Question: What do I have to fulfill in order to be admitted to the practice/ semester abroad?

Response:

• Students who have earned at least 89 credits prior to beginning the practice/study abroad semester will be admitted to the practice/study abroad semester upon application.
• During the practice/study abroad semester you will be supervised by a professor of the faculty. You should ask professors early and independently whether they will take over this supervision.
• In the case of an internship semester, a suitable practical placement must be available. The practical placement is selected independently. There is no entitlement to the assignment of a practical place. The supervisor decides on the suitability of the practical placement.
• For a semester of study abroad, admission must be obtained from the foreign university. The subjects to be taken must be agreed with the supervisor.

Question: Is the internship semester allowed to start during the semester break or does it have to start at the beginning of the semester?

Answer: The start date is not fixed. Therefore, the practice/study abroad semester can start during the vacations or in the middle of the semester. The only thing that is important is that the entire period is connected as a non-split phase. Please note that there may be overlaps with our examination periods; it is up to you how you arrange this.

Question: Does the practical application/study abroad semester necessarily have to be completed in the semester provided for in the degree programme pathway, or can it also be completed earlier or later?

Answer: In the degree programme pathway, the practical application/study abroad semester is scheduled for the sixth specialisation semester, but it can also be completed in another semester. The only decisive factor is that you fulfill the requirement of 89 acquired credit points.

Question: What is the supervisor responsible for?

Answer: The supervisor should advise and support you in the event of uncertainties and problems during the internship semester or stay abroad. As a rule, he/she also decides on the recognition of the academic achievements (credit points, certificate, report) after the semester.

Question: Is an additional practice/study semester abroad possible?

Answer:
In principle, it is possible to complete a semester abroad in addition to the internship semester anchored in the curriculum or vice versa. If you complete an additional internship, you will not be awarded any credits. In the case of an additional semester of study abroad, courses may be recognized if they are approximately 80% the same as those taken here. For recognition of academic achievements outside the internship semester abroad, please contact the Chair of the Examinations Board of your respective Degree programme. Please keep in mind that in this case you may miss an entire semester of studies here in Germany and have to make up for these examinations. This usually means that you will have to add another semester to make up for the academic achievements you missed. One way to avoid this can be to bring forward several examinations already and make up only a few examinations without losing time - so plan early.

Another issue is that many companies want a certificate stating that the internship is a required part of the studies. Such a certificate can NOT be issued if a practice/study abroad semester has already been credited before.

Question: When and how do you apply to an internship / university? Are there any forms from our university?

Answer: It depends on the country and the university/internship. Please inform yourself about your possibilities. You can get initial advice for semesters abroad from our tutor abroad. Once you have decided where you would like to spend your practice/study abroad semester, please inquire about the respective deadlines and requirements of the respective universities so that you can plan on time.

The Hochschule Niederrhein must have applied for and approved the internship semester as such at the Examinations Office before it begins.

Question: Which forms must be submitted and where? What deadlines must be met?

Answer: Once all admission requirements have been met and you have found a practical placement/host university of your choice, you should take care of registering the internship semester at the faculty. The "Application for Admission to the Internship Semester" must be signed by you and your supervisor and will then be forwarded to the Examinations Office. If you are doing an internship, please also forward the completed internship contract to your supervisor; this must be received by the Examinations Office together with the "Application for Admission". Upon submission of the documents to the Examinations Office, a decision will be made regarding admission to the internship semester. (If you are doing a study semester abroad through Erasmus, then the online application, as well as the learning agreement must be signed by the international coordinator).

There are no specific deadlines for submitting the application.

Question: How long does the practice/study abroad semester have to be?

Response:

The following applies to an internship: The internship period must be at least 20 weeks long. It is not possible to split it up into several parts (e.g. during semester breaks) and at different companies. If you take leave during the internship semester, e.g. to attend exams at the university, you are entitled to up to 2 weeks of leave. If you take this leave, the internship semester will be extended accordingly. Should serious difficulties arise during the internship semester, e.g. insolvency of the company, unacceptable working conditions, then it is possible to continue the internship in another company. In this case, however, your supervisor should be involved as early as possible, and contact should be made with the Chair of the Examinations Board.

The following applies to a study semester abroad: At least 20 credit points (according to ECTS) must be formally achieved during a study semester abroad. A study semester abroad does not have to comprise 20 weeks, for recognition here it is a prerequisite that you acquire at least 20 ECTS credits; this can also be done in a trimester, for example. Please inform yourself in due time about the lecture/semester times of the host university and, if necessary, take into account conversion factors of university-specific credit points into the ECTS system.

