Information for Prospective Students
Overview
The University of Applied Sciences Erfurt offers the following degree programs in the field of Urban and Spatial Planning:
Bachelor's in Urban and Spatial Planning_Foundations and the consecutive Master's program Urban and Spatial Planning_Positions.
On the one hand, the Bachelor's degree Urban and Spatial Planning_Foundations trains students in the broad academic foundations of the field. On the other, we teach the concepts, procedures, instruments, methods and techniques that enable our students to conduct academic research and apply these skills in professional planning practice. A key feature of the degree course is its high level of practical relevance, with a 12-week compulsory work placement in the fourth semester.
The Master's program Urban and Spatial Planning_Positions prepares students to work with a high degree of personal responsibility and accountability. By specializing in select and particularly relevant topics, they can either develop their professional expertise to meet the needs of the future labour market or explore new fields of urban planning. This degree course provides students with extensive opportunities for specialization and practical experience. In the third semester, our students are required to complete a 15-week off-campus module, which can take the form of a work placement, a semester abroad or a research project of their own design.
Information
Computer pools and workshops
The Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning is equipped with modern PC and Mac workstations, as well as printers, plotters and state-of-the-art software - all creating the ideal conditions for future-oriented training in our field. In our digital print workshop you can prepare posters, brochures or books on the computer - an essential skill you will need with regard to marketing and competition.
In our model-making workshop, you can build working models to test your ideas before ultimately preparing them for presentation. An in-house photo studio is available for follow-up documentation, but also for artistic photography. The sculpture workshop in the basement also serves to develop our students' artistic and creative skills.
Galerie and media lounge
All key events, such as our first-semester orientation event, take place in the auditorium, which is often bursting at the seams. In addition, the Architecture Forum is regularly held with lectures and presentations by well-known architects. Like the exhibitions in our in-house gallery, this is an established part of Erfurt's cultural scene.
The media lounge is an interesting addition to these cultural and professional events. Here you can immediately find answers to current questions, seek inspiration or browse through specialist literature for your term papers.
Cafeteria and outdoor space
Learning is hungry business, and creative breaks are often a source of new insights. This means that our cafeteria is not only an important meeting place at lunchtimes. In summer, the doors to the courtyard are opened and you can sit on the terrace, sunbathe on the lawn, read or continue your discussions outdoors...
Campus + Local Area
The Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning is one of six faculties at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, a modern, practice-oriented university that was founded in 1991 and has since grown into the largest university of applied sciences in Thuringia with approximately 4400 students. The main campus is at Altonaer Straße, about 15 minutes' walk from our faculty building. This is where the central facilities that are open to all students are based, such as the central university library, the workshop for the development and maintenance of scientific equipment, the language centre and of course the university executive board, the administration, the student admissions offie, the examinations office and the student advisory service. University sports, cultural activities and joint events such as the FH summer party and the university ball, also play an important role in student life.
In the middle of Germany
With around 200,000 inhabitants, Erfurt is not only the state capital but also the biggest city in Thuringia. Literally located at the heart of Germany, almost all major German cities are with 2-4 hours' reach, as is Prague. Erfurt is one of the most extensive medieval sites in Germany, and the river Gera's meandering streams lend it a special charm.
Highlights for tourists
Erfurt boasts more than 1250 years of history. It is home to the Krämerbrücke, the only medieval bridge with buildings on it north of the Alps. Another unique feature in Europe is of course the ensemble of the cathedral and Church of St. Severus on the cathedral hill, which appears in the city's logo. Opposite the cathedral hill, you can see the Petersberg fortress with its mighty bastions, and at its feet the traditional old town with its splendid town houses, monasteries and churches, picturesque alleys and lively squares - interspersed again and again by the winding course of the River Gera.
Culture + leisure
Once home to Martin Luther, Erfurt has an extremely rich cultural heritage, a legacy that nowadays lives on in the new opera house in Brühl, the municipal theatres, cabarets and numerous museums and galleries. In addition, Weimar, with its classical world heritage culture, is only a 15-minute train journey away, and the university city of Jena with its planetarium and optical museum, only a little further, is also worth visiting.
Teaching
Seminars in small groups
Most courses in Urban and Spatial Planning take place in the form of seminars and projects. We divide up our year groups (in the Bachelor's around 65 students; in the Master's around 35) into several groups to maintain smaller group sizes. Our lecturers can only provide optimum guidance and support through on-site teaching. No other methods can replace face-to-face interaction, which is fundamental to our teaching concept.
Learning from each other + teamwork
Throughout our degree programs, we place great emphasis on teamwork, since this is a crucial skill in professional practice. Furthermore, our students are permanently encouraged to learn from each other through active participation in seminars, which is an indispensable addition to the standard program of teaching.
Study projects
Our degree programs feature a high level of project work. Study projects on current issues in planning are carried out every semester: in so doing, our students learn about neighbourhood systems, in the second about (small or medium-sized) cities. The study projects in the third and fifth semesters focus on the development of urban or regional planning concepts. The study projects are undertaken in groups so that the students can learn to work in teams and communicate effectively at an early stage. When combined with the concurrent acquisition of knowledge through lectures and seminars, the study projects constitute a bridge to professional practice.
Field trips
In a different, but no less pronounced way, field trips nurture expertise and develop personalities. Urban and Spatial Planning field trips to current national and international projects provide the third link to professional practice alongside study projects and work placements. They are also an integral part of our degree programs and are therefore sometimes compulsory. Where budgets permit, we provide subsidies.
Compact project weeks
In compact project weeks, we take the idea of projects to the extreme: away from their usual seminars, all students of Architecture, Urban and Spatial Planning work in new small groups day and night if necessary to develop solutions for a given task. The university is open all week long, and at the end of the week, theatre productions, shows and awards ceremonies merge seamlessly into a huge closing party. The compact project weeks at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning are a cultural event that extends into the city - especially the Christmas event. They live off the students' creativity, which always flourishes astonishingly on such occasions.