FAQ

All students are requested to subscribe to the Slavic Studies mailing list at the beginning of their studies. This is the official communication channel across the Bern-Fribourg departments; you will receive all relevant information (e.g. about the cancellation of courses, changes to the study plan), and will also be made aware of events outside the university (theatre, concerts, language courses) as well as internships, etc. The mailing list is also open to any other interested parties.

Registration form: https://listserv.unibe.ch/mailman/listinfo/slavistik

Bern Students

Registration for courses and examinations can be made via “Kernsystem Lehre” (KSL). Register for the “Leistungskontrolle 1. Termin” (not for the course). You can cancel your registration during the semester if you do not wish to take the assessment. Please note the respective deadlines for registration and cancellation of assessments – you will find these for each course in KSL.

For courses attended in Fribourg you must register in the Fribourg system myunifr.ch (GEFRI). For all Slavic Studies courses you are automatically enrolled in the examination with your course enrollment, unless you cancel your enrollment before the deadline (see the respective dates on the Faculty website). This means that you do not have to register for the exams separately. You will get access to GEFRI as soon as you have registered for the BeNeFri program. If you experience any problems with GEFRI registration (especially at the beginning of your studies) you can contact the lecturer of the course.

Fribourg Students

Fribourg students register for all courses in the Fribourg system myunifr.ch (GEFRI). For all Slavic Studies courses you are automatically enrolled in the examination with your course enrollment, unless you cancel your enrollment before the deadline (see the respective dates on the Faculty website). This means that you do not have to register for the exams separately.

For the courses you attend in Bern, you also register via “Kernsystem Lehre” (KSL). Register for the “Leistungskontrolle 1. Termin” (not for the course). You can cancel your registration during the semester if you do not wish to take the assessment. Please note the respective deadlines for registration and cancellation of assessments – you will find these for each course in KSL..

ATTENTION: To register in KSL, enrollment in the BeNeFri program is mandatory, even if you do not want to be reimbursed for travel expenses.

If you have any questions about KSL, please refer to the user manual on the University of Bern’s website. If you have difficulty registering, please send an email with your matriculation number and the exact title of the course to irena.senn@unibe.ch.

The courses in Bern are usually taught in German, and in Fribourg the courses are taught in German or French. No Slavic language courses are taught at the BA level. 

For your elective credits you can either attend further courses in Slavic Studies or other courses at your home university. If in doubt, please contact your student advisor.

Fribourg students: The list of all creditable courses can be found here. In addition to these courses you can also attend other classes in Slavic Studies.

Bern students

All your grades and ECTS are recorded in KSL. Courses taken in Fribourg are now recorded in KSL as “externe Leistungen” (external credits). This is a purely technical change – nothing will change in terms of the transmission of grades. Grades will be sent from Fribourg to the Secretariat in Bern as before. However, you cannot currently input these grades yourself in KSL. In order to keep the administrative work for both sides as low as possible, please fill in the attached form and send it to the Secretariat of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Your courses in Fribourg will then be recorded in KSL.

Form for receiving Fribourg course credit (for Bern students)

Fribourg students

The lecturers together with the two secretariats are responsible for crediting courses attended in Bern.

Because Slavic Studies courses take place in both Bern and Fribourg, travel expenses to the other university will be reimbursed under the BeNeFri agreement. All students must enroll in the BeNeFri program on time each semester to be reimbursed for their expenses. Deadlines are 28 February and 30 September.

Please note that you should in any case register with BeNeFri every semester, as registration in BeNeFri is also important in order to be able to grant you the necessary access to the systems Ilias and KSL.

Bern students: Registration online.

Fribourg students: Registration via myunifr.ch.

Reimbursement of travel expenses with the help of the BeNeFri program:

The reimbursement form must be completed by the end of the semester on time, and submitted with the train tickets so that you are reimbursed for travel expenses to Bern or Fribourg by train. The form for Bern students can be found here, and the form for Fribourg students here.

Bern students

Please plan the completion of your studies well in advance. Pay attention to the Faculty of Humanities Dean’s office guidelines, and to the Study Plan requirements.

Please note the following links for further information on completing your degree (deadlines, FAQs, forms):

BA: http://www.philhist.unibe.ch/studium/bachelor_master/bachelorabschluss/index_ger.html

MA: http://www.philhist.unibe.ch/studium/bachelor_master/masterabschluss/index_ger.html

At the end of your studies, your “Studiengang” (Study Course) in KSL must also be set to “erfüllt” (completed). Please also contact Ms. Aldona Rzitki (aldona.rzitki@issl.unibe.ch) or Ms. Irena Senn (irena.senn@unibe.ch).

Fribourg students

Everything necessary is regulated by the department or the dean’s office.

Students can independently put together courses for the advanced module “Societies and Cultures of Eastern Europe”. In particular (see also the module description), courses from the program of Eastern European Studies or from Political Science, History, and Social Anthropology are recommended (if these courses are related to Eastern Europe). However, you must make sure to cover all the course types required by the advanced module; i.e. seminar (2 SWS, with at least 3 ECTS, not graded); written work (must have at least 6 ECTS, graded); lecture (2 SWS, with at least 3 ECTS, graded).

Students should contact Prof. Kakridis (Bern students) or Prof. Herlth (Fribourg students) after selecting courses for the module in question, in order to clarify whether your choices can be implemented accordingly.

Form for receiving Fribourg course credit (for Bern students)

Guidelies, templates and additional information about written papers can be found here.

If you want to write in Russian with your own computer, it is advisable to use a keyboard layout in which the letters at least approximately match up with a German or French keyboard. On the keyboard layout download offered below (rustast.zip), keys correspond with the closest sound quality (i.e. a on a, б on b, ф on f, etc). Also: щ = q, ш = w, з = z, ю=ü, х = h, э = ö, я = ä,  ч=x, ъ=ß, ь=´, ж=*.

To type Slavic languages in Latin letters, another keyboard layout (slavist-ch.zip) is available for download. This makes it possible to write all Latin characters commonly used in Slavic languages. A short user manual can be found in the “Mehr zum Thema-Box”.

For Mac

Dr. Sorin Paliga, from the Slavic Department at the University of Bucharest, created a keyboard layout for Old Church Slavic and Glagolitic for Mac users. You can download this for free at: http://www.unibuc.ro/e/prof/paliga_v_s/soft-reso/

This can be selected as a keyboard layout the same way other languages can be selected (as any Mac slave will know!) – System settings/preferences à Language & text à Input sources.

To install, simply copy the contents of the ZIP file (just the files, not the folder) into the folder <Username>/Library/Keyboard Layouts/. After restarting the system, you should be able to select the two layouts in the menu.

Everything about the Reading Lists can be found here.