Erfahrungsberichte besuchender Studierender

Jaione ist für das Wintersemester 2021/22 aus Bilbao im Baskenland an die Uni Würzburg gekommen.

"Hi! This is Jaione, a student of Master in Telecommunication Engineering in Bilbao, Basque Country. I came to Würzburg last September, and I am staying here for two semesters.

In the winter semester, I have been taking lectures of the Master in Satellite Communications. The courses I have been taking have been a mixture of both online classes and classes in presence. The theory classes were online (as videos recorded by the professors, in which they taught using the slides of the course), whereas some labs happened in presence.

Regarding examinations, half of the courses I took had written examinations. What I feel about them is that if you have studied and prepared them properly, it’s no problem to pass them. The other two exams were oral. One of them was a programming exam in which the aim was to understand and to be able to explain the behaviour of some codes shown by the professor. The last exam I took was an oral exam of a group project.

The feelings I have so far about the university are quite similar to those about my home university. The University of Würzburg is challenging, as my home university. However, that also makes you study during the whole semester and acquire knowledge that, in your future career, will definitely help a lot.

Another interesting thing the university offers are German courses. I have personally attended an intensive course in September, a less intensive course during the winter semester, and now I am about to finish another intensive course that has been held in March. As an Erasmus student at the Uni, I can take them for free. I feel that I have really improved my German – a fact that I feel is really important, knowing that I will be living in Germany for a whole year.

Speaking of the city – it is the best place to come to study. Würzburg is full of students from every corner of the world, which makes it a really open-minded place. It offers a wide range of possibilities both in the winter and summer semesters.

Overall speaking, I do not regret at all having come here to spend the last year of my Master’s study and I am really looking forward to my next semester in Würzburg :-)"

Danylo ist für das Sommersemester 2020 aus Lwiw, Ukraine, zur Uni Würzburg gekommen.

"Hello, I am Danylo, a computer science student from Lviv, Ukraine.
I had a wonderful time as exchange student at JMU. I got aquainted with JMU through an exciting course on Algorithmic Graph Theory at my home university. The course was taught by a professor from Würzburg University. Therefore, when I saw the JMU Computer Science program as an option for an Erasmus exchange, I decided to apply. I was quite impressed by the list of courses one can take here. It will probably serve any wishes one may have, but be careful, it is easy to overestimate your capacity since courses are rich in content.

Overall the courses are well-composed and encourage you to go into depth. The exam-centered grading approach at JMU promotes responsible, self-planned studying, which I enjoyed although this didn't use to be my strong suit.

Though the program is great, it is not even half of the experience. You get to live in a beautiful lively city, in a dormitory that might be (as mine was) surrounded by meadows. And there are lots of rabbits running around! The campus is next to vineyards. Everyday I would enjoy a walk or a run there and relax after intense studying sessions. The local architecture is wonderful, so another excellent route for a walk would be down to Main river. There, in the city center, you can truly enjoy yourself in a company of great native and foreign students from all around the world. I was planning this semester purely for academic reasons, but regardless what your plan is, don't miss on social life. To back this up, I arrived in Würzburg in the midst of the first covid-19 outbreak. I got sick, and was quarantined.  After the harsh initial lockdown, small gatherings like barbecue with a few friends are some of the best memories I got. Despite the pandemic my professors were nothing but responsive and kind.

In general, just take your time to plan, choose you courses thoughtfully, and you will love it!"

Olha aus Lwiw, Ukraine, hat im Sommersemester 2020 die Uni Würzburg besucht.

"Hi, ich bin Olha aus Lviv. Ich war es von meiner Heimatuni (UKU) gewohnt, während des Semesters benotete Aufgaben zu bekommen, aus denen sich dann am Ende des Semesters meine Note meistens direkt berechnet hat. In Würzburg habe ich mit einer anderen Art des Studiums Erfahrung gemacht – Prüfungen machen hier den größten Teil der Note aus. Ich denke, das fördert die Verantwortung und Selbstmotivation im Studium, und ich bin sehr froh, dass ich diesen Ansatz durch das Informatikstudium an der Uni Würzburg kennengelernt habe.

Das andere Ungewöhnliche war für mich natürlich das Online-Semester. Leider konnte ich wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie nicht die echten Vorlesungen auf dem Uni-Campus erleben. So habe ich die Lehrveranstaltungen per Zoom oder Video von meiner Zimmer aus besucht – und hatte Spaß daran. Die Professoren und Tutoren haben sich richtig Mühe gegeben, dieses Semester so gut wie möglich zu gestalten. Dafür bin ich sehr dankbar. Sie waren immer erreichbar, wann man irgendwelche Fragen hatte. Es ist verständlich, dass das Studium unter diesen Bedingungen anstrengender sein kann als normalerweise.

