Information & events for Erstis

Everything important before and during your first semester

Dear Erstis (“Ersti” is the German term for “freshman”),

in this area, you can find the most important information you need before and during your first semester at the University of Münster. Among that, the most important thing is our Introduction Week, where we duly welcome you to Münster and provide you with a metric ton of useful and important information. Before that, you really almost don’t have to take care of anything (Note: Exceptions to this are, as always, double bachelor’s (2FB) and some minor subjects; if you’re not sure if all is taken care of, just contact us!). Only the (very recommendable) preparatory courses take place (as the name suggests) before the actual lectures start.

Introduction Week

Your introduction to (physics at) the university

The Introduction Week is the most important event when you start at the university. During the course of the week, we will present you with all the information you need for your studies and can answer all remaining questions in persons. For example, you will find out which lectures you have to attend, which minors you can choose, how to register for exams, how to get books and software for cheap or even for free and much more. Of course, there are also lots of crazy surprises with which we will keep you on your toes ;-)

Ersti Weekend

A legendary trip

The Ersti Weekend is a trip in in the beginning of november, organized by us. It’s intended for you to get to know each other even better and, above all, so that you can have a great time and a lot of fun together (and with us!). Here, we show when the weekend will take place this year, how you can be a part of it and what kinds of things you should pack.

Information for parents of minors

Due to legal regulations and subtleties, special rules apply to underage students, in particular concerning the Student Council’s events. With this letter to the parents, we would like to explain in more detail what our events for freshmen entail. For example, if an underage student would like to participate in our Ersti Weekend, we need the parents’ permission for that.

More information

Preparatory courses

Preparing for bachelor’s studies

There are recommendable preparatory courses in mathematics and physics. They serve to bring students to the same level, compensating for deficits due to education in school.

The preparatory courses in mathematics (lecture notes from 2006, Prof. Ischebeck) offered by the Department of Mathematics take place for the first three weeks in September and the preparatory course in physics (lecture notes from 2009, Prof. Münster) by the Department of Physics takes place in the last week of September. You can find the exact dates in the links.

For physicists, the ordinary preparatory preparatory course in mathematics which is also addressed at mathematicians is the right one to take. You have to register for some of the preparatory courses in advance.

Mathematics revision course (during the semester) in preparation of the mathematics which is needed for Physics I:

“The mathematics revision course is for all freshmen who want to improve their mathematical abilities. Every day during lunchtime, you have the opportunity to solve selected math problems which are relevant to Physics I. With that, gaps due to the education at school or aspects which cannot be discussed in details or are presupposed in the tutorials. Material from school as well as calculational techniques obtained in the first semester are treated, e. g. vector calculus, derivatives, integrals, simple differential equations.”

All information can be found on the page of the Institute of Solid State Theory [de] (WS 2013/2014).

Introduction Week/Ersti Weekend

You can find all information about the Introduction Week, which takes place the week before the lectures start, and the Ersti Weekend on our corresponding pages.

The information magazine for freshmen in physics, the “Ersti-Φbel”, is distributed every year during the introduction week and is available for download later in the internal area for all physicists as well.

Moreover, we have assembled a schedule for your first semester which fits (almost) everyone. For reasons of clarity, not all possible compulsory optional subjects have been included. Double bachelors (2FB) are not required to take a compulsory optional subject or math lectures (except if their second subject is math). The lectures in physics are the same, though, so that the timetable can be used for first orientation in the subject of physics.

For further tips for the start of your studies, we recommend again our pages on links and frequently asked questions (FAQ).