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Useful information for Cognitive Science and Cognitive Computing Master students
Index of this page:
How to contact the examination office
How to get a Transcript of Records (ToR)
How to get approval of foreign university credits (e.g., from your semester abroad)
How to get approval for online courses
How to register for module examinations
How to register and hand in your master thesis
How to get various statements and confirmations needed for external applications
How to contact the examination office
Carla Högemann, Kelwin Maethner
Wachsbleiche 27, 49090 Osnabrück
Room: 50/E05
Tel: +49-541 969-3363
Email: pacogsci@uni-osnabrueck.de
Note: When contacting the examination office by email, please provide your matriculation number and a clear indication of the subject matter in the subject line of your email.
Consultation hours in presence
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ---- | 11:00-12:00 | ---- | 10:00-12:00 | ---- |
Consultation hours by phone
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ---- | 10:00-11:00 | ---- | ---- | ---- |
How to use HisInOne/EXA
For each course, a registration for the respective examination is required in HisInOne/EXA to receive a course certificate. This includes not only lectures with a written exam, but also other courses such as seminars in which the coursework consists of some practical project with a written report or essay.
Further information, such as introductory videos and FAQs (German only), about using the HisInOne/EXA system can be found on the pages of the Campus management service.
How to get a Transcript of Records (ToR)
If you started your course of studies before the winter term 2022/23, please proceed as follows:
- Collect your certificates at the Examinations Office. Type the chronologically ordered list of your courses into the appropriate document:
If you have already completed one or more of your module examinations for the two major subjects and the study project (see "How to assign courses to modules" below), add them to the section “Major Subjects and Study Project”.
- Save the file as an OpenDocument (.odt) and email your transcript to the Examinations Office.
- Visit the Examinations Office during the respective office hours and bring along your chronologically ordered certificates and an Opium printout, for cross-checking.
- Your ToR will be processed, and can be collected in the Examinations Office (usually) one week later.
If you started your course of studies in the winter term 2022/23 or later, you can get your ToR via the CAMPUS service.
1. Log into myuos as usual and select the "Studienservice" menu option, then select "Bescheinigungen".
2. You should now see the page where you also have access to your matriculation certificates, etc.
3. Scrolling down a bit, beneath "Meine Studiengänge", you can find PDF files named "Leistungsübersicht" in a German and an English version. These are your transcripts!
Note: The download may not appear if some of your grades have not yet been entered in the HisInOne/EXA system. Once your lecturers have entered your grades or the examinations office has completed the transfer from exams previously entered in Opium, the download option should appear.
Important: The ToR downloaded from HisInOne/EXA is only valid after it has been signed and stamped with the official seal of Osnabrück University. For validation, please bring our ToR to the examination office.
How to get approval of foreign university credits (e.g., from your semester abroad)
Before your semester abroad
Please clarify with the person responsible for the relevant optional compulsory module(s) ("Wahlpflichtmodul") whether the courses you are planning to take can be approved for the respective module of your course of studies.
Important: In order to be able to make an informed decision, please provide detailed information about the contents and requirements of the course.
| Artificial Intelligence | Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Kühnberger |
|---|---|
| Philosophy for Cognitive Science | PD Dr. Uwe Meyer |
| Neuroscience | Prof. Dr. med. Peter König |
| (Computational) Linguistics | Prof. Dr. Elia Bruni |
| Neuroinformatics | Prof. Dr. Gordon Pipa |
| Cognitive (Neuro-)Psychology |
After your semester abroad
In order to get approval of foreign university credits, you have to:
- Print and fill in the following document for each certificate that should be approved:
(DE) Antrag auf Anerkennung einer auswärtigen Studienleistung im Studiengang Kognitionswissenschaft
(EN) Application for approval of external credits for Cognitive Science - For the approval of foreign credits for the optional compulsory modules, please reach out to the person responsible for the corresponding module (see list above) for approval. Provide the filled-in form, your course certificate or foreign Transcript of Records, as well as detailed information about the contents and requirements of the course in question.
- Visit the examination office with the filled-in and approved form, course certificate or foreign Transcript of Records, and detailed course information. For the elective module ("profilbildender Wahlbereich"), the documents can be handed in directly at the examinations office without prior approval.
How to get approval for online courses
In order to get credit points for online courses, proceed analogously to the procedure of approval for foreign university credits (see above).
Note: Non-credit online courses offered by third party web sites usually cannot be approved.
How to register for module examinations
Other than for the bachelor course of studies, for which there are oral module examinations, all module examinations in the master course of studies are based on the individual course grades assigned to the module. The final grade of each module is calculated based on the grades of the individual courses, as specified in the module handbook.
How to assign courses to modules
Download and fill in the forms of "Anmeldung studienbegleitende Prüfung (Master)". There is one form for each module. To register for the master thesis, you need to assign courses with a total of 72 credits to the modules. The remaining courses may be assigned once you have completed them. For correct assignment of courses to the modules, please consult the module handbook and the modules listed for each course in the course list on the IKW web page.