Question: What do I have to fulfill at the end of the practice/study abroad semester in order to receive credit?

Response:

A report must be prepared (see below for more info) and submitted to the supervisor. The time when the report has to be handed in is not exactly fixed, but should be coordinated with the supervisor. However, it should be submitted promptly (two to three weeks) after the end of the practice/study semester abroad. In this context, it is important to note that you will not be able to register your thesis, for example, if this achievement is not recorded in your status sheet.

Furthermore, in the case of the internship semester you must submit a report and in the case of the study semester abroad you must submit proof of the academic achievements.

Finally, together with the report, the receipt slip should be given to the supervisor for signature and forwarding to the Chair of the Examinations Board.

Questions: How many pages should the report on the practice/study abroad semester consist of? What are the requirements? When does it have to be submitted?

Response:

20 pages are defined as a guideline for the length of the report. The report should be submitted to the supervisor as soon as possible (two to three weeks) after the end of the practical/study abroad semester. Questions regarding content and form should be clarified with the supervisor, but are generally based on the formal requirements for theses.

Question: Is the practice/study abroad semester graded?

Answer: No, neither the practice nor the study abroad semester will be graded as such. You will be awarded 30 credit points if you successfully complete the practice/study abroad semester. The grades achieved during the study semester abroad do not play a role here, but sufficient examinations must be passed.

Question: Unfortunately, I did not complete my practice/study abroad semester - can I repeat it again? Or can I do without it altogether and graduate without the practice/study abroad semester?

Answer: Both the practical application semester and the semester abroad can be repeated once as a whole. It is also possible to alternate between the domestic practical semester, the semester abroad and the study semester abroad.

It is not possible to completely forego the practice or study abroad semester. It is a compulsory part of the studies. It must be completed in order to obtain a degree.
Please note: In contrast to subject examinations, you only have a total of two attempts. If you fail twice, you will be exmatriculated!

Question: What funding options are available for a practice/study abroad semester?

Answer:

• Auslands-BAföG
• ERASMUS (within Europe)
• Promos (outside Europe)

In addition, there are further financing possibilities. Please ask our international tutor for the financing option that suits your project. On the website of the International Office of our university you will also find detailed information about financing and funding possibilities.

Question: Can I be granted leave of absence during the practice/study abroad semester to save the semester fee?

Answer: No, as this is a mandatory part of the studies. You should ask specifically in each case whether an exemption from tuition fees is possible. However, you can have the amount for the semester ticket refunded if you can certify that you are staying abroad or in another federal state. In this case, please contact the Asta of the university. There you will receive a form with which you can apply for reimbursement of the fees for public transport.

Question: Can I still write examinations at our university in the semester in which I do the practice/study abroad if I come back early enough?

Answer: You can take the examinations at The Hochschule Niederrhein if you can manage it in time. Please inform yourself early about examination times and especially about the registration periods for the examinations. Please also note in particular that you will need a valid TAN number to register.

Question: What specifications are there with regard to the practical semester position / study abroad?

Answer: The requirements are deliberately kept general. Important: the period of the internship semester must be a continuous 20 weeks.

There is no requirement that Clothing Technology students must complete the internship semester in a clothing company. The same applies to students of Textile Technology or Design Engineering. The examination regulations merely state "... in companies or other institutions of professional practice ...". There is also deliberately a wide scope with regard to the activities in the practical semester. This means that you can carry out internships in all those fields of work that should have something to do with individual subjects of your Degree programme or with typical future fields of work; clarify this with your supervisor!

Before the internship semester begins, a contract must be signed with the company and submitted to the supervisor or the Examinations Board. Forms can be obtained from the Examinations Office and on our website, but these are not mandatory. If a company wants to use its own contracts that have the required content elements, this is allowed. For the study semester abroad, the confirmation of the host university as well as a learning agreement should be available.

Question: Is there a list of companies where I can do an internship?

Answer: No, there is no such list. You can check with your major advisors or browse the job board on the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology website. Apart from that, there are numerous websites of the textile and apparel industry that always advertise internship opportunities on their job markets. In addition, you should look for companies that cover your area of interest or area of specialisation and contact them independently. The search for a suitable internship always involves a lot of personal initiative.

Question: Do I have to choose courses that exactly match my programme content when studying abroad?

