compass "Low-barrier studying"

The compass " low-barrier studying" is intended to provide students, prospective students, lecturers and all interested university members with a quick guide to questions about low-barrier studying. If you are still missing information, please feel free to contact us.

• Young self-help: The young self-help programme in Lüneburg is aimed at people between 18 and 35 years of age. There are various topic-specific groups and also the possibility to initiate a new group for your concern. (MOSTLY GERMAN)
• A comprehensive compilation of addresses in Lüneburg and Hamburg and online and telephone offers from the Psychological Counselling Centre of the Studentenwerk.
• Overview of contact points in Lüneburg and the region (selection) on disability and chronic illnesses

There are various contact points that both students with and without disabilities can turn to:

•     The Social and Financial Counselling Service of the Studentenwerk, for example, provides information on what additional support students with disabilities or chronic illnesses can receive.
•     The BAföG & Financing Advice Service of the AStA helps with questions about BAföG, employment and student financing.

Regular attendance may be specified in courses as a prerequisite for admission to the module examination in the subject-specific annexes. In these cases, an absence of 20% is permissible without giving reasons. This corresponds to up to three appointments for courses held once a week within the lecture period. Absences that are documented by a doctor's sick note are also included in the calculation. The amended RPO will come into force in the winter semester 2023/24 and can be found in Gazette 50/23 of 16 June 2023. Paragraph 6 "Courses", subsection 3, sentence 5 states that students can apply for an individually designed exemption if they are unable to attend attendance events more often than permitted due to an impairment or chronic illness at the time of the course. More information on compensation for disadvantages.

The library has a workstation for blind and visually impaired people. This is equipped with speech output, Braille display, scanner and printer as well as a large font system.

In the language self-access centre, there are two workstations at a height-adjustable table that can be used by people in wheelchairs, for example.

A trained assistance dog is given access to all public buildings where people in street clothes are also allowed. This also applies if dogs are not normally allowed there, such as at Leuphana.

It should be noted that the dog must wear an identification blanket (or lead harness or neck scarf) so that it can be recognised by other people as a guide and assistance dog.
Proof of the assistance dog should be carried in case of any ambiguity.

Accessibility as an ideal means accessibility for all people and thus the removal of structural barriers that prevent participation. Because this goal is difficult to achieve, we sometimes speak of " lower(ing) barriers". Barriers can take the form of structural obstacles, for example, but also digital barriers that make everyday life more difficult for those affected. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that persons with disabilities should be guaranteed equal access to the physical environment, to means of transport, information and communication, and to other facilities and services.

Barriers of a structural nature can be reported to the Building Management (Department of Structural Engineering), digital barriers on the Leuphana website can be indicated via this online form.

Low barrier toilets can be found in almost all buildings on campus - mostly on ground level. You may finda list here:

• building 1, room 1.020
• at mensa, past the card loading machine at the back right of the aisle
• building 4, room 4.011
• building 5, room 5.030 (accessible through the kitchen)
• building 6, room 6.019
• building 7, ground floor 7.009
• building 8, room 8.110/111 (accessible through the kitchen)
• building 9, room 9.007 in the lecture hall corridor
• at the library, room 044 incl. changing table
• building 10, room 10.009 incl.changing table
• building 11, room 11.023 incl. changing table
• building 12, ground floor 12.008
• building 13, room 13.001
• building 14, room 14.013
• building 16, ground floor 16.020

Central building

• ground floor: room 40.038 and 039, 40.057
• 1st floor: 40.128/ 40.170
• 2nd. floor: 40.237/ 40.258
• 3rd floor: 40.340/ 40.356
• 4th floor: 40.443
• 5th floor: 40.535
• 6th floor 40.619
• Mezzanin: room 40.M36
• Lower floor: 40.U33

The Appointee for Students with Disabilities or Chronic Illnesses Dr. Klaus-Ulrich Guder, advises and supports students and prospective students with disabilities or chronic illnesses at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. The counselling is confidential. You can contact him with any questions you may have, for example, about the organisation of your studies, about compensation for disadvantages in examinations and about support options.

For students and prospective students at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, there is an advisory and support service on the topic of accessibility and participation. In addition to the representative for students with disabilities or chronic illnesses, the student advisory service of the schools, the Equal Opportunities Office, the Ombudsperson, the AStA and the Studentenwerk OstNiedersachsen offer information and support for students.

The Career Service advises all students on developing career options and making decisions regarding their career choice.

The Information and Counselling Centre for Studies and Disability "IBS" has compiled some advice specifically for students with disabilities.

The portal enableme.de aims to create networking opportunities for people with disabilities and offers, among other things, a job exchange.

The supplementary independent participation counselling service (EUTB) offers free peer-to-peer counselling, i.e. from people with disabilities for people with disabilities in Lüneburg, and provides advice on the transition from studying to working, among other things.

