Information for Incoming ERASMUS Students

• Welcome to the Media Informatics Group
• Requirements for Studying Media Informatics
• First Steps
• Application at LMU
• University Matriculation
• Accommodation
• The Academic Year at LMU
  • Orientation Phase
• Lectures at the Media Informatics Group and the Institute for Informatics
• The LMU Grading System
• Administrative systems
• German Language Courses
• Post-Arrival Orientation Course (Einführungskurs)
• Re-Registration
• Withdrawal (Exmatriculation)

Welcome to the Media Informatics Group

Thank you for being interested in studying at Munich Media Informatics Group! We would like to give you a short impression of the Media Informatics Group and some practical information for organizing and enjoying your stay.

Requirements for Studying Media Informatics

You want to study Media Informatics or Computer Science at our university? Good choice :-) There are some requirements that you should meet. First of all, you need to be able to work in a practical and application-oriented way. Additionally, a good understanding of theoretical basics is necessary. An interest in art, music and design can be very helpful.

Understanding and speaking English and German is essential for most of our courses. Although most of the material provided during courses will be in English, many lectures will be read in German, especially at a bachelor's level.

First Steps

Once your own university has acknowledged that you are going to participate in its ERASMUS programme, you should contact the ERASMUS coordinators of the University of Munich (LMU):

• Jean Schleiss and Andrea Blei (ERASMUS coordinators)
  ERASMUS-Koordination / International Office
  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
  80539 München, Germany
  Phone +49 89 2180 3807, Fax +49 89 2180 3136, E-Mail

  The International Office will send you all the information you need for your application to the LMU. You will also receive information packages (about the city and university) as well as accommodation reservation forms for a number of student accommodation facilities here in Munich.

• Fiona Draxler and Anja Mebus are the ERASMUS coordinators for media informatics and computer science. They will be happy to help you with questions specific to the institute for informatics, for example questions about our lectures, about possibilities for individual research projects, etc. They cannot process ERASMUS applications, this is only done by the International Office.

Application at LMU

The International Office will send you the necessary information for enrolling at LMU.

The LMU provides more information about Semester Dates & Enrollment for International Students.

University Matriculation

Once your application at the LMU was successful, matriculation will be your next important step. The matriculation dates can be found in your Letter of Admission. Usually, the registration for the Winter Semester takes place in October, for the Summer Semester in March/April. If, for any reason, it should be necessary for you to matriculate at an earlier date, please contact the International Students Office to make an appointment. Do not forget to take all the required documents with you! They will be listed in your Letter of Admission. Note that no other person but you will be authorized to complete the matriculation, so please appear in person.

Unless instructed otherwise, you should go to:

International Office
Rooms G 020 and G 024
Ludwigstr. 27 (ground floor)

The LMU provides more information on matriculation for international students.

Accommodation

To be honest, housing in Munich is hard to find. It is also pretty expensive compared to other German cities. However, there are several ways for international students to find a room for a reasonable price.

The Studierendenwerk (student services) offers a limited number of rooms, some of them are guaranteed to international students. You will receive an Antrag auf Zimmerreservierung (request for room reservation) from the International Office along with their letter of admission. Please make sure to send it back by July 15 for a room in winter semester, or January 15 for a room in summer semester. If you receive an assignment, the Studierendenwerk will send you information about your room, a rental agreement and instructions.

If your request for room reservation was not successful, or if you prefer private housing, the LMU provides helpful information on housing in Munich for you.

The Academic Year at LMU

The academic year is divided into 2 semesters:

• The winter semester (WS): October 1 to March 31
• The summer semester (SS): April 1 to September 30

Classes are held during the lecture period, or Vorlesungszeit, and term papers are usually written afterwards in the semester breaks. There is no set exam period. The lecture periods are as follows:

• Winter semester 2023/2024: 16.10.2023 to 09.02.2024
• Summer semester 2024: 15.04.2024 to 19.07.2024
• Winter semester 2024/2025: 14.10.2024 to 07.02.2025
• Summer semester 2025: 22.04.2025 to 25.07.2025

There's an academic calender with the lecture periods.

Orientation Phase

For newly enrolled students, useful information is provided on the pages of the student representatives (Gruppe Aktiver Fachschaftika). Among other things, an orientation phase takes place a few days before the start of the semester. During this event, new students learn to find their way around the university. It is a good opportunity to get to know the buildings and other students. Furthermore, older students give numerous tips and answer questions.

Lectures at the Media Informatics Group and the Institute for Informatics

A section containing information about the current lectures by the Media Informatics Group is available. Selecting one of the listed lectures will take you to teaching material, important dates and news. Be sure to also have a look at the lectures offered by other computer science units. For further questions, please contact our ERASMUS coordinators.

• We use the course management platform Moodle. You will receive login details once you are a registered student at our institute but you can already check the list of offered courses. The descriptions are also helpful for identifying courses given in English.
• Many practical courses and seminars are organised via a central allocation process. Make sure to check the registration deadlines a few weeks before the semester starts. If you do not get your login credentials in time, it makes sense to tell the lecturers that you are interested in the class but cannot register in time.
• Besides the regular courses, it is also possible to do an individual research project. This requires that you find a member of the institute who supervises you. Projects are awarded with 6 ECTS credits.
• Generally speaking, it is also possible to attend courses at other departments.

