Pre-Approval/Recognition of classes taken abroad

• Recommendations on which courses are best chosen for an exchange stay and which can be more easily recognised may be found here

• What does "simplified recognition" (Vereinfachte Anerkennung) mean?
  Simplified recognition means that the courses you take at the host university only have to fit roughly into the module and do not have to be identical in content to the courses offered at our university. e.g: In the IBW Master's programme, courses in the B1 Int. Management module can be recognised in a simplified way to the extent of 16 ECTS. You should look for courses that fall into the subject area, they do not have to have exactly the same content as our courses.

• Important note on the recognition of courses from the business administration majors/minors in the Master's programme BW/IBW
  If you want to complete courses abroad from the subject area (major/minor) in which you are planning to write your master's thesis, the director of studies strongly recommends that you discuss this with the responsible person from the respective subject area (MA thesis supervisor).

• Please note: Courses already completed may not be "repeated" abroad (repetition of positive examination results)!
  The repetition of completed exams (e.g. to improve the grade) through recognition is prohibited. However, this only applies to 1:1 recognitions, not to the modules that are available for the simplified recognition options.

• Are there lists of past approved recognitions?
  For capacity reasons, we are not able to keep lists of equivalents, this would also not make much sense due to the various specialisations of our students and the diverse and constantly changing course offer by our numerous partner universities.
  Please compare the courses offered at the partner university with the courses of your curriculum or the modules that can be recognised in a simplified way before you apply.

• The necessary documents must be submitted via Mobility Online/to the International Support after the nomination/after the return. Decisions regarding course recognitions are made exclusively by the respective Director of Studies.

Before the exchange stay

Pre-approvals/recognitions within the semester abroad take place after nomination with the so-called "Learning Agreement". This gives you the certainty that pre-approved courses will actually be recognised after completing your stay abroad.
It is in your interest to engage with the recognition procedure in detail in the course of your application.

1. Search for courses from the online course catalogues of the partner universities.
   In most cases, a course catalogue for the period of your stay is not yet available at the time of application, so please refer to the current or past course catalogues. If you do not find what you are looking for on the website of the partner university, please contact the International Office of your host university
2. Think about alternatives in case some of your chosen classes are not offered or you are not accepted in all of them
   Feel free to submit a few more courses for approval than necessary. But do not go overboard - all your submissions have to be processed by us and checked by the SPL, after all.
3. Check the level of the courses
   Here, Master's students in particular should make sure that they select courses from the Master's programmes of the partner universities. At universities with 4-year BA programmes, 4th-year BA courses may also be selected if no or too few MA classes are available upon individual arrangement.
4. Matching course descriptions
   Only equivalent courses, i.e. courses that are at least 80% the same in terms of subject matter, can also be recognised 1:1 for our courses. Therefore, carefully compare the desired courses abroad with those of our faculty (ECTS, extent, contents, examination modalities, literature). SIMILAR COURSE NAMES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT!
   
   Exception: Simplified recognition - Please use this option as much as possible! (see recognition recommendations)
5. Check the total ECTS of your course selection
   The ECTS points between the courses to be recognised must match or the course at the host university can also have more credits. In the case of 1:1 recognition, the exact number of ECTS credits is recognised (usually 4 ECTS for our courses); in the case of recognition on a module basis, more credits can also be recognised (of course not more than are available in the module).
   
   For the Erasmus grant to be awarded, 3 ECTS credits per month must be approved in advance and actually recognised after your return, e.g. 15 ECTS credits for a stay of 5 months.
   You may, of course, take more courses at the host university and do not have to have all of them recognised. You also do not have to actually attend all pre-approved courses as long as you collect the required ECTS credits.
   
   ATTENTION: Seminars (SE) that are a compulsory part of your curriculum are only recognised in exceptional cases!
6. To be submitted to International Support (currently via Mobility Online)
   • Online Learning Agreement
     • Left column: Title of the courses at the host university
       Right column: Title of the courses/modules according to your curriculum (in the case of simplified recognition, enter the module title, e.g. "International Management - Simplified", "Module C. Electives").
     • Please indicate simplified recognitions as such. In the field "Course number of the home university", please enter the module number according to your curriculum.
     • In the case of 1:1 recognition, please indicate in the right part of the LA for which module/major/minor the respective course is to be approved. Please enter this information before the course number, e.g. ". Major Strat. Management: 040020"
     • For each course at the host university, please add a link to the specific course description on the website of the host university, not to general course catalogues or course lists.
   • If you submit additional documents by e-mail
     • exclusively from the u:account
     • PDF documents only
     •  Exact course description for each course (1 document per course, no collected descriptions). The course descriptions should ideally be official PDF documents of the host university. Alternatively, you can submit screenshots of the website. Do not send self-copied Word documents or similar.

The decision-making authority regarding approval/recognition lies with the director of studies (SPL)!