Information for students on the summer semester 2021

1. Leuphana University of Lüneburg will start with the courses of the summer semester 2021 as scheduled on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.
    
2. The summer semester will in any case have to start again as a digital semester in April. All courses will initially continue to be held digitally. The only exceptions - as in the winter semester - are practical and artistic courses, courses in laboratories or where this is mandatory due to the didactic concept, and internships. As things stand today, these courses may continue to be held in attendance with the approval of the relevant Dean of Studies and the Occupational Safety Department, subject to strict compliance with hygiene and safety regulations. We will continue to apply the regulations that have already been in place in this sense. If you have any questions, please contact your instructors.
    
3. The Presidential Board will continuously evaluate the development dynamics of the pandemic, the vaccination progress and the legal and political framework conditions and, on the basis of comprehensive internal consultations during the summer semester, will gradually decide on a possible return to (partial) attendance. The decision for the month of May will be made no later than April 16, the decision for the month of June no later than May 14, and the decision for the month of July and the implementation of the examination phase no later than June 18.
    
4. In the event of a possible return of the university to an on campus mode, all courses (again) offered in on campus mode for the summer semester 2021 shall, as far as possible, continue to be offered in hybrid form in order to enable students who, for example due to individual risk situations, are still unable or unwilling to take part in face-to-face courses to participate in their studies in the best possible way. Exceptions here also concern practical and artistic courses, courses in laboratories or with a special didactic concept as well as internships. Conversely, it should also be possible to continue and end courses digitally in the summer semester of 2021 if this is required by the individual needs and risk situations of the lecturers.
    
5. The examinations currently in progress for the second examination phase of the 2020/2021 winter semester will be conducted online on the basis of the regulations already communicated in January.
    
6. The university library will continue to support teaching and examinations with its online services and lending operations. It will expand its offerings, for example by opening workstations, as far and as soon as the infection situation permits. Workstations for students in other university buildings are to be offered as soon as possible, but can only do so when the infection situation permits. The incidence in the district of Lüneburg alone is not decisive for this.
    
7. The university canteen will continue its To Go offer until further notice; as soon as a meal in the canteen is legally permitted, we will emphatically ask the Studierendenwerk Nordostniedersachsen to do so.
    
8. The occupational safety department is currently working on a test concept for those university members who (have to) continue to work, teach or study in presence. However, the information available on the availability of self-tests is unfortunately still insufficient to be able to provide detailed information on this at the present time. As soon as this is available, we will provide you with additional information. We want to offer testing options as comprehensively as is logistically and legally possible and sensible.
    
9. In addition, the Lower Saxony state parliament decided this week on a further extension of the individual standard period of study to compensate for disadvantages caused by the pandemic. For students who were enrolled for one semester in the period from summer semester 2020 to summer semester 2021, the standard period of study will generally be extended by one semester; for students who were enrolled for at least two semesters in the aforementioned period, the standard period of study will be extended by two semesters. The extension also affects the period in which no long-term tuition fees are charged by the state. As a rule, Leuphana's Student Services will automatically implement the extension without further inquiries. Since the extension only applies to students for whom a comparable extension has not already been applied at a university or for a course of study in another federal state, the Student Services may contact you with further questions in individual cases. If you have any further questions, please contact the staff member responsible for you at the Student Services.

The Presidential Board assumes that the infection situation will unfortunately continue to worsen significantly in the coming weeks and therefore asks all university members to continue to exercise the greatest possible caution. Please continue to work from home whenever possible and continue to ensure that all safety and hygiene rules are followed.

For the winter semester 2021/22, on the other hand, the Presidential Board currently assumes with cautious optimism - in awareness of the still very uncertain situation, but against the backdrop of the discernible progress in vaccination - that from October onwards it will once again be possible for the University to operate largely on a face-to-face basis (if necessary, in large events continuing with online support or in other events with support through hybrid event formats).