENT
Who will sign my Learning Agreement?
Before the application for your studies at KIT as an exchange student, you should make a Learning Agreement (an official document listing the courses you are planning to take during your stay at KIT, approved by your home university and signed by yourself), which should be upload with the other application documents on Mobility Online Portal. After your application documents are complete, we will prove your learning agreement. We will then contact you via Mobility Online Portal with feedback on your course choices. If no changes need to be made, we will upload a signed version in your profile in the Mobility Online Portal.
After you have arrived in Karlsruhe and the lectures at KIT have started, you can still contact us via E-Mail (International RelationsVkl3∂wiwi kit edu), if you need to make changes to your initially signed learning agreement. We will contact you as soon as we have reviewed your agreement.
Can I also choose courses from other departments at KIT?
At least 70% of your courses must be chosen from the host department at KIT, up to 30% of the courses may be chosen from other departments at KIT.
COURSE CHOICE AND REGISTRATION
How can I choose my courses?
Please use the module handbooks provided on our website to select your courses. You need to select courses with at least 15 credits.
At least 70% of your total credits must be courses you find in the module handbooks from the KIT-Department of Economics and Management. The rest can be chosen freely from the KIT-wide course offer.
Please consider, that some courses are only offered in the winter semester and some only in the summer semester.
How can I find similar courses if I can’t attend my previously chosen ones?
You can find similar courses by searching courses of the same module (in the module handbook). If you don’t want to attend any of these, you can also search for courses at the same institute.
Can I choose courses from Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees?
In ILIAS you can find all the courses for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. You can attend both, Bachelor’s and Master’s courses but you have to check with your home university if the recognition is possible.
What is the Campus Management System?
The Campus Management System offers various self-service services in the field of student administration. These include:
- the search for events with creating a personal timetable
- the registration and deregistration for examinations
- the study program structure and content for particular study programs as well as their modules and partial achievements
- the re-registration into the following semester via bank transfer or direct debit
- the download of certificates (e.g. certificate of enrollment, KVV certificate, excerpt of grades)
- the modification of personal information
Further information on the use of the student portal as well as frequently asked questions and the respective contact person can be found in the FAQ.
What is the Wiwi-Portal?
The Wiwi-Portal combines many functionalities offered by the KIT-Department of Economics and Management around the study, which include:
- course offerings with registration (especially seminars and tutorials)
- examination information
- appointment and consulting hours management like post-exam review appointments, etc.
- online forms
- request for lending notebooks for the student work (free of charge)
- ERASMUS application
- access authorization for the Kollegiengebäude at Kronenplatz
- learning rooms
You can find more information here.
What is ILIAS?
The ILIAS learning platform is the central platform where professors and instructors provide all the necessary materials for the courses and will also communicate with you via forum or emails. For these functionalities you have to log in with your KIT-login and then enter and find your courses. Please be patient because some of the ILIAS courses are created only during the first week of lectures.
When should I register for the courses at KIT?
You usually don’t need to register for the courses (especially lectures) at KIT. You just take part in them and then register for the exam (cf. below). Additionally, you should participate in the corresponding ILIAS course to get all documents and information provided by the instructor. Please be patient because some of the ILIAS courses are created only during the first week of lectures.
However, there are some exceptions, for example for the seminars, where you have to register in advance (most of the registrations via the Wiwi-Portal, cf. below). Every course has different requirements and deadlines. We advise to visit the Campus Management System and the ILIAS website regularly in order not to miss important deadlines.
In the Campus Management System, you can add the courses to your schedule and get all the information for each course you are planning to visit.
If you still don’t have access, you can check the information of the courses in the module handbook or on the homepage from the different institutes. You can also follow the links of the courses in the module handbook to the Campus Management System.
These steps are also explained in detail in the Incomers Presentation.
What does it mean when there is stated: "Seminar with registration. Participation cannot be guaranteed"?
Most of the seminars have limited places and you must therefore register in advance to attend. Sometimes you may just have to register online by clicking on the seminar you want to register for and wait to be accepted, sometimes you need to send an official application with your CV, ToR, and other documents. Most of the registrations will happen on the Wiwi-Portal. Please be aware, that every institute has its own rules and deadlines. We advise to regularly visit the WiWi-Portal and institutes’ websites in order not to miss registration deadlines. If you don’t find any information regarding a seminar, try by visiting the institute’s homepage.
What does “Brick” mean?
“Brick” means “Teilleistung”, i.e. the number of the course (e.g. T-WIWI-102606) you can find in the module handbook and the corresponding credits.
When do I receive my student’s account login details?
Generally, you will receive your login details in order to use your student account and KIT-wide services by mid-September (winter term) or mid-March (summer term) when all documents for your enrolment are uploaded completely and in time in the Mobility Online Portal (https://www.service4mobility.com/europe/LoginServlet?identifier=KARLSRU01&sprache=de). If the documents are complete and the fees are paid, you have to wait 7 to 14 days until you receive your KIT card.
EXAMS
What should I know about exams?
Exams cover the contents of lectures and tutorials. They are usually written and take place after the lecture period: mid-February to mid-April (winter term) / mid-July to mid-October (summer term). A registration to exams is obligatory (cf. below).
