Results of Fundamentals of Robotics

The results of Fundamentals of Robotics are out and can be found here. The exam can be inspected at
IRF Room 212b, April 16th 2007 from 3 till 4 p.m.

Protocols are now viewable in your browser

All protocols are now accessible under this address Here as HTML Files, if you prefer the MindMap Version you can find them here. All new protocols will be published only there, you will not receive anymore Mails regarding this topic. We publish the protocols, because we do not think, our work should be confidential. If you would like to participate in the student council of Automation and Robotics, please let us now.

Welcome post for new students

As you might have received your admission by e-mail up to now, we like to welcome you to the Students Body of Electrical- and Computer Engineering.
We know you have a lot of questions concerning the course and the living in Germany. Thus we like to provide you with some of the most interesting and important issues concerning your oncoming studies. Feel free to have a look at the different folders of our forum and suggested websites for more information. As the next Winter Term gets closer, you should consider the issues also listed under the topic Newbie-Guides.
Source: Gerd Sebastiani

Starting step-by-step

Once you've arrived to Dortmund you have to manage through several steps which are compulsory for your stay. This check list just tries to be a help to guide you in this process. The list is intended to be followed step by step, but maybe you want to skip some steps if you have already made them. Anyway, here is the list:

• Get a flat.- Not the easiest step to begin with, but you need a place to live in eventually.
• Register your address in the Municipality.- You need to do this in order to open a bank account or get a health insurance.
• Get a bank account.- In the campus there are two banks: Volksbank (near the Mensa) and Sparkasse (near Sonnendeck).
• Extend your visa.- This is the nastiest step (the people in the Municipality is not so nice), but also the most important. You can't enroll to the courses and can't stay in Germany without it.
• Get a health insurance.- In Germany every person has a health insurance and foreign students are not the exception. You can't enroll to the courses without it.
• Enroll to the Master courses.- Finally, you have to go to Mr. Burda and enroll yourself to the Master program.
  

Get an Health Insurance

As you need a Health Insurance in order to enroll, you have to fix up something here. You'll find AOK offices located directly at the campus (near the S-Bahn stop), however there are also several more available in the web and throughout germany.

Hint: The local AOK office will provide special english spoken consultations. The AOK-Staff will ask you whether you are interested in joining them. You may still claim, that you don't want to sign now, thus considering other offers as well and comparing prices and services of the individual insurances.

More Assurance providers under the following links:
AOK
BKK
IKK
BEK
TK

Get Your Visa

Hence approx. 90% of the students are not yet residents of Germany, you need a visa to stay here. As we as Student Representatives have no influence on this matter, I kindly ask you to inquire about that at the Office of Foreign Affairs of the University of Dortmund (AAA). You find more information at their web page at: www.uni-dortmund.de/AAA

Hint: However, I must ask you to have a keen eye on the final date for enrolment here. If it is obvious to you, that you won't get your visa in time, then I strongly suggest waiting until next year! If you arrive too late for enrolment you cannot get enrolled at the Summer Term, as the Certificate of Admission are only valid for the corresponding Winter Term. As life is quite expensive in Germany (not considering your travel expenses), you should better use that time to stay at your home college and attend some German Classes.

Find a flat

As you need an official address of correspondence, you should consider finding a residence at first.

Hint: The best compromise between cost and comfort is provided by the hostels of Studentenwerk. Although you have to register for that and wait in a queue. Contact them to receive more information, they normally can understand English. Thus you normally won't get an apartment from Studentenwerk directly after your arrival at Dortmund! Hence we Student Representatives also cannot fix any contracts for you, we kindly refer for more information to the AAA.
For looking up some places on your own, feel free to contact your seniors at the forum or simply try these links:

For looking up some places on your own, feel free to contact your seniors at the forum or simply try these links, which are unfortunately all in German (use Google to translate it, if you like to):Communities (WG's)

• Studenten-WG


• WG-Welt


• WG gesucht!
  

Rooms

• Room Search Engine
  

Student Hostels

• Studentendorf


• Neue Emil-Figge Strasse
  


• Ostenberg


• Meintnerweg


• Baroperstrasse
  

These hostels are administrated by Studentenwerk.

Hostels run by Religious Institutions

• Protestant (ESG)


• Roman-Catholic (KHG)
  

Flats run by a Company

• Company List
  


• Dortmunder Gemeinnuetzige Wohnungsbaugesellschaft DoGeWo
  

Further Links

• Hostel Preview by UDO - contains further cheaper accomodations!


• Flat Company Preview by UDO
  


• Flat Forum of the University of Applied Sciences (FH)


• AStA Info Page


• Studentenwohnungsmarkt


• Studentenwohnung


• Adlantic

Television, Radio and PC fees in Germany - GEZ

This post is important for every student, because everybody will sooner or later receive a letter of a organisation named GEZ. In this letter, obviously written in German, they ask you, if you have television, radio or computer devices. In Germany you have to pay a monthly fee for having this devices. The fee for Computers is around 5€ per month.

If you do not reply to one of the 3 letters, one day a member of the GEZ will visit you at your home. He will ask you to let him in and pretend that you have to. That is wrong. Do not let this fellow into your home. Say that you do not have television or radio and that he has to leave your home now. He is not allowed to enter your appartment and he will not come back with police to assist him.

Another important fact is that the fees, will also be fined backwards. So if you register and explain, that you live in Germany for 6 months now, with you Labtop, you have to pay for this 6 month also. This can be up to 2 years! And thats a lot of money. So take care what you say and write in this contence.

Having devices that can receive Television, Radio or Internet is not for free in Germany. If you have questions about this please ask us. At arcouncil@gmail.com