Studying at the Faculty

The courses offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences can be found in the electronic course catalogue (QIS/LSF). The lecture period of the winter semester 2023/24 starts on October 16th, 2023. If you are enrolled as a Master student of Political Theory or International Peace and Conflict Studies and want to take courses offered by the TU Darmstadt you need to register via TUCAN.

Our regular offer of seminars in English for the winter term 2023/24 is now published: for Bachelor students and Master students. Seminars in English from previous terms are documented in our archive.

Students must register via QIS for all courses they want to attend. This applies regardless of whether a course is limited or not. Places in seminars are regulated through priorities set by students. The registration period for the winter semester 2023/24 is between September 18th, 2023 and September 26th, 2023 for courses with limited capacity, and between September 18th, 2023 and October 21st, 2023 for non-limited courses. It does not matter when you apply within the registration period. In a second registration phase (October 1st, 2023 to October 10th, 2023) remaining places will be allocated by lot. Incoming students who enroll in Frankfurt after October 10th cannot register for the limited courses via QIS. Instead, please contact the lecturer directly via e-mail. You can find the contact information in the QIS.

At the Faculty of Social Sciences students can achieve:

3 ECTS credits for attendance and participation (i.e. regular attendance in class and giving a presentation) and additional 4 (or 5) ECTS credits for an exam/paper. Accordingly, you will get a maximum of 7 ECTS credits for a course on Bachelor's level and 8 ECTS credits for a course on Master's level. It is highly recommended to clarify with the lecturer at the beginning of each course which requirements are exactly needed to accomplish 3 ECTS credits or 7 (8) ECTS credits. If you do not want to take an exam/paper, you will normally not get a grade for this class. You will receive a certificate of attendance, which equals 3 ECTS credits. However, upon request, you might be able to receive an individual grade for participation.

You can distinguish the levels according to their name:

1) “Seminar mit Proseminar"
A Seminar mit Proseminar is a course on Bachelor's level. If you only attend, you will gain 3 ECTS credits. If you take an additional exam/paper, you will gain 7 ECTS credits.

2) “Seminar"
A Seminar is a course on Master's level. If you only attend, you will gain 3 ECTS credits. If you take an additional exam/paper, you will gain 8 ECTS credits.

Further useful information in English can be found here:

The first days at a new university can be very challenging. To help you get started in Frankfurt, Goethe University offers various support services.

Language Courses: Although there are many courses offered in English at the faculty and German language proficiency is no requirement for studying with us, it is recommended that you speak German at least at level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Goethe University offers a wide range of German language courses for exchange students. Additinoally, the Global Office offers a German intensive language course for exchange students (DIA) at the beginning of each semester. The application deadline for the September course is June 15, for the March course December 15 of each year.

Orientation and contact: To make it easier for you to find your way around Goethe University and Frankfurt, the Global Office offers an orientation program for your first days in Germany as well as a buddy program. You can also make initial contacts at your new university through the International Students Meeting.

Career Orientation: The innovative certification programme Kompass³ - Getting Started in Study & Career offers a range of workshops especially for international students. The courses of the Frankfurt Academic Key Competence Center are also open to international students.

In order to be able to use the various online systems of the university (e.g. the course catalog QIS / LSF, the learning platform OLAT or the uni-wide WLAN network) you need an account of the Hochschulrechenzentrum (HRZ). You will receive it together with your Goethe Card, your combined student, canteen and library card. You can pick up your Goethe Card and your HRZ Account in the Global Office of Goethe University about one week after your enrollement.

Some seminars at the Faculty 03 require a registration via QIS / LSF a few weeks before lectures start. However, registration is not mandatory for every course and the procedure can be decided individually by the teachers/professors. Please check the registration procedures for the courses you would like to attend well in advance.

If you would like to attend a seminar that requires registration via QIS / LSF, but you did not yet receive your HRZ-Account in the specified registration period, please contact the respective teachers by e-mail in advance or go to their classes on the first day and register personally. Registration is generally possible between the end of March and mid-April and between the end of September and mid-October.