The 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking which reviewed more than 1500 universities worldwide views Tübingen University among the top 100 places to study and do research at (#78), second among German universities only to Munich and Heidelberg, and just little behind Ivy-League universities such as Brown. This confirms Tübingen’s place among Europe’s and, in fact, the world’s finest locations for academic life, ahead of, for instance, Georgetown, Geneva, Maastricht, the famous Sorbonne, or all Scandinavian universities.
In the field of Political Science / International Relations more specifically, and despite its relatively small department, Tübingen also figured among the top-125 . It ranks on a par with renowned American universities such as Notre Dame, Dartmouth College or George Washington University, and ahead of several reputable political science departments in Europe such as St. Andrews (ranked #2 in the UK, ahead of Oxford, in 2020 by the Guardian’s UK University League Tables), or Gothenburg, where the famous V-Dem project is run by our colleagues. Likewise, many of our international partners figure among the world’s very best (such as Michigan-Ann Arbor; Durham UK; Sciences Po Paris; or St. Andrews).
Even in the face of the current constraints of the CoViD-19 pandemic, we continue to be committed to providing our students with education and training second to none. We do not just follow, but contribute to actively setting international research agendas in our strife to advance the frontiers of knowledge along the mission goals of Tübingen University: Research, relevance, and responsibility.
Listen and check out Professor Bernhard Trautner’s interview with Deutschlandfunk regarding the current situation in Lebanon:”Help Lebanon bypass the state: (How) can this work?
Dear applicants, Due to the current situation there have been changes in our application process. The following exceptional measures are in place: 1. The application process is exclusively digital via Alma. You do not have to send your application by post. 2. As an exception and due to the current …
Due to the uncertain circumstances, we would like to inform our current but also future students about how we deal with the current situation. Please make sure to also keep yourself updated on the University’s Homepage, other media and the RKI (Robert-Koch Institute, which is the authoritative health institution that also advises the federal government in Germany). Furthermore, the Institute of Political Science will inform you via its landing page.
General
information:
At the moment, all libraries, as well as the Institute of Political Science, are physically closed for students and most staff and faculty.
The start of the new term has officially been postponed to 19 April 2020. This, however, is very likely to change. We will inform you about any possible further postponements or cancellations as soon as we are informed. In the worst case, there will be no physical seminars or lectures. The University of Tübingen is currently working on an online alternative, but as of now, we have no concrete information on the possible procedures of a possible term of online teaching.
General Measures and Protection
Staff and students are
asked to stick to the general hygienic security advice (wash your hands for at
least 30 seconds, keep a distance to others of at least 1.50 m or 6 ft, etc.).
The following link provides extensive information on individual behavior and
non-pharmaceutical protection measures issued by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC):
FAQ regarding
CoViD-19 and Tübingen University / CEMPS:
Should I /Can I still apply for the CMEPS Master’s Program?
The deadline for the 2020/2021 application has already passed. The deadline for the next application round is on the 15th of May 2021.
Due to the current situation, this deadline might be subject to change. Please check again at the beginning of the application year!
Can I finish my Master’s degree, and if so: how?
Theses submission: Until now, your Master’s thesis still has to be submitted through the School of Economics and Social Sciences’ Examination office (German: “Prüfungsamt”; the person in charge: Mr. Löser; at least 2 hard copies must be submitted by the deadline, along with an electronic version). The office has been asked to immediately provide instructions on how to submit theses electronically and via regular post, and to communicate these avenues on their own website. Additionally (though not alternatively!), and in particular if you have a tight schedule for graduation, you may also submit an electronic copy to Ms. Wagner (mena@ifp.uni-tuebingen.de), but do make sure that the Examinations Office receives your thesis no later than us at the institute.
Oral exams: Since
we always hold oral exams online, nothing will change here categorically, and
thus no delays should occur. The only difference now is that each person
(candidate, examiner 1, examiner 2/reader) needs to be at different locations.
