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Summer semester to be held in presence again

In a circular email, Professor Gerd Mannhaupt, Vice President for Academic Affairs, today addressed the students of the University of Erfurt and informed them about the plans for the summer semester. The text of the letter...

Dear students,

at the end of this winter semester, in which face-to-face teaching could only take place to a very limited extent for the fourth time. Therefore, I would like to inform You about the considerations of the university management regarding the organization of teaching in the summer semester 2022. If we interpret the signs that the RKI and the health ministers of the federal states set last Wednesday correctly, all massive restrictions in the context of infection control measures will be over by the start of the lecture period, and the conditions for a complete semester in attendance appear to be more positive than we have had so far in the pandemic. The fifth wave with the massive infection numbers caused by the Omikron variant has passed its peak, a halfway "normal" summer is expected and we want to use this for teaching at the University of Erfurt.

In the internal university discussions, everyone involved agreed that we want to offer as much face-to-face teaching as possible in the coming summer semester. If the predictions of the medical expert commission are confirmed, the summer semester will be a completely face-to-face semester! I have looked long and cautiously at this situation and wrestled with my assessment, but today I am looking forward to actually being able to offer all courses in presence again from April 4, 2022. So, it is foreseeable today that almost all courses, including lectures, will be able to be taught face-to-face. There will be exceptions where the university deliberately relies on online formats. We will probably have to wear masks to continue to keep the risk of infection as low as possible and there may also be access restrictions (3G), but further restrictions are not apparent at this time.

Therefore, we would like to ask You to make plans for where You will be living in the coming summer semester so that you can live close to campus and get back to campus with the usual effort, thus rediscovering normal university or perhaps experiencing it for the first time. Although this joy is still very tentative in our campus, all faculty will welcome You to campus in a positive mood and, as is appropriate, with academic enthusiasm.

Of course, like all state institutions and You, we will certainly keep an eye on further developments and, should the prospects for a semester of attendance in the summer dim, we will keep you regularly informed about this and, if necessary, adjust our planning and inform you in good time.

Best regards
Gerd Mannhaupt
(Vice President for Academic Affairs)