Independent Studies give major and minor students the option to gain ECTS credits for their required optional credits (Wahlleistungen) by doing independent projects of different kinds (see examples below). These activities need to be clearly distinguishable from work required for courses or the BA/MA thesis in most cases*, and are to be discussed with and agreed upon by a member of the teaching staff (supervisor) and by the IS Coordinator in advance.
Study Plan 2017 |
Previous study plan |
BA: 1-5 ECTS
MA*: 1-5 ECTS
|
BA: 2-5 ECTS
MA*: 3-7 ECTS
|
The overall maximum may not be exceeded when doing multiple Independent Studies.
*If you are a combination MA student with an MA Major and a Minor in English, you can get up to 7 (previous study plan) or 5 (Study Plan 2017) ECTS for your major PLUS up to 7/5 ECTS for your Minor. However, you may not exceed 7/5 ECTS in each field of study. For example, if you have completed a 7/5 ECTS linguistics project for your literature major, you cannot do another linguistics IS in your linguistics Minor.
When planning your project, please take into account that 1 ECTS equals 25 hours of work.
Before you start with your project:
- If you have any questions, contact the Independent Studies Coordinator.
- See a member of the teaching staff and ask them to become your supervisor for the project you have in mind.
- If you are an international student, you need to let the staff member who is supervising your Independent Studies project know if you need the project to receive a numeric grade (rather than just a pass or fail grade).
- Fill in and sign the Independent Studies Form (PDF, 57KB) / (as Word document, 24.5 KB) with your supervisor.
- Get your project approved and the form signed by the Independent Studies Coordinator. The Independent Studies Coordinator will confirm how many ECTS you will be allotted for the project.
During your project:
- You are responsible for the Independent Studies Form for the duration of your project. Make sure you keep it safe. However, some supervisors prefer to keep the form in their office instead.
After you finished your project:
- Ask your supervisor to confirm the ECTS for your project and sign the bottom part of the Independent Studies Form.
- Return the completed Independent Studies Form to the Independent Studies Coordinator or ask your supervisor to do so.
- The ECTS will be entered into the system shortly after.
IS projects advertised by English Department staff members:
We consider these to be “mini-internships” in our department and we are happy to give you written confirmation for the work done.