International Students Guide 2014

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS GUIDE MASTER BIOTECHNOLOGY

2014

INTRODUCTION CONTENT

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Brandenburg

University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg.

3 CHECKLIST BEFORE STARTING This guide shall provide you with helpful information regarding our university, our 4 HOW TO REACH SENFTENEBERG faculty, the city, and the surrounding area. 7 STUDYING BIOTECHNOLOGY It is written for students by students, so we want to share our experiences after 5 years 8 CAMPUS OVERVIEW of study and give you some useful advices 10 MASTER BIOTECHNOLOGY for the life in Senftenberg. You will find in- 11 MASTER THESIS formation about formal matters necessary for your study, as well as information re- 15 LIFE IN SENFTENBERG garding regulations and procedures concern- 21 SENFTENBERG CITY MAP ing the Master Biotechnology course, the 22 A TRIP TO BERLIN & DRESDEN Master`s Thesis, Senftenberg in general, sports as well as sightseeing targets in and 28 FURTHER USEFULL LINKS around Senftenberg. We hope this guide will 2 help you to have a good start in Senften- berg.

Enjoy your time here!

CHECKLIST FOR BECOMING A STUDENT

BEFORE STARTING YOUR STUDY - REQUIREMENTS

 Administration. Following to your online application you will receive an admission formula from our university, but only if you are accepted for your chosen course of study. Your contact person is an assistant of the internal student’s office. Remember to hand in your administration voucher to the examination office as

soon as you arrive in Senftenberg.  Language: Official language of the biotechnology master course is English, thus all lectures and courses are taught in English and thus fluent language skills are indispensable. However, Senftenberg is a small German town and people do not generally speak English. For the daily life at least German language level 1 is man-

datory.  Visa: If you are not from a country of the European Union, you need an official permission to stay in Ger- many for a longer period - a visa. However, applying for a visa might result in a long-lasting process ranging from one to three months, depending on the embassy of your country. If you cannot manage to be in Senftenberg at the official first day of your course (e.g. due to a delay in the visa processing), please inform the University and confer with our faculty. You will find further information about the Visa process online at

the Webpage: Study in Germany  Living: Rent your own room in the dorm of the university online as soon as possible, since these places are favored by many students. The price depends on the size of your room. In general, there are single or dou- ble apartments available. Each apartment provides the basic equipment of a kitchen, a bathroom, an internet connection, a bed, a desk, a cupboard and a chair. Also public laundry rooms for all tenants are provid- ed. You have to pay a security deposit of 200 € in advance, which you will regain once you move out. Ar- range a date with the facility manager for the day you plan to arrive in order to receive the keys: 3 E-Mail: [email protected]; Phone: 0049 0335 5650957  Registration fee: Pay your registration fee of 231€ via online transfer according to the admission sheet you received from the University. If you have questions, contact the responsible person of our examination office: Elke Cierzniak: [email protected]  Schedule. You will find the schedule of the master program on the webpage of our Faculty 6 in the column on the right written in blue “Lehveranstaltungspläne” and then choose “MB.Sc”

START YOUR STUDIES – THE FIRST DAYS

 Keys for the apartment: Meet the facility manager in house 1 of the dorm campus in order to get the keys for your room and all necessary information  Blue Card: Show up in the examination office in room 2.213.2 building 2, to confirm your presence and receive the blue card, which allows you to enter all laboratories in building 15.  Locker: Lockers are located at the end of the right first floor in building 15. To receive the keys for your locker, contact the secretary of biotechnology, Miss Noack or Miss Schumacher in building 14, second floor, room 14C.205.  Students account: Go to building 1, ground floor, room 1.140 and open your students account for all online affairs like the E-mail system, the online examination office and access to the computer cabinet in building 15.  Go to the local residents´ registration office (street: Markt 1) in order to register your official residence in Germany.  Open a bank account, a health insurance and maybe buy a prepaid mobile phone in the city center. If you need help for these things, you can ask the kind people from the international student´s office.  In general, lectures are form 8.00-9.30 a.m., lab courses from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. A lab coat and shoes you have not worn outside before the lab course are essential before starting your work in the laboratory. Questions concerning your tasks can be discussed either with the professor or with the assistant responsible for your group.  In case you have some personal problems or need help in some situations, the door of Dr. Hansen (room 15.203) and Professor Küpper (room 15.304) is always open.

HOW TO REACH SENFTENBERG?

Ok! You arrived at the airport! What comes next?

FROM AIRPORT BERLIN-SCHÖNEFELD (SXF) platform 2. This train will bring you to Dres- TO SENFTENBERG den Hauptbahnhof (Dresden main station) In order to travel from the airport Berlin- where you have to change trains. Once ar- Schönefeld to Senftenberg, you have to take rived in Dresden Hauptbahnhof, you need to the train. A direct connection exists and all find platform 9 and take the train to “Cott- you have to do is to find the platform 4 at bus”. This train will stop at the Senftenberg the train station. The train, which takes you train station. The whole journey will take from the airport to Senftenberg is called approximately two hours. RB14 with the destination “Senftenberg” and leaves every hour. You have to leave the Every student of the University has a so train at the last station of the track, which is called “Semesterticket” which enables every called Senftenberg. The journey will take student to freely use trains in the state of approximately two hours. Brandenburg and Berlin as well as the RE18 to and from Dresden. If still necessary to FROM DRESDEN AIRPORT (DRS) TO buy tickets they can be obtained at the ven- SENFTENBERG dor machines at every train station. The If your plane arrives at the Dresden airport, machines operate also in English. Further 4 you can travel to Senftenberg by train as information about travel can be obtained at well. You have to take the city train S2 with the webpage of the “Deutsche Bahn”. There the destination “Pirna” which leaves from is an English version of the site.

