Bachelor Cognitive Science (PO 2024)

Although the following information specifically addresses courses that were taken during a semester abroad, the process and application form is the very same for courses that have been taken at non-CogSci institutes at Osnabrück University. Many courses from the Mathematics, Psychology or Informatics institute are automatically moved to the “Zusatzleistungen” in the transcript. If you would like to move them to a mandatory elective module, you need to hand in the form as described below.   

Before/after your semester abroad

Please clarify with the person responsible for the relevant mandatory ("Pflichtmodul") or mandatory elective module(s) ("Wahlpflichtmodul") whether the courses you took can be approved for the respective module. Usually, this is done after you finished the courses. You are asked to provide detailed information about the contents and requirements of the course.

In order to get approval of foreign university credits, you have to:

• Print and fill in the “Application Form for Approval of External Credits” ( download section) for each certificate that should be approved
• For the approval of foreign credits for the mandatory and mandatory elective modules, please reach out to the person responsible for the corresponding module (see list above) for approval. Provide the filled-in form, your course certificate or foreign Transcript of Records, as well as detailed information about the contents and requirements of the course in question.
• Visit the examination office with the filled-in and approved form, course certificate or foreign Transcript of Records, and detailed course information. For the elective module ("profilbildender Wahlbereich"), the documents can be handed in directly at the examinations office without prior approval.

In order to get credit points for online courses, proceed analogously to the procedure of approval for foreign university credits (see above).

Note: Non-credit online courses offered by third party web sites usually cannot be approved.

Credits for the elective module ("profilbildender Wahlbereich") may be approved for internships completed in foreign countries during your course of studies.

Please request a confirmation of your internship from your internship supervisor. The confirmation has to include the following information:

• Duration of your internship (at least 3 full calendar months)
• Number of weekly working hours
• Task description

Hand in the documents at the examination office for approval. Up to six credits may be approved for each month with a minimum of 30 working hours per week.

During the Bachelors’ programme, you need to collect 10 test subject hours by contributing to research projects as a test subject. Offerings are usually announced via the the  student mailing lists of the IKW. 

For each contribution as a subject to a research project, please fill in one line in the “VP Hours Form” ( download section) and let the person responsible for the research project sign the corresponding line. The completed list of subject hours has to be handed in at the examination office when you register your bachelors’ thesis.

1. Download and fill in the relevant "Form to Assign Courses to Modules" ( download section). To register for the bachelor thesis, you need to assign courses to all mandatory courses and at least 40 ECTS of mandatory elective courses.
2. Bring the form(s), your original certificates, an Opium printout (if applicable; students who have all their grades listed in the HISinOne-Student Administration portal do not need to bring original certificates or the Opium printout), and a copy of your certificate of matriculation to the examinations office.

Important: Once courses have been assigned to a module, no further changes to that assignment can be made.

For general guidance on planning a thesis in Cognitive Science at the IKW please visit the  How to Thesis? page.

Regstering your bachelor's thesis

Once you have assigned courses to all nine compulsory modules and three of the five selected subject areas (see: "Form to Assign Courses to Modules" ( download section)), you are eligible to register your bachlor's thesis. Without registering the thesis before writing it, you cannot hand it in.

Important: Once courses have been assigned, no further changes to that assignment can be made.

Before registering your thesis at the examination office, you need two examiners, the first of which is your main supervisor, and a research topic for your thesis. Please ask your prospective examiners about potential topics in their research area, or provide them with your own suggestions.

Note: At least one of the examiners has to be from Osnabrück University. Furthermore, at least one of the examiners has to be a professor or a senior researcher with what is called "Habilitation" in German.

At the IKW, the following people have that status (You may also have an external examiner with such status instead):

• Professors (in alphabetical order): Elia Bruni, Nicole Gotzner, Tim Kietzmann, Peter König, Kai-Uwe Kühnberger, Rainer Mühlhoff, Sebastian Musslick, Pascal Nieters, Simone Pika, Gordon Pipa, Sven Walter, Lilian Weber
• Senior researchers with "Habilitation" (in alphabetical order): Annette Hohenberger, Uwe Meyer

In case neither of your prospective examiners satisfies this requirement, the examination board has to decide whether an exception can be made for the case at hand. Please contact the  examination office and provide detailed information about your prospective examiners and your project so that the examination board can make an informed decision.