Bring the form(s), your original certificates, an Opium printout (if applicable; students who have all their grades listed in HisInOne/EXA do not need to bring original certificates or the Opium printout), and a copy of your certificate of matriculation to the examinations office.
Important: Once courses have been assigned to a module, no further changes to that assignment can be made.
How to register and hand in your master thesis
Registering your master thesis
Once you have assigned courses with a total number of at least 72 ECTS credits to the modules (see: "How to assign courses to modules" above), you are eligible to register your master thesis. Without registering your thesis before writing it, you cannot hand it in.
Before registering your thesis at the examination office, you need two examiners, the first of which is your main supervisor, and a research topic for your thesis. Please ask your prospective examiners about potential topics in their research area, or provide them with your own suggestions.
Note: At least one of the examiners has to be from Osnabrück University. Furthermore, at least one of the examiners has to be a professor or a senior researcher with what is called "Habilitation" in German.
At the IKW, the following people have that status (You may also have an external examiner with such status instead):
- Professors (in alphabetical order): Elia Bruni, Nicole Gotzner, Gunther Heidemann, Tim Kietzmann, Peter König, Kai-Uwe Kühnberger, Rainer Mühlhoff, Sebastian Musslick, Pascal Nieters, Simone Pika, Gordon Pipa, Sven Walter
- Senior researchers with "Habilitation" (in alphabetical order): Annette Hohenberger, Uwe Meyer
In case neither of your prospective examiners satisfies this requirement, the examination board has to decide whether an exception can be made for the case at hand. Please contact the examination office and provide detailed information about your prospective examiners and your project so that the examination board can make an informed decision.
Once you have your topic and examiners, please proceed as follows:
- Fill in the following form: Anmeldung Masterarbeit
- The last page of the form needs to be signed by both examiners.
- Bring the filled-in form to the examination office, together with all documents listed on the checklist (second page of the document above):
- an up-to-date photo (passport size)
- an up-to-date transcript of records and the corresponding certificates (originals and copies). If your courses are all listed in HisInOne/EXA, you do not need to bring the certificates.
- a curriculum vitae (a chronological overview of your education)
- The declaration that you have not yet finally failed a master examination in Cognitive Science (third page of the form above)
- The approval to examine the thesis, signed by both examiners (last page of the form above).
- a matriculation certificate for the current semester as well as the semester in which the thesis will be handed in. If you do not have the certificate for the semester in which the thesis will be handed in yet, you can bring it once you have it.
- a transcript of records and the graduation certificates of your bachelor course of studies
Important: The time between registering your thesis and handing it in is six months. Once your documents have been processed, you will be notified by the examination office about the exact deadline for handing in your thesis.
Extensions
The standard time frame for the thesis is 6 months. In well-justified cases, an extension is possible, but needs to be applied for and approved by the examination committee. To request an extension, please contact the examination office before the deadline and hand in the relevant documents.
Depending on the reason for the application for an extension, different documents are required. In the case of illness, for example, a corresponding certificate from your physician or psychologist s required. For requests due to technical difficulties, a letter from your advisor stating the difficulty and its influence on the timeline of the project is required. If you are unsure what documents you need to hand in, you can contact the examination office.
When the examination committee has made a decision, the examination office will inform you about the status of your request for extension.
Handing in your master thesis
After you have completed your thesis (timeframe between registration of the thesis and handing it in: 6 months), you can hand it in.
Please ask your examiners/supervisors beforehand whether they would like to receive printed and bound copies of your thesis, or whether they would like to receive an electronic version instead. In addition to the copies for the supervisors, one printed and bound copy has to be handed in at the examination office.
Important: Each of the bound copies has to include a signed declaration of authorship. Please read the Guide to the responsible use of AI tools, and make sure to state explicitly which AI tools, if any, have been used for what purpose.
Bring the bound copies to the examination office, and send an electronic version of the thesis by email.
If you have not yet handed in the matriculation certificate of the current semester, bring that too.
The suggested time frame for the examiners to write their reports is four weeks.
How to get various statements and confirmations needed for external applications
When finishing your studies, you will need certain confirmations and statements for your applications to subsequent universities. Possible standard confirmations are: confirmation of (ECTS) credits, preliminary average grade and preliminary master's certificate.
How to get an preliminary master's certificate
For applications to consecutive courses of study or job applications, you may may be required to hand in a master's certificate before your final master's certificate is ready. In this case, you may request a preliminary master's certificate if the following requirements hold:
- You have finished your coursework and assigned all courses to modules, including the elective module ("Profilbildender Wahlbereich")
- You have registered and handed in your master's thesis
- Both supervisors have confirmed to the examination office that you will pass the thesis with at least 4.0 (sufficient)