Senftenberg train station

University and dormitory

ARRIVAL FROM FRANKFURT AM MAIN AIR- FROM THE TRAIN STATION TO THE UNI- PORT VERSITY AND THE DORMITORY If you are arriving at the airport Frankfurt Once arrived at the Senftenberg train station am Main, it is recommended to book a con- you can take the bus or a taxi to the university and the dormitory. nection flight either to Berlin-Schönefeld or Dresden Airport because the journey by Döge Taxi: 03573 2300 train is expensive, time consuming and you Hein Holger Taxi: 03573 663366 have to change the trains several times.

The bus station near the university is called MITFAHRERZENTRALE Großenhainer Straße and the ride will take Another opportunity of affordable and not more than 5 min. The bus route circles convenient traveling from the airports to through the city, thus you can take the Senftenberg is the “Mitfahrzentrale” same bus if you want to go from the dormi- (www.mitfahrzentrale.de). On this webpage tory to the train station. Your train ticket is you can check if someone is traveling from usually also valid as a bus ticket. Otherwise the airports to Senftenberg by car. People you can buy the ticket directly with cash listed at this website offer space in their car from the driver after entering the bus. Un- for a small fee. fortunately, the bus does not drive during

the weekends. You will need approximately

20 min from the train station to the universi-

ty if you walk there. 5

Time table for the bus route from the train station Sfb., Busbahnhof to the University Großenhainer Str.

STUDYING Biochemistry and the Alberts-Molecular Biol- ogy of the Cell. To lend a book, you need to LOCATION open an account with the nice assistance on For the master of biotechnology, all lectures the left side of the entrance. For this pur- and practical courses will take place in the pose remember to take your students card seminar rooms and laboratories in building with you and you will receive a yellow library 15 as indicated in the schedule. To gain ac- card, which is sufficient for all your following cess to the floors and the laboratories, you visits. If you enter the library, you will find need the blue card you received from Miss lockers on the right side where you can stow Cierzniak from the examinations office. your bag and your jacket, since it is not al- However, be aware that you only have ac- lowed to take these things with you into the cess until 7 p.m. If you need to stay longer library itself. Remember that you need 1 € for a certain reason, talk with Miss Barber in for the locker, which you will get back when advance. Important announcements are you liberate it. If you want to rent a book be displayed on the black board in building 14 careful not to take the exemplar which is in the first floor, you should have a look at marked with a big yellow stripe on the back, least once a week. since this labels the book as reference book which has to stay in the library. You can rent COMPUTER CABINET books always for a period of 4 weeks. As To get access to material from the different long as your book is not reserved by another lectures and also to have access to the in- person you can extend the period 3 times ternet, we have two computer cabinets in either personally with the assistant in the 7 building 15, which are opened from Monday library or online with your account (OPAC). till Thursday from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30. p.m. The “big” one in room 15.101 is opened for all students of the faculty and closes on Fri- day at 3 p.m. However, be careful since at certain times there are also lectures in this room, which you should not interrupt (indicated on the door, have a look prior to use).

However, master students have their “own LUNCH BREAK small” computer cabinet next door in room To have lunch, you can either go into our 15.103. In this computer cabinet, you can Mensa or cafeteria located on the campus. also scan and print in color (25 cent/page) In the Mensa you can choose daily between or in black and white (5 cent/page). To load three different dishes (menu 1 for 1.50 €; money on your account, you need to pay menu 2 for 2.00 €, menu 3 for 2.50 €). You cash in Miss Barber´s office in building 14, have to pay cash for your meal and some- last floor room 14 .505. C times you need to show your students ID to

the cashier. However, in the adjacent cafe- LIBRARY teria you will always find different salads, To support your studies, our university is fried potatoes, pastry, coffee, ice cream and well equipped with a big library in building 3. one additional dish. If you prefer to prepare In the end of the ground floor you will find your lunch by your own, we also have a all books related to biology and chemistry. communication room located in building 15, Especially recommendable during the master second floor room 15.238, directly next to study are two big red books: the Stryer-

the stairs equipped with a microwave, which is for everybody’s use.

CAMPUS OVERVIEW – IMPORTANT LOCATIONS BUILDING 14 Laboratories Chemistry; Secretary Biotechnology – Keys for Locker

BUILDING 15 BUILDING 9 Laboratories Biotechnology Gym Lectures & Practical courses 9

BUILDING 20 Mensa& Cafeteria Lunch & Coffee

BUILDING 3 Library

BUILDING 2 BUS STOP Administration

International student’s ´office: Thomas Reif 2.206 Examination office: Elke Cierzniak 2.213.2

DORMITORY 1

BUILDING15 – THE HEART OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

LABORATORIES NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY 2ndfloor, right

LABORATORY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Prof. Mirsky LABORATORIES MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY nd Middle of 2 floor, left arm nd LABORATORIES BIOCHEMISTRY Middle of 2 floor, right arm 2ndfloor, left arm Prof. Schröder Prof. Küpper LABORATORIES CELL BIOLOGY Prof. Stohwasser End of ground &2ndfloor, right arm OFFICE PROF. KÜPPER Prof. Anderer 2ndfloor, left arm

LABORATORIES

ENZYMTECHNOLOGYY LABORATORIES st 1 floor, leftarm MICROALGAE Prof. Scheibner 1stfloor, rightarm Prof. Petrick

