Information about Starting your Studies

© FSR Verkehr

The freshmen week (ESE) is organized by the student council and strives to familiarize new students with the faculty, campus, and student life in general. Immediately before the start of the winter semester, numerous events are offered and provide opportunities to sozialize with fellow freshmen and older students. The ESE-week is highly recommended to all new students.

For students of all faculties and disciplines with basic mathematical education, the faculties of mathematics and physics offer a "Learning Room Mathematics" and a "Learning Room Physics".

As immediate study preparation for future students of the degree programmes in Transport Engineering (Diplom) and Transport Economics (Bachelor), it is recommended to accept an offer from the faculties of Mathematics and Physics to complete a few training hours in the form of preparatory courses in Mathematics and possibly Physics before starting their studies.

The focus is on repeating and deepening those parts of the syllabus that first-year students are expected to know, but which experience has shown to cause the most difficulties in application.

Every first-year student whose degree programme includes mathematics and physics as a subject/module can participate.
Participation is free of charge; registration is not required.

Each topic in the preparatory course is dealt with in the context of a lecture and a subsequent exercise. In each exercise, tasks from an exercise book are discussed that thematically belong to the respective preceding lecture. The courses take place every year at the end of September/ beginning of October.

Further information on the preparatory course in Mathematics and the preparatory course in Physics.

More information to further courses of other schools.

We advise you to gain as much experience in professional life (if possible in the future professional field) as possible, e.g. in the form of a six-week internship, before starting the study program. Proof does not have to be provided.

Would you like to develop yourself and your skills ? Then you've come to the right place!

The Career Service offers a wide range of events and workshops every semester. All offers are free of charge for TUD students. Binding registration via OPAL is required.

Click here for the semester program!

© ZfW

Find out what type of writer and worker you are; how you can organize your writing process well, overcome writer's block, structure and revise your texts sensibly; which reading and writing strategies will help you and how you can use literature management and other helpful software.

In the summer semester, the SZD offers this series of events as part of the studium generale and supplementary courses. Students from all departments are invited to find out more about academic reading and writing. The events are interactive impulse lectures - this means that there are exercises in each event so that the topics can be applied immediately.

The SLUB also offers a wide range of support at all stages of the writing process:
Are you planning to write an academic paper - or perhaps you are already in the middle of it? We support you in all phases of the writing process, from research to literature management and text production to publication. In addition to conventional courses and workshops, we also offer freely available self-study materials on many topics, including an increasing number in English. You can choose between detailed self-study courses on OPAL (SLUBtutorials) and explanatory videos on youtube (SLUBcasts).

Here you can find further information about lecture times (start and end dates of the teaching period), the core exam times, and public holiday and lecture-free periods.

You can find your timetable on the subpages of your study program.

Key

Times of day

Courses are held in 90-minute double sessions (DS):
1. DS:   07:30 am – 09:00 am 
2. DS:   09:20 am – 10:50 am
3. DS:   11:10 am – 12:40 pm
4. DS:     1:00 pm –   2:30 pm
5. DS:     2:50 pm –   4:20 pm
6. DS:     4:40 pm –   6:10 pm
7. DS:     6:30 pm –   8:00 pm

Weeks

Some courses are held only every two weeks. In the timetable, a distinction is made between odd calendar weeks and even calendar weeks:
1^st week:   odd week, e.g. calendar week 41.
2^nd week:  even week, e.g. calendar week 42.
This web page lists the current calendar week.

Abbreviations

The letters in front of the course title indicate the type of course and its position in the curriculum:
          V lecture,   Ü exercise,   S seminar,   P lab course,   SP language course,   T tutorial.

          O obligatory (compulsory module),
          W optional (one of several courses must be chosen).

All students receive a TU email address, which is used for all electronic communication with the university. Since staff members are encouraged to disregard emails from other providers, it is really important to check your mailbox regularly. If you want to use your private email address, please set up an automatic call-through of TU emails.

The easiest way to access the mailbox is to use your browser at msx.tu-dresden.de.
There you log in with your ZIH login data and you are ready to go.