Lectures

Lectures (Vorlesungen, often accompanied by exercises sessions or Übungen) are the most common type of teaching. The aim of a lecture is mainly to give the students a theoretical knowledge of the subject. Registration to attend is not required most of the time, the number of participants is not limited. Credit points will be obtained in written examinations (Klausur). The number of credits depends on the number of academic hours (academic hour = 45 min.) per week (Semesterwochenstunden, SWS) of which the lecture consists. Normally a lecture consists of two to four SWS.

Tutorials

Lectures can be supported by tutorials (Tutorium, plural Tutorien). Tutorials will help the student to deepen the topics taught in a lecture under supervision. There are no assessments.

Seminars

Seminars (Proseminare or Seminare) will train the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to problem solving. Normally, registration to attend a seminar is required, the number of participants is limited. Deadlines for application are indicated in course descriptions. Assessment is based on different kinds of assessments, like essays, class presentations and written exams.

Practical Courses

A practical course (Praktikum) is a course, often in a specialized field of study, that is designed to offer students a supervised practical application of a previously studied theory. It consists of two parts, general meetings and practical training. During the meetings, the knowledge necessary to solve the assignements is presented. During the practical training, groups of three to five students will work on complex problems.

The LMU Grading System

The German scale of grades is from 1 to 5:

1 = very good
2 = good
3 = satisfactory
4 = sufficient
5 = unsatisfactory

If a course is graded with 4 or above then you have passed and will receive credits for the course.

Once you have passed all your classes and would like to obtain your Transcript of Records, we will transfer the grades from Uni2Work to LSF. Please use the administrative contact below to start the process.

Contacts

• For administrative questions, such as arrival/departure confirmations and transcripts, contact erasmus ät ifi.lmu.de.
• For education-related questions, such as signatures on learning agreements, courses available in English, ECTS credits per course, contact erasmus ät medien.ifi.lmu.de.

Administrative systems

Moodle

Moodle is a platform to facilitate e.g. handing in solutions for exercise sheets or signing up for exams. Whether a specific course uses this system can be looked up on the course website.

Commented list of courses (LSF)

The LSF-Portal (Lehre-Studium-Forschung en.: teaching-studies-research) provides a commented list of courses. Especially signing up for courses of applied subjects from different departments may be necessary via this portal. Usually, this is announced. The information on the specific course pages of the faculties have priority.

CIP-identifyer

In order to use the computers in the CIP-Pools (e.g. Amalienstraße 17, Theresienstraße 39) or sign in to Uni2Work, students need a CIP identifier. These are distributed by the computer operation group (RBG). It is highly recommended to get a CIP-identifyer as soon as possible, as it is needed for many organizational purposes like signing up for exams.

Internet access - LRZ identifier for students of the LMU

Information on how to get internet access to the Munich science-network of the Leibniz-Rechenzentrums (LRZ) can be found here.

CIP-Pool Amalienstraße 17

The CIP-Pool in the Amalienstraße can be used by media informatics and biology informatics students. In order to register, download this form, fill it in and hand it and a coloured passport photograph in (Amalienstr. 17, room A 405 (Franziska Schneider) or room 301 (Frank Steiner)).

German Language Courses

The International University Club (IUC) organises pre-term courses as well as courses during the winter semester. Please consult the Students' Guide or the IUC website for more details. The fee for both the beginners' and the advanced course is 100€.

Other links to German language courses:

• Klartext Zentrum für Sprache & Kultur e.V.
• Deutschkurse für Ausländer bei der Universität München
• Goethe-Institut
• Tandem-Sprachschule München

The LMU website provides more information on German courses.

Post-Arrival Orientation Course (Einführungskurs)

For newly enrolled students who start with the bachelor course in the winter semester, useful information is provided on the pages of the student representatives (Gruppe Aktiver Fachschafter). Among other things, an orientation phase takes place a few days before the start of the semester. During this phase, new students learn to find their way around the university.

Alternatively, the International University Club (IUC) offers a post-arrival orientation course in the first two weeks of October. Please consult the Students' Guide or the IUC website for more information. The fee for this course is 110€.

Re-Registration

If you plan to stay at LMU Munich for more than one semester, you need to renew your matriculation each semester before the previous semester ends. Just pay your student services fee (Studentenwerkbeitrag), and you are re-registered. Your enrolment papers provide information on deadlines and procedures along with a bank transfer form to pay the fee.

Please look for detailed information on re-registration on the LMU website.

Withdrawal (Exmatriculation)

You will be automatically exmatriculated from LMU at the end of your study period. If you study at LMU for the winter semester only, your student status will officially end on March 31. Students, who leave at the end of the summer semester, will have student status until September 30.

The LMU website provides more information on exmatricaulation & checklist before departure.