FAQ and manuals

In this section you will find FAQs on various topics. Please check here first to see if your question has already been answered.

1. FAQ of the Examination Board

In this document you will find a series of questions and answers on the subjects of examinations, grades, examination regulations, etc. The document is maintained and regularly updated by the head of the examination board. 

2. FAQ for international Students & Applicants

In the FAQ for international students and applicants, you can find information on several topics regarding living, studying and working in Darmstadt resp. Germany.

2. IT-Services

The IT-Services of the Hochschule Darmstadt offer an FAQ for questions that are asked regularly. 

1. FAQ for international Students & Applicants

In the FAQ for international students and applicants, you can find information on several topics regarding living, studying and working in Darmstadt resp. Germany.

2. Information Brochure for first year students

Students at the beginning of their studies naturally have many questions. In this information brochure we give you an initial overview of relevant topics and contact persons.

3. Activation of the student account

At the beginning of your studies you have to activate your account once. You will find instructions and a tutorial on the account in general on the IT Services pages. 

4. subscribe and unsubscribe to the e-mail distribution lists

At the beginning of your studies you are registered in all e-mail distribution lists of the university. If you wish to deselect some of these distribution lists, you can do so in your user account using the so-called "self-service function".

Especially - but not only - for first-year students it is not easy to keep track of everything concerning your courses. Here you will find overviews and contact persons for everything concerning your studies.

1. Overview IT systems of the h_da

The Hochschule Darmstadt operates several IT applications for the organisation of studies, but also provides various applications for you as a student. Here you can get an overview.

2. Glossary

Here you will find explanations of terms that you will encounter repeatedly in the university context or in everyday life.

3. Contact persons

Here you can find an overview of all contact persons in the Department of Advanced Education with their respective responsibilities and contact details.

1. Registration for courses ("Belegung")

You have to register before the start of each semester for the courses you wish to attend. The purpose of registration is to enable lecturers to contact you. In addition, scripts and books will be ordered and rooms booked on the basis of the registration numbers.

2. Exam Registration

You have to register for each exam you wish to sit at least 48 hours prior to the exam date. This does not happen automatically when you register for a course, as you are not forced to take the exam in every course you attend.

3. Exam De-Registration

You can cancel your registration up to 24 hours before an exam without stating any reasons. Cancellation within the 24 hours before an exam is only possible with a (medical) certificate.

4. Reminder Exam Registration 

We generally recommend that you register for all examinations at the beginning of the semester and, if necessary, cancel your registration. If you want to make sure that you don't miss any deadlines, you can also subscribe to our e-mail reminder.

5. FAQ of the Examination Board

Please always consult the FAQ of the examination board first if you have any doubts or queries about examinations or regulations.

The Master Thesis Module comprises of the thesis and the colloquium.

The thesis has to be written in English language. After completing the Master's thesis, you will present the results of your Master's thesis to your supervisors in the colloquium, which takes around 45-60 minutes. You should agree on the date and format of the presentation in good time with your supervisors.

To give you a better overview of the process from thesis registration to the graduation ceremony, we have created a process overview. You can find more information on the individual steps below.

Requirements & Regulations

To register for the thesis, you need to be enrolled as a student at h_da and you need to have gained 54 CP according to the examination regulations of the MBA program (§§ 7 and 9 BBPO), excluding the Professional Experience module.

Please find all regulations in the ABPO and BBPO valid at the start of your studies. Further information can be found in the FAQ of the examination board.

Declaration of Authorship

Your thesis must contain a signed declaration of authorship stating that you have written the thesis alone and independently. You can find the exact text in the form center or in your BBPO. 

Guidelines

Please check the thesis guidelines of Darmstadt Business School before starting to write your thesis. The guidelines provide a framework that you should stick to. However, they are not binding and your supervisor may have additional or divergent requirements. Therefore, please agree with your supervisor on the specific framework for your thesis in good time.

Registration

Written registration in necessary before starting your thesis. Please use the form available in the form center. 

Duration

The time allowed to work on the Master's thesis is 24 weeks. It is possible to apply for an extension, e.g. due to illness. Please see the FAQ of the examination board for further information. 

Re-Registration

Please remember to re-register for the coming semester as a precautionary measure if your deadline or the colloquium is after the re-registration period! 

If you have not re-registered and your colloquium is postponed to the following semester (e.g. due to illness), you cannot complete your studies! On the other hand, you can easily get the semester fee you have paid refunded if you were able to complete your studies in the current semester.

