Curricula, Courses, Assessment and Exams

Information on Courses

Unless otherwise indicated teaching and exam language is German. Although single courses may be offered in English and student's paper presentations may be well done in English please be aware that sufficient receptive German skills are necessary when studying in Bern.

Please note: Although most courses are offered at regular intervals the definitive educational program for future terms will only be known approx. 1-2 months prior to term start.

If you are interested in a particual area of study, you should check out the web pages of the respective lecturer. Watch out for information on "Lehre" or "Lehrversanstaltungen". If you have questions on any of the courses mentioned please do not hesitate to contact the lecturers directly.

Assessment and Exams

Assessment are made by written or oral exams and by seminar papers.

An assessment is defined as a number of ECTS-credits, describing the time load of the course and a grade between 4 and 6 indicating the level achieved by the student. Grades between 1 and 3 are insufficient and do not count as assessments.

Bachelor exams take place in the two last weeks of the break (February, for the autumn term) or in the first two weeks of the term (June, spring term). Master's exams are organised in the last week of the semester. Second shots are usually offered in July/August (only once a year). In case of scheduling problems, incoming students always have the option to individually arrange their exams with the responsible staff member.

Conversion of grades

Conversion of grades in Bern into ECTS-grades:

ECTS credits

One semester corresponds to 30 credits. A full academic year corresponds to 60 credits.

1 Credit equals 25-30 working hours.