How can I register for exams?
As a student at KIT-Department of Economics and Management, you can register for the exams of all courses included in the module handbook of Industrial Engineering and Management. The Students Office (Studierendenservice) provides a video tutorial on online exam registration for exchange students.
Notes:
After sending the form, please download it as PDF and mail it to the examiner. As soon as the examiner has signed the application, please hand it in at the examination office of the Department of Economics and Management. The course will then be added to the study plan. As soon as the registration period is opened, the student is self-reliant able to register for the exam.
Do I have to deregister from an exam if I cannot attend it?
Yes, it is very important to deregister from an exam in time before the exam takes place if you are not going to attend it. You can deregister online up to three days before the exam takes place (if you have originally registered online) or by contacting the responsible institute offering the exam. The last option to deregister is to come to the exam in due time to tell the instructor that you wish to deregister before the exam starts (you will need to sign a form for this).
What happens if I suspend an exam? Do I have to come back in the next semester to write the exam?
Yes, unless otherwise specified by the instructor, you have to come back in order to repeat your exam. There is no re-enrollment needed because as an exchange student you are allowed to write your second attempt exam after de-enrollment.
TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS (ToR)
How do I get my Transcript of Records?
You can access your ToR every time online using your CAS-account until 6 months after your de-enrollment at KIT. Your ToR is automatically generated by the Campus Management System CAS and is valid without a signature (a verification key is included).
All grades should be added to your ToR by the beginning of the following lecture period (May for exams of winter term / November for exams of summer term).
In case your home university requires a signed and stamped version of your ToR, please contact our Students Office (Studierendenservice).
When will my exam grades be added to my Transcript of Records?
The results of your exams will be released and added to your ToR right after they have been finalized by the responsible institutes (usually after the beginning of the following lecture period: May for exams of winter term / November for exams of summer term).
In most cases, the reason for the long timeframe between exam date and grade upload is the official post-exam review appointment, which is mandatorily offered for each exam and which normally cannot take place during the semester break. If you wish to request an early release of the result of an exam on your ToR without the condition of an official post-exam review appointment, you can fill in this request form and submit it at the institute that has offered your exam. Please note, that handing in such a request can support, but not guarantee an early exam grade upload. The final decision is made by the examiners.
Please note that you are not obligated to stay in Germany and wait for the release of the results in your ToR, after your exchange term has finished and you have to go back to your country. You can access your ToR every time online until 6 months after your de-enrollment at KIT using your CAS-account.
How are grades of ZAK, HoC, or language courses of Sprachenzentrum or Studienkolleg added to my Transcript of Records?
If you have taken ZAK, HoC, or language courses and/or seminars, please go to “ÜQ/SQ-Leistungen” in the Campus Management System in “Exam Registration and Unregistration”. Here are the courses that are not listed in the ToR yet. You can click on “assign” to add them to your ToR.
The brick “Self-Booking-HOC-SPZ-ZAK-STK-Graded” or “Self-Booking-HOC-SPZ-ZAK-STK-Ungraded” must be chosen beforehand in the study schedule for the module “M-WIWI-104910 - Interdisciplinary Qualifications” in the section “Other KIT-Departments Courses and Interdisciplinary Qualifications”.
Example:
If problems occur, please contact the International Relations Office (international relationsKfd9∂wiwi kit edu), attach the certificate of the German Course and ask to add the course to your Transcript of Records.
THESIS
How does writing a thesis work at KIT? Do I need to propose a topic or is there an existing list I can choose from? How can I find a tutor?
You have different options:
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If you want to work on your specific topic: either you propose a topic to an institute where a tutor might be interested in assisting you OR you propose a topic to a tutor that is already tutoring a similar project
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In case you prefer to work on an existing subject, you can check the topics offered by the different institutes
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Another possibility would be to find a thesis in an institute that doesn't belong to the KIT-Department of Economics and Management or in a company, in which cases you have to find a second tutor from the KIT-Department of Economics and Management, who must approve the topic first.
The submission date of my Bachelor’s/Master’s thesis is after the beginning of the following semester but I don’t have any exams left and won’t attend any courses. Do I have to re-enroll at the KIT?
If you pass your last exam (or thesis) within the first 6 weeks of the following semester, there is no need to re-register for this semester. If you re-register anyway, there is no possibility to do retroactive deregistration afterwards.
After completing your thesis, you should de-register regularly to achieve your certificate. After the de-registration, you will still have access to the Campus Management System for up to 6 months.
COVID
What is the current situation at KIT regarding the Corona-Virus?
The official KIT information regarding the Corona-Virus Situation can be found here. Furthermore, we ask you to follow the information that has been provided by the KIT International Student Office. You can also contact ESN Karlsruhe who is in charge of the orientation week.
I am staying in my home country and the German government closed entry in Germany. How can I write my presence exams?
To find a solution for the difficult situation you have to send all information (brick number, title of the exam, exam number and regular date of the exam) to the lecturer and describe your situation. There is no general regulation for this kind of obstruction and each lecturer has to decide by him-/herself how to proceed.