Your start into your studies

You’ve made it, you’ve received your letter of admission, you’ve enrolled and are now part of a large community. Before your Master’s programme begins, we would like to give you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the most common topics so that nothing can stop your successful studies. Please note, however, that we only provide general information and tips here, you can find detailed information on your respective degree programme on the page of your degree programme.

Your technical equipment is not sufficient to learn well?
Your internet connection cannot guarantee you trouble-free participation in lectures?
You can't study and work undisturbed at home?
No problem! The HfWU provides you with study spaces in the libraries.

We can't provide you with all the points that need to be taken care of when you move into a new phase of your life, because the process is different for everyone. But you will find a few very basic points enclosed:

Did you get the study plan, study regulations, examination regulations, module handbook and other information material from the HfWU website?

Did you get information on the introductory events of the student advisory service?

Familiarised with your lecture schedule in NEO?

Registered for additional supporting courses from IBIS?

Map of the university? Where is what (lecture halls)?

Have you noted the date and place for the language aptitude test and have you already registered?

Asked about the library tour?

BAföG application submitted?

Finding a room: Studierendenwerk (student services), websites, etc.

Registered at the Residents' Registration Office?

Have you notified your change of address?

Did you get a monthy ticket for the public transport company?

Do you have Health insurance?

NEO stands for Networking, E-learning and Organizing and it is the heart of our university. With your login, which is also valid for the sub-portals, you have access to the most important documents and information about your lectures and student activities. In addition to your lecture schedule and your own profile, NEO also offers you chat functions via classic messages or publicly in the community.

The most important functions at a glance:

• Home page with shortcuts and announcements so you don't miss a thing
• Your events, where professors and lecturers provide scripts and other important files.
• The lecturers usually contact you via the message function.
• In your profile, you subscribe to the organisations that are most relevant to you and assign yourself to your semester, so that you always stay up to date.
• The planner function provides you with your lecture schedule. Changes are highlighted in colour so that you are informed as quickly as possible of any cancellations or changes.

It is no longer a secret that finding a flat in southern Germany can be quite challenging. If you take care of it early on, you can apply for a room in a student hall of residence. To do so, simply go to “Leben und Wohnen“ (Life and Housing) and click on Student Residences to go to the online application.

You may know it in physical form from shopping centre entrances, public display cases or school. The notice board. When it comes to housing, this is often where a manageable offer meets a great demand. We have also set up a notice board (Schwarzes Brett) on our intranet, where every now and then our prospective graduates would like to pass on their flats to other students. As soon as you have your access to NEO, you can also look around there and upgrade your living situation.

Since not every prospective graduate uses the notice board, it can also help if you actively approach our future alumni. This is where the NEO community comes in. Most of our students know the situation and may even have creative ideas for you.

Normally online research will be the first thing you think of. It is also quite promising if you do it professionally. Have a portfolio ready with all kinds of proof. Many landlords are worried that students will quickly run out of rent, leaving them empty-handed. Be aware of the landlords' concerns and be well prepared. This will make you stand out from the crowd and increase your chances significantly.

At this point, we don't want to go too far out on a limb. On the one hand, because everyone can organise it as individually as he/she wants and on the other hand, because something is always changing in terms of finances and we don't want to provide you with false information. We just want to point out typical possibilities.

Your first source of information should be the website on training assistance website on training assistance under the Federal Training Assistance Act.

On their website you will find first-hand information, you can trust that.
You can get BAföG for a master’s programme if you already have a bachelor’s degree and if you didn’t finish another study programme besides your bachelor. Also, if you’re a foreign student, you can get BAföG if you have prospects of staying in Germany and you are socially integrated.
Our university also offers BAföG consultation hours, the dates will be announced in good time in the NEO announcements on the homepage.
If you want to get a rough and non-binding overview of whether and how much BAföG you can get, you can find many BAföG calculators online. In the end, however, it is always what is published by the BAföG office that counts.

As a development bank and institution under public law, the Credit Institute for Reconstruction (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) has a state mandate. As the name suggests, a student loan is a loan that must be repaid.

• Monthly payment
• Flexible repayment
• Can be applied for at any time during your studies

Here, too, your first source of information should be KfW itself. KfW's sales partners are also reputable contacts.

Every year, HfWU also awards several „Deutschlandstipendien“ (Germany Scholarships) of 300 euros per month. Both private sponsors and state funds make this possible.

