Due to the current pandemic, we all are a bit restricted in our daily lives trying to prevent the spread of the coroavirus. But how are things handled in Germany, in these difficult times in terms of university operations? 
 

Well, in the case of Germany, each university is authorized to set up its own rules since there are laws and rules in each state and town and many rules cannot be coordinated.
 

At the beginning of last semester, many universties including my home university (Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society) was not sure what going to happen. In the case of my university, it was decided to go with the safe option of offering students only online courses throughout the semester. Students were given permission to enter the library on campus only to pick up the books they had ordered via email in advance and to return them.
 

As the semester was shifted to an online format, students who were working on their theses were given more time to finish their papers, while all other students were granted the opportunity to erase marks they received during the semester and to try again without any kind of penalty.

As for exams, the lecturers of each course were to decide whether to conduct the exams online or in-person—while following safety arrangements, of course.
 

In sum, the last semester was hard for students, lecturers, and the university staffs but all of us did our best to make the semester successful, even though it was difficult from time-to-time. I want to thank everyone for doing their best in this situation.

Let's be positive, learn and gain more knowledge via online classes. We are all in this together!!