In the following you will find the answers to frequently asked questions and the explanation of important terms from the application to the completion of your studies.

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FAQ, Photo: Colourbox

General

Students with a German Abitur or bachelor's degree:

As a student with a German Abitur or bachelor's degree, you submit your application via AlmaWeb. You will find further instructions on the central page on online applications.

For a master's programme, additional documents must be submitted in advance. On the basis of these documents, the aptitude commission will check whether you meet the requirements for the admission to the course of study. Further information and the deadlines can be found on the websites of our courses of study.


Students with a German Abitur or bachelor's degree from abroad:

As a foreign student with an Abitur or a bachelor's degree from abroad, you apply via uni-assist. Please submit the documents listed on the checklist with your application.

You can find the application deadlines on the websites of our courses of study. For further information please refer to the webpage for prospective students of the international centre.

If you need a visa, we recommend that you apply for the winter semester by 15 July. This is how you make sure that you get your visa on time.

In case you do not yet fulfil the required higher education entrance qualification in order to study directly at a German university, you usually have the following two options: Either start studying at a university in your home country (please check the requirements on the DAAD database as they differ from country to country) or take the so-called Feststellungsprüfung (“assessment test”). The latter is usually taken after a one-year preparation course at the Studienkolleg, where language of instruction is German. We do not recommend taking the Feststellungsprüfung as an external candidate without prior preparation at the Studienkolleg.

You need English skills that correspond to the language level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

If your first language is not English, please provide one of the following documents:

  • TOEFL scores (minimum): PBT: 543, cBT: 207, iBT: 72
  • IELTS score (minimum): 5.5
  • Cambridge FCE (minimum): Grade B or C
  • TOEIC (minimum): Listening and Reading: 785, Speaking: 160, Writing: 150, all 4 modules
  • Pearson PTE Academic (minimum): 59
  • Persons with a German school leaving certificate: (usually) school leaving certificate (Abitur)

The Studentenwerk Leipzig offers furnished rooms in dormitories. You can apply online once you have received the letter of admission. If you have any questions about a dormitory, please contact the Studentenwerk Leipzig.

Leipzig offers a large selection of inexpensive apartments and rooms. You can find more information on the website of Leipzig sudieren.

Tuition Fees

There are currently no tuition fees for a first degree programme at our university.


Semester Fee

You pay a fee every semester, which consists of different parts:

  • Student body: €8.50
  • Studentenwerk: €80.00
  • Mobility fund: €2.00
  • MDV public transport pass: €165.00

The semester fee is € 255.50 for the winter semester 2023/24. Students who have withdrawn from the student body do not pay the student body contribution.

Further information can be found on the website of the Student Office.


Monthly Living Expenses

For your living expenses in Leipzig you need around €900–1000 per month. This number is just an estimate, of course, and depends on how much you are spending. Please remember that when you apply for a visa in your home country, you will need to provide a proof of the secured funding of your living expenses.

Here are examples of monthly expenses in Leipzig:

  • Rent for an apartment or room: around €300–450
  • Statutory health insurance: around €110  
    or
    Voluntary statutory health insurance: around €180
  • Study materials: around €50
  • Food, clothing, other requirements: around €380

In addition to the monthly costs, you will need a deposit for your accommodation and the UniCard at the beginning of your studies. Plan around €900 for this.


Scholarships

In general, there are no scholarships for international students starting their studies or for undergraduate courses of study in Germany, as there are no tuition fees. However, you can find more information on the website of the DAAD. Please also find out about possible financing in your home country.

Further information can be found on the central pages on student finance, scholarships and for international students, as well as on the website of the DAAD.

To re-enrol for the next semester, please pay the semester fee within the re-enrolment period. This is necessary in order to remain enrolled at our university.

Re-enrolment period for the winter semester: 1 June – 15 August
Re-enrolment period for the summer semester: 1 December – 15 February

Please inform yourself beforehand about the current amount of the semester fee.

You can find information on the re-enrolment and the semester fee on the website of the Student Office.

Certificates, transcripts of records (TOR)

Please contact the Study Office (by email, phone or in person) and let us know your matriculation number. Your current transcript of records will then be uploaded to AlmaWeb as a PDF document under “Documents“.

Yes, you can get a transcript of records in English. Please contact the Study Office (by email, phone or in person) and let us know your matriculation number. Point out that you will need transcript of records (ToR) in English. The ToR will then be uploaded to AlmaWeb as a PDF document under “Documents“.

You create the Studienverlaufsbescheinigung yourself in AlmaWeb: To do this, log into the AlmaWeb portal with your user data. Click on the button “Studies“ and then on “Documents“ in the left column. In the top line you will find the link to the Studienverlaufsbescheinigung.

If necessary, scroll to the right of the screen and click the download link. A new window will appear in which you will be asked again to enter your user data. Please be sure to enter your username in the following form: username@dom.uni-leipzig.de

You will be shown a PDF document that you can save and print out. Further information can be found on the website of the Student Office.

First, please submit an application for exmatriculation to the Student Office. As soon as the application has been processed, the certificate of exmatriculation is uploaded to AlmaWeb. The application and further information on the exmatriculation can be found on the website of the Student Office.

Module Registration

You may have only registered for the module, but not for the individual module classes belonging to the module. Participation lists in AlmaWeb are linked to the respective module classes. Please contact the Study Office.

You can deregister from a module and the associated module examination in AlmaWeb no later than four weeks before the end of the lecture period. All examinations already completed in the module are considered as not to have been completed. After that, you can only withdraw from an examination for an important reason. This must be approved by the examination board.

