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Philosophische Fakultät II
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In accordance with § 17 of the Provisional Constitution of the Humboldt University of Berlin (Amtliches Mitteilungsblatt der HUB Nr. 08/2002), the Faculty Council issued the following Examination Regulations for the post-graduate Master's programme in "Baltic Sea Region Studies" on 16 October 2002. These Examination Regulations apply to the post-graduate Master's programme in "Baltic Area Studies" at the Nordeuropa-Institut of the Philosophische Fakultät II at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin. The programme has a duration of three trimesters (twelve months) and is designed on a modular basis (see Study Regulations § 3). § 3 Purpose of the examination and completion certificates (1) On the basis of these Examination Regulations, Philosophische Fakultät II regulates the conduct of the module completion exams, the Master's thesis and its defence. The exams are intended to demonstrate that the aims of education laid out in § 4 of the Study Regulations have been achieved. Specifically, the exam candidates are to demonstrate their ability to analyse problems pertaining to political, economic and cultural co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region from an interdisciplinary scientific perspective. (2) Following the successful completion of all the module completion exams provided for by these Examination Regulations, Philosophische Fakultät II awards the academic degree of "Master in Baltic Sea Region Studies" (MBSR). (1) The Examination Committee of Philosophische Fakultät II is responsible for all questions pertaining to this programme. (2) The Examination Committee only appoints professors, habilitated academic staff as well as staff with the title of junior professor as examiners. Guest lecturers and guest professors from the co-operating foreign partner universities can be appointed as examiners to the extent that they are considered by their respective universities to be eligible examiners and fulfil the regulations laid out in § 32 Abs. 3 BerlHG. Exceptional appointments of examiners must comply with the legal regulations. § 5 Permission requirements for the Module completion exams (1) Application for permission to take the Module completion exams is to be made in the examination office upon presentation of all the certificates acquired in the module. The application may be made conditionally and after consultation with the instructor of the respective course after the fourth course meeting. (2) Students who have successfully completed Modules 1-3 as well as Modules 4 or 5 are granted permission to prepare the written Master's thesis § 6 Regulations in disability cases If a student is able to prove that he or she was not able to fulfil study expectations, either partially or entirely, in the expected form on account of long-term or chronic physical constraints or disabilities, then the student must present a written request to the Examination Committee. The Examination Committee will seek to bring about an agreement between the student and the examiner regarding measures to acquire examination and study results of equal quality within an extended period of time. § 7 Type and scope of the Module Completion Exams (MAP) (1) All modules consist of several courses for which Study Points are awarded. Simultaneously, the sum of the completed courses within a module defines the number of Study Points for a Module. (2) The requirements for admission to the Module completion exams is the acquisition of all Study Points within a Module on the basis of the respectively demanded results, alongside regular course attendance (at least 80%) and active participation. Attendance and participation in the course can be taken into consideration in the determination of grades. The form the Module completion exam will take is announced at the beginning of each Module. The language of the Module completion exams is generally English. Exceptions require the consent of the Examination Committee. (3) The following Module completion exams (Modules 1-6) must be taken:
(4) A module is considered to have been passed if a minimum grade of "sufficient" has been achieved. The Module completion exams are administered by an instructor who has taught in the Module. (1) The Master's thesis is supervised by two referees appointed by the examination committee. The primary referee provides the principle supervision in the preparation of the Master's thesis. Depending on the topic of the Master's thesis, the second referee may also be selected from among the pool of authorised examiners from the participating partner universities. (2) The supervising referee informs the Examination Committee of the topic of the Master's thesis. The topics of the Master's thesis are issued and made public on the first day of the third trimester. The completion period has a duration of three months. (3) The Master's thesis can be written in German or English. The admissibility of other languages is determined by the Examination Committee in co-operation with the supervising referee and the candidate. (4) The Master's thesis is normally 35-40 pages in length. (5) The Master's thesis is to be submitted to the Examination Committee in duplicate. Upon the submission of the Master's essay the candidate must state in writing that he or she wrote the paper independently and used no other sources and auxiliary materials other than those listed. (6) The Master's thesis is evaluated by two authorised referees; § 9 applies to the evaluation of the paper. If the evaluations vary, then the arithmetical mean determines the grade. If one of the two referees determines a failing grade for the paper (4.1 - 5.0) then the Examination Committee appoints a third referee. If the grades for the paper vary by more than one grade from one another, then the Examination Committee can also appoint a third referee. Following the presentation of the third evaluation the grade is finally set by the Examination Committee in co-operation with all three referees. (7) The results of the Master's thesis must be presented to the Examination Committee no later than four weeks following the submission of the paper. (8) The defence of the Master's thesis entails a 15-minute oral presentation and a 15-minute discussion. The grade of the Master's thesis is composed of the grades for the written paper and the defence, evaluated according to the respective Study Points. § 9 Evaluation of the Module completion exam and the composition of the overall grade (1) Each Module completion exams is evaluated on the basis of a 6-level grade scale on which the worst grade is not sufficient to pass a Module. (2) The following evaluation scale applies to individual exam performance:
