Due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany (the Länder) have agreed on a common approach for organizing the summer term 2020. The summer semester 2020 will be an unusual one, but it should not be a lost semester. The aim is to create the necessary framework conditions for universities to run teaching and research as smoothly as possible in the 2020 summer semester.
Clear guidelines should provide as much flexibility as possible concerning the design of the semester, while at the same time providing reliability, planning security and avoiding disadvantages for students.
Students who are unable to achieve some or even all of the planned credits due to the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic and the limited range of courses that can be offered, should not experience any disadvantages with regard to regulations that, for example, are addressing the regular study times. The Länder will campaign for the federal government to ensure that flexible regulations can be found, for example with the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG), children’s allowances or health insurance, which do justice to the realities of life of the students in times of the Covid 19 pandemic.
In the event that more far-reaching decisions regarding the design of the summer semester 2020 and the scheduling of the application and admission procedure for the winter semester 2020/2021 become necessary due to current developments, the following key points should be taken into account:
- The semester times for the summer semester 2020 will not be postponed.
- The lecture times for the summer semester 2020 can be arranged flexibly.
- The dates for the application and admission process for undergraduate courses for the winter semester 2020/2021 will be adjusted.
- Lectures at universities and universities of applied sciences are to begin in the winter semester 2020/2021 on November 1st, 2020.
The opening of the application portals at the "Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung" (University Admissions Foundation) for the winter semester 2020/2021 will be postponed. The opening should take place on July 1st, 2020 at the earliest. The application deadlines will be specified within the next two weeks.
The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic pose unseen challenges for universities and students. Your commitment in coping with this situation is as diverse as it is remarkable. The Länder want to support you in this to the best of their ability. They thank the universities for their efforts to ensure the teaching and research operations against the background of the Covid19 pandemic, in particular by providing digital teaching and learning formats.