Exams

No, the registration for the module is usually always the registration for the module examination. You will be automatically registered in AlmaWeb for the first re-take exam. For the second re-take exam, you must submit an application to the respective examination board in advance.

You can deregister from a module and the exams in AlmaWeb no later than four weeks before the end of the lecture period. The prerequisite for this is that the exam is the first attempt. After that, you can only withdraw from an exam for an important reason.

You are ill and cannot take an examination? If so, please immediately notify the person responsible for the examination and/or module as well as the study office that you are unable to take the examination and submit an doctor's certificate to the study office within three working days. You can hand in the document at the study office, put them in the mailbox of the study office (left of room 223) or send them by mail. In case of an unexcused absence, the exam will be graded with 5.0.

For the doctor's certificate you can use the form certificate of incapacity for examination. Alternatively, the proof can also be provided informally with a separate certificate from the issuing doctor. The doctor's certificate should describe the examination-relevant health impairments of the person to be examined and indicate what effects these have on the examination performance. 

Alternatively, a certificate of incapacity for work (AUB) together with the supplementary details form can be submitted as proof in summer semester 2023. After that, we may no longer recognise the AUB as as proof of incapacity for examinations.

In the case of a second re-take exam, you will need to submit a public health certificate.

 

Public Health Certificate

In case of a second re-take exam in the courses of study Physics, IPSP, Mathematical Physics, Teaching Degree Programme Physics and Meteorology, you require a public health certificate. This certificate is issued by the Health Office of the city of Leizig. On the day of your examination call the Health Office to make an appointment for a medical check-up between 8am and 3pm. Should you be sick to such a degree that you cannot leave the house, ask the Health Office for further instructions.


To issue the certificate, the Medical Health Officer will require the following documents:

  • Certificate of incapacity for work or similar from your medical doctor (general practitioner) or medical specialist including the diagnosis
  • ID card stating your address in Leipzig or residence certificate

The Public Health Office currently charges a fee of 30 euros, please have the exact amount ready in cash or, even better, pay by debit card.

In the regular examination period at the end of the lecture period, a module exam (regular exam) is offered. If you are still enrolled in the module and admitted to the exam at this point in time, you must sit it. You can repeat failed exams up to two times.


First Re-take Exam

You can repeat a failed exam within one year after the first examination attempt. As a rule, this takes place in the next regular examination period, when the module is offered again after one year. Please note that you are automatically registered for the first re-take exam.

Different from this, many lecturers already offer a re-take exam in the same semester for students who have not passed the regular exam. You can decide whether you want to take this opportunity up to the day of the exam. You do not have to register for or de-register for this exam.

 

Second Re-take Exam

A second re-take of the exam can only be carried out upon request and only on the next possible examination date. The next possible date might already be in the same semester (e.g. in the case of a re-take exam), but at the earliest 14 days after the result of the first re-take exam has been announced.
If you have to sit a second re-take exam, please submit an application to the examination board responsible for your subject. If they agree to your application, you must repeat the exam at the next possible examination date.

Important: If you have to sit a second re-take exam this semester and have not yet applied for it, please do this immediately. Without this application, you cannot sit the exams. Please note that you will lose the exam attempt even if you do not participate due to missed application!

If you also fail the second re-take exam, the module is considered as failed. You can replace failed compulsory elective or elective modules by passing another compulsory elective or elective module. A failed compulsory module leads to the termination of your studies.

Recognitions

Physics, IPSP, Mathematical Physics and Meteorology

Please send an informal application from your university email address to the examination board by email.


Geography and Geosciences

Before taking the module, please submit an application to the examination board.

Physics, IPSP and Mathematical Physics

Please send an informal application from your university email address to the examination board by email. Please add the following documents to your application:

  • Learning agreement
  • Possibly changed learning agreement
  • Transcript of records from abroad
  • In the case of Erasmus+, the exact length of you stay


Meteorology

Please send an informal application from your university email address to the examination board by email. Please also send a copy of the email to Professor Jacobi. Please add the following documents to your application:

  • Learning agreement
  • Possibly changed learning agreement
  • Transcript of records from abroad
  • In the case of Erasmus+, the exact length of you stay


Geography, Remote Sensing and Geosciences

Please contact your subject coordinator first. For the course of study in Remote Sensing or Geosciences this is Dr. Kattenborn and for Geography Dr. Armas-Díaz.

Degree, Thesis

Please always hand in your thesis at the Study Office.

The number of copies to be submitted depends on the examination regulations that apply to you. As a rule, you submit at least two printed, bound versions and one electronic version (CD-ROM, USB stick).

To do this, you first submit a justified, written request for extension to the examination board. The extension must be approved by the supervisor of your thesis. The following extensions are possible:

Course of Study Extension
BSc Physics usually up to 4 weeks
BSc IPSP usually up to 4 weeks
BSc Meteorology usually up to 4 weeks
BSc Geography usually up to 4 weeks
MSc Physics usually up to 6 weeks
MSc IPSP usually up to 6 weeks
MSc Mathematical Physics usually up to 6 weeks
MSc Meteorology usually up to 6 weeks
MSc Geosciences
MSc Physical Geography usually up to 4 weeks
MSc Economic and Social Geography usually up to 6 weeks

If you have passed all the other exams, not. Officially registered examination procedures are not cancelled and can also be completed after exmatriculation. The assessment can therefore also take place at a time after exmatriculation.

The certificates, transcript and diploma supplement are printed when all markings are available. When the documents are ready to be picked up, you will receive an email.

Please fill out the application for exmatriculation and submit it to the Student Office. The application and further information can be found on the website of the Student Office.