Category: FAQ

Where can I find my timetable? What subjects do I have?

The timetables can be found on the homepage of the faculty in the tab Study, sorted by courses and semesters. If the one for the current winter semester has not yet been uploaded, the one from the previous winter semester serves as a good orientation. Normally nothing changes. For the first week you will also receive a printed timetable for the initial course.
The subjects you have to take in the first semester (and beyond) can be found in the study overview, also on the page of the faculty. Just click on your course of study and click on the latest document Studienübersicht.

When do I have to be where?

You will get all your dates (with location) in the first week of your studies as a timetable at our Freshmen Days.

Do I have to attend a preliminary maths course? And: Do I have to repeat math?

The pre-maths course is only for chemical engineers and is not compulsory, but highly recommended for them. The other courses do not have a “Higher Mathematics” course and should not take away the limited places available to students of chemical engineering!
There is a registration deadline for the pre-math course, which is usually in September. It is not fixed every year, so please inform yourself as soon as possible. Here you can find all further information.

As a chemist, biochemist or food chemist you will attend the lecture “Mathematical Methods of Chemistry I” in the first semester. A specific preparation is not necessary. However, if you have been to school for some time, it is recommended to repeat the A-level math (especially curve discussion).

Which initial courses are compulsory?

Of course, at university virtually nothing is “compulsory” ?
If you would like to have all the information you need, you should definitely come to our information event, the Freshmen Days. You don’t have to write anything down here, all information will be uploaded on this website afterwards.
The additional offers like campus rally, pub crawl, museum tour etc. are of course more to get to know your fellow students in a relaxed atmosphere.

Can/Should I prepare something for the start of my studies?

This cannot be answered in a general way.
You definitely don’t have to buy textbooks or learn any content, it all comes soon enough. Just be equipped with the basics (writing pad and materials, folder/notebook, if you like digital on the tablet) and be aware that some investments (lab coats, basic lab equipment and insurance, deposit for the locker) will be coming up in the first weeks.
Of course, you should also take care of your living situation, you can buy the semester ticket if necessary and if you want to get a badge for university sports. There is a very good checklist to start your studies.

Do I have to register for lectures now?

No. You may be able to register for some courses before the first lectures start, but it is not necessary. Usually the lecturer will ask you to register as soon as it is activated. Experience shows that this is during the first week of lectures in the first lecture dates. You can’t miss these if you pick up your timetable at the Freshmen Days.
You can find out exactly how to register for courses at the IT introduction, which also takes place during the first days.

How do I get my student card?

Student ID cards are currently (summer term 2020) sent by post as soon as you are enrolled. The address in TUMonline is used for this, so check that it is up to date. Also, ID cards are not sent abroad. More information here.

At which sites will I study food chemistry?

In the curriculum, the modules are color-coded according to the locations: Blue and red take place in Garching (chemistry, math, physics), yellow in Freising (botany, food chemistry, statistics, electives).
During the first year of study, you will study almost exclusively in Garching, in the second year about half of the modules are in Freising and in the third year almost all of them. The consecutive Master takes place in Freising only.

Didn’t find you answer?

Write a mail to ersti_fsch@lists.lrz.de

Where can I find job offers?

All job advertisements published by the student council can be found under the German page Stellenangebote.
In addition, there is a TUM job exchange, where you can often find HiWi jobs.

How do I find Theses?

Although master’s theses do appear in our job advertisements from time to time, bachelor’s theses practically never do. Here, direct contact with chairs, teachers and assistants in the laboratory is really the best way.

Where can my job offers be publicized?

We publish job advertisements on our homepage, there is also a form for this. Otherwise we accept jobs also as email to info_fsch@lists.lrz.de. In addition we post the jobs in the common room on the notice board.
We do not share job ads or calls for surveys/studies via our social media, as this would flood our content.

How can I contact the student council?

You can find all the important information under contact in the main menu.
Our office is located in room CH 26503. During the semesters, the office is usually open, but we don’t have specific opening hours.

How can I participate in the Student Council?

You can find out how, when and where you can get involved with us under “Student Council > Join us now!” on our website. There are also some food for thought on why you should do this of all things.
If you don’t have that much time at your disposal, you can also help out at our events from time to time. More about this under “Events > Supporting Events”.

What does the Student Council do for its students?

Everything the student council does can be found in the main menu under “Student Council > Units” and “Student Council > Committees of the Chemistry Department”.

Where is the Student Council’s office located?

Our office can be found in room CH 26503 in the department of chemistry.

Where can I hang up posters or flyers?

