Consultation hours

• If you just need a signature: Please send me an email and explain what you need. I will then tell you how to proceed. If it is really only a signature or a stamp, then it is often sufficent if you leave the document with my secretary (or at the letter box of the chair), I sign whatever has to be signed, and then either leave the documents with my secretary, so that you can pick them up, or I send them to you via postal mail.
• Issues that concern you and only (letters of recommendation, stays abroad, selection of courses, topics, etc): Please send me from your uni-jena.de account an email. In your email state your question clearly so that we are better prepared when you visit me. During term-time I will usually answer your emails within one business day and we will find a date for an appointment within a week.

  If you need a letter of recommendation for a stay abroad, for a scholarship, etc., it helps if you send me your documents, study plans, and your grades before we meet.

  If you think that you have difficulties related to your studies, please contact us soon enough. It is always easier to find a solution if you come in time. Keep in mind that the Studienberatung offers counselling and practical support.

• Issues related to a course: Issues that are relevant for a larger group of students should be discussed during the course or on the discussion board of this course. Consultation hours can not provide private tuition or provide secret information to only some students. Your questions regarding the content of the course will, most likely, be shared by other students. These other students will be glad if you raise your hand and ask a question. Don't be afraid to ask questions during the course. Alternatively, you can also use the discussion board of this course.
• Issues related to your scientific projects: Please note that in your master thesis or your other projects you have to demonstrate your own ability to do independent research. I offer a range of courses. Please attend these courses to learn how to solve the problems you might encounter in your project.

  If you are under the impression that for your master thesis (or other research project) you need a method you don't master and if that method is not covered by a course here, think twice: While it is often entertaining to study a new topic, for your research project you might prefer to rely on methods you are familiar with. If the literature uses method X to study problem Y, and if you are not familiar with X, if you don't know where the pitfalls of method X exactly are, then perhaps it is better to use a method which is your friend. Good research very often means that you apply tools you know and you are familiar with to a new problem. When you realise that you don't master the tool you are currently applying, it might be better to switch to one of your favourite tools.

  Having said that, I do like discussing interesting questions. Under the following conditions I might be able to give you a hint:

  • You are struggling with a question that falls into my area of expertise.
  • The question is not yet covered by a course.
  • You have thought carefully about this question and you still do not find an answer.
  • You have written down clearly and concisely what you did to find an answer on your own and where you precisely struggle to find a solution.
  But please note again: When it comes to your own scientific projects, it is you who has to do the work. I can only point you in the right direction, I can never give you complete solutions.