Answer:
No, you can also choose courses that correspond in the broadest sense to your area of specialisation. In addition, language courses etc. can also be recognized. Please coordinate your course selection with your international coordinator/supervisor as early as possible.

Question: how many examinations must be passed during a semester abroad?

Answer:
There is no concrete answer to this question. The examination regulations stipulate that the number of 20 ECTS points must be acquired in the Bachelor's degree programme. In any case, of course, any language courses also count towards this. In general, it is recommended to discuss the courses to be attended and the examinations to be taken in advance with the supervisor. In some countries the credit point system is not ECTS compatible. Here you should inform yourself about the conversion factors, e.g. on the DAAD website (e.g. 1 US credit point = 2 ECTS points).

If you earn more than the required 20 credits during your semester abroad, you may be able to have these credits recognized at the HN in lieu of examinations for subjects with the same content, but be sure to clarify this with the respective subject lecturer and the Chair of the Examinations Board in advance!

What happens if an examination is failed?

To be on the safe side, you should always aim for a little more than the necessary 20 credit points. In individual cases and if there are serious and comprehensible reasons, the semester may also be recognized if fewer credit points were earned; however, this can only be clarified by your supervisor with the Chair of the Examinations Board. However, it must also be clear that the semester abroad is not intended as a "vacation time abroad with a visit to another university"! If such difficulties become apparent, you should inform your supervisor immediately and ask him/her to involve the Chair of the Examinations Board, if necessary. If there are no plausible reasons why less than 20 ECTS credits have been earned, the semester abroad cannot be recognized.

Question: What are the requirements for an ERASMUS application?

Answer:

• Regular students of the HS Niederrhein (major).
• Good academic performance
• At least 3rd specialisation semester
• Good knowledge of the teaching language
• Duration of study 3-12 months

Please take into account that you are not entitled to a study place at one of our partner universities, the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology selects participants according to various criteria (performance, number of study places, previous study duration, etc.) or refuses funding.

Which documents are required for the ERASMUS application?

Please inquire additionally at the respective host university about the necessary requirements. Unless otherwise requested by the host university, the following documents are required for the Erasmus application:

• A letter of motivation
• Printed online application for the HS Niederrhein (ERASMUS application)
• Printed application for the respective partner university
• Language certificate (min. B2 of the respective teaching language, please also ask the respective host university about the necessary requirements)
• Transcript of Records
• Learning Agreement

When are the application deadlines for the ERASMUS program?

The Hochschule Niederrhein deadlines are as follows:
Winter semester: received no later than May 1
Summer semester: received no later than October 1.

However, there are universities whose deadlines end earlier. Please check with our international tutor in time.

What are 'Transcript of Records' and 'Learning Agreement'?

Transcript of Records:
Is a list that shows which courses were taken at the home university and which credits were earned before the semester abroad. So from this you can see what prior learning you have done. This can either be our status sheet (Examinations Office) or its translation. In addition, it is advisable to attach an overview of the courses (incl. ECTS credits) taken in the semester prior to starting the semester abroad. Please contact the 'English Document Service' of the Student Services in Krefeld for the translation at an early stage. You can also translate the Transcript of Records on your own, if required in English and only available in German at the Examinations Office. However, this must then be signed by the international coordinator.

Learning Agreement:
The Learning Agreement is a contract between the student, the sending university and the host university. The Learning Agreement contains a list of courses to be taken abroad. Often the Learning Agreement still has to be changed on site at the host university because, for whatever reason, you decide to take other courses. However, this should always be coordinated with your supervisor so that no misunderstandings arise. In addition, changes must be officially documented via the International Offices of the participating universities (form).

What to do if no courses can be found from host universities?

Please inquire at the host university about the current course program. In case you cannot find any information on the website, please contact your Erasmus contact at the host university and ask for the course program. If this also does not yield results, then note, for example, that you must earn at least 20 ECTS credits and that the course selection will be made after arrival at the host university - but this should be the exception!

Question: Is it only possible to study in English in English-speaking countries?

Answer: Many universities, even outside English-speaking countries, offer courses taught in English. Please inquire with our tutor abroad or at the respective university.

Question: Can I also apply to universities that are not partner universities?

Answer: You can always apply on your own initiative to foreign universities with which there is no partnership. In principle, however, you should organize your stay independently in this case. Furthermore, there are various organizations that offer you support in planning and carrying out a semester abroad. In this case, too, the learning agreement must be coordinated with the supervising professor. The international coordinator does not need to sign off. It is also necessary to register the practice/study abroad semester through the Examinations Office.