LOCKERS SEMINAR ROOMS PC POOLS OFFICE DR. HANSEN LABORATORIES MICROBIOLOGY End of ground floor st 15.106 & 15.107 1 floor, left arm Ground floor, right arm ENTRANCE Ground floor, left arm Prof. Stahmann

Prof. Schulz COMMUNICATION ROOM 15.238 1stfloor, next to the stairs Dr. Hansen

MASTER BIOTECHNOLOGY Phototrophic Biotechnology Microbial Metabolism and Regulation STRUCTURE Intracellular Proteolysis Our Master study includes two theoretical Immunology and one practical semester, so in total 3 Signal Transduction semesters with a total of 90 CP (Credit Enzyme Technology points). The first two semesters you will Molecular Dynamics of the cell spend in the university attending lectures and practical courses in the different labora- EXAMS tories of the professors. The 3rd semester if In each lecture you will have to perform a for writing your master’s thesis, which ac- written exam about 120 min at the end of counts for 30 CP. the semester. Each exam accounts for 3 CP. The examination period generally lasts 3 LECTURES weeks. Miss Cierzniak will automatically en- Each semester stretches over 15 weeks, roll you for all examinations. If you cannot where you will have a lecture every morning participate to an exam, you need to hand in from 8.00 to 9.30 a.m.; the rest of the day an official certificate of illness from a doctor you will spend in the lab. Each semester to the examination office. Otherwise, your consists of 5 lectures for all students and 2 absence will be assessed as a failure with or 3 lab courses regarding your specializa- the mark 5 (not passed). Be careful, you tion. Supplemental material of the lectures is only have 3 trials for each examination. If either saved in the Public folder in the com- you do not pass in the third attempt, you 11 puter cabinet or available at the E-learning are automatically exmatriculated and ac- online platform. Still students should take cording to German law you are not allowed own notes during the lectures since not all to study the same subject at another univer- professors provide material on the men- sity in Germany again. tioned platforms. In general, the master study encompasses PRACTICAL COURSES the following ten lectures; however, small According to your chosen majoring, you will changes might appear from year to year attempt 5 different practical lab courses in total (see Fehler! Verweisquelle konnte Gene Technology and Society nicht gefunden werden.). Each course Tissue Engineering lasts five weeks. In the first semester you Nanobiotechnology will join three lab courses and two in the

second semester. The structure of the tute in country or city in Germany. Never- course and its demands vary from course to theless, it is also possible to implement your course. However, the details will always be thesis in one of the lab groups of our univer- explained in the beginning of each course. sity. If you intend to do so, just ask in the beginning of the second semester the pro- In general, you will work in groups of 2 peo- fessor of your choice, whether he/she has ple. Depending on the course, you either capabilities and a project available for you. If have to organize yourself and work on dif- you contemplate to write your thesis off- ferent projects since you will participate on site, e.g. in the Max Planck Institute in Dres- current projects within the research group, den or in the Charité in Berlin, you have to or you will learn basic procedures and thus arrange this on your own. This means you follow a more scheduled plan. However, have to apply at research groups of your daily preliminary talks and lab meetings are interest, often followed by a personal job routine. In these meetings you generally interview. For inspiration, we listed you the have to perform a literature presentation of links of some big institutes in Germany on e.g. a scientific paper, give an overview of a page 28. You can also visit our website, certain topic/method or present your ob- where you can find a world map which con- tained results in the end of each course. tains institutes where former students have Depending on the professor, you will have a been working. However, consider that in written or oral exam at the end of the lab most research institutions it is unusual to course. Moreover, depending on the course, pay students and that you have to relocate. you have to present your data in a scientific Thus, it will be more complicated than stay- 12 form of a paper, a poster or a protocol. Each ing at the Senftenberg campus. practical course accounts for 6 CP. SUPERVISOR MASTER THESIS If you decide to go out of town, you will need an external supervisor from your institute of choice and an internal supervisor PLACE from our university. A lot of the University students want to go abroad for their Master’s thesis to an insti-

Table│ 1 Practical courses

Focus Microbiology Cell Biology Bioanalytics

Metabolic Analysis and Basics in Cell Culture Nanobiotechnology Engineering

Enzyme Technology Molecular Biology: Principles, Enzyme Technology 1.st semester Methods and Applications Purification and Charac- Nanobiotechnology Analytics in Cell Culture terisation of Proteines Nanobiotechnology Development and Characteri- Molecular Biology: Principles, sation of artificial Tissues Methods and Applications 2.nd semester Microbes as Macromole- Genetic Engineering of Eu- Microalgae cule Factories caryotic Cells 3rd / 4th semester Master thesis

To find an internal supervisor, you should ask the professor, who is most closely relat- TIME AND WORK ed to your topic whether he/she has the For your thesis itself you have to work on capability to supervise you. If you stay in the your own enclosed project in the lab. How- university, your first supervisor is the pro- ever, even if this period is calculated with fessor you work for. Be mindful in choosing one semester, be aware that this time frame your supervisors since this will be the pro- is often not sufficient for a complete master fessor who is going to evaluate your thesis thesis. Keep in mind we are working with 13 and ask the questions during your defense. biological systems and as we all know, they behave often in a way we did not expect and THESIS PROPOSAL experiments like to not succeed in the first You should have arranged the place and attempt. Students often prefer to extend at topic of your thesis at least in the middle of least two month up to a whole semester. the 2nd semester since you have to hand in a thesis proposal in the end of the 2nd semes- THESIS FORM ter to your internal supervisor. This proposal In the end you should write a thesis which replaces the third practical course and val- ranges from 50 up to 80 pages depending ues therefore with 6 CP. In the proposal you on your supervisor. It has to be composed in should define the aim of your project, the the classical way of: scientific background and related work which has been already done prior in the lab and Abstract on which you will base on. Moreover it List of Abbreviations should outline your strategy and experi- List of Tables & Figures ments and methods you want to use and 1. Introduction what you expect. The proposal should en- 2. Material and Methods compass about 6-10 pages and ideally you 3. Results write it in such a way that you can reuse it 4. Discussion for the introduction of your complementary References work. Appendix

references have to be listed alphabetically in the end. If you are uncertain about the details ask your fellow students or your supervisor. Moreover, usually there is offered a tutorial about how to write a thesis for the 4th and 6th semester, which is opened for all interested people, which you can attend to without problems.