• Promotion of particularly gifted and capable students
• In addition to grades, special circumstances, commitment and awards also count
• The maximum funding period is 1 year. You must reapply for further funding

In addition to the Deutschlandstipendium, thousands of other scholarships are awarded every semester in Germany. Intensive research can be very worthwhile!
Besides the financial aspect, scholarships offer two other significant advantages:
Networking and bonus points when starting your career.

Basically, there are two scenarios that limit your options if you want to claim the social security benefits of being a working student.

As long as you are still in the family insurance (under 25 years old):

•  Maximum 20 working hours per week during the lecture period
• Outside lecture hours up to 40 hours per week
• Maximum 520 euros per month

--> otherwise you fall under the student health insurance and have to pay the contributions yourself.

When you have reached the age of 25:

• Maximum 20 working hours per week during the lecture period
• Outside lecture hours up to 40 hours per week
• No earnings limit as far as social security is concerned, but taxes will still be due after a certain point.

Before signing the contract, please find out again what the regulations look like in detail! There can always be changes that we don't have a perfect overview of here.
Always ask yourself how many hours you can work on the side and still study successfully. Your studies are your main job and you can't jeopardise that for a part-time job.
If you are a foreign student, there are different regulations concerning the limit of working days. It’s limited to 120 days or 240 half days, this limitation does not apply during the study preparation measures in the first year of residence. Make sure to inform yourself well about all the regulations before applying for a job.

Study programmes with an international orientation or various lectures/seminars in English require a good command of English. But even if you want to spend a voluntary semester at one of our partner universities, it is advisable to submit proof of language proficiency early on. In some degree programmes it is compulsory and must be submitted within the first few weeks.

A minimum score of 61 is required for TOEFL
At least 6.0 is required for IELTS

The language certificates are valid for 2 years and are internationally recognised.

The lectures are over, the content has been discussed and your resting pulse rate rises slightly. There are fewer and fewer students at the parties and the campus becomes emptier by the day. Then you know: it's exam time again.

• The examination period comprises 3 weeks
• In case of illness, a simple medical certificate is not sufficient.
• You can find out more from the examination boards of the faculties.

Important: The examination period varies depending on the semester. It is best to check early when you have to prove your knowledge under Semestertermine & Blockzeiten.

Barely started studying and already thinking about the holidays again, that's how students are. Of course, recovery periods are important and ensure that you can start your next semester full of energy. Apart from public holidays and short lecture-free periods during the semester, the semester break is the longest time off.

• In the winter semester usually from mid-February to mid-March
• In the summer semester usually from the end of July to the end of September

But be careful: The lecture-free periods vary depending on the semester. So before you book your holiday, check when exactly you have time off under Semestertermine & Blockzeiten.

We have a total of 3 libraries at the university. Two of them are in Nürtingen (CI7- 011 and CB1-309) and one is in Geislingen (Ba62-203). Basically, it can be said that the libraries carry faculty-specific materials, but not exclusively.

• CI7, the Information Centre, carries mostly material that meets the requirements of the study programmes from the faculties FBF and FAVM
• CB1, the Braike library, has aligned itself with the study programmes of the FUGT faculty
• Ba62, our Geislingen HfWU library, would like to offer the best support to the study programmes from FWR with its material

BUT: No matter what you study with us, all 3 libraries are available to you without restriction! However, please note the Opening Hours.

You can also have books delivered from other libraries to the one closest to you. The staff on site will be happy to inform you about this possibility.
If a book is not available from us, you can also make a request for it to be added to our rich collection.

Please always pay attention to the deadlines of your rented books in order to avoid fees and to provide other students with the best possible access.

To access the online library, there are two recommended paths, both of which lead to the same page:

• Via the NEO Online Services you will find the item Library
• Via the direct entry drop-down menu on the HfWU website

There you will find a link to the opening hours as well as helpful information and the search function in the library catalogue. Start your search here and you will get to the library.
You need to register to access your library account (overview of current loans and to renew loans yourself). To register, use the number on the back of your StudiCard. You can also search for e-books or e-papers without registering via the library catalogue or BOSS.
Once you have started your search, you will find that there are many e-papers or e-books from Springer. It is because you have partial access to these and other platforms.
If you have discovered an interesting e-book in the catalogue, you can click on the full-text button and will then be redirected to the publisher. You can then register here via Shibboleth.
Shibboleth also gives you access to other online paper platforms (e.g. DeGruyter, Proquest or Nomos). Simply search for our university there and log in with your HfWU log-in in the next step.
If you see that a book you found has an abbreviation, it means that you can find this book in one of our local libraries. In the lower section of the detailed display, you can see where the book can be found and whether it is currently available. The signature is the exact location in the library.