Im Allgemein habe ich sehr viel gelernt, auch wenn ich kein "echtes" Studieren an der Uni erleben konnte. Die Fachauswahl am Institut für Informatik ist sehr breit, und ich habe manche Fächer ausgewählt, die ich während meines Studiums an der UKU nicht hätte belegen können. Es war ein tolles Möglichkeit, sich eingehender mit Graphenalgorithmen zu beschäftigen und mehr über Numerische Mathematik zu erfahren. Außerdem habe ich im Maschinellen Lernen viel Nützliches für meinen künftigen Job gelernt.

Ich bin sicher, dass jeder Student hier passende und interessante Kurse finden kann, und so empfehle ich Euch, ein Semester im Studiengang Informatik der Uni Würzburg auszuprobieren!"

Joanna aus Gleiwitz, Polen, war im Wintersemester 2019/20 in Würzburg.

"Für mich war es ein besonderes Erlebnis, an der Universität Würzburg studieren zu können. Zwar war mein Stundenplan ziemlich anstrengend, aber ich habe Professoren getroffen, die mir immer geholfen und mich unterstützt haben. Ich habe die Chance bekommen, zu sehen, wie das Studium in Deutschland aussieht.

Was mir persönlich sehr wichtig war, war, viele internationale Freundschaften zu schließen und so viel wie möglich mit Leuten zu sprechen. Dabei konnte ich meine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern und die deutsche Kultur besser kennenlernen. Es war sehr interessant, kulturelle Unterschiede zu erkunden. Ich habe auch die Stadt genossen und bin viel ausgegangen, weil Würzburg sehr schön und vielfältig ist und viele Veranstaltungen anbietet, z.B. das Festival für Straßenmusik oder den Weihnachtsmarkt. Durch Ausflüge konnte ich auch Städte in der Nähe besichtigen. Ich habe auch die Erfahrung gemacht, selbstständig zu leben. Dies gab mir das Gefühl, dass ich mich persönlich weiterentwickelt habe.

Die Zeit in Würzburg wird mir angenehm in Erinnerung bleiben. Ich bin sehr glücklich, die Möglichkeit bekommen zu haben, am Erasmus-Programm teilzunehmen. Auf jeden Fall würde ich ein Auslandsemester in Würzburg wiederholen und auch anderen sehr empfehlen."

Kamil aus Krakau, Polen, war im Sommersemester 2019 in Würzburg.

"Studying in Würzburg was an amazing experience. My university has an Erasmus contract with Julius Maximilian University Würzburg, so I decided it would be a good chance to improve my German and try something different. I took 6 courses in total, so my daily schedule had already been arranged well by the University. However, there was still time to enjoy summer in the city, which is full of festivals, sights and great wine. The local organization for international students and the region itself offered many ways to spend the free time actively. Among the things that surprised me at the university was the fact that the attendance at all of the courses is not obligatory and there are no midterm exams – this way students have the opportunity to set their own pace of studying. Another interesting fact was that so many current students taught their fellows at exercise classes and they did it really well. During those four months I met many people and spent a great time with them – I can highly recommend this city to everyone!"

Khrystyna aus Lwiw, Ukraine, war im Sommersemester 2019 in Würzburg.

"Being part of the Erasmus program is definitely a valuable experience. It’s a chance to broaden your mind, to be a part of another country while improving your technical skills. I was surprised by the hospitality of the University of Würzburg, beginning from the International Students Office to professors. Everyone was ready to help, to understand my situatoin and to support me.

The lectures were interesting and up-to-date. Apart from theory, we were able to see use cases in practice. The educational process is somewhat different from ours. We don’t have such a lot of material, but we have more questions in the exams.

Würzburg is a nice city to visit and to live in. If you haven’t been here before you should really come and explore it! Besides studying, I decided to travel because it’s cheaper from here than from Ukraine, and within Europe we do not face long passport controls as on the Ukraine–EU border. That’s why it is much easier. If you book in advance, you can really fnd cheap prices. I would strongly recommend knowing at least German basics: to be able to build at least an understandable sentence and understand someone. I had several situations when I had to switch on German. There were no problems in the city administration, the University, and with the health insurance."

Yurii aus Lwiw, Ukraine, war im Sommersemester 2019 in Würzburg.

"Hey,

I am Yurii and I had a great time as an Erasmus student here at the University of Würzburg. To begin with, a German course was really beneficial and fun. I was lucky with the teachers, who told us not only about the grammar but also about German traditions, celebrations and customs. There were lots of games and activities during the class. They helped me to improve the foreign language efficiently and painlessly.

My main studies in computer science were also profitable. The material covered was clearly structured. The grading system was different from the one used in my home university. In my opinion, it helped me to learn the subject rather than simply "collect the points". Quite a few topics were recent and looked promising to put efforts into. The seminar format was also new to me. I've never gone through a tough mathematical paper and given a scientific presentation before. However, some courses seem to lack practical implementation assignments, which would be a good way to learn or practice some programming language, deepen the understanding of the topic or even apply the gained knowledge and help others.

All things considered, I was happy to work with prof. Wolff and Lehrstuhl für Informatik I in the University of Würzburg. Hope that the cooperation between our universities will develop and prosper."