Rules for the IMPRS students

The main curriculum of the IMPRS on biomimetic Systems is organized in semesters.

During the first two semesters, each student attends three general courses which provide the basic knowledge on ‘Biomimetic Systems’. Each general course includes a written examination (‘Klausur’).

During the 2nd year, the students attend more specialized courses.

There are two formats for these courses: (i) semester courses, which are given during the whole semester and (ii) compact courses, which run for a shorter time (usually one or two weeks). The participation of each student in the graduate school is monitored by a credit point system, see below.

The school may organize an introductory course. This course is compulsory and will be attended by all students and by all members of the school. The introductory course gives an overview over the activities at the school.

The different groups and institutions which participate in the school offer several seminars and colloquia which are open to all students of the school. Talks which are of general interest to all members of the school are announced as ‘IMPRS talks’.

Participation in the school implies also that each student gives one IMPRS talk about a general topic and one IMPRS talk about his/her own research before the completion of the doctoral thesis.

Credit points

Each student who participates in the IMPRS on Biomimetic Systems should attend three general (semester) courses during the 1st year and one specialized (compact) course during the 2nd year of the graduate program.

In addition, each student must give one IMPRS talk about a general topic and one IMPRS talk about his/her own research work.

A credit point system is used in order to monitor these requirements. The students obtain one and two credit points for their attendance of one compact course and one semester course, respectively. The two IMPRS talks are worth two extra IMPRS on ‘Biomimetic Systems’ credit points.

To summarize, the typical curriculum is:

1st year: three semester courses (total: 6 credit points)
2nd year: one compact course (total: 1 credit point)
3rd year: two talks (total: 2 credit points)

Each student must obtain 9 credit points in order to receive the certificate of the IMPRS.

Sheets and Certificate

Each IMPRS student must certify his/her attendance to the courses by providing a series of signed sheets. The form for the sheet can be downloaded here. It should be printed and filled out by the student. The lecturer(s) should then sign it.

It is the responsibility of the student to keep the sheets and send or present them to the coordinator at the end of the study. On the basis of the collected sheets, the coordinator will write a certificate attesting the successful completion of the IMPRS studies.

This certificate is not a degree and does not substitute or replace or complement the doctoral degree given by the University.