Placarding on columns and doors in the Faculty of Chemistry is prohibited for fire protection reasons. We permit the posting of posters etc. in our recreation room. Unauthorized posters will be disposed of.

Where is the lost-and-found office?

The lost and found is located in the office of the chemistry student council (CH26503). The office is usually manned during the day but there are no fixed opening hours.
There are also other sites on campus that are listed here.

Where can I find information regarding the IT-systems at TUM (VPN, eduroam, CampusOnline etc.)?

Everything about the IT-systems at TUM can be found here.

How can I use the printers at the department of chemistry?

Three printers are available in the CIP pool, two black and white printers and one colour printer. You can print from the PCs in the CIP-Pool to the printers Julia, Leo and Joachim if you have enough credit. The faculty provides each of its students with a daily quota. If you need more than that, you can buy additional quota as a voucher in our office.

What to do if a printer is out of order?

Let us know in our office: either you come by for a short visit or you call from the CIP pool. There’s a phone on the wall across the printers and our number is right next to it.

How does the printing quota work?

You can purchase a printing quota for using the printers at the student council’s office in room CH 26503. You have to pay cash since we can’t accept any digital payment. You have to unlock the voucher on the print server. Make sure to enter the code correctly.
If it doesn’t work, contact someone in the student council office.

How can I rent a barbecue grill, beergarden benches or a boiler for glühwein?

Please write an email at infra_fsch@lists.lrz.de, if you want to rent the barbecue grill, benches or boilers. State in your inquiry what you want to rent, on which day you need it and shortly for which occasion. (In our response we will inform you wheter the barbecue grill or the benches are still available and about further modalities of the rental and the return.) For this rental the Student Council demands a deposit consisting of 50€ and an identification card.

How can I rent lab goggles?

Just step by at our office to rent a pair of goggles. The required deposit is your student card.

Can I borrow a lab coat?

No, the Student Council does not offer lab coat for rental. You can only buy a new lab coat at our office.

What else can I borrow from the student council?

You can borrow the following items from us:

• pavilions or the audio equipment: Please write an email to infra_fsch@lists.lrz.de, if you want to rent one of these.
• sports gear (balls, table tennis rackets, frisbee, etc.) (soccer ball and goal keeper equipment, volleyball and net, table tennis balls and rackets, frisbee and boomerang, a pump for the balls, basketball and nets for hoops, badminton ball and rackets)
• molecule modelling kit
• (wheat bear glass) (“Weißbierglas”)

Just step by at our office, if you want to borrow on of these items (except pavilions or the audio equipment). You can rent the desired article immediately, you just need to leave an identification card or a certain amount of money as deposit.

Where can I get laboratory insurance?

The laboratory insurance that we recommend can be taken out at www.laborversicherung.de. The site also contains a guide to which tariff is the right one for whom.
It is often worth asking your own liability insurance (or that of your parents, if you are still insured) whether and to what extent laboratory damage is covered.

Where can I get a lab coat and goggles?

A lab coat can be purchased at the student council’s office in cash. We are not able to accept any kind of digital payment. Our office is located in room CH 26503.
Goggles can be purchased at the supply management.

If you wish to purchase your laboratory equipment elsewhere, make sure that certain quality criteria are met:
Safety goggles should have a good seal, especially at the bottom, and side protection.
Lab coats should be long-sleeved, at least up to the knees and made of cotton.

Where can I get a locker?

Lockers are assigned during your official introductory event. You have to leave a deposit of around 50€ in exchange for the key, which will be given back to you when you return the key.
The department in charge is the faculty’s practical course management.

How does the credit system work?

You can learn everything about the credit system and how many ECTS you must have at a certain time in your exam regulations.

How many times am I allowed to repeat an exam?

The number of times you can repeat an exam depends heavily on your program and the type of exam. Details can be found in the corresponding exam regulations for your program.

Where can I find my current exam regulations?

The TUM has two separate exam regulations, a general exam regulation (APSO) and regulation that’s specific to your major (FPSO). For more general regulations you should consult the APSO.
If your question is specific to your major (GOP’s, Modules, regulations for lab courses, etc.) you should take a look at the FPSO

APSO: Allgemeine Prüfungs- und Studienordnung
FPSO: Fachprüfungs- und Studienordnung

Mostly, these documents are in German. Please contact your Office of Student Affairs for the information you need, if you do not understand German.

Where can I find my schedule?

All current schedules can be found on the department’s homepage. You just have to pick your program.

What about scholarships and financial aid?

A general overview of scholarships at TUM can be found on this website.

Where can I find additional learning material?

You can ask the lecturer for suggestions or you can talk to other students in our forum.

