Master Advanced Funtional Materials

Although often called AFM, the officially used abbreviation is AM. This is used for example in the timetable and by the examination office.

The timetable can be found in the course catalog ^[de]. Please click on the lectures for more information. Most lectures need registration via OPAL.

Students have to attend a safety instruction each year. The procedure of the safety instruction lecture might change each year. Please check for information e.g. on the AFM NEWS page.

Simply use your University Computer Center (URZ) login data, which you received with your enrollment in the study program, to log in to OPAL. To do so, first select the TU Chemnitz as the corresponding university.

AFM students must demonstrate at least A2 level in German at the time of graduation. This is intended as an incentive to develop language skills beyond the minimum level required for a Master's degree, but it should be kept in mind that the actual content of the AFM degree program is scientific. In order to achieve this, in the current study documents the option is given to take language courses as part of the compulsory elective modules.

If the student cannot prove German A1 and A2, both courses can be taken from the Foreign Language Centre and have to be successfully finished. For the graduation certificate, either just A2, or both A1 and A2 can be shown. This can be discussed with the Central Examination Office (ZPA). (For language courses of B1 or higher, only one language module can be used for the elective
modules on the certificate). Please note that:

1. Only courses from the Foreign Language Centre can be credited for the AFM course graduation certificate, and
2. That as the crediting of language modules from the Foreign Language Centre is not as tightly integrated as for the other AFM modules, please ensure with the ZPA that you do not exceed the corridor of 30-32 credit points for all elective modules. Finally, if you have an external certificate for German of at least A2 level, while this course cannot be recognized for the graduation certificate and will not gain you any credit points, it might be possible to accept it for the proof that you have at least A2 level in German at the time of graduation. To show A2 level is mandatory for all AFM students for final graduation.

The Faculty of Natural Sciences and the TU Chemnitz offer several contact addresses in case that you need help concerning equality, equal opportunities, discrimination, advancement of women, diversity and integration. The contacts can be found on the page for information and contact persons of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

In addition, the Faculty of Natural Sciences has launched a web page providing contacts in order find the best contact person or institution in case of problems or specific concerns. 

International Students are additionally supported by the International Office.

Most Professors provide these kind of information on their web pages. All professors can be found on the page of the Faculty of Natural Sciences ^[de], including links to their web pages.

First, look for a line of research that you are interested in, then look for the professor's e-mail address and send an e-mail expressing your interest with information on your motivation to work in the professor's research group, your academic background and qualifications. A polite request will surely be answered.
In one of the tutorial sessions for new students the tutor gives some advice on how to write a formal e-mail addressing these topics.

This is a very personal and unique question, each person has their own tactics. Often the assessments at the TUC are different from your home country, so try to talk to students who are more advanced in the course and find out what works best for you and don't forget that an important point is to attend the lectures and to learn based on these lectures.

The University Computer Center compiled a list with Software licences ^[de] that are for private use. The list is only in german but you will be fine with the google translator.

One of the most important and that you will need in the course is the OriginPro and MATLAB/Simulink.

The university VPN is a tool that you can access web pages and tools that you could only access inside the university network (access to some journals, some software, etc.). If you are not physically close to the university, the VPN will make your connection looks the same as from the university one. Thus, providing you access to web pages, tools etc. that the university connection would give to you.

Hiwi stands for the German word “Hilfswissenschaftler”, it means help scientist or in common English terms research assistant. It depends on the professor that is offering the Hiwi position, every professor has their own criteria on how to select the students, the best way to find out is to ask and to show interest. The maximum amount of hours allowed to work as Hiwi is 20h/week.

Yes, people can do Hiwi/Master thesis outside the University, but they need a supervisor from the university and in the company/research center. The topic should be related with the AFM study field. To further inform yourself about this, contact the chairman of the examination board ^[de].

The University Library has a detailed website for borrowing a book from the library.

You should attend all obligatory courses that are offered. All courses are summarized and described in detail in the study regulations ^[de]. Information whether the course is obligatory or of elective nature and on the language of instruction (English or German) is given therein. In general, you can attend all the lectures of your choice. You must take exams for the credit points to be awarded. (You can but you don't have to do the exam by attending lectures!) In sum 120 credit points have to be acquired for the Master’s degree program. With this I mind, you should aim for 30 CP each semester.
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The general procedure to register is described on the web pages of the Central Examination Office ^[de].

For a master thesis in AFM, you have to consider that the Prüfungsordnung (Examination Regulations) ^[de] §19 (2) states that the topic of the master thesis must be related to the content of the AFM course. This condition is verified by the Prüfungsausschuss (examination board). Therefore, either together with your registration at the Central Examination Office (see above), or before, please hand in the following information to the head of the examination board (e.g. by email):

• Outline of the master project topic (1/2 to 1 page); the topic needs to be scientifically related to the AFM course program and the outline should contain information on main methods and analytics to be used. It must be approved by the two supervisors.
• Contacts of two supervisors who agreed to supervise your Master Thesis and will act as examiners; at least one of them has to be a TU Chemnitz Professor related to the AFM course; the other examiner must have provable, substantial and qualified experience on the research topic of the Master Thesis, which is usually attested by a doctorate in the subject area.
• The examination board will check these documents with respect to the condition described above, and the head of the examination board will reply (usually within a few days) if the master thesis topic was approved or rejected. If approved, the registration in step 2 is still required. Please be aware that this step has to be carried out before you start the master project!

