The lecture period is the time in the semester when courses take place and you are theoretically active at the university. Why theoretically? Quite simply, here at TU Dresden there is no compulsory attendance, i.e. theoretically you don't have to attend any courses, just take your exams. However, this is not necessarily easy without attending the courses. You will find out after a while how intensively you have to attend your courses.

The core examination phase follows the lecture period and takes place during the lecture-free period. You will write exams during these weeks, but you may also have to write exams during the lecture period. How many exams you have to write depends on how many modules you take, but you do not have to take an exam for every module.

You don't have any classes during the lecture-free period , but that doesn't necessarily mean you have time off. You often have to work on assignments or study on these days or during these weeks, so how much time you have off depends on your modules and is very difficult to know in advance. However, if you do have time off, you can use it to complete an internship - or you can simply take a vacation and enjoy your time off, because taking a break is also important :)

Lectures are roughly what you imagine them to be. You sit in a large lecture hall and a lecturer gives a lecture on a specific topic. In this classic course, you are taught basic knowledge and theoretical concepts. But a lecture doesn't have to be one-way and frontal, because of course students can ask questions or answer questions from the lecturer. How interactive the course is depends on the lecturer, but of course also on the motivation of those present. Lectures are usually always held by the same person, but there are also lectures in which each session is held by a different person. The lecture is then called a lecture series.

Seminars are another course format. Here you sit together with far fewer of your fellow students and are not taught in a frontal manner, but are asked to participate. The seminar leaders (often Research Associates of the Chair) repeat part of the content and then go into it in more depth. In the seminars, a current topic is often discussed against the background of the theoretical content, which is why a seminar thrives on student participation. Your active participation in presentations, group work or discussions is therefore essential for the success of the course. However, you are of course not forced to participate, unless the performance is part of your examination performance, which you have to take in order to pass the module. Seminars usually take place once a week, but there are also so-called block seminars. Here you only have a few sessions, which are not just the usual 90 minutes, but much longer. The long sessions allow you to deal intensively with the topic without being quickly interrupted, but they also demand a lot of concentration and stamina from you.

However, courses are not only led by professors, students also have the opportunity to do so. If they have understood a module particularly well and are very interested in it, they can lead a tutorial. However, students from higher semesters will stand in front of you and discuss the material covered in the lectures again. However, the tutors often present the material in a more understandable and easier way, as they know the student perspective only too well. They also explain the theoretical basics of your tasks, e.g. how to work scientifically, write term papers or bibliographies. Since the tutors come from higher semesters, you can get valuable tips from them that will certainly help you in the course of your studies. Maybe you want to pass on your own experiences yourself, you have the opportunity to do so by becoming a tutor yourself.

Another event format is exercises. These are also led by tutors and are designed to help you apply your theoretical knowledge to practice. This can take the form of math problems or programming, for example.