A different start to the semester – Saarbrücken computer science students begin their studies digitally

This is how professors, lecturers and employees of SIC presented themselves during the digital welcome event.

Never before has there been anything like this in the history of computer science in Saarbrücken: a completely digital start to the semester. Due to the corona pandemic, the traditional computer science welcome event at the beginning of the semester could not be celebrated together at the university for the first time since 1969. Nonetheless, the launch of the first digital summer semester was a success.

“It was important for us to show the students that we are there for them, that everyone on the Saarland Informatics Campus working together as one and that we are doing everything we can to ensure that our students can successfully continue their studies under the current circumstances,” says Professor Jörg Hoffman, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Saarland University. The start of the semester via the Internet was an unfamiliar situation for everyone involved, but after all very well received: At peak times, more than 460 participants watched the welcome livestream on the video platform Youtube and on the following day, the stream already hit almost 1500 views. Despite the special circumstances, the event conveyed a sense of normality – as usual, returning and newly enrolled students were warmed up for the coming semester and lecturers presented their courses.

After all, even in the times of Covid-19, studies have to continue, albeit under special circumstances: This summer semester many students and lecturers will gain their first experience with digital teaching. Lectures, seminars and exams will take place online. During the semester break, the professors of computer science have therefore extensively discussed the pros and cons of various online teaching platforms in order to find the best possible solutions for their students.

“Despite all our efforts to make teaching as accessible as possible, students must now especially learn on their own responsibility and motivate themselves to stay tuned,” says Dean of Studies Prof. Dr. Jan Reineke about the challenges of digital teaching. If everyone does their part, there is nothing to prevent the semester from running smoothly, the computer science lecturers agree.

The latest information on studying during the Covid-19 pandemic and a link to the recording of the start of the semester on YouTube can be found on the info page.

Background Saarland Informatics Campus:

800 scientists and about 2000 students from 81 nations make the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) one of the leading locations for computer science in Germany and Europe. Five world-renowned research institutes, namely the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, the Center for Bioinformatics and the Cluster for “Multimodal Computing and Interaction” as well as Saarland University with three departments and 18 degree programs cover the entire spectrum of computer science.

Editor:
Philipp Zapf-Schramm
Competence Center Computer Science
Saarland Informatics Campus
Phone: +49 681 302-70741
E-Mail: pzapf@mmci.uni-saarland.de