Bachelor Cognitive Science (PO 2019/20)

Students who still study according to the study regulations from 2019/20 (everyone who began their studies before the winter term 2024/25) can switch to the new regulation. Be aware that once you switch to the new regulation you cannot switch back.

The regulations from 2019/20 expire in September 2027 (Bachelor). If you have not completed your course of studies by then, you will be forced to switch to the new regulations.

Whether you should switch to the new regulation depends on the progression of your studies. If you consider switching, please proceed as follows:

1. Make yourself familiar with the current  examination regulations (or check out the  summarized version).

2. Have a look at the  most relevant differences.

3. If you are not able to make an informed decision, contact the  coordinator for individual study planning with your specific questions.

If you decide to switch:

1. Fill in and hand in the  application form at the Examinations Office.

Please note that switching to the new regulations requires a substantial amount of processing in the examinations office to transfer your courses to the new regulation's modules, which may take some time, especially if many students want to switch.

For each course, a registration for the respective examination is required in HisInOne/EXA 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/EXA system 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/EXA system. 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/EXA is only valid after it has been signed and stamped with the official seal of Osnabrück University. For validation, please bring our ToR to the examination office.

Note: To calculate a preliminary average grade, which is relevant e.g. for applications to the Master's program, courses have to be assigned to all compulsory and three out of your five selected optional compulsory modules. For details, see "How to assign courses to modules" below. Otherwise, the grade cannot be calculated. 

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 student mailing lists of the IKW (see " Contact"). 

For each contribution as a subject to a research project, please fill in one line in  the form (PDF, 85 kB) 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.

Researchers should inform the examination office about experiments with test subject hours by email and let them know how many test subject hours are planned per subject and who is going to sign the line in the form above. Researchers may also send out a request for test subjects via the CogSci  student mailing lists.

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 with Petra Dießel or Sven Walter.

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 document  "Erhebungsbogen" (PDF, 108 kB) after you return from your semester abroad! The document has to be submitted to the examinations office when you register your bachelor thesis. 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, students who complete their studies until the winter semester 2024/25 can get an exemption for the mandatory semester abroad.

Before your semester abroad

Please clarify with the person responsible for the relevant compulsory ("Pflichtmodul") or optional compulsory module(s) ("Wahlpflichtmodul") whether the courses you are planning to take can be approved for the respective module of your course of studies.

Important: In order to be able to make an informed decision, please provide detailed information about the contents and requirements of the course. Furthermore, if you consider switching to the PO2024 examination regulation, please make your decision before getting the approval of foreign university credits as the modules are different.

After your semester abroad

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

• Print and fill in the following document for each certificate that should be approved:
  (DE)  Antrag auf Anerkennung einer auswärtigen Studienleistung im Studiengang Kognitionswissenschaft (PDF, 160 kB)
  (EN)  Application for approval of external credits for Cognitive Science (PDF, 101 kB)
• For the approval of foreign credits for the compulsory and optional compulsory 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.

Once you have completed all courses of a subject area consisting of a compulsory ("Pflichtmodul") and an optional compulsory module ("Wahlpflichtmodul"), the courses have to be assigned to the corresponding module (see below: How to assign courses to modules). The module is completed with a module examination.

There are two different kinds of module examinations in our study program:

1. Oral examinations – In one of the five selected subject areas, an oral module examination is mandatory. In two (old study regulation: one) additional area(s), an oral module examination can be applied for. After completing all courses and assigning them to the compulsory and optional compulsory module (see below: How to assign courses to modules), you can register for an oral module examination. The final grade of the module corresponds to the grade of the oral module examination.
2. Course certificates – In the remaining selected subject areas in which no oral examination is taken, the final grade of the module is calculated based on the grades of the individual courses assigned to the module, as specified in the  module handbook.

How to assign courses to modules

1. Download and fill in the relevant forms of  "Anmeldung studienbegleitende Prüfung (Bachelor)" (PDF, 582 kB). There is one form for each subject area. To register for an oral module examination, you need to assign the courses of both the compulsory and the optional compulsory module of the subject area in question. To register for the bachelor thesis, you need to assign courses of all nine compulsory modules and the optional compulsory module of three of the five selected subject areas. The remaining two optional compulsory modules and the elective courses may be assigned once you have completed the remaining courses. For correct assignment of courses to the modules, please consult the  module handbook and the modules listed for each course in the  course list on the IKW web page.
   Important: The PO2011 has been discontinued, please see "How to switch to the new study regulation" below!
2. Bring the form(s), your original certificates, an Opium printout (if applicable; students who have all their grades listed in HisInOne/EXA 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.

How to register for an oral module examination

After you have assigned the courses to one of your five selected subject areas, you can register for an oral module examination in that subject area. Before registering for an oral module examination at the examinations office, please make an appointment for the oral module examination with your examiners. Depending on the subject area, the procedure differs.