THESIS DEFENSE After you registered your thesis in the examination office (ask Miss Cierzniak for the form) you have 4 months to hand it in, so be sure that you are really going to finish in the next quarter. After charge of one digital and three signed hardcover editions in the examination office you will get the date for your defense. There you have to demon- strate your data and results in a 25 min presentation, followed by a discussion which can extend from 30 min to 1 hour. Don´t

underestimate this last part, it will be the 14 toughest one since professors like to proof next to your background of your project also your knowledge of the past five years. There will always be two professors which are going to examine you, the first will be your internal supervisor, the second one will be chosen from the university if you performed the thesis in another university, and if you

stayed in Senftenberg it will be your 2nd internal supervisor. It´s recommended to dress adequately rather than in jeans and t- shirt for this occasion in order to make a professional impression. Directly after the defense your mark will be told to you. For being prepared well, it is the best to intend some public defense during your study, so that you can get an idea of the general pro-

cedure.

Formatting is usually Times New Roman or CREDIT POINTS Arial in size 12, with 1.5 line distance. More- Our master thesis counts in total 30 CP, over, all pictures have to include a legend thereby the written thesis itself makes 22 which explains all results shown without CP, the oral defense & presentation 8 CP. reading the texts. Figures and tables have to be numbered, as well as all quotations and

LIVING IN SENFTENBERG

not abroad. The Postbank, Commerzbank, DAILY LIFE IN SENFTENBERG Deutsche Bank belong together with the Senftenberg (a town in southern Branden- Dresdner Bank, UniCredit and the Noris burg, Germany, capital of the Oberspree- Bank to the so called Cash group which al- wald-Lausitz district) is a quite small city lows you to withdraw money from all ATM’s and its center is not far from our university of the listed institutions above. Especially (about 1km). Thus the big advantage of the Deutsche Bank and UniCredit are also Senftenberg is that you can reach nearly widely distributed in Europe like Italy and everything by walking within 20 minutes. Spain. With a so called EC-card you can pay Even if it doesn´t appear as the most excit- in almost all supermarkets, restaurants and ing town at first glance, it has its own in all stores. charm. Take the time to discover the small city center, the castle and the park. MOBILE PHONE Senftenberg has a lot of hidden beauty. Es- If you stay longer in Germany we would pecially in the summer our lake is unbeata- recommend you to get a German mobile ble and always provides you a lot of possibil- mobile contract. You can buy pre-paid cards ities to enjoy your time. The most important in all electronic stores like MediMax (close to addresses you will need in the first days are Kaufland) or Expert (close to the Netto in described here and are indicated on the map the city center) for a low budget and they 16 on page 19, the rest we will leave to you, to are without any contractual commitments. discover by yourself. In Germany you can choose out of a bunch of different cellphone providers. The most OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT popular ones are Vodafone, O2, Telekom If you intend to stay longer it is probably the and E-Plus. In general prices are quite high best idea to open a German bank account. and range around 19-29 cents per text mes- In the center you find the Sparkasse Nieder- sage or minute of talk. Another way is to lausitz, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and choose Netzclub, which is a so called spon- Postbank. To make the right choice it might sored pre-paid card, this allows you to get be useful to ask someone to help you since 100 mb of free high-speed internet traffic most people can´t speak English. In general (after consumption still free but slower) and the costs for opening a bank account range 9 cent per text message and minute. The from 0 to 10 €. For “only” opening an ac- only way to get a sim card from this provid- count no bank will be the wrong one, the er is online. Unfortunately their webpage is biggest difference for you most likely will be not in English, so you might ask someone to the availability of ATM’s in other cities and help you. countries. Be aware that drawing money from ATM’s of other bank institutions is not HEALTH INSURANCE for free. This means, if you have an account For your stay at the university in Senften- at the Sparkasse you will have to pay a fee berg you will need a valid health insurance if about roughly 2.50 € if you have to with- you don´t have a medical insurance which is draw money from a Postbank ATM. The also valid abroad for such a prolonged stay. Sparkasse is very widely distributed in Ger- There are several insurance providers in the many and you will find ATM’s in all cities but city center with different prices according to

the extent of deliverables (AXA Center Her- where you can find almost everything you bert Tänzer, Barmer Gek). In general, are looking for. In general grocery stores are monthly contributions for students total up opened from 7.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m., de- from 80 to 90 € per month. Again, this is spite Kaufland and Rewe are opened until going to be a story where you might need 10.00 p.m. In every grocery store you can help for translation from a German person. pay cash or with an EC card, the credit card is usually not accepted. Don´t discard empty PROLONG YOUR VISA plastic bottles and drink-cans with the Assure how long your visa is valid. In gen- shown label. To avoid trash on the streets a eral you will have to prolong it after the first deposit was introduced in Germany, so you three months in the local resident registra- will always pay a deposit fee tion office Einwohnermeldeamt to inform of 25 cent per plastic bottle your presence in Senftenberg and to get the and 8 cent per beer bottle. attendance certification and take the register This deposit will be refunded form. For expansion of your visa you have to after disposing the empty go to the foreigner registration office bottles in the appropriate machines in the Ausländerbehörde (address: Dubinaweg 1/ grocery store. You will receive a coupon, phone-035738700) with your own docu- which can be used for your next shop or ments: filled register form, attendance certi- cashed out at the checkout counter. fication, finance status, bank account, university admission, insurance policy, room RESTAURANTS & BARS contract, 2 personal pictures (4x6 cm). The Even if it´s maybe not evident on the first 17 visa expansion fee is 100 € per year. For glance you might enjoy several different guidance through all this bureaucracy, the culinary cultures in Senftenberg. Very rec- people of the international student´s office ommendable is a nice and fantastic Italian are very supportive. restaurant (and hotel) Due Fratelli near the

