Information for Students

The examination regulations inform you about your rights and duties as a student and about the coursework and examinations you are required to complete during the course of your studies. This document also contains information on examination deadlines, circumstances in which an examination can be re-taken, the number of ECTS credits required to start the final thesis, and the exact degree awarded.

You can find the document on the central website of the University of Mannheim under Psychology. If you are aware of the examination regulations’ (in German) content, you can answer many questions yourself.

The module catalog offers important details about all the modules in your program. There, you can look up what courses are included in a module, what you need to do to complete a module, and how many ECTS credits the different modules are worth. Please be sure to refer to the module catalog that applies to you (Start of Studies).

Changes to modules I and J will take effect at fall/winter 2022. These changes apply to all students who start their studies from fall/winter 2022 onwards. The lecture in module I will take place in the 4th subject semester starting in HWS 2022 and will be examined at the end of the spring/summer semester (for the first time in FSS 2024). Module J will take place in the 2nd semester starting in HWS 2022.

Changes in modules I and J come into effect for HWS 2022. These changes apply to all students who begin their studies from HWS 2022 onwards. Implication for students who started their studies before HWS 2022: The examination in the I module will take place in the autumn/winter semester including HWS 2023. From FSS 2024 onwards, the examination will only take place in the spring/summer semester.

Students of the PO 2017 please inform yourself here about changes in the course and examination schedule.

Every student of the bachelor`s program studies the modules A to L. The further program can be decided choosing between two options:

• Variant I: Program of applied psychological areas and qualification for a master’s program in Psychology. 
• Variant II: Program with focus on clinical psychology and psychotherapy with the goal to fulfil contents of the PsychThApprO and requirements of the master’s program in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy.  

You choose the program variant before the deepening of the  applied modules​​​​​​​, hence after the end of your third semester. 

The degree plan depicts the recommended program structure. If you stick to the time frame suggested in the plan, you will be able to complete your program within the standard period of study.

The Stuttgart Regional Council has confirmed for study variant II of the PO 2021 that the professional requirements in accordance with the Psychotherapists Act and the Licensing Regulations for Psychotherapists are met.

The introduction of the PO 2021 has resulted in some changes to the semester in which courses and examinations are offered. The changes always come into effect after a transitional period of one course or examination cycle. There may also be changes with regard to the duration of examinations. The following overview shows the changes:

For students starting their program in the fall semester 2020/21 at the University of Mannheim, there is an option to change your examination regulations to the new Bachelor´s one. This change has to be applied for. The needed document can be found on this website.  

Please send the document filled in from your university e-mail account to the Office of the Central Examination Committee (Zentraler Prüfungsausschuss, ZPA) of the University of Mannheim. Submission from your private e-mail account cannot legally be accepted. The document should be signed by hand and scanned or photographed or the signature can be added digitally. 

Please submit the document until 9 July 2021 to Madeline Dahl from the Office of the Central Examination Committee (dahl.zpamail-uni-mannheim.de). 

In the third semester you will get to know the applied modules. The following subjects are available: 

• Work and Organizational Psychology 
• Consumer Psychology 
• Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
• Educational Psychology 

All four subjects will be introduced by an overview module in the third semester. In the fourth semester the in-depth modules begin. They deepen from the fourth semester onwards two of the four applied modules for three semesters and one additional applied module for two semesters.  

Students of the program variant II are obligated to take Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy as their in-depth module for three semesters. Apart from that and for students of the program variant I the choice of your applied module is free. The access to some subjects might be limited due to high demand. 

In program variant I, the minor allows you to branch out into another scientific discipline. Business Education and Business Administration are among the most popular subjects. Apart from that, you can choose a minor from the following list:  Informatics, Linguistics, Mathematics, Media and Communication Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Economics. By taking one of these minors, you can tailor the program to your individual interests and acquire valuable skills that prepare you for your future career. The choice is up to you! 

In program variant II you will not take a minor but learn approbation relevant content in the module Medical Foundations of Psychotherapy (Medizinische Grundlagen der Psychotherapie). 

A twelve-week (or 450 working hours) compulsory internship in the professional field of psychologists must be completed as part of the Psychology degree. In study option II, the internships are completed in accordance with the licensing regulations. The internships enable you to gain professional experience at an early stage, get to know potential career paths and establish contacts with companies and clinics. The internship office will support you in your search, application and preparation for the internship. 

During your program, you will earn research participation credit for acting as a subject in studies and experiments conducted by your fellow students or by the chairs. You are required to complete at least 30 hours of experiments in total. This way, you will gain important insights into the varied and exciting research projects at the Department of Psychology. You can manage your research participation in SONA, our online sign-up system.

Procedure

• Open a SONA account.
• Sign up for participation in a study.
• After you have earned 30 credit hours, print the homepage with your credits overview.
• Note down your student number and sign the printout and submit it to the Student Services office II team.
• The Student Services office II team will check all the details on the printout and subsequently award you 1 ECTS credit for your research participation.

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Usually, students will write their bachelor’s thesis in the sixth subject-specific semester, though they can also opt to write their thesis in the fifth semester instead. Finding a supervisor for your bachelor’s thesis is your responsibility.

Tip: The departmental student committee regularly organizes information events on the bachelor’s thesis at the beginning of each semester. If you are looking for a supervisor for your thesis, you should contact a chair or a teacher of your choosing to make specific arrangements.

You need to agree on your topic with your supervisor and the first evaluator. The first evaluator must be a professor of psychology at the University of Mannheim. Please also discuss any potential second evaluators with your supervisor.

If you want to register for your bachelor's thesis, you will need to file a request with the chair of the examination committee. Once you have completed the form, you can submit it to the Central Examination Committee. Your registration for the bachelor’s thesis is deemed to be official as soon as the form has been signed by the first evaluator. The preparation period for your thesis is 12 weeks. The chair of the examination committee will indicate the due date for your thesis on the form.

If you need to extend the preparation period, you can file a request with the examination committee citing a valid reason. Extension can only be granted once and for no more than six weeks.

For more information on how to write and organize your bachelor’s thesis, please contact your supervisor or the respective chair.

You need to submit your bachelor’s thesis to the first evaluator’s secretary by the due date at the latest. Please hand in three copies in total, one copy for each evaluator and one copy for the Mannheim University Library. Please include a signed copy of the consent to publication declaration with the copy of your thesis that is to remain in the library.

The examination committee for the bachelor’s program in Psychology is chaired by Prof. Michaela Wänke. Starting with the Autumn term 2020, the office of the Examination boards of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Philosophy (ZPA) will take over the processing of the procedures of the examination boards. As a student, please contact the ZPA from the Spring term 2020 onwards to apply for e.g., a recognition, an extension of the deadline (e.g. maximum study time, completion time of your bachelor thesis) or an extraordinary minor subject (further application options are regulated by your examination regulations).