FAQ

If you do not show up for a scheduled exam, it will count as a failed attempt. However, if you are sick, you may submit a doctor's note up to three days after the exam.

During the introductory phase, you have a deadline of 5 business days before the exam to withdraw (which, due to the weekend, is exactly one week); during the advanced phase, the deadline is 3 days.

Enrollment for the winter semester always takes place in mid-January, while enrollment for the summer semester takes place in late June. However, you will always receive a reminder email when the enrollment period begins.

We upload all past exams provided to us by lecturers to our OPAL course. Here you’ll find mainly exams from the undergraduate program. For the graduate program, it’s best to check directly with your lecturers.

If you don't have access to the course yet, just send us an email at with your student ID number and your ZIH login so we can grant you access.

If you fail the first exam for a module, you must first take the second exam for that module, and only if you still fail the module after that can you retake the first exam.

You must take the first retake exam within one year—that is, no later than two semesters after the original exam. However, if you’d like to retake the exam after just one semester, that’s certainly possible as well. You must take the second retake exam on the next available exam date; in the undergraduate program, this would normally be one semester after the second attempt. The deadline can be postponed due to a semester of leave, maternity/paternity leave, or illness.

You will not be removed from the student roster unless you have not taken a single exam within four semesters. If you forgot to register for your exam, you can contact the Examination Office. There, you can be added to the exam roster retroactively. But it’s best to bring a piece of cake, because experience shows that the staff will be less annoyed by your forgetfulness. In some cases, however, you’ll also need to submit a request to the Examination Committee asking to be added to the exam roster. If this becomes necessary for you, the Examination Office will let you know.

You must drop off your doctor's note, along with the completed form from the Examination Office, at the Examination Office within three business days after the exam date.

Ein ganz normaler Krankenschein vom Hausarzt reicht aus. Erst bei vielen Krankmeldungen kann es passieren, dass das Prüfungsamt eine Krankschreibung von einem bestimmten Hausarzt fordert.

During the undergraduate program, there is often a designated date for each course, which is announced via OPAL. Otherwise, you must send an email to the module coordinator requesting access to your exam, which must be granted to you. You can also request access to your oral exam records.
You may bring books, class notes, and even older students with you to the review session. During the review, you are always allowed to take notes and photos. Errors discovered after the fact cannot be taken into account, so your grade can only improve. If you encounter any problems during a review, please feel free to contact our student representatives on the Examination Committee.

You can find the seminar group registration online in the OPAL course for the First-Semester Orientation (ESE). It will be posted a few weeks before the start of the winter semester. You can find the link here.

You can find all the course schedules for mechanical engineering here. These are usually published for the first time two weeks before the start of the semester. In the undergraduate program, the course schedules are organized by seminar groups, but you are not required to follow them.

You are not required to attend the class listed on your schedule; it is merely a recommendation and shows you how to fit all your classes into your weekly schedule. Of course, you can also attend other sessions; just keep in mind that some sessions include, for example, study group assignments that can only be covered in the session you registered for at the beginning of the semester.

You usually decide on your specialization before the fifth semester and then simply attend the relevant lectures. There are two ways to notify the Examination Office of your decision: First, when you request your interim transcript, your specialization will be noted directly. If you do not do this in the fifth semester, you must fill out this form before registering for exams in the winter semester and submit it to the Examination Office.

There are no specialization tracks; instead, there are only elective-required modules. The first of these takes place in the 5th and 6th semesters, during which students must select a total of 8 SWS from the course catalog for module WW-G12, which is provided by the Examination Office. In the course schedule, these courses are marked with “VW.” It does not matter in which semester or in what combination (2:2, 1:3, 4:0) the required elective modules are taken. In the 8th and 9th semesters, there are only elective-required areas (Fundamentals & Methods and Applied Material Science). A total of 50 LP must be earned in these two semesters, at least 25 LP of which must be from the Fundamentals and Methods area. The study plan specifies how many LP each module is worth. In general, for all elective-required areas, you may, of course, take more courses than required. However, you cannot choose which module’s grade will count—it’s first come, first served. Any additional modules you take, however, can be credited as extra coursework. Registration for this is done via a form submitted to the Examination Office.