DAY-TO-DAY NEEDS city center (Ernst Thälman-Str.44) and the In the city center you will find several stores Greek Olympia near the train station. If you which provide all necessary day-to-day walk further towards the center, you will needs to a very low price like Woolworth, find a street full of restaurants also for the AWG, MäcGeiz, Rossmann, Kik or Kaufland. small purse of students like the Turkish Ke- In general stores in Senftenberg close at bap Antalia or Chinese restaurants like the 6.00 p.m. A good and modern hair cutter Chinese garden restaurant, the Indian An- Cutman, favored by many students, you find next to the Vital Fitnesscenter and the cock- talya, as well as several pizza stores like tailbar Genlays towards the city center. Hallo Pizza, Pizza Land or Pizstop. Moreover, we have two Cocktail bars – the Mojito and GROCERIES the Genlays. We can just highly recommend Senftenberg is full of grocery stores, thus the Genlays where you can chill out in a very you will find one on nearly every street. comfortable location with tasteful drinks and Closest to the university is a Netto (200 m a talented barkeeper. Also popular by stu- from building 15) and another Netto (with a dog logo) about 500 m from the student dents is the Irish pub, however if you attend dorms. However, Kaufland and REWE are to appreciate a cool Guinness on Tuesday two grocery stores with a bigger assortment

keep in mind that it is students day and re- serve a table in advance.

DOCTORS AND THE HOSPITAL center. Tell the people: who and where you In case of any health issues don´t hesitate are, what happened when and how many to go to the doctor´s office. In that case we people are hurt. If people don´t understand also would recommend you to ask someone English try to say the following German sen- to accompany you, since most doctors don´t tences: speak English. If you have a “general” dis- ease or injury, go to the medical center Ärz- Hallo, hier ist >your name<. Ich spreche tehaus in the Krankenhausstraße 10, next to leider kein Deutsch. Ich habe einen Unfall the hospital and about 10-15 min by walking in der >your location<. >Number of pe- from the university apart (towards the direc- ople hurt: 1-eins, 2-zwei, 3-drei, 4-vier, tion of the train station). In the medical cen- 5-fünf, >5-viele) Personen sind verletzt. 19 ter are several general physicians, as well as Bitte kommen Sie schnell. many specialists of radiology, internal medi- cine and surgery. Don´t forget your health (Hi, my name is >...<. Unfortunately, I insurance card, you have to show this on can’t speak German. I had an accident in the registration. Further specialized doctors the >…< street. >..< x people are hurt. you find in: Please come as soon as possible.)

Dentist SENFTENBERG LAKE Dipl.-Stom. Hagen Schulz Elsterstr.6 a, The highlight of Senftenberg is the beautiful Brieske Heiko Laurisch Töpferstraße 1 lake which you shouldn´t miss on sunny

Dr. med. dent. Klaus Podyma Töpferstraße 2 summer days. It takes you around

Dr. med. dent. Christel Radke Briesker Straße 1 20-30 min by walking to reach it from the

Dr. med. dent. Ina Hartmann Bärengasse 4 student’s dormitory. This lake belongs to a

Stelzer Bettina Zahnarztpraxis Steindamm 19 group of 23 artificial lakes with good water

Gynecologist quality and the perfect location for all pas- Dipl.-Med. Michaela John Fischreiherstraße 2 time activities. During summer, you can go Dr. Kretzschmar Klaus Fischreiherstraße 2 for a bike or inline skate trip around the Dr. Helbig Petra Roßkaupe 10 lake, which is connected to a number of regional and national cycle paths and also to If you have an urgent accident dial the offi- other lakes. In addition, adjacent lakes like cial German emergency number 112 (police the Geierswalder, Sedlitzer and Partwitzer & fire brigade: 110) and you will be auto- lake are recommendable to visit. If you matically connected to the nearest rescue don´t have a bicycle you also might lend one for 6,00 € per day in: Fahrradverleih

Fahrradhaus Pötschke (Bahnhofstraße 27 - training at the gym equipment, a squash Tel: 03573 73326). If you want to test hall and different gym courses like Step Aer- something more special you might try a obic, Pilates, BOX FIT, Zumba, Bodystyling recumbent bicycle which provides you with and many more. The monthly contribution an incredible driving comfort in Lausitzer for students amounts so far 39 €, including Liegeradverleih (Dorfstraße 18 in Niemtsch – the fitness-, wellness and drinking flat. Tel. 0160-3502949). You can rent a boat for sailing or swimming or enjoy the awesome Near the Sakura fitness club you will find the panorama from the viewing platform. If it’s swimming bath. It offers two pools, a water getting cold enough in winter it´s also the slide and an outdoor pool. For students the perfect place for “natural” ice skating. entrance fee is 1.50 € for 1.5 hours. The Snowtropolis is a big cold hall with a hill SPORTS inside where you can go skiing. It is located Senftenberg provides versatile offers for in the Hörlitzer Straße 36. In the winter ses- sporty activities. The university sports club sion the ice rink next to the Snowtropolis is offers the possibility to enter the sports hall opened. to perform sports like volleyball, soccer, dancing, handball, table tennis, karate and Further sport clubs can be found in Table│ 2, badminton. For further information ask your but unfortunately, all websites are only fellow students, the yearly fee is 22 €. available in German. You may ask your fel- Two fitness clubs are located in the city. The low students when you are interested in