If it is foreseeable that you will have to interrupt your studies for a longer period of time for health reasons, you can apply for a leave of absence in writing until the end of the re-registration period, in exceptional cases also within one month after the start of lectures. Exmatriculation is not recommended, as you will not be able to resume your studies after the period of illness!
You can find the application for a leave of absence here.

The semester fees can be refunded in certain cases, including an officially determined severe disability. The AStA will advise you on the reimbursement of semester fees. If you are studying for a longer period of time for health reasons and are required to pay long-term tuition fees, you can be exempted from the fees by submitting an application and appropriate proof.

• As part of the project "Studying with a Mental Illness" of the Hamburg universities, personal dealings and experiences with illnesses in everyday study life are addressed.
• The Information and Counselling Centre for Studies and Disability (IBS) is the nationwide competence centre on the topic of "Studies and Disability". Information and counselling, networking as well as representation of interests and public relations work - the tasks of the IBS are comprehensive and diverse. Among other things, it publishes the handbook "Studying and Disability", which compiles all the important information on admission, starting a course of study, studying and financing
• ExchangeAbility provides information and networking on the topic of mobility with disabilities within the EU.
• barrierefrei-studieren.de informs about funding opportunities for studies and offers an overview of infrastructure and support options at various universities.

If you cannot be expected to wait for a place at university due to illness or disability, you could be admitted via the hardship application. It is best to submit such an application to the Student Services Office in addition to your regular application.

Universities must ensure that students with disabilities or chronic illnesses are not disadvantaged in their studies and that they can make use of the university's services without outside help as far as possible. However, most impairments are not always visible to fellow students and teachers. Impairments are only immediately recognisable for 4% of students (best2). Even if your impairment is visible, others often do not know what limitations it presents for you. At the same time, many teachers are unsure whether and how to address impairments. Claim your rights confidently. With regard to face-to-face events or changes in examination arrangements, it is important to contact the teacher early on regarding any arrangements needed. It can be helpful to talk to fellow students with impairments about how they deal with such situations. You can contact the members of the Archipel Unit (Autonomous Unit for Chronic Illnesses, Handicaps and Inclusion, Mental Illnesses, Empowerment and Learning Disabilities), which is intended as a place of exchange for students with impairments. In addition, the Appointee for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses can support you if needed.

With benefits from integration assistance, students can finance disability-related "training-related" additional needs. Additional needs related to education include, above all, all clearly study-related, individually adapted technical aids, communication aids, study aids, mobility aids, additional material and support services that are necessary due to the disability so that students can carry out their studies independently and on an equal footing.

Further information on the topic of integration assistance is available from the Information and Counselling Centre for Studies and Disability. The Handbook on Studies and Disability also goes into great detail on the legal basis for financing disability-related additional needs.

Compensation for disadvantages is intended to create equal opportunities in study and examination conditions and to compensate for individual situational disadvantages caused by a disability or chronic illness. The use of disadvantage compensation is not noted in the transcript of records. All students with long-term health impairments (usually lasting more than six months) that affect their studies can apply for a disadvantage compensation. Each application must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The application should be submitted in good time.

Withdrawal from examinations is possible online via QIS no later than 5 working days before the examination date or before the start of the examination period without giving reasons. If it is not possible to take an examination due to illness, you can withdraw from it even after the withdrawal period has expired. To do so, you must immediately submit an original medical certificate to the Student Services Office in the case of written examinations or oral examinations, and to the examiners in the case of written academic papers. As a rule, the processing time is extended by the number of days of illness - up to a maximum of four weeks. The certificate should state that the student is unable to take the examination (a normal "certificate of incapacity for work" is not sufficient). The Student Services Office provides a corresponding template.

further informationen on missing and withdrawing from examinations

Contact persons at the Student Services

Examination information for students

The following quiet rooms are available at Leuphana:

•     Library: Breastfeeding and quiet room on the ground floor (047/48)
•     Building 6: Rest room on the ground floor (029)
•     Building 12: First aid room (009a) on the ground floor
•     Building 40: First aid room (024) on the ground floor, to the left of the main entrance. A large green cross can be found on the door of the first aid room.
•     Building 40: Nursing and rest room on the 2nd floor (203).
•     Quiet room in the lecture hall corridor
•     Building 14: Parent-child room (002)

First aid material can be found in almost all buildings. An overview of the first aid rooms/first aid material and the contact details of the first aiders can be found on the intranet. All rooms where only a first aid kit is listed do not have a stretcher.

Defibrillators can be found at the Campus location in the library foyer (extension -1100), in Building 21 (extension-1106) and in the foyer of the Central Building, as well as at the Rotes Feld location in the hallway of the ground floor next to Room 106. If you have any questions, please contact Antje Dietrich (+49.4131.677-1034).