Grades are always rounded to one decimal. (3) The overall grade for the programme is composed of the average of all the demanded Module grades, evaluated in accordance with the respective Study Points. (4) The overall grade is determined as follows:
(1) Failed Module completion exams may be retaken twice. A one-time retake of passed Module completion exams for the purpose of grade improvement is possible to the extent that the repetition occurs within the bounds of the standard programme completion time. (2) If the Master's essay is evaluated with "nicht bestanden / fail", or if it is considered as "nicht bestanden / fail", then the Master's essay may be revised once. For this purpose the candidate may undertake a revision within a period determined by the Examination Committee (no more than 45 days). If the student cannot be expected to carry out a satisfactory revision of the Master's essay (on the same topic), the Examination Committee may decide to issue him or her a new topic. The completion deadlines correspond to the regulations for the preparation of a Master's thesis. The Examination Committee may appoint a different supervisor for the repetition of the exam. (3) Examination privileges expire upon failure to respect the repetition deadline. The exam is considered to have been failed, unless the candidate is demonstrably not responsible for the failure. (4) If the revised Master's essay is evaluated with "nicht bestanden / fail", or if it is regarded as "nicht bestanden / fail", then the exam is definitively classified as not passed. § 11 Failure to respect deadlines, deception (1) If the candidate attempts to influence the result of the Module completion exam or of the Master's thesis through deception or the use of unauthorised auxiliary materials, then the respective exam result is regarded as "nicht bestanden/fail". (2) The Master's thesis is regarded as "nicht bestanden/fail" if it is not submitted by the deadline without a valid excuse. (3) The reasons given for failure to keep a deadline or for a withdrawal must be presented and justified to the Examination Committee immediately in writing. In the case of a candidate's illness, the presentation of a medical certificate - and, in case of doubt, the presentation of a certificate from a medical officer - is required. To the extent that the deadlines for the initial application for the exam, the repetition of exams, the reasons for the failure to take exams and the keeping of the procedural times for exam papers are concerned, the illness of a candidate is given the same status as the illness of a single-parent child. If the reason given is accepted, then a new date is set. In this case, the already existing exam results are taken into account. (4) Incriminating decisions by the Examination Committee are to be reported and justified to the candidate immediately in writing. The candidate is given the opportunity to express him or herself to the Examination Committee in regard to this matter. § 12 Annulment of examination results (1) If the candidate is guilty of irregularities during the exam, and if this fact only becomes known after the awarding of the certificate, then the Examination Committee, in accordance with § 34 Abs. 8 BerlHG, must retroactively declare the exam to have been failed and, if necessary, confiscate the incorrect exam certificate. (2) If the requirements for permission to write the Master's thesis have not been fulfilled, and if this fact only becomes known following the awarding of the diploma, then this failure can be compensated by passing all required Module completion exams. If the candidate intentionally procures the permission wrongfully, then the Examination Committee makes its decision in compliance with the legal regulations. (3) The candidate is provided with an opportunity to express him or herself to the Examination Committee before a decision is made. § 13 Diploma supplement, certificates (1) Upon application, students are issued a certificate showing that he or she has passed a Module completion exam. (2) Following the successful completion of all Module completion exams the graduate receives a "diploma supplement", in which the completed modules and the awarded grades as well as the topic and grade of the Master's thesis are recorded. The diploma supplement bears the date of the day on which the last exam was taken. It is signed by the chair of the Examination Committee and by the chair of the Admissions Committee. (3) Simultaneously with the diploma supplement, the graduate receives a Master's certificate showing the date of the diploma supplement. This certificate documents the awarding of the university degree "Master in Baltic Sea Region Studies". The certificate is signed by the chair of the Examination Committee and by the chair of the Admissions Committee and bears the seal of Philosophische Fakultät II of the Humboldt University. These Examination Regulations go into effect on the day following their publication in the "Mitteilungsblatt der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin". |
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