Where can I find information about the libraries?

The TUM libraries have their own website, that has all the information on borrowing books, opening times and much more.
If you would like to recommend a book purchase because you have not found a required book or not as an electronic medium, the library offers a form for this.

What deadlines do I have to keep in mind?

The department of chemistry doesn’t have uniform deadlines for exam registrations but the general time frames for winter and summer semesters are 15th of November until the 15th of January and the 15th of May until the 30th of July respectively. You have to inform yourself on the specific time frames since they are different for every module and year.
You have to pay a fee at the end of every semester if you want to enroll in the next semester. The deadline for the summer semester fee has to be paid until the 15th of February, the fee for the winter semester has to be paid until the 15th of August.
TUM provides all central dates and deadlines clearly arranged and as a subscribable calendar.

What are my options for recreational acitvities?

On the grass in front of the chemistry faculty you can practice various outdoor sports. The corresponding equipment is available in our office (see “Borrowing from the student council”). The same is offered by the student council MPI for the sports field in front of the MI building. There is also a small bouldering wall there, disguised as the old reactor.
In summer it is worth taking a short walk to the Isar river or a trip by bike to the lake in Garching.
In the evening, the Campus-Cneipe C2 invites you for cool drinks and company.

How do I find a room in the Department of Chemistry?

We know the room system is complicated but we’re sure you’ll figure it out! The first number corresponds to the level you’re on. The numbering starts at 1 in the basement. Therefore the ground floor is number 2.The second number corresponds to the tower. 2 is for green, 3 is for yellow, 6 is for orange and 7 is for pink. The last three numbers are the actual room number. To orient yourself, you go to your target tower on your target level and then look up. There are tubes which show you an overview of the “crossing” you’re at. Now look for the corridor which contains your room number. There is a nice overview of the chairs and their roomnumbers.

Where can I find something to eat?

There is a canteen on the campus Garching where you can pay with your student card. To do so, you first have to charge it with cash, which you can do in the canteen area at the designated stations. You can also make use of the Autoload function, which can be activated at the Information center in the canteen. You can also find the Stucafé in the canteen building, where you can also pay with your student card.
There’s also a cafe in the Department of Chemistry where you can get everything from Brezn to cake. It’s located right beyond the main entrance area and is referred to as the Grieche (German for Greek), because it’s run by our friend Costa and his family. Other options are the cafes in the other departments on campus.

Where is the common room?

The common room is located next to the student councils office.

Where are study rooms located?

Most libraries on campus have study rooms where you can study in silence as long as there’s enough space. The library of the Department of Chemistry is located to the left after entering through the main entrance. After you’ve walked down the stairs, you’ll find the reading hall, which also features rooms for group work, which have to be booked in advance. You can work in them if they’re empty but you have to leave when the person who booked the room arrives. Another offer is the the so called Studitum, which is located across the road from the Department of Chemistry. Before they let you in, you have to agree to the terms of service in TUMonline. After that, your student card will open the StudiTUM doors.

Where is the Student Coucil’s study room?

Exclusively in our faculty there is also the study room of the student council in CH 53204
We always leave the room open so that as many people as possible can use it as often as possible and are not tied to our presence. Only in the two weeks before the start of the winter semester do we use it as a preparation room for the freshman introductions.

Who can I contact for general questions regarding my course of studies?

General questions regarding your couse of studies are best sent to the Office of Student Affairs. They can be found here.
If you think that your problem is shared by other students of your year as well, you can talk to the student representatives of your year who can report your problems collectively.

Who can help me with social/mental issues?

If you feel threatened, discriminated against or you’re a victim of sexual assault, you can talk to several contact persons.

• There is a “Kummerkasten” of the chemistry faculty in the corridor opposite the student council office.
• You can also contact the Women’s Representative Dr Oksana Storcheva by e-mail at frauenbeauftragte@ch.tum.de . Even if you are not a woman or if your problem is of a different nature, you can be helped here.
• The Munich Student Union has many offers for students in difficult situations, the Advisory Network.

Where can I find Informations for a semester abroad?

The foreign representatives of the Faculty of Chemistry are Daniela Fengler and Prof. Dr. Fritz Kühn. You can contact them directly or keep an eye out for their events, e.g. at our events section.
The TUM Global and Alumni Offcie regularly organizes the International Day and provides a lot of information about ways to go abroad, even outside of events.

Who is the first aid responder and where can I find first aid kits?

The first aid responder is Daniela Fengler. You can find her in the room CH 26502 next to the student council office. There should be first aid kits in almost every room. Every laboratory has to be equipped with at least one first aid kit as well.