Sakura Senftenberg offers the option to train doing sports. A good address for a relaxed 20 yourself on their gym equipment or to par- evening with some friends is also the Bowl- ticipate in the different gym courses like ing center Strike (opposite site of the train Zumba, Muscle Power, Fatburner, Step aer- station, depending on the day 14-19 € per h obics or Pilates. You can also learn mixed for all participants) or the Tiroler Stadl (next Filippino martial art (combination of boxing to the snowtropolis) for playing billiard. In and stickfight with an English speaking summer the Eurospeedway, a big racing coach) or use the sauna. The Sakura is lo- circuit close to Senftenberg, is opened every cated in the Hörlitzer Straße 32. The second Thursday evening for Inline Skating fitness club Vital is located in the Rudolf- (3 €) and road racing. Breitscheid-Straße 2a. The club offers also

Prices boat hire (02/15/2013) Lake Sedlitz Eurospeedway Lake Partwitz Boat (persons) 1h 2h 4h day

Kayak (2) 7 € 12€ 22€ 30€ Canoe(4) 12€ 19€ 33€ 35€ Canoe(10) 18€ 30€ 50€ 75€ Senftenberg Rowing boat 8€ 13€ 18€ 35€ Paddleboat 9€ 16€ 28€ 40€ Sailingboat Eikplast 30€ 40€ 55€ Lake Senftenberg Lake Geierswalde Sailingboat Ixy 35€ 45€ 60€

Table│ 2 Sport Clubs in Senftenberg

Sport club Form of sport Website Location

FSV “Glückauf” Bries- Elsterdamm 5 soccer http://www.fsv-brieske.de/ ke/Senftenberg 01968 Senftenberg

Schillerstraße 34 HSV Senftenberg handball http://www.hsv-senftenberg.de/ 01968 Senftenberg

Jonny’s Kickboxstudio Fabrikstraße 8 kick boxing - e.V. 01968 Senftenberg

Ju-Jutsu Team Senften- Buchwalder Straße 24 Ju-Jutsu - berg 91 e.V. 01968 Senftenberg

Rudolf-Breitscheid-Straße Polizeisportverein Senf- Judo http://www.psv-sfb.de 14 tenberg e.V. 01968 Senftenberg

Hörlitzer Straße 32 Sakura Senftenberg e.V. see above http://www.sakura-fitness.de 01968 Senftenberg

Segelclub 1979 Senf- Wilhelm-Piek-Straße 16 sailing - tenberg e.V. 01968 Senftenberg

Senftenberger Fußball- Briesker Straße 28 soccer http://www.senftenberger-fc.de 21 Club 2008 e. V. 01968 Senftenberg

Senftenberger Ruder- rowing Antonienstraße 101968 - verein e.V. Senftenberg

Shotokan Karate Dojo Shotokan Ka- Großenhainer Straße 20 http:/www.karate-senftenberg.de Senftenberg e.V. rate 01968 Senftenberg

Hörlitzer Straße 36 Snowtropolis skiing http://www.snowtropolis.de 01968 Senftenberg

Hörlitzer Straße 36 Stick fight mixed FMA http://www.stickfight.de/ 01968 Senftenberg

SV Blau-Gelb Hosena Turnplatzweg 4 soccer http://www.sv-hosena.de 1899 e. V. 01996 Senftenberg

boxing, bad- Briesker Straße 28 SV Senftenberg e.V. minton, volley- http://www.sv-senftenberg.de 01968 Senftenberg ball and more

Hörlitzer Straße 32 Swimm bath swimming http://erlebnisbad.senftenberg.de/ 01968 Senftenberg

Tischtennisclub Stahl Laugkstraße 14 table tennis - Senftenberg e. V. 01968 Senftenberg

University sports club see above http://www.hsg-senftenberg.de/ Campus

Rudolf-Breitscheid-Straße Vital fitness club see above http://www.vital-fitness.de/ 2a 01968 Senftenberg

EUROSPEEDWAY LAUSITZ

If you notice a deep constant hum in the variety on the weekend. Combined tickets summer, than you know that the racing for Saturday and Sunday in the second season has started again. 15 min apart class (B/ silver class, absolute perfect from Senftenberg you can find one of the view) cost usually not more than 38 €. A biggest speedways in East-Germany, the big international event with large contri- Euro-speedway Lausitz. Many events like bution of our university is the Eco Shell the DTM or IDM, the German tour- and Marathon. You can reach the Eurospeed- motorcycle championship provide a great way by bicycle or taking the bus 62.