Once you have your topic and examiners, please proceed as follows: 

1. Fill in the “Thesis Registration Form BSc” ( download section).
2. The last page of the form needs to be signed by both examiners.
3. Bring the filled-in form to the examination office together with all documents listed on the checklist (first page of the document above):

• an up-to-date photo (passport size)
• an up-to-date transcript of records and the corresponding certificates (originals and copies). If your courses are all listed in HisInOne/EXA, you do not need to bring the certificates.
• a curriculum vitae (a chronological overview of your education)
• The declaration that you have not yet finally failed a bachelor examination in Cognitive Science (third page of the form above)
• The approval to examine the thesis, signed by both examiners (last page of the form above).
• a matriculation certificate for the current semester as well as the semester in which the thesis will be handed in. If you do not have the certificate for the semester in which the thesis will be handed in yet, you can bring it once you have it.
• The “Semester Abroad Verification Form” ( download section).
• Proof of 10 experimental subject hours through the “VP Hours Form” ( download section).

Important: The time between registering your thesis and handing it in is three months. Once your documents have been processed, you will be notified by the examination office about the exact deadline for handing in your thesis.

Extensions

The standard time frame for the thesis is 6 months. In well-justified cases, an extension is possible, but needs to be applied for and approved by the examination committee. To request an extension, please contact the examination office before the deadline and hand in the relevant documents.

Depending on the reason for the application for an extension, different documents are required. In the case of illness, for example, a corresponding certificate from your physician or psychologist s required. For requests due to technical difficulties, a letter from your advisor stating the difficulty and its influence on the timeline of the project is required. If you are unsure what documents you need to hand in, you can contact the examination office.

When the examination committee has made a decision, the examination office will inform you about the status of your request for extension.

Handing in your bachelor's thesis

After you have completed your thesis (timeframe between registration of the thesis and handing it in: 6 months), you can hand it in.

Please ask your examiners/supervisors beforehand whether they would like to receive printed and bound copies of your thesis, or whether they would like to receive an electronic version instead. In addition to the copies for the supervisors, one printed and bound copy has to be handed in at the examination office. There is no need to add a USB-stick with your code for the examination office (your supervisors might want access to the code, though).

Important: Each of the bound copies has to include a signed   declaration of authorship. Please read the “Guide to Responsible Use of AI Tools” ( download section), and make sure to state explicitly which AI tools, if any, have been used for what purpose.

Bring the bound copies to the examination office, and send an electronic version of the thesis by email.

If you have not yet handed in the matriculation certificate of the current semester, bring that too.

The suggested time frame for the examiners to write their reports is four weeks.

For applications to consecutive courses of study or job applications, you may may be required to hand in a bachelor's certificate before your final bachelor's certificate is ready. In this case, you may request a preliminary bachelor's certificate if the following requirements hold:

• You have finished your coursework and assigned all courses to modules, including the elective module ("Profilbildender Wahlbereich")
• You have registered and handed in your thesis
• Both supervisors have confirmed to the examination office that you will pass the thesis with at least 4.0 (sufficient)

When finishing your studies, you will need certain confirmations and statements for your applications to subsequent universities. Possible standard confirmations are: confirmation of (ECTS) credits, preliminary average grade and preliminary bachelor's certificate.

The mandatory semester abroad is usually scheduled for the 5th semester. You can either study at a foreign university or do an internship at a foreign institution. Your stay abroad should be registered early at the mobility office.

More information about the organisation of your stay abroad can be found at the  web page of the mobility office at the IKW (for the ERASMUS program) and the  web page of Osnabrück University (for general information about studying abroad).

Important: You have to fill in the “Semester Abroad Verification Form” ( download section) after you return from your semester abroad! The document has to be submitted to the examinations office when you register your bachelor thesis. 

For each course, a registration for the respective examination is required in the HISinOne-Student Administration portal to receive a course certificate. This includes not only lectures with a written exam, but also other courses such as seminars in which the coursework consists of some practical project with a written report or essay.

Further information, such as introductory videos and FAQs (German only), about using the HISinOne-Student Administration portal can be found on the  pages of the Campus management service.

You can get your ToR via the CAMPUS service.

1. Log into myuos as usual and select the "Studienservice" menu option, then select "Bescheinigungen".
2. You should now see the page where you also have access to your matriculation certificates, etc.
3. Scrolling down a bit, beneath "Meine Studiengänge", you can find PDF files named "Leistungsübersicht" in a German and an English version. These are your transcripts!

Note: The download may not appear if some of your grades have not yet been entered in the HISinOne-Student Administration portal. Once your lecturers have entered your grades or the examinations office has completed the transfer from exams previously entered in Opium, the download option should appear.

Important: The ToR downloaded from HISinOne-Student Administration is only valid after it has been signed and stamped with the official seal of Osnabrück University. For validation, please bring your ToR to the examination office.

Students receiving BaföG need to have collected at least 90 credits by the end of the 4th semester. In order to receive confirmation, please fill in form 5 and hand it in at the examination office, along with the respective course certificates and Opium printout (if applicable: students who have all their grades listed in the HISinOne-Student Administration portal do not need to bring any additional certificates) totalling at least 90 credits.

Form 5 can be downloaded from  here.