Oral exams are, as usual, held via skype/DFN/zoom.
Are office hours taking place?
Yes, but physical meetings are prohibited. Thus, if you wish to consult
with your instructors and/or supervisors, please note the online office hours.
As the current closure is still quite recent, online office hours have not yet
been scheduled extensively, but will be communicated soon. Professor
Schlumberger’s first online office hours will take place on April 6, 2020, from
14:00 to 15:30. He will be available by telephone and via skype/zoom, etc.
Also, do make use of e-mail correspondence if you have concrete
questions. We will answer these as quickly as possible under current
conditions.
Office hours to take place either via phone, skype or e-mail should be scheduled with your instructor. For Professor Schlumberger, please contact, and register with, Ms. Stephanie Wagner at mena@ifp.uni-tuebingen.de.
Will the exchange term in Cairo take place (and what if not)?
The University of Tübingen has decided that all exchanges with non-EU states will not take place in a physical form. This means that Tübingen students cannot travel to Cairo for their semester at AUC for the Winter term 2020/2021.
The exchange semester for CMEPS students will take place online. Students will be informed of the details in a timely manner.
How can I register at the students’ secretariat (registrar) when the
rules are that I have to so that in person?
The student secretariat has moved all its services online. The number of central telephone services has been increased to cater to the increasing number of queries, but you are advised to only use them in cases where personal counseling is necessary, otherwise rely on e-mail correspondence.
We
are currently in negotiations with the student secretariat (registrar) and
working on finding a solution in case travel bans or other impediments should
remain in place until the time you need to register. We will communicate any
such solution on this page as soon as possible.
In case your questions cannot be answered by the staff there, let us know by getting in touch with your CMEPS contact persons (Mr. Tobias Axmann; up to April 10th: Dr. Mirjam Edel; Ms. Stephanie Wagner).
Please let us know if
you feel this list is incomplete and further Q&A should be added – we will
do our best to keep you abreast and inform you as comprehensively as possible
at all times, as well as to keep transparency at a maximum.
Useful Links:
Tübingen
University’s Medical Service’s information and news in relation to the effects
the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has on activities at Tübingen University:
Information for outgoing Tübingen students who are
planning to spend time abroad (unfortunately,
this site is in German only – we have made the respective unit aware of this):
The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has triggered a wave of inaccurate and false information. We believe this to be very dangerous at a time where accurate and scientifically valid information is much needed to effectively respond to the pandemic. For these reasons, the CMEPS team advises all students and faculty to access and circulate information only from reliable sources. The links below provide some of these sources:
For the complete guidelines on how to protect yourself and others as well as more information about the pandemic check the following links:
The Sectarianism, Proxies, and De-sectarianisation (SEPAD) project is based at Lancaster University’s Richardson Institute. It investigates factors that contribute to sectarian violence and proxy conflicts. The podcast hosts various leading scholars in the field of Comparative politics including Sean Yom, Charles Tripp, and Francesco Cavatorta. Oliver Schlumberger discusses authoritarianism, power, and democratization in the Middle East.
Germany hosts an International Peace Conference on Libya in close consultation with the United Nations. On the 20th of January 2020, Professor Oliver Schlumberger delivers an interview to the “WDR 5 Morgenecho” on the various actors involved and on the different future prospects in Libya.
The WDR Morgenecho is a daily (Monday to Friday) well known morning podcast in German speaking countries. It conducts interviews with specialists on different political issues. Other interviewees on the topic, among others, are SPD-politician Nils Schmid and Libya-expert Merin Abbas from the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung in Tunis.
For more information on Morgenecho please visit the WDR website: https://www1.wdr.de/radio/wdr5/sendungen/morgenecho/index.html.
For more information on the conference conclusions, please see the official press release from the German Federal Government: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/news/the-berlin-conference-on-libya-1713882
Professor Oliver Schlumberger, Danaë C. Panissié and Koray Saglam attended the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in New Orleans, USA (November 14-17 )
