Open letter Flexible Hybrid Semester

Dear students and soon-to-be students at Ruhr-Universität Bochum,

For the third time before the start of a semester, I am addressing you with an open letter. Once again, I have to prepare you for a semester in which you will spend little time on the Bochum campus. Lectures will start on 12 April 2021 and will be almost exclusively online due to the rising number of infections and incidence rates. However, you will be offered a comprehensive and diverse selection of courses, to ensure your ongoing progress in your studies also in the coming semester. At the same time, the “Freiversuch” rule for the final exam in a module (Modulabschlussprüfung) will apply again.

Exception for lab, sports and practical-in-person classes

Based on the experience of the past two semesters, we want to offer lab, sports and other practical in-person classes from the start. These courses and appropriate safety concepts have been long planned and thoroughly thought out. Hence, your lecturers and teachers hope to welcome you in the labs, research and sports facilities on 12 April – if the pandemic and the legal framework allow.

The summer semester 2021 will be structured as a Flexible Hybrid Semester: “Flexible” because we will react to the pandemic and make adjustments and changes accordingly. “Hybrid” because we offer in-person and online classes. In fact, the plan is to return to campus with a select number of courses that started online – if the situation improved.

Stay informed

Please check the webpages of your faculties and institutes for the formats in which your courses will begin. Your lecturers will then let you know how the respective courses will be adapted to the situation. We will continue to provide you with all the important information on teaching and studying on a daily basis in the central student portal and in the digital channels that your faculties and institutes have created.

There, you can find a lot of valuable information on how to start your studies, on advisory services and on the rules of conduct on campus.
When attending in-person courses and lectures, picking up library books or taking care of other matters on campus that must be done in person, we expect you to maintain the distancing rules for your own safety and that of others, to wear a medical mouth and nose mask, to wash your hands frequently and to provide your contact details so that infection chains can be traced. In addition, there will be self-testing available for all participants of in-person classes.

Keep in touch

Be sure to also use the numerous online services offered by the RUB Central Student Advisory Service and the decentralised student advisory services in your departments. Here, you will not only find plenty of advice and video tutorials on many questions and problems, but also tips on how to make an appointment with an advisor in person. Don’t hesitate to seek advice, and make sure you stay in touch with your fellow students as well.

This is perhaps the most important insight from last year: interaction via digital tools may not be the same as socialising on campus, but such tools continue to make communication possible. And since your studies are only successful when students, teaching staff and administration work together, we should all make extensive use of the networking and exchange options – such as email, Moodle and video tools – to establish or maintain connections with each other.

Keep in touch with each other, with your teachers and with your faculties and institutes. Communicate your problems and your ideas – and, please, do share your joys and good experiences. We will master this semester together at RUB.

I hope the new semester will bring you many interesting experiences in your study programs and I wish you every success in coping with the demands of everyday life. Take good care of yourselves!

All the best,
Kornelia Freitag