By making this change, you are officially switching your degree program. This means you must apply for the new degree program through selma; please note the application deadlines. You must also submit this form to the Examination Office in a timely manner so that your previous academic achievements can be recognized. We recommend making the change after the second or fourth semester, since, according to the academic calendar, you will have no outstanding modules at that point.

Not yet.

At the moment, we offer exactly one master’s program at the faculty: the Master’s in Textile and Apparel Technology. Otherwise, you have the option of pursuing a postgraduate program. This program lasts one semester longer than a master’s program, and you’ll graduate with a diploma. We offer postgraduate courses in mechanical engineering and in process and natural materials engineering.

Yes, that's no problem.

This won't be a problem for your studies. You can study for up to 3 semesters longer than the standard period of study without any negative consequences for you. However, it could cause problems with your Bafög eligibility.

You do not need to register for the internship. However, the company or institution to which you are applying is often interested in receiving confirmation that the internship you will be completing during the first four months is a required internship. There is a form for this purpose on the Internship Office’s website, which you must fill out and have signed by the Internship Office.
After you have completed your internship, you must provide proof that you have fulfilled the internship duration required by the internship regulations (keep in mind that vacation days, days off, and sick days must be made up accordingly).
There is also a form for this on the Internship Office’s website. You must then have this form filled out by your internship company or institution and have it certified with the company stamp.

When it comes to your project work, you must serve as the liaison between the company and the university. The assignment for your project work as part of the specialized internship comes from the university, not from the company. It’s best to contact a department whose research aligns with the activities of your internship position as soon as possible. Each department is interested in project theses that advance its own academic research. Therefore, it is important that you act as a liaison so that a topic for the thesis can be identified that is beneficial to both the company and the department in question.

Since the project work for the specialized internship is an academic paper, the general guidelines for academic writing apply. No universal statement can be made regarding its length. The length varies depending on the supervising department and the specific topic. The respective departments usually have corresponding templates for academic papers. Our faculty also has guidelines for writing course papers.

In consultation with the respective department, it is also possible to write the project paper after completing the specialized internship.

You do not need to register your project for Selma. The respective department will submit your grade to the Examination Office.

You can find all the important information about applying for a semester of leave here. Currently, the following reasons for a leave of absence are recognized: completing an internship in Germany or abroad, studying abroad, personal illness, and maternity or parental leave. During your leave of absence, you still have the opportunity to complete coursework and take exams. However, the duration of your leave of absence is not counted toward your total number of academic semesters, which is why the maximum duration of BAföG funding is extended by that amount of time.
If you apply before the start of the semester, you can decide for yourself whether you want to use the semester ticket. Your student ID will then not be valid as a ticket.

If you don't want to use the semester ticket, you have two options:
If you apply for a leave of absence before paying the semester fee, you can opt out of the semester ticket and pay a lower amount. If you have already paid the semester fee, you can contact the Student Council (StuRa) and ask if a partial refund is possible. You cannot simply transfer a smaller amount; doing so would result in your being withdrawn from the university.

If you don’t receive Bafög, that’s not a problem at first. However, in the 14th semester, you must submit your thesis for the first time; if you don’t, you’ll automatically fail on your first attempt. You’ll then have two semesters for your second attempt, and a third attempt is only granted upon request. So by then, you should have completed your degree.

For anyone interested in studying abroad, we've set up a special page on our website where you can find all the important information,

You can have your parental leave counted toward your total leave by taking leave semesters. You can find out how leave semesters work further up in this section.

Every building manager accepts lost and found items. However, you’re also welcome to bring lost and found items to us; we regularly take our lost-and-found box to our building manager, who then forwards it to the TU’s central lost-and-found office.