At our University of Applied Sciences (UAS) you will learn how global challenges for the economy and the environment can be met through concrete approaches from research. Put simply, your studies are
Practically designed
Sustainably oriented
Cooperatively managed
In constant development, through teaching close to research

As you can already deduce from the university's name, we have not one, but two locations in Nürtingen and Geislingen. At each of these locations, we not only have a campus where our inquisitive students cavort, but also various campuses and test sites.

• Faculty FBF is in Nürtingen at Campus CI 10
• Faculty FAVM is in Nürtingen at Campus CI 2 and CI 3
• Faculty FUGT is in Nürtingen at Campus Braike CB 1
• Faculty FWR is in Geislingen at Campus Pa 4

Our test sites Steinach, Au, Tachenhausen and Jungborn are used by our specialised and application-oriented study programmes.
For better orientation, please refer to our maps and site plans. There you will find other campuses of HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen.

Campus city centre:

You can park in Nürtingen directly next to the CI10 building. As a member of the university alliance (Hochschulbund Nürtingen-Geislingen e.V.) (free of charge for students), you can also park your car at the rear car park of the Nürtingen train station. To do this, you need to fill out a membership form at the Hochschulbund. You can get more information and a parking permit at: hochschulbund@no spamhfwu.de

There are other parking possibilities, for example, at the Schlachthof (Mühlstraße) and on Wörthstraße. But always make sure that they are not residents' parking spaces, otherwise it could be expensive.

Campus Braike: You will find free parking spaces directly in front of the CB1 building. Of course, you can also use all public parking spaces around the campus.

Campus Geislingen: In Geislingen you will find parking facilities on the opposite side of the railway station at the corner of Weilerstraße and Konrad-Adenauer-Straße. There are further parking facilities on Parkstraße.

Compared to other organs, our brain is a real energy guzzler. The brain alone accounts for around 20 percent of the total energy consumption.

Since your cognitive capacities are challenged the most at university, you also need to constantly replenish your energy - this is ensured by our refectories at three locations.

In Geislingen, our students use the company restaurant of WMF

In Nürtingen, there is a canteen run by the Hohenheim Student Union at the city centre campus.

And at the Braike site, the canteen of the nearby Johannes Wagner School is available for use

You can find the menu plans either on Instagram in the HfWU Stories or under Mensa Plans.

If you haven't done so yet, follow us on Instagram and Facebook. You can share your student life with us and fellow students using the #myHfWU or #meineHfWU.

Even if it may not seem like it sometimes, studying is much more than just building up knowledge that you reflect in exams. For a limited period of time, it is your life - in virtually every respect. Of course, life doesn't run in a straight line and has its stumbling blocks. If you have difficulties, questions or doubts about your studies, you can contact the IBIS Central Student Advisory Service IBIS Central Student Advisory Service at any time. Among other things, you can also ask about the following points:

• Motivation, orientation and decision-making problems
• Learning problems and writer's block
• Conflicts in group work
• Stress and the experience of being overwhelmed
• Exam and speech anxiety
• Procrastination / Procrastinationitis
• Psychosocial counselling

The discussions with IBIS professionals are completely free of charge and strictly confidential!

Depending on what you are studying here, you will come into contact with various student initiatives. Some are thematically oriented towards the entire HfWU, others are more directed towards individual faculties or even degree programmes. Nevertheless, you can get involved in any initiative, no matter what you are studying. You can get an overview of which initiative suits you best at the Service under Student Initiatives.

Exclusive job offers, career fairs everywhere, recruitment events, university events, company events, application training and so on and so forth... But first things first:

• With JobTeaser we have a strong partner for our career portal "HfWU Start".
• There are exclusive internships and job offers for HfWU students
• Various events, trade fairs and recruiting events
• Job application training via IBIS, WAF and DMG
• Dates for the application portfolio check
• We also offer free premises and coaching in matters of founding and succession
• Category "Nett-2-know": Particularly qualified graduates can also do a doctorate with the help of HfWU
• The environment is there and is virtually waiting for you to make use of it. For more details, see Career entry.