Submission

The thesis is deemed to have been submitted on time if it is sent in digital form by e-mail as a PDF document to the examination secretariat, lecturer and co-liaison officer by the deadline. A printed version must be handed in to the secretariat or sent by post no later than 14 days after the deadline for submission of the thesis. Further print versions are to be handed in to the supervisor and co-supervisor as required.

Please note that due to the current pandemic situation, it is currently not possible to hand in the print version in person at the secretary's office. For this reason, it should currently only be sent by post. 

Grading and Degree Certificate

Both the Master’s thesis as well as the thesis defence (colloquium) must have been passed as per Section 23, ABPO, and are weighted with a 3:1 ratio.

The final documents are issued promptly after your colloquium by the department of advanced education and will be handed out by the examination office of the h_da. As the process includes several persons, it takes around 4-6 weeks. You will receive an email from the examination office as soon as you can collect the documents.

1. Overview of the IT systems

During your studies you will come into contact with a range of tools and IT systems. Here you can find an overview of the systems used at the h_da.

2. Libraries in and around Darmstadt

As a student you often have to refer to books and other resources/media from the library. In addition to the library of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, you can also make use of the University and State Library of the State of Hessen, located in Darmstadt and the German National Library in Frankfurt.

We have summarised all the key contact data and website links of these libraries for you. In the second section of the guideline, you can also find further information about using the h_da library Services.

3. Study administration via System HIS-QIS

HISQIS (also QIS or LSF) is the administration platform of the h_da for study organisation. An overview of the functions of QIS can be found on the pages of the IT-Service (Video).

Via QIS you can register for courses and exams, retrieve certificates, view your grades and study history, etc.

4. Learning platform Moodle

Moodle is the central learning platform of the h_da. Each of your courses has an accompanying course on Moodle. More tutorials are available in Moodle itself (link in the tutorial). 

5. reference & knowledge management via Citavi

Citavi is a program for reference management and knowledge management. The h_da makes Citavi available free of charge to all students. If you need further information or assistance, please contact the library.

If you acquire competences prior or parallel to your studies which are also targeted in your studies, you can have these competences recognised or credited if they are equivalent in terms of level, content and scope.

There are basically two forms of recognition/accreditation - individual and blanket. With individual recognition, you submit a separate application for each module that you would like to have credited. Blanket accreditation means, that for some courses or programmes the university has examined the possibility of recognition in advance and you only have to submit one application form for several modules. In the MBA programmes we do only offer individual recognition at the time being.

There is also a distinction in the recognition/accreditation of university and non-university achievements. Higher education achievements are certified achievements that you have acquired in another degree programme and possibly at another university. Extra-curricular achievements are all achievements and competences that you have not acquired at a university - whether formally in the context of further education or informally, for example through work experience. 

Further information about the accredidation of competences can be found in our guideline. Further information on the recognition procedure and all forms and completion aids can be found in our
Form Center. Please check the Process for recognition of competences before you fill in or submit an application form.

If a module is successfully accredited, the participation fee for your degree programme is reduced by the corresponding fee for the module. Please note that applications for recognition are subject to a processing fee which is offset against the fee reduction. You will find the exact amount of the pro-rata reduction as well as the processing fee in the fee schedule for your degree programme (Part-Time and Full-Time).

1. E-mail address

You will receive a student e-mail address from the university at the beginning of your studies. All digital communication between the university and you will take place via this address. This is where you will receive important messages. Please make sure that you read your e-mails regularly. You can do this

• via Webmail Roundcube
• in your own E-Mail Client (german instruction only; if you need support, please contact the IT-Services)

2. Subscribe and unsubscribe the e-mail distribution list

At the beginning of your studies you are registered in all e-mail distribution lists of the University. If you wish to deselect some of these mailing lists, you can do so in your user account.

3. Account (Video or Information IT-Service)

You can maintain your student account via the so-called self-service function. You can change your data here, for example, if you move and want change your address data, as well as subscribe and unsubscribe to e-mail distribution lists.

At the beginning of your studies you will receive your student ID, the Campus Card. Information about the Campus Card and its functions can be found on the pages of the Student Service Center.

The Campus Card is already activated at the beginning of your studies, so you do not have to do anything at first. From the second semester onwards, you need to revalidate the Campus Card every semester so that it is still valid. You can find instructions here.