• Artificial Intelligence: Request an examination date from  Prof. Kai-Uwe Kühnberger.
• Neuroscience: Request an examination date from the Neurobiology secretary or from the assistant of Prof. Peter König,  Julia Reuter.
• Philosophy for Cognitive Science: Request an examination date from one of the lecturers of the "Philosophy for Cognitive Science" lecture and the lecturer of a seminar assigned to the optional compulsory module which you want to pick as a further topic of the oral module examination.
• Cognitive (Neuro-)Psychology: Please read the following  information sheet before requesting an examination date from  Dr. Annette Hohenberger.
• Neuroinformatics: Request an examination date from either  Prof. Gordon Pipa,  Dr. Ulf Krumnack, or  Prof. Pascal Nieters.
• (Computational) Linguistics: Request an examination date from  Prof. Elia Bruni.
• Methods of Cognitive Science: If you took the "Introduction to Data Analysis" course with  Prof. Nicole Gotzner, please request an examination date from her.
• Mathematics: Request an examination date from  Prof. Stefan Kunis, who will then select an appropriate examiner.

Important: Please let your prospective examiner for the oral module examination sign the form on the last page of the document with the forms for the module assignment ( "Anmeldung studienbegleitende Prüfung" (PDF, 582 kB)).

The examination procedure itself differs from study area to study area. Please ask your prospective examiner about the details. For general questions about how to prepare for an oral module examination, you may ask the  Cognitive Science mentoring team for advice. 

To register for an oral module examination at the examination office, please proceed as follows:

At this point, you should have assigned all courses of the compulsory and optional compulsory module of the subject area of the oral module examination using the corresponding form (see above: "How to assign courses to modules"). On the same form, you can sign your application for the module examination. (One oral exam is required, two more can be taken upon request. Three credits are granted per oral module examination)

Important: Oral examinations should be registered at least two weeks before the examination date.

How to assign courses to modules

1. To register for the bachelor thesis, you need to assign courses of all nine compulsory modules and the optional compulsory module of three of the five selected subject areas. The remaining two optional compulsory modules and the elective courses may be assigned once you have completed the remaining courses. Download and fill in the relevant forms of  "Anmeldung studienbegleitende Prüfung (Bachelor)" (PDF, 582 kB). There is one form for each subject area. For correct assignment of courses to the modules, please consult the  module handbook and the modules listed for each course in the  course list on the IKW web page.
2. Bring the form(s), your original certificates, an Opium printout (if applicable; students who have all their grades listed in HisInOne/EXA 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.

Registering your bachelor thesis

Once you have assigned courses to all nine compulsory modules and three of the five selected subject areas (see: "How to assign courses to modules" above), you are eligible to register your bachelor thesis. Without registering your thesis before writing it, you cannot hand it in.

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. Master students of Cognitive Science can NOT be examiners of the Bachelor's thesis! If you write your thesis with a different University or a company, please be aware that the external supervisor needs to be a Professor or a senior researcher "Habilitation", too.

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
• 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 following form:  Anmeldung Bachelorarbeit (PDF, 99 kB)
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)
• verification for your semester abroad ( "Erhebungsbogen" (PDF, 108 kB))
• proof of 10 (PO_2019/20) experimental subject hours. The form for collecting the experimental subject hours can be found  here (PDF, 85 kB).
• 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).

In addition, please bring the following documents:

• 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.

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

Extensions

The standard time frame for the thesis is 3 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 thesis

After you have completed your thesis (timeframe between registration of the thesis and handing it in: 3 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, providing a compressed file of your code when you hand in the electronic version of your thesis is sufficient. 

Important: Each of the bound copies has to include a signed  declaration of authorship (PDF, 37 kB). Please read the  Guide to the responsible use of AI tools, 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.

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.

How to get a preliminary bachelor’s certificate

For applications to consecutive courses of study (master programmes), 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, your module examinations and assigned all courses to modules, including the elective module ("Profilbildender Wahlbereich")
• You have registered and handed in your bachelor’s thesis
• Both supervisors have confirmed to the examination office that you will pass the thesis with at least 4.0 (sufficient)

How you can switch to the new study regulations

Students who still study according to the study regulations from 2011 (That is everyone who began their studies before the winter term 2019/20 and has not as of yet switched) have to switch to the current study regulation. The regulation from 2011 has been finally discontinued.

We recommend all students to switch as soon as possible.

Please proceed as follows:

1. Please make yourself familiar with the current  examination regulation.
2. Fill in and hand in the  application form at the Examinations Office.

Note: The date on your application will count as the date of your transfer to the current examination regulation.

For consultation about switching, please contact the  Cognitive science mentoring team or the dean of studies.

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 HisInOne/Exa do not need to bring any additional certificates) totalling at least 90 credits.

Form 5 can be downloaded from:

 http://www.das-neue-bafoeg.de/intern/upload/formblaetter/FB5_ab2011.pdf