This document is issued by the respective pension office. The certificate is valid for 5 years and can then be renewed twice more before it has to be reissued.
The severity of a person's disability is defined by the so-called degree of disability, or GdB for short. The degree of disability is graduated in steps of ten and ranges from 20 to 100. From 20, a person is considered disabled, whereas a severe disability is assumed from 50. Only then can the severely disabled person's card be applied for. In higher education, it is helpful when applying for integration assistance and hardship applications in the university admission procedure. It is not required to apply for compensation for disadvantages during studies or examinations.

The signs G, aG, H, Gl and Bl on the severely disabled person's ID entitle the holder to free public transport. The sign B also entitles the holder to take an accompanying person with them free of charge. In many places, a fee for a semester ticket is charged when enrolling at a university. Those who are entitled to use public transport free of charge due to their severe disability or who can prove that they cannot use it due to their disability are usually exempt from the semester ticket fees upon application.

When starting a career later on, the ID card brings advantages in the form of funding for medical services and aids, assistance in maintaining or obtaining a job suitable for the disabled, assumption of the costs of housing, examinations or courses if these are necessary for participation in working life, as well as consideration of additional needs for tax purposes.

Scholarships aimed specifically at students with disabilities have so far been the exception rather than the rule. The requirements for scholarships of the "Begabtenförderungswerke", the "Aufstiegsstipendium" for applicants with professional experience and the "Deutschlandstipendium" also apply to students with disabilities. Compensation for disadvantages is intended to ensure equal application conditions. On the mystipendium website you can find suitable funding opportunities for your needs.

All higher education institutions participating in the Erasmus+ programme have signed the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education, committing themselves to ensure equal access and opportunities for participants from different backgrounds. There are various ways to make this possible, for example in the context of medical care, financial support or adaptation of the living and learning environment at the destination. The International Office can provide you with information about funding conditions.

If your capacities are currently not sufficient for full-time study, you can find out about the possibilities of part-time study. In part-time studies, you take half of the modules scheduled for one semester, and you can then take the remaining modules in a subsequent winter semester or summer semester. Pre-selection offers part-time students the opportunity to be admitted to certain courses before the start of the lottery procedure. Before changing to part-time studies, students are required to have a counselling interview with the person responsible for the major or the head of the degree programme, in which they are advised on the sensible arrangement of the modules in the further course of studies. Part-time study is also possible in the Master's programme.

Leuphana University Lüneburg operates a WLAN-based system to support hearing-impaired people in some areas. In the course of the renovation of lecture halls 3 and 4, hearing assistance systems are being installed. Technically, this is an IP-based technology (mobile connect from Sennheiser). In the future, further lecture halls (1, 2 and 5), the auditorium of the central building and larger seminar rooms will be equipped with a corresponding system.

In rooms that do not have installed induction systems, portable equipment can be used to ensure participation. The Media and Information Centre has a set from Comfort Audio with a receiver (type DH20) with headphone connection, a main transmitter/teacher transmitter (type DM20), which is always active when switched on, and two handheld transmitters (type DM10), which only work in combination with the DM20 transmitter. The DM10 transmitter is only active when the push-to-talk button is pressed. When the push-to-talk button is pressed, the handheld transmitters send the audio signal to the teacher transmitter, which relays the signal live to the receiver. The teacher transmitter is permanently active. The devices have a rechargeable battery and can be charged via a charging cradle (see graphic [not accessible]). The set can be borrowed from Matthias Gaida at the Media and Information Centre (contact: matthias.gaida@leuphana.de, Fon 04131.677-1302, Building 7, Room 113).

In case of discrimination you can reach out to the contact persons on the following page or use the offer of the independent anti-discrimination counselling centre of diversu e.V..

The pre-selection right offers students the opportunity to be admitted to certain courses before the start of the regular registration procedure on myStudy due to part-time studies, childcare, pregnancy, a severe disability (equals) as well as chronic or severe illness. Further information and the corresponding form can be found on the Family Service pages.

The University Sports Centre also offers a pre-selection right for the sports programme for students and employees: For this, an email should be sent to hssvorwahlrecht@leuphana.de at the beginning of the registration period with the desired offer, event number, name, address and IBAN (only for offers subject to a fee), as well as scan/photo of a suitable proof (proof of care insurance, B ID...).

As a young campus university, Leuphana University Lüneburg is basically accessible. Leuphana University Lüneburg is spread over several locations, and teaching takes place at two of these locations (in the longer term, all teaching is to take place centrally on the main campus). Both locations are easily accessible by public transport, some with their own bus lines from the train station. Disabled parking spaces are located in front of all buildings in the immediate vicinity of the barrier-free entrances. The facilities include, among other things, parking spaces for people with aG or Bl signs and the corresponding ID card in the immediate vicinity of the low-barrier entrances, as well as disabled-friendly sanitary facilities in almost every building.

Almost all teaching and seminar rooms as well as the faculties, institutes and central facilities are accessible by wheelchair-friendly lifts. Ramps outside and power-operated doors and lifts inside most buildings (exceptions exist in some cases in relation to the central building) ensure accessibility to all seminar and work rooms used for teaching.