Frequently asked questions

Contact persons in the master program BAM are listed here.

In principle, yes, although the Master in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is offered as a full-time study program with a standard duration of four semesters and 120 credit points - and the courses are designed accordingly. We can not fully recommend part-time studies because of the seasonality of many practical courses. It can lead to substantial time delays. Legally, a part-time study in addition to a secondary occupation is possible. An application for part-time study must be submitted to the Department of Student Affairs. The application is accompanied by a leaflet from which you can find more detailed information. For further information, please refer to the central pages of the university.

The first semester application for the master program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is submitted via the online application portal Uni-Assist. There you will receive all necessary information for the application. You can use the contact form and phone numbers of Uni Assist if you have questions about the online application. If your documents are complete,  UniAssist will transmit them to the examination board of the Master program. The examination board reviews the application documents and decides on admission approximately 2-4 weeks after the application deadline.

For detailed information, please refer to the instructions and use the links shown under Application, Admission, Regulations.

This is not always necessary, but needed for degrees that were not completed at the University of Potsdam.

This applies especially to non-specialized biologists and career changers. The module description should be in English or German. The proof must include information regarding the obtained credit points, form of the modules, content, and the examination modalities. Please also read the regularities for application.

Yes, you can (please read the prerequisites for admission in the subject-specific admission regulations). In any case, you need a first degree (B.Sc.) in natural sciences or related fields, e.g. agroscience, geoscience, or bioinformatics with at least 180 credit points. You need to document at least 60 credit points in subjects related to biochemistry and molecular biology. For newcomers to higher semesters, special conditions apply. Please inform yourself carefully reading  the information for newcomers / career changers in this FAQs and here, if you want to change your university and/or your career by applying for this master program.

The deadlines for applying for matriculation can be found on the general matriculation website for the master's degree programs (https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/application-enrollment/enrollment-master/master). In the event that you have already studied in a bachelor's degree at the University of Potsdam, you can simply rewrite your enrollment on the master's degree. More detailed information on the procedure can be found here: (https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/studying/organizing-your-studies/transferringfrombachelortomaster). For all other first-year students, enrollment for the master programs takes place via the online application portal. After entering the information required for enrollment, an enrollment application is created (PDF file). This application must be signed and sent with the documents required for enrollment to the registrar's office (https://studienplatz.uni-potsdam.de/UP/information.html?state=user&type=0).

Address of registrar's office:

Studierendensekretariat

Universität Potsdam | Dezernat für Studienangelegenheiten

Campus Am Neuen Palais
Am Neuen Palais 10, Haus 08
14469 Potsdam

Once you register on PULS for a course by entering the TAN, you have to decide which official module this course is assigned to.

The choice of the module via PULS is binding. The choice can only be changed during the withdrawal period for courses. Not later.

1. Formation of the final grade

If students have taken more elective courses, they have time to decide which completed modules are to be included in the final grade by means of a so-called grade picking process before submitting their final thesis. 

If the student has not been nominated when submitting the final paper, the compulsory elective modules count in the order of their completion (priority principle) until the required number of compulsory elective credit points has been achieved.  For more information, see page 37 https://www.uni-potsdam.de/fileadmin01/projects/studium/docs/03_studium_konkret/07_rechtsgrundlagen/kommentierung_bama-o_studierende_2013.pdf

2. Presentation of additional benefits on certificate

The additional benefits are not displayed on the certificate, but only on the transcript of records, which is also part of the final documents. 

In addition to the certificate you must submit a form that you can find here.

Non-binding Exams

Non-binding exam for the first semester of study: Examinations that are taken in the first regular semester of study and that are failed at their first attempt, are disregarded.” (see  BAMA-O 2013, § 13.)

Non-binding exam in case of failed exams and for grade improvement: As stated in the program-specific rules and regulations of the BAM Master program, up to 2 non-binding exams are possible (see study regulations). Non-binding exams for failed exams and for grade improvement are administrated by the Student Administration Center/ Examination Office. To register your non-binding exam, please use only the form "non-binding exam". Please submit the completed form to the Student Administration Center/ Examination Office no later than 14 calendar days after the announcement of your examination results. The announcement of the grade equals the date of the entry of the grade into the campus management system (PULS).

