ECTS and Learning Agreement
You can receive 3 or 7 ECTS for political science courses at the Otto-Suhr-Institute, depending on the type of certificate you obtain.
If you complete a seminar or a lecture (Vorlesung) with a certificate of participation (“Teilnahmeschein”) you will receive 3 ECTS. A Teilnahmeschein usually requires regular participation and preparatory reading, but no written exam or research paper. However, the specific requirements are up to the individual lecturers. Teilnahmescheine are not graded. They are marked with a “P“ for participation.
If you complete a course with a certificate of achievement (“Leistungsschein”) you will be awarded with 7 ECTS. Besides regular participation in class, a Leistungsschein mostly requires writing an exam or a research paper. Leistungsscheine are graded.
It is you who decides whether you would like to complete a "Teilnahmeschein" ( 3 ECTS) or a "Leistungsschein" (7 ECTS) based on the requirements teachers share with you in the first week. Please note that no extra credit points can be awarded for extra work and that the number of ECTS is not up for negotiation between you and individual lecturers.
If you attend courses at other FU institutions, e.g. language courses, you receive the number of ECTS points determined by the other institution. Please contact the ERASMUS coordinators of the respective departments to receive more information. You can receive 5 ECTS for the courses for international exchange students (more information here: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/international/studium_fu/auslandssemester/Studienangebot-fuer-internationale-Gaststudierende/index.html).
In general, the required work for a certificate of achievement (“Leistungsschein”) is more complex than the one for a certificate of participation (“Teilnahmeschein”).
If you obtain a "Teilnahmeschein" you will receive 3 ECTS for your active participation in a course. Besides regular attendance, the requirements can include readings, a presentation, reviews or more. During the first week, teachers will share with you with the specific requirements for their course. This kind of certificate is NOT graded, but marked with a “P“ for participation.
To receive a "Leistungsschein", and therefore 7 ECTS, you will have to meet all of the requirements of an active participation and additionally complete an assignment at the end of the semester. This will usually be a research paper or exam, which will be graded. During the first week, teachers will share with you the specific requirements.
This applies to courses offered by the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science. The regulations and forms of certification at other departments and faculties may differ. Please note that the number of ECTS is a matter of the Erasmus office, not individual lecturers. No extra credit points will be awarded for extra work, since we need to be consistent with the ECTS rules within our faculty.
To register for a class at OSI, you need to sign up on Campus Management and register for classes. The platform will then let you know whether you have been registered for the course or not. You can find a video explaining Campus Management and how to enroll in classes in German and in English here. The video was made for home students, so the information on modules is not relevant for Erasmus students, nonetheless it will help you understand the program. You will get further information on Campus Management by the central incoming office (incoming@fu-berlin.de)
The course registration process is open for about three weeks after courses have started, meaning that you can still register or opt out of courses. That being said, it often makes sense to attend all courses you have selected during the first week, if not the second and third week as well. You or other students might not show up, change their minds on the course or the like, and further spots become available. Teachers might provide you with more information or simply their individual way of handling these processes during the first session.
You may also have noticed that Campus Management was unfortunately only designed for home students’ requirement. That poses some challenges for incoming students:
- You cannot register for multiple seminars in one module. Simply try to find the additional course(s) in other modules and register for them there. If that is not possible. Please attend the session in the first week, explain your issue and ask if the teacher would allow you to participate regardless and issue you a certificate (see below) at the end of the term, instead of being registered on Campus Management.
- You can’t sign up for courses of different departments/faculties via Campus Management. If you want to choose a course in economics, you have to contact the Erasmus office of their department/faculty (international@wiwiss.fu-berlin.de) and they will register you. If you want to take a course at any other department/faculty, you must speak to the teachers of these courses individually and ask for permission, as well as ask for a certificate instead of a Campus Management registration. Usually, departments/faculties have their own forms. When in doubt, always contact the Erasmus offices of the different departments/faculties. Keep in mind that you are not allowed to take courses at the law faculty.
- If you are not registered on Campus Management, you may have to give your teacher your (Zedat) email address, so that they can add you to the e-learning system (Blackboard). That way, you will be able to access the course material.
- You cannot participate in courses that are labeled PS/MWA or PS/TWA.
- The module structure that you see on Campus management, does not apply to you. At the end of your term/stay you hand in a request for your transcript of records (see FAQs) by providing us with a request form, your Campus Management overview (pdf) and any certificates you might have collected, and we will issue you an Erasmus-specific transcript.
About certificates (“Scheine“): If you cannot sign up for a specific course on Campus Management, course instructors will fill in a certificate (“Schein”) at the end of the semester. This Schein must contain information on the title of the course, the course number, the type of the course, and on the kind of assignment (written exam, oral examination etc.) you have completed. If you finish a course with a certificate of achievement (“Leistungsnachweis”), this certificate will be graded, otherwise it will be marked with a “P“ for participation. The certificate (“Schein”) must be signed and stamped by the lecturer. The Erasmus office fills in the respective ECTS-points unless the course is provided by a different department/faculty and they do it. You can find a blank certificate here. If the course instructor is not an employee at the OSI, but an external lecturer, they can obtain the required stamp in the office of the coordinator of the respective field of study (e.g. political theory). It is your responsibility to provide the lecturers with prepared certificates.
Please keep in mind that the number of ECTS is not up for negotiation between you and individual lecturers.
The Learning Agreement is a contract (study contract) between an exchange student, the sending university and the receiving university. Your home university (sending university) is supposed to provide you with more details.
By signing your Learning Agreement, the receiving university's coordinator agrees (preliminarily) to your choice of courses. This confirms that, should these courses be available and offer spots, you can attend them during your semester abroad. The sending university confirms that the course selection is compatible with your regular study program.
Important: Your graduation requirements at the sending (home) university have top priority. Please check in with your Erasmus-coordinators before you leave for Berlin. You are solely responsible for meeting your home university's requirements!
We understand that our course catalogue is usually being updated or released after you are supposed to hand in your first Learning Agreement Before the Mobility. However, please use former/current course catalogues as an orientation for your first choice of courses. You will be able to make changes to your Learning Agreement later on.
It is important that you fill in your Learning Agreement correctly!
Contact person: Liv Brümmer & Sophie Prillwitz
Contact email: osi-erasmus@polsoz.fu-berlin.de
Contact phone: +49 30 83855055
Contact function: Student Assistants Erasmus+ Coordination
Responsible Person: Prof. Dr. Anja Osei
Res. Email: osi-erasmus@polsoz.fu-berlin.de
Res. Phone: +49 30 83855055
Res. Function: Departmental Erasmus Coordinator
Please make sure to put in the contact details above, add the right amounts of ECTS (e.g., 3 or 7 ECTS for courses offered by the Department of Political and Social Sciences) and sign the Learning Agreement yourself.
If you use the online platform to issue your Learning Agreement and have put in the correct contact email (osi-erasmus@polsoz.fu-berlin.de), we will receive a notification and can sign your Learning Agreement online.
If your home university requires you to use a pdf version of the Learning Agreement, please sent the complete document to osi-erasmus@polsoz.fu-berlin.de to receive a signature.