Further information

"eduroam" (= Education Roaming) is a university initiative that enables WiFi for employees and students of and at all participating organizations and universities. TU Dresden is also part of the roaming project of the DFN (DFN = Deutsches ForschungsNetz; Internet provider of German universities).

Here you can find the setup instructions for:
Windows 10, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android

© Crispin-Iven Mokry

Since the summer semester 2024 (April 1, 2024), the semester ticket for Dresden universities consists of the Germany semester ticket and additional use of nextbike (in Dresden as yellow bikes of the MOBIbike brand) free of charge for 30 minutes per rental throughout Germany.
You can find more information here.
Even more mobile is hardly possible!

© SLUB Dresden

In order to take advantage of the rich and interesting possibilities of the University Library, you can register online as a user here.

For example, you can borrow books and media, reserve work spaces and equipment in the SLUB-Makerspace, conduct research in the database and register for events and advisory services.
After you finish your studies, your SLUB user status will change and the Campuscard will no longer be valid for use as a library card. However, you can then receive a new SLUB card free of charge, allowing you to benefit from all the same SLUB services.

All over the TU Dresden campus there are canteens and cafeterias to provide you with the nutrition you need to go about your busy day. The Studentenwerk feeds up to 20.000 guests everyday. You can purchase their dishes at fair and transparent prices.

The payment function for the dining halls and cafeterias is already integrated into your Campuscard and all you have to do is present it at the checkout. Either you use Autoload, pay in cash, or top up your credit directly at the cash desk.
The current menu can be found here.

If you are concerned with any questions about studying, the ServiceCenterStudies can help you or guide to the right counseling center for your concerns. It accompanies you throughout your sudies, from choosing a degree program to graduation.

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ServiceCenterStudies

Among other things, the SCS offers mentoring and buddy programs that are designed for various target groups in order to give you the opportunity to discover and dicuss the wide-ranging possibilities and perspectives of studying. An overview of the current offerings can be found here.

The TU Dresden implemented the Passt?!-Program as an early warning system for students in order to adequately react to challenging situations during your studies as needed. The participation is free, voluntary, and open to anyone.

© PASST?!

The goal is to timely identify challenges and offer customized support and counseling to students.

Participation

You can log in and out of PASST?! at any time in the selma portal:

• Log in to the selma portal with your ZIH-Login and your password.
• In the menu to the left click 'Account'.
• Scroll down to the section 'Additional personal details'.
• Here you will find your current PASST?! participation status (Registration for the PASST?! program). Click ‘Edit’ on the right side in order to change your status.
• Using the drop-down menu, choose ‘Ich nehme teil.’ (I take part.) if you wish to participate in the program. Choose ‘Ich nehme nicht teil.’ (I do not take part.) if you do not wish to participate or you wish to withdraw. Once you have done so, click ‘Save’.
• After the status change, there is no further confirmation.

Further informationen can be attained here.

If you have questions about studying with disability and/or chronic illness, you will be supported by the relevant representatives with deciding on and applying for a course of study, organizing and completing your studies, receiving individual advice on compensating for disadvantages in studying as well as in examination performance, digital and structural accessibility as well as support options in everyday situations.
You can find further information here.

Financial Aid

If you study at TU Dresden, you are able to apply for financial aid (BAföG). The Studentenwerk Dresden will help you with the application. For further information, please follow this link.

Student Halls

Are you wondering how to submit an online application for a dorm room? What are the chances of getting one in the first place? How extensive is the waiting list? Find out on the Studentenwerk's website in order to find your Student Hall!

Canteens

All over the TU Dresden campus there are canteens and cafeterias to provide you with the nutrition you need to go about your busy day. The Studentenwerk feeds up to 20.00 guests everyday. You can purchase their dishes at fair and transparent prices. The current menu can be found here.

Studying together makes it easier! Want to prepare for your exam over the long term? Make progress on your seminar paper, course paper, or thesis? Stay on track with your studies?

Information on study and writing groups