General procedure:

Coursework in the BAM Master program is usually booked directly by the module coordinator / lecturer in the PULS online portal.

Modules can also be covered with non-subject (not originally intended for BAM) achievements from courses at the University of Potsdam, such as “Toxicology”, “Statistics”, “Bioinformatics” or “Ethics of Science”. If you would like to take non-subject modules that are not linked to your BAM program in the course catalog, please contact the chairperson of the examination board [pabam(at)uni-potsdam.de] BEFORE.

Language courses are not recognized as part of the BAM program, but courses taken at Zessko can be listed in your transcript when registered with PULS.

Recognition of achievements such as courses from the faculty of science, from the entire University, from other german Universities, from abroad, or professional qualifications:

Since 15.10.2019 this has been handled by the Office for Studies and Teaching (GSL):

Students submit an application form to the GSL, which forwards it to the examination board, who signs the form and sends it back to the GSL. Students will receive the processed form and submit it to the examination office together with the achievment certificates. The examination office registers the grades in PULS.

You will find the application form and information on recognition of academic achievements here.

Application form: Please enter the title of the course in the respective line corresponding to the desired recognition - please make sure that the relevant elective areas are correctly assigned. Please note: Only complete application forms that also contain all other necessary documents (module description of the achievement to be recognized, part-time student certificate, achievement certificates, if necessary learning agreement) together with the latest transcript of records will be processed.

Acknowledgments can generally be made for each module, but the modules BIO-B-WM13 to BIO-B-WM17 and BIO-B-RM22 are particularly suitable. Please check whether the performance to be recognized corresponds to one of the module descriptions. Partial achievements can also be recognized. A maximum of 14 credit points can be earned from the compulsory elective modules BIO-B-WM14, BIO-B-WM15, BIO-B-WM16 and BIO-B-WM17.

Additionally required for recognition of achievements from abroad/ professional qualifications:

Additional data must be collected based on the Higher Education Statistics Act. In the case of recognition from a stay abroad (A) or from a  professional qualification (B), please mark this with A or B in the column provided for this purpose in the above recognition form.

In addition, an abstract/ printout of the relevant module description for the achievments to be recognized is required for the processing of the recognition (i.e. not the entire module catalogue of the degree program), as otherwise an assessment of equivalence is not possible. The same applies to the professional qualifications to be recognized. Please bring these documents with you to your appointment with the Office for Studies and Teaching (GSL).

[In the case of entry A, please also print out the attachment to the application for recognition in PULS under "My stays abroad" - you only need this for submission to the Examination Office. If the corresponding stay abroad is not yet displayed, please enter it. After registration, the attachment to the application for recognition can be printed out. Before submitting the application to the Examination Office, please enter the examination numbers of the recognized services.]

Recognition of non-university achievements: In principle, no (un)paid internships or professional achievements will be recognized as a substitute for seminar or module achievements in the BAM program (unless they are declared as internships in the module and part of the program). In justified exceptional cases, extensive achievements may be recognized by the examination board as a substitute for complete modules; the recognition of partial achievements must be agreed with the module coordinator/lecturer. You must enroll in the missing courses and examination results (e.g. written exam, oral examination) must be achieved in order to successfully complete the module.

In the vast majority of cases, the effort required to generate the corresponding credit points and grades from work certificates and/or non-university certificates is not in proportion to the extent of the recognizable achievements.

Please note that you CANNOT cancel any recognition that has already been submitted to the Examination Office.

Information on re-registration (bank details, fees, etc.) can be found under: Re-registration.

The 4 week Advanced Research Practical (5 credits, corresponding to 150 hours of work including a one page research concept for the Master thesis) serves to prepare the Master thesis, but is not part of it. The Advanced Research Practical is usually done in the same lab right before you start with your Master thesis. Please register for the specialization module under the research group at the University of Potsdam from the ibb in which you will write your Master thesis.