SENFTENBERG CITY MAP

LEAVING SENFTENBERG FOR A DAY

MAKE USE OF YOUR SEMESTER TICKET or the Elbepark and IKEA on the highway. In the Neustadt on the other side of the Elbe The semester ticket included in the semester (the big river dividing Dresden) you find fee, provides a great possibility to explore plenty of little individual shops, lovely cafes our region Brandenburg as well as the cities and bars. Therefore, it is not much surpris- Berlin or Dresden. It enables you to travel ing that it is the favored district of alterna- for free in the whole linked travel system tive student’s clientele and young people. (VVB) Brandenburg- Berlin. It is valid for all Dresden was destroyed during World War II. public means of transport like busses, trams, From this you can´t barely see anything trains and subways. Additionally, you can anymore since everything is reconstructed use the ticket to visit Dresden. Consider that and shines in a stupendous light. One of the your ticket is only valid for the train Region- most famous memorials is the Frauenkirche. alexpress RE 18, going directly to Dresden Enjoy the sun and the summer by a walk on mainstation! the riverside of the river Elbe on the Brühl´sche Terassen in one of the plenty DRESDEN cafes and restaurants on the promenade. Very recommendable in the summer are the 24 Dresdener Elbfilmnächte, where you can see many different movies on big screens outside on the riverbank, guarantying an unfor- gettable evening. In addition, a lot of fun and adventure provides the climbing park Kletterwald Dresdener Heide. 2 hours jump- ing through the trees costs thereby 16 € per person. Dresden can be reached by the train Regionalexpress RE 18 which leaves the Dresden, 45 min from Senftenberg apart, is train station Senftenberg from platform 3. In one of the most beautiful German cities Dresden you can travel with the local public which you have to visit at least once. The transport (company: VVO). Single tickets for city center Altstadt harbors many incredible 2,20 € (valid 1 h) or whole day tickets for 6 beautiful buildings and museums worth to € are available at the yellow vendor ma- visit. Moreover, there are plenty of shopping chines located on tram and bus stations. centers like the Altmarktgalerie in the center

25 Brühl´sche Terassen

Frauenkirche

BERLIN

You have seen all of Senftenberg? Take the train to Berlin!

GOING TO BERLIN ument, which is located at the Großer Stern. It was built from 1864 till 1873 according to Berlin is the capital of Germany and has the layout from Heinrich Strack. You can plenty to offer. You can take the train from reach it from the stations Berlin-Tiergarten Senftenberg to Cottbus (leaves from plat- or Hansaplatz. The Siegessäule is surround- form 2) and change to the train with the ed by the Tiergarten a big park in the heart destination Berlin Hauptbahnhof (leaves of Berlin. The most important sight in Berlin from platform 6). For detailed information, is the Brandenburger Tor. To get there just take a look at the website of the Deutsche a ten to fifteen minute walk is necessary. Bahn. On top of this page you can switch the language and on the left site you can BRANDENBURGER TOR search for the rail connection. Start will be The Brandenburger Tor was built in the Senftenberg and destination Berlin Haupt- years 1788 to 1791 by Carl Gotthard Lan- bahnhof. Once arrived in Berlin you can hans. It is located in Berlin-Mitte and can be travel with the local public transport to near- reached from the metro station Branden- 26 ly every place in Berlin. An interactive city burger Tor. It is a famous landmark and is map with all stations can be found at the linked to important events in the history of Berlin. BVG website as well as an interactive route network for the city train S-Bahn and sub- ALEXANDERPLATZ AND FERNSEHTURM way U-Bahn.

The Alexanderplatz or short Alex is a central You’re arrived in Berlin, and now? Here is a place in Berlin-Mitte and can be reached by list of places where you HAVE to go! the train (station: Alexanderplatz). Located on the Alexanderplatz you can find the SIEGESSÄULE Fernsehturm, the highest building (368 m) The Siegessäule in Berlin is a national mon- in Germany and you can have a great view

over Berlin. The tower harbors a restaurant and a bar (very expensive) on top of the tower. The Sphere rotates in 30-60 minutes around its own axis. Also located on the Alexanderplatz is the Urinia-Weltzeituhr (world time clock). You can also find a big shopping mall with many different shops situated at the Alexanderplatz.

ZOO AND AQUARIUM IN BERLIN-MITTE The Zoo in Berlin-Mitte is one of the two zoological gardens in Berlin. It harbors more than 15,000 animals (1,500 different species on 35 ha) and is known as the Zoo with the most species in the world. You can get by trains to the Zoo. It is located near the train station Zoologischer Garten.

Ticket fees for students (02/13/2013)

Zoo 10.00€ Aquarium 10.00€ 27 Zoo and Aquarium combi-Ticket 15.00 €

If you intend to visit the Zoo it is recommended to plan a whole day for the visit, because it is very large. Associated to the Zoo you can find the Aquarium, which pre- sents many different fishes, reptiles, am- phibians, invertebrates and insects on three floors.

TIERPARK IN BERLIN-FRIEDRICHSFELDE (ANIMAL PARK) The Tierpark in Berlin-Friedrichsfelde is the second zoological garden in Berlin. On 160 ha you can see more than 7,500 animals of roughly 900 species. It is the biggest animal park in Europe concerning the size. The Tierpark can be found at the metro station Tierpark. Hence, it is very big you should also plan a whole day for the visit. Entrance fee for students are 9.00 €.

