Category: News

Dear current and prospective students,

a quick reminder: The CMEPS-master application for the upcoming fall-term is due on May 15 2020. You can find more information here.

Due to the current situation we wish you all the best. Stay safe and we will keep updating you with relevant information.

Best wishes,

CMEPS team

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):

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/online-micro-learning-activities-on-COVID-19

FAQ regarding CoViD-19 and Tübingen University / CEMPS:

• Should I /Can I still apply for the CMEPS Master’s Program?

Yes, the winter term starts in September. We do hope that the situation until then will allow us to start the term as usual. The application deadline remains on the 15^th May. If you cannot complete your documents due to problems caused by the Corona Crisis in your country and some of your documents are still lacking, please make sure to note this accordingly and explain what is missing and why. We will work out feasible solutions.
At any rate, please do submit your online application form before the deadline – the sooner the better! – and try to also submit your hard copies in time to the extent that you can complete them. Rather submit something than nothing, provided you make the above-mentioned statements.

• 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)?

As of now, we have a 30-days travel ban for all member states of the European Union, both inward and outward bound. The exchange term is scheduled to start in September, and we are currently hoping that the exchange will take place accordingly.
If ever the exchange with our partners at AUC can not take place, there are various alternative ways how the program can still be completed, even under restricted conditions that would not allow for the exchange to take place as planned. We will inform those concerned asap.

• 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 10^th: 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:

https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/facilities/staff-representatives-advisory-services/arbeits-gesundheits-und-umweltschutz/betriebsaerztlicher-dienst/information-on-the-corona-virus/

Information for incoming students to Tübingen on the situation in town and on campus:

https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/facilities/staff-representatives-advisory-services/arbeits-gesundheits-und-umweltschutz/betriebsaerztlicher-dienst/information-on-the-corona-virus/information-for-students-from-abroad-incomings/

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):

https://uni-tuebingen.de/einrichtungen/personalvertretungen-beratung-beauftragte/arbeits-gesundheits-und-umweltschutz/betriebsaerztlicher-dienst/informationen-zum-coronavirus/informationen-fuer-tuebinger-studierende-im-ausland-outgoings/

General news from Tübingen, including on Corona, is provided in Arabic, Dari, English and German here:

Home

Info on how many patients infected with the SARS CoV-2 virus are currently treated at Tübingen’s University Hospital:

https://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/en-de/hinweise-corona-virus/corona-live-ticker

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:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/nCoV.html (in German only)

For more information on the situation in Germany: https://www.rki.de/EN/Home/homepage_node.html (in English and German)

For more information on the local situation in the city of Tübingen: http://www.tunewsinternation.com

For important statements at the University of Tübingen: https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/facilities/staff-representatives-advisory-services/arbeits-gesundheits-und-umweltschutz/betriebsaerztlicher-dienst/information-on-the-corona-virus/news-on-the-corona-virus/

For students’ FAQ at the University of Tübingen: https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/facilities/staff-representatives-advisory-services/arbeits-gesundheits-und-umweltschutz/betriebsaerztlicher-dienst/information-on-the-corona-virus/information-for-students-from-abroad-incomings/#c1046316

For more information on the local situation at AUC: https://www.aucegypt.edu/coronavirus

For more information on the local situation in Egypt: https://www.facebook.com/egypt.mohp/ (in Arabic only

We wish you all the best of luck and health. Stay safe

Best wishes,

The CMEPS Team