News
During the academic holidays (Akademische Ferien) and the year-end closure (Jahresendschließung) of the TU Berlin, there will be no face-to-face or online counseling. However, we are available by e-mail. Responses may take longer over the holidays.
The last consultation date in 2024 is Wednesday, December 18, 2024, from 2 to 4:30 pm. The first consultation date in 2025 is Wednesday, January 8, 2025.
The counseling can also be attended in person every Wednesday (without public holidays) from 2 to 6 p.m. in the counseling room in the TK building. The possibility to attend the counseling online still exists (hybrid counseling). The Friday appointment from 11 a. m to 3 p. m. will continue to be online only.
During office hours, you can come by without an appointment. There may be some waiting (sometimes up to 10–30 minutes, usually less).
For our online consulting hours we use Jitsi. Use the following link to come by:
https://conference.astatu.berlin/Hochschulberatung
Consultation hours
The impact of the coronavirus on your studies
General
AStA’s University and academic advising provides assistance with all problems related to your studies and fiercely represents your interests – in contrast to most University services offered. Our many years of experience as students at the University means we are often able to easily put ourselves in your position and are not afraid to take a stand against the University together with you. Topics we frequently assist with include: support with bringing action in a degree program, issues with study and examination regulations or examination boards, assistance writing objections or requesting reconsideration procedures, problems with (failed) exams, compulsory advising, forced termination of enrollment, special medical certificates, attendance lists and required attendance, and data privacy problems – and, of course, any other topic or problem you need assistance with. If you would like to make use of University and academic advising and do not require legal counsel, you do not need to make an appointment. Simply stop by during our office hours. We also offer legal counsel for difficult legal cases concerning the University or your studies. This is provided at no cost to you. Please send a brief description of the situation to the email address provided below. As our legal services are in high demand, we ask that you seek other legal counsel for all legal questions not related to university or examination law (or the University in general). At university policy level, we aim to ensure that studies at TU Berlin are and remain accessible to all and not only those who can afford to study. However, due to the undemocratic distribution of power at the University, we have relatively small influence on study and examination regulations. This is primarily due to representation in University committees, where university professors are always in the majority. We continue to work on free access to higher education and the university. You can bring action against an admissions decision without a lawyer. For an initial overview, take a look at the Referent_Innen-Rat at HU Berlin and our joint information page einklage.de
Learn how to bring action
Was your application for a study place rejected or are you afraid it will be? During the semester break we will once again hold meetings to explain how to bring action against a decision. We provide information and answer questions about the process and cost risk. We also have the necessary forms on hand and can fill these out together with you. Please come to the AStA waiting room for the meeting. The deadline to file an action for the summer semester ends on March 31 and on September 30 for the wintersemester, thus on the end of the semester before the semester for which you wish to enroll. You must have initiated the process by this date, regardless of whether you have already received a rejection or not. You can inform yourself in advance on Einklage.de.
Discontinued degree programs
Thousands of students at TU Berlin are still enrolled in Diplom or Magister degree programs. You are not alone. However, the University would like to discontinue these degree programs as quickly as possible and is within its legal right to do so, pursuant to Section 126 of the Berlin State Higher Education Act. The Act requires universities to set a fixed date, by which students have a final opportunity to take the final exam. After this date, the degree program is considered discontinued. If you are nearly finished and require a deadline extension, you must submit a special request for more time (Härtefallantrag). More information about special requests for discontinuing degree programs
Student rights
In light of the many inquiries we have recently received, we want to encourage you to not accept every condition imposed by lecturers. As students, you have clear rights you can invoke. You can often already determine whether a requirement in your course is unlawful by taking a look at the General Study and Examination Regulations. There is a list of reader friendly versions with the most commonly relevant regulations and laws.
Deadlines
Higher education law is mostly administrative law. In administrative law, it is often the adherence to deadlines that determines a legal claim. It doesn’t matter how comprehensible the claim is. After deadlines have passed, many matters become much more difficult or even impossible. To prevent this from happening, please come to us as soon as possible with letters from the university with which you disagree.
Also note that many legally binding notices are now no longer sent by post, but are deposited in your mailbox in tuPORT.
Apart from the deadlines set by the university, you should also set reasonable deadlines yourself when communicating with the university. In most cases, they will reply more quickly or tell you straight away that it may take longer.
General Deadlines
On the website of the Office of Student Affairs (Studierendensekretariat), you can find an overview of deadlines and dates during the semester. These include, for example, enrollment deadlines for degree programs, but also application deadlines, the respective re-registration deadline and lecture times. There are also other deadlines.
Appealing for a study place at university (Einklage)
If you think you have been wrongly denied a study place at university, you have the option of appealing. You can find out exactly how this works at our appeal meetings (Einklagerunden), which always take place during the semester break. We provide information and answer questions about the legal process from first consultation to go to court and costs. We announce the dates for the Einklagerunde here and below „Aktuelles“.
IMPORTANT: In order to open up the possibility of an appeal, you must apply to the university for extracurricular admission (Antrag auf außerkapazitäre Zulassung), regardless of whether you have already received a rejection. The deadline by which this application must be received by the university is 31 March for the summer semester and 30 September for the winter semester, i. e. the end of the previous semester.
The same deadlines apply to the application for a preliminary injunction (Antrag auf Erlass einer einstweiligen Anordnung) that you send to the administrative court. For everything else, please visit our counseling hours.
This terms (winter semester 2024/2025) consultations are on following days:
- July 30, 2024 (Tuesday), 2 p. m. c. t., in person at the TK building, 1st floor
- August 20, 2024 (Tuesday ), 2 p. m. c. t., in person at the TK building, 1st floor
- Thursday, September 19, 2024, 2 p. m. to 4 p. m. c. t., online https://conference.astatu.berlin/Hochschulberatung
Please write us an email if you want to participate: hochschulberatung@asta.tu-berlin.de.
Our appointments will be in German, if you have questions in this regard please visit our usual advising in the Hochschulberatung.
Disclaimer: We are not an official legal consultation, what we do is explaining the steps of the legal process and share our experience. If a case is unusually complicated we also offer a free first consultation with a lawyer.
General letters from the university
When calculating deadlines for replies and appeals, it is generally assumed that the postmark plus 1–2 days is the date on which the letter was in your letterbox and from which the deadline begins. It is generally advisable to respond to letters from the university within two weeks. The following deadlines are common:
With instructions on how to appeal (Mit Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung)
If the letter from the university contains instructions on how to appeal (Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung), it will state the deadline for lodging an appeal against the decision. It doesn’t matter whether the content of the decision is illegal or not, if you don’t do anything about it within the deadline, you automatically accept it and have no possibility to appeal it afterwards. The most common time limit is one month, which you have to appeal against a decision. This applies, for example, to decisions that state that you have not passed examinations and decisions on exmatriculation.
Without instructions on how to appeal (Ohne Rechtsbehelfbelehrung)
If the letter is not accompanied by a special instruction on possible legal remedies, you can usually object to it within one year.
Appeal deadline: 14 days
Some notices allow you only two weeks to appeal. You must also keep to this short deadline!
How to contact us:
By email: hochschulberatung@asta.tu-berlin.de
In person (during office hours): Room TK 112 (TU Berlin AStA, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, TU, TK – Building, yellow building between the canteen and Main Building on the 1st floor, exact directions provided under Contact.