The first weeks at the university

The transition from school life to university life or to a different city brings with it a lot of changes. The Institute of Geography and the student body offer a lot of support to help shape this transition as smooth as possible. The following is an overview of the most important and useful dates inside and outside of the lecture halls during your first weeks after your matriculation. The “Freshmen-compass” makes the start of your study easier.

• Oktober 1^st
  Official start of the winter semester
• Week before lectures start
  For all Bachelor students, our tutors organize a two-day orientation phase including the “freshmens’ breakfast”. New students have the chance to get to know each other, to explore the campus and to create their course plans.
  For our new Master students, a welcoming event will be organized on the first Monday of the lecture period, which provides detailed information on the structure of the programme.
  A pub crawl through Heidelberg’s old town concludes both events and provides the perfect opportunity to get to know your fellow students.
• Mid October
  Lecture period starts (exact dates can be found here)
• October/November
  Each year, the student body organizes a cabin retreat weekend for our new students. It takes place in a cabin in the Odenwald at the end of October or the beginning of November. You will find out more about this during your orientation days.
• November
  The internship initiative (PIG) organizes an event on study programmes abroad. Study coordinators and advisors from the international relations office will inform interested students on internships, universities and programmes abroad.
• December
  Each year, the student body organizes the extremely popular and busy “Atlasfete” (student party of our institute). During the winter semester, it is usually in December a few days before Christmas break.
• Christmas break until January 6th
  Christmas break (exact dates can be found here)
• Beginning of February
  During the last week of the lecture period, the course catalogue for the coming semester will be published via the LSF Course registration will also be opened. Most exams are also held during the last weeks of each semester.
• February until April
  The free period, time between the semesters (“semester break”) begins in February and lasts until mid-April. As these months are not “holidays”, countless courses are still held at our institute (such as tutorials, field trips and field internships). Students are thus advised to keep these courses in mind while planning their “semester breaks”.
• April 1st
  Official start of the summer semester
• Mid April
  Lecture period startes (exact dates can be found here)
• May/June
  During the summer semester the student body invites all employees and students of our institute to join them at the Institute Barbecue in the yard behind the building in Berlinerstraße 48.
• June/July
  The summer semester’s Atlasfete is usually held in June or July.
• July until October
  Most long field trips take place during the free period in the summer.