In principle, it is possible to complete the Advanced Research Practical in a non-university institution.  However, this must be agreed in advance with the head of the examination board, who will later confirm your participation in PULS, and a professor at the University of Potsdam from the ibb, who will be your second supervisor for the Master thesis. If you do not complete the Advanced Research Practical in one of the research groups at the University of Potsdam at the ibb, it is not necessary to register for one of the specialization modules in PULS.

Regardless of where you complete the Advanced Research Practical, you must register for the examination "BIO-B-VM, Forschungskonzept für die Masterarbeit (543501)“ in Prüfungs-PULS under the name of the current head of the examination board.

The supervisor, who is usually also the reviewer of your Master thesis, must confirm your participation with this certificate. Before you register for the Master thesis (see FAQ >Master's thesis: How do I register for the Master thesis?), the certificate must be submitted to the head of the examination board together with a research concept, the topic assignment form and your latest transcript of records.

The specialization module is not graded.

The general process of how to conduct your Final Thesis is described on the central webpages of the UP together with FAQs.

The application for the Master thesis is always submitted in written form via the office of the head of examination board. Two documents are required for registration:

1. Please create the topic assignment form for the final thesis in PULS(> Submit Applications) and sign it. Both examiners of the thesis have to sign the document as well. The first examiner is the thesis supervisor. The second examiner should work in the subject area related to the thesis. One of the examiners should be a Professor. Hand the document to the head of examination board and pick it up again after signing.
Please note: The topic has to be registered by the candidate within one week after signing by the head of the examination board at the Office of Student Affairs (Dezernat 2). In culpable failure, a new topic must be registered!

2. Your latest Transcript of records ("Leistungsübersicht"). Registration for the thesis is only possible if you have at least 77 credit points and passed all three orientation modules.

To get an overview of your achievements please use PULS as follows:

·  Die PULS-Startseite

·  Ihre persönlichen PULS-Seiten

·  Meine Funktionen

o Mein Stundenplan

o Meine Veranstaltungen

o Meine Leistungen

Under the menu item "My Documents" you will find all achievements you passed in your current degree program, including achievements that have been recognized or that are still open in the evaluation, listed by subject and examination number. With the "create PDF" button, you can download your transcript of records as a PDF document.

You have to hand in your latest transcript of records together with the certificate of participation in the Advanced Research Practical (see the linked document under Master Thesis: How do I complete my Advanced Research Practical?), your research concept and the topic assignment form (see the linked document under point 1) to the secretary of Prof. S. Chiantia (head of the examination board):

Prof. Dr. S. Chiantia
Secretary Swetlana Kotlik 
Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, house 25 B , room 0.08
14476 Potsdam Tel.: +49 (0) 331 - 977 5241

pabam2020 (at) uni-potsdam.de

According to the general study and examination regulations, an extension of up to one month is possible for important reasons and with the consent of the supervisor. For this purpose, an informal application (signed by the candidate and the supervisor) to the Examining Board Chair BAM must be submitted via the secretariat.

After approval, the application for extension is submitted by the candidate to the examination office. Please note: the possibility of a prolongation of up to 3 months provided for in the subject-specific regulations will be overruled by the general regulations from their validity.

After you have submitted your thesis, the examiners have 6 weeks for their review. You then need to organize your defense. The oral defense only takes place if the thesis has received a final grade of “sufficient” (4.0) or better. The oral defense is graded by the examination committee in a joint decision. The examination committee generally contains both examiners and one assessor. The oral defense includes a 20-minute oral presentation and a 30-minute oral examination. If the oral defense receives the grade “insufficient” (5.0), it can be repeated once. The oral defense is open to the university community.  Upon request, the public can be excluded from the oral defense.

Please use the following forms:

Protocol template

Notification of grading

Please note: Both documents must be forwarded by the supervisor to the central Examination Office.

Graduation Procedure

Issuance of Graduation Documents