Step 2. The general procedure to register is described on the web pages of the Central Examination Office [in German]; [rough translation to English].

For the module „Research Topic” in AFM, you have to consider that the topic of the master thesis research project must be related to the content of the AFM course. This condition is verified by the Prüfungsausschuss (examination board, head of the examination board). Therefore, either together with your registration at the Central Examination Office (see above), or before, please hand in the following information to the head of the examination board (e.g. by email):

• Outline of the Research Project topic (1/2 to 1 page); the topic needs to be scientifically related to the AFM course program and the outline should contain information on main methods and analytics to be used. It must be approved by the two supervisors.
• Contacts of two supervisors who agreed to supervise your Research Project and will act as examiners; at least one of them has to be a  Professor affiliated at TU Chemnitz or an independent research group leader affiliated at TU Chemnitz and with relation to the AFM course; the other examiner must have provable, substantial and qualified experience on the research, which is usually attested by a doctorate in the subject area.
• The examination board will check these documents with respect to the condition described above, and the head of the examination board will reply (usually within a few days) if the Research Project was approved or rejected. If approved, the registration in step 2 is still required. Please be aware that this step has to be carried out before you start the Research Project!

Step 2. The general procedure to register is described on the web pages of the Central Examintion Office [in German]; [rough translation to English].

If A1 (A2) is accepted students might register directly for A2 (B1). Please contact the chairman of the examination board ^[de] to clarify.   

The grades are available on the SBService, under the topic examination service - Grades achieved.

KW is the German abbreviation for calendar week (Kalendar Woche). You can find it the current calendar week in a calendar. Also, you can use the TU Chemnitz App ^[de], which shows exactly which class you have on the calendar.

This course is offered not only but mostly for the new AFM students. Here, students will learn more about the course, the university itself, on workshops offered, how to use some software, how to write a CV, whom to contact, how to get information, and much more.

You can find the academic calendar on the page of the Student Service.

In theory you can register anytime for the Research Project, there is no pre-requisite, but it is highly recommended to follow the study program. For the master thesis, you must have completed a minimum of 80 CP in order to be allowed to register. Please check FAQs for the workflow of “How to register”.

If you want to do the exam a registration at the Central Examination Office (ZPA) is necessary before. This can be done directly in your SBservice. The university will announce time slots for registration.

Usually, the exams are held from February to March in the winter semester and from July to August in the summer semester within a 4-week exam period after the lecture period. In some cases exams are offered outside of this period, but the lecturer has to inform the students in time. Most written exams can be found in the examination schedule, if not otherwise announced by the lecturer. Oral exams most often are announced by the lecturer only.

The examination schedule will be updated on a non-regular basis.

Students will have to take the exam again within one year. If they fail again they can apply for a third exam which has to be taken at the next possible offered date.

In this case, an official medical certificate must be submitted to the Central Examination Office (ZPA). The medical certificate must arrive within three days at the ZPA and must prove the sickness at the time of the exam. Then, the trial will be excluded. Please note that the ZPA accepts only medical certificates of the type “Ärtzliches Attest”! See study regulations ^[de] and information given by the ZPA.

Please note that the reasons claimed for withdrawal or absence have to be immediately and creditably notified in writing to the ZPA. Including the medical certificate (Ärtzliches Attest) in case of sickness. Concerning compliance with deadlines for the first-time application to an examination, repetition of examinations, reasons for the absence from examinations, and compliance with time limits for the completion of examination papers, a candidate’s illness equals the illness of a child for whom the candidate is the predominantly sole carer.

Yes, until one week before the examination date without giving reason. If this period is missed, the student must provide valuable reasons for not attending the exam. Please note that “being not well prepared” or “not felling comfortbale” is not a valuable reason! In case of illness a medical certificate is needed.

Please note that the notice must have been arrived at the Central Examination Office (ZPA) one week before (!) the exam, thus it is advised to send it in time, at best two weeks before the examination date. Also, if you made an individual appointment for the exam with a Professor, they must be informed separately by you.

A retake is not possible.

Most subjects do not have prerequisites to register for the exam, but some modules have pre-requisites such as a presentation or a practice. These are announced in the study regulations ^[de] and by the lecturer.

The module "Complex Materials for Manufacturing" substitutes the module "Innovative Material Engineering".

In the winter term (1^st semester) the tutorial course CPPC is offered, followed by a lecture in the summer term (2^nd semester) and in the following winter term (3^rd semester) a seminar is offered and you can choose between the courses “Wissenschaftliche Diskussionen aktueller Forschungsgebiete” (Scientific Discussion of Current Areas of Research) offered by the Institute of Chemistry and “Oberseminar” (Advanced Seminar) offered by the Institute of Physics. The exams are the written exam in the second semester and presentation in the seminar. For further information have a look at the study regulations ^[de].

The module’s types of courses are lecture and seminar:

• S: Tutorial Chemistry meets Physics - Physics meets Chemistry (CPPC) (2 LVS)
• L: Facets of Materials Science (2 LVS)
• S: Facets of Materials Science (1 LVS)

One of the following courses has to be chosen:

• S: Scientific Discussion of Current Areas of Research (2 LVS)
• S: Advanced Seminar (2 LVS)

The subject is divided into three parts (S1, S2, S3), and you have to attend all of them. All topics are part of the exam on Synthetic Methods.