REICHSTAG In the Reichstag the German Bundestag As mentioned above you could find many holds its sessions. The building was con- different shops either in the Alexa on the structed from 1884 till 1894 by the architect Alexanderplatz or at the Kurfürstendamm. Paul Wallot. On top of the building a big Berlin harbors also many clubs like the Fritz- glass dome was build in the years 1991- Club (Berlin-Ostbahnhof), the Goya (Berlin- 1999. It enables the visitors a great view Schöneberg, Nollendorf-platz 5), the Felix over Berlin. The Reichstag is located in Ber- (near Brandenburger Tor), the Maxxim lin-Tiergarten near by the Brandenburger (metro station: Kurfürstendamm) or the K17 Tor and can be reached from the metro sta- (train station: Frankfurter Allee), to name tions Brandenburger Tor or Bundestag. just a few. Many cocktail bars can be found 28 near the train station Warschauer Straße or KAISER-WILHELM-GEDÄCHTNIS-KIRCHE Oranienburger Straße. (KIRCHE = CHURCH) The “Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche” was This list should provide you with an over- consecrated 1895. The church tower was view about some sightseeing targets, never- damaged during a bombing in the Second theless it is not complete. Many other inter- World War and was not reconstruced. esting places exist and would burst this It serves as a memorial and is also known small guide. The Berliner Dom, Rotes under the name Hohler Zahn (hollow tooth). Rathaus, Potsdammer Platz, Schloss Char- It is located in Berlin-Charlottenburg on the lottenburg, Schloss Bellevue or the different Breitscheidplatz near one of the biggest museums in Berlin – to name but a few – shopping promenade in Berlin, the are also interesting places worth visiting. Kurfürstendamm (short Kudamm). You can reach the church from the metro station Kurfürstendamm.

EAST-SIDE-GALLERY In Berlin-Friedrichshain 1.3 km of the Berlin Wall, which was dividing Germany for more than 28 years, are preserved and 118 different artists from 21 nations have painted on this piece of Wall. The East-Side-Gallery is a protected monument. You can find it at the train station Berlin Ostbahnhof.

BERLIN SUBWAY/ CITY MAP

Berlin Hauptbahnhof

You arrive HERE Reichstag Alexanderplatz

Siegessäule Brandenburger Tor

Zoo and Aquarium 29

Zoo and Aquarium

Kaiser-Wilhelm- Gedächtnis-Kirche East-Side-Gallery Tierpark Kaiser-Wilhelm- Gedächtnis-Kirche

USEFULL LINKS

CHECKLIST

Examination office http://www.hs-lausitz.de/elektrotechnik/pruefungen/studierenden-service.html (Elke Cierzniak)

German Academic Exchange http://www.daad.de/en/ Service (DAAD)

International students’ of- http://www.hs-lausitz.de/studium/internationales/team-akademisches- fice auslandsamt.html

University hostel http://www.studentenwerk-frankfurt.de/stuweantraege/ffo_bewerbung/

Visa http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/ Visabestimmungen_node.html

UNIVERSITY

E-learning http://elearning.hs-lausitz.de/

Examination https://qis.hs-lausitz.de 30

Faculty biotechnology http://www.hs-lausitz.de/biotechnologie.html

Interactive campus map http://www.hs-lausitz.de/service/erreichbarkeit/senftenberg/campusplan- senftenberg.html Online Library http://www.hs-lausitz.de/hochschulbibliothek.html

Webmail https://owa.hs-lausitz.de

MASTER THESIS

Map & List of institutes from http://www.hs-lausitz.de/biotechnologie/gastgeberinstitute/praxissemester.html former students:

Biotec (Dresden) http://www.biotec.tu-dresden.de/research.html

Charité (Berlin) http://www.charite.de/forschung/forschungszentren/

DKFZ (Heidelberg) http://www.dkfz.de/en/forschung/nachwuchsgruppen/nachwuchsgruppen.html

EMBL (Heidelberg) http://www.embl.de/research/units/index.html

Fraunhofer (various) http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/research-topics/health-environment-nutrition.html

Max Planck Institute http://www.mpg.de/institutes

Oncoray (Dresden) http://www.oncoray.de/index.php?id=115

SENFTENBERG

Bowling http://www.erlebnisbowling.de/

Bicycle Lending http://www.fahrradhaus-poetschke.de/

Bowling & Billiard http://www.tiroler-stadl.de/Restaurant_Bowling_Bar_Senftenberg

Eurospeedway http://www.lausitzring.de/

Greek restaurant http://www.restaurant-olympia-senftenberg.de/

Inline skating http://www.lausitzer-bladenight.de/

Irish pub http://www.irish-pub-senftenberg.de/

Recumbent bicycle http://www.lausitzer-liegeradverleih.de/

Sakura fitness center http://www.sakura-fitness.de/start/

Senftenberg city http://www.senftenberg.de/index.php?La=2&mNavID=2055.190&sNavID=2055.190

Snowtropolis http://www.snowtropolis.de/cgi-bin/page.pl?idx=2

Swimming bath http://erlebnisbad.senftenberg.de/

Theater http://www.theater-senftenberg.de/

Vital fitness center http://www.vital-fitness.de/

DRESDEN

Dresden official page http://www.dresden.de/index_en.php

Climbing http://www.kletterwald-dresdner-heide.de/

Movie nights http://dresden.filmnaechte.de/de

VVO http://www.vvo-online.de/en/

German train http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml

Frauenkirche http://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de/startseite+M5f41a065bdb.html

BERLIN

Berlin official page http://www.berlin.de/en/

BVG http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/Fahrinfo/bin/query.bin/en?ujm=1?language=en)

Fernsehturm http://www.tv-turm.de/en/index.php

Subway http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/Liniennetz/index;ref=1?language=en&

Tierpark http://www.tierpark-berlin.de/tierpark.html?L=1

Zoo http://www.zoo-berlin.de/

BRANDENBURIGISCH TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT COTTBUS- SENFTENBERG

www.bt-u.de

Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus- Senftenberg Großenhainer Str. 57 01968 Senftenberg Postfach 10 15 48 +49 (0) 35 73 / 85 – 0 http://b-tu.de/ Version 2

Authors/Layout: Master students in Biotechnology Year 2012. 2013. 2014 Pictures: Steffen Rasche, Anke Witt, Robert Labes