FSR elections are held every November. To be elected to the FSR, you must first fill out and submit the election forms, which you can pick up from us or at the StuRa starting in mid-October. This will put you on the ballot so your fellow students can vote for you.

As an FSR member, you serve as a point of contact for your fellow students regarding all questions related to their studies. You represent student interests—for example, on various committees—and should be well-informed about academic and university policy issues. Supporting first-year students is also part of your responsibilities.

A committee semester is granted to anyone who is appointed or elected to an official committee of the faculty or the university, including the Faculty Student Council. You will receive one committee semester for each of your first two active semesters; you may receive a maximum of three in total.

• ...to serve on the StuRa?
  No, if you’re interested in the StuRa, you’re welcome to come to our inaugural meeting and run for office.

• ...to serve on the StuKo or the FakRa?
  No. The Faculty Board (FakRa) is elected by all students alongside the FSR; anyone can run for a seat there. We appoint representatives to the StuKos during our constituent meeting, and here, too, anyone interested in working on a StuKo can volunteer with us.

• ...to get involved in the FSR?
  No, we also have associate members who support us. Associates have the same rights, except they do not have voting rights at our meetings.

If you have a project related to your studies or coursework, feel free to contact us for financial support. The best way to do this is to send an email to ; we’ll then help you prepare an appropriate funding application.

Of course! We welcome outside volunteers at most of our events, especially during the orientation for first-year students. If you're interested in helping out, please sign up for our volunteer pool—you can find it here.

If you have more detailed questions, feel free to email us at . We’ll get back to you as soon as possible, or we’ll schedule an appointment with you if the issue is more complicated. Or just stop by our office during our business hours. You can find our hours posted outside the office or on our Facebook page.

In your TU-Mail inbox, click the gear icon in the top right corner and select "Options." Under the "Email" and "Automatic Processing" tabs, you'll find "Inbox and Cleanup Rules." Click the plus sign next to "Inbox Rules." Choose a name for the rule, set the condition to [Apply to all messages], and for the action, first select "Forward, redirect, or send," then "Redirect message to...". Enter your email address at the very top, then click “Save.” Finally, confirm the rule at the top by clicking “OK.”

If you have questions about math, there’s the Math Study Hall. It takes place Monday through Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Willersbau, where you’ll find knowledgeable tutors who can help you with your math assignments. For all engineering subjects, there is the Mechanical Engineering Study Room. It takes place every Thursday during the 6th and 7th periods in the Zeunerbau.

The Writing Center at TU Dresden (SZD) is the central resource for students seeking assistance with academic writing during their studies. Its offerings include workshops on various key skill areas, individual writing consultations, study and writing groups, the Writing Marathon, and the Long Night of Writing.

Aqua modules are designed to help you gain knowledge in the fields of social sciences, environmental protection, industrial engineering, economics, or language skills. You have relatively free choice in selecting which modules to take. The only requirement is that you meet the required number of SWS and have earned a minimum number of credit points. You must also pass an exam in each subject.

Similar to the Aqua modules, you have relatively free choice in selecting your modules here. However, they should have a technical focus; you can therefore choose any modules from our department that are not included in your study plan. Modules from other departments—such as the Department of Electrical Engineering—are also suitable for this purpose. Here, too, the number of SWS and credit points must match the requirements.

New courses must be registered with the Examination Office using the following form. The deadline is one week after the start of each semester.

You can register for language courses at Sprachkurse. Language course registration is always open from one week before the start of the semester, but please note that you will have to take a language test for some advanced courses.

In the first semester, you must take a language course worth 2 SWS. However, the study regulations do not specify which language you must take; they only state that the course must be at the "EBW 1—Introduction to Professional and Academic Language" level. You are free to choose the language.

You can have completed language courses recognized as AQUA courses by submitting an informal request to the Examination Office. In your request, you must explain why you would like to have the modules recognized retroactively.

Unfortunately, there is no central page listing potential field trips. To find out the dates, you’ll need to contact the departments individually or check with initiatives like bonding, for example. We don’t have a list either.