There is a psychological counselling service at every university, of course also at HfWU. If talking to friends and family doesn't help you with the following challenges, professional help is needed quickly:

• You have the feeling that you can't learn and concentrate.
• You find yourself with excessive demands on yourself
• You reproach yourself and think you are weak-willed
• You have exam nerves, fear of failure or fear of negative evaluation
• You often feel lonely and can't find a connection

To a certain extent, these things are quite normal. However, if you have the feeling that it massively endangers your academic success or career entry, then don't hesitate and seek a conversation with the professionals. The counselling sessions are, of course, strictly confidential. Counselling is free of charge for students (included in the student union fee).

If you are referred to a partner with more specialised experience, up to four sessions are free of charge. You can find the contact points in Nürtingen, Geislingen, Stuttgart and Tübingen, as well as further details, in the service section under Psychological Counselling.

This point cannot be generalised in any way, so we would like to refer you to the contact persons for students with disabilities or chronic illnesses. You can get answers to your questions in an individual conversation. Under Service and Studying with a Disability or Chronic Illness you will find the relevant contact persons.

Not all first-year students are fresh out of school. Some have already experienced a lot before taking another run and setting the course for a great career. You can find more information on the following points under Equality and Equal Opportunities:

Counselling options: IBIS Student Advisory Service, contact persons, Equal Opportunities Officer, Student Services and BAföG

Organisation of studies: semester off, practical study semester, examinations and final thesis

On campus: places to change diapers, places to breastfeed, parent-child rooms, Mensa for Kids, toy boxes and parking spaces.

Financing: Maternity allowance, child benefit, child supplement, parental allowance, parental allowance-plus, BAföG, housing allowance, benefits under SGB II, social welfare allowance, childcare cost transfer, loans, scholarships, foundations and foreign students

Maternity protection: Maternity Protection Act, Guide to Maternity Protection and the HfWU Information Sheet Maternity Protection

Tutorials, i.e. the practical application of theoretical knowledge, are particularly important to us. We also place great trust in our tutors, because they are the cornerstones of successful exam preparation.
Even though some of them may be a real talent at communicating complex contexts, successful and sustainable tutoring requires a broad skill set of options for action. This is where the qualification for tutors comes in.

The Writing Lab bundles offers for academic work. These include:

Individual writing counselling, where you will be given the necessary tools in a counselling interview

Crash course in scientific work on topics such as formatting, citation, development of the research question and Citavi

Workshop empirical work on the development and implementation of questionnaires and expert interviews You can find more details on the page of IBIS Writing Lab.

You want to acquire interdisciplinary skills and approach socially relevant topics from a scientific perspective - then the Studium Generale is just right for you!
This is not a stand-alone course of study, but rather an opportunity to supplement your Master's degree with courses that are of particular interest to you.

More than 20 percent of HfWU students take advantage of the WAF programme every semester. Here at the latest, you will notice that the acquisition of extracurricular skills is made accessible here. Most of the courses offered by the continuing education academy are free of charge or available for a small fee. The wide range of courses is divided into a handful of categories:

• Language courses of different levels
• Trainer exam preparations
• Excel courses of different levels
• Project management certificates of different levels
• Various other workshops

You can take a closer look at the offer on NEO at X WAF (Offers for Students)

You can let out your energy not only in various clubs at your location or in the fitness studio, but also directly at HfWU - at university sports! The sports courses are organised by students in the so-called General Student Committee (AStA). You can find the current courses at the student union (VS) under Sports offers.

The University Alliance (Hochschulbund Nürtingen-Geislingen e.V.) is one of the essential institutions of this university. It provides endowed professorships, scholarships, IT equipment, money for the library, excursions and help with studying abroad.

But what can it mean for you?

• Discounted publications from the HfWU publication series
• Discounted participation in excursions
• Practical contacts via the Hochschulbund working groups
• Lectures, seminars and further education
• Discounts at events
• Access to the graduate network

And the whole thing is free of charge for students!

If you would also like to make a difference at HfWU, you can also get more involved in the University Alliance Hochschulbund Nürtingen-Geislingen e.V. 

You will find representatives of various faith communities at both locations. Feel free to look around on the websites of the cities. People of all faiths can also contact the ecumenical university community in Nürtingen. Its goal is to give everyone space and opportunities to experience community, to live and celebrate faith together in a contemporary way, and to reflect and discuss together on all topics that affect you in everyday life.

Do you like to make music and would you like to live out your passion at your new place of study? There are two ensembles at HfWU that rehearse in Nürtingen:

University Choir and Concert Band+.

Take a look at Studium Musicale. There are also ensembles and clubs in the city. The websites of the cities are good starting points.