General Terms and Conditions
General conditions for all degree programs, certificate programs, seminars
1. Cope of application
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions apply to the entire business relationship between the student or seminar participant (hereinafter referred to as "Student") and the [German University of Digital Science i.Gr.] (hereinafter referred to as "German UDS") when concluding a contract for a degree program, seminar or certificate program (hereinafter referred to as "degree program"). All formulations in the masculine form refer equally to persons of both genders.
1.2 In addition, the study contract, which contains deviations from or additions to these General Terms and Conditions, shall apply to individual business relationships; they shall be agreed with the student upon conclusion of a contract. Insofar as the study contract contains deviating provisions for individual business relationships or other agreements, these deviating provisions shall take precedence.
2. The student's obligation to cooperate
2.1 The student is obliged to provide German UDS with all information and documents relevant to the implementation of the degree program in good time.
In particular, it is necessary for the proper handling of business transactions that the student informs German UDS immediately of any changes to his/her name and contact details.
2.2 The student must check certificates and other communications from German UDS for accuracy and completeness without delay and raise any objections without delay.
3rd e-mail address
3.1 Unless otherwise agreed, the student must provide German UDS with an e-mail address and check it regularly in order to ensure that all formalities associated with the degree program are handled properly and promptly. For example, schedules, changes, study notes and important information (e.g. examination results) are usually sent to the student by e-mail.
3.2 E-mail communication may be unencrypted.
3.3 The student must ensure that the e-mail address is protected against access by unauthorized third parties.
4. Study material
4.1 The study material provided to the student by German UDS is of a supportive nature. Under no circumstances does it release the student from the obligation to study the literature, attend online events and follow current developments in the subject area. In particular, the study material cannot completely cover possible examination content.
4.2 Further study material (e.g. legal texts, further literature and aids) must be obtained by the student at his/her own expense.
4.3 German UDS reserves the right to change or replace the study material provided, in particular to update it regularly.
5. Rights to the study material
5.1 The study material provided to the student in electronic or printed form is intended solely for the purpose of study and for personal use.
5.2 Unless otherwise agreed or indicated, all rights are reserved by German UDS.
5.3 The student undertakes not to make the German UDS study material and any teaching content made available via the extranet or other media available to third parties or to distribute it in any other way and not to infringe copyright. Reproduction is only permitted for the purpose of the student's own studies.
6. Liability
6.1 Notwithstanding the above provisions and the following limitations of liability, German UDS shall be liable without limitation for damages to life, body and health resulting from a negligent or intentional breach of duty by its legal representatives or vicarious agents, as well as for all damages resulting from intentional or grossly negligent breaches of contract and fraudulent intent by its legal representatives or vicarious agents.
6.2 German UDS shall not be liable for slight negligence with regard to property damage and financial loss, unless it has breached a material contractual obligation, the fulfillment of which is essential for the proper execution of the contract, the breach of which jeopardizes the achievement of the purpose of the contract and on the observance of which the student regularly relies (hereinafter referred to as "cardinal obligation"). Liability for breach of such a cardinal obligation is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract. This also applies to loss of profit and loss of savings. Otherwise, German UDS shall not be liable for simple negligent breaches of non-essential contractual secondary obligations. The limitations of liability mentioned under 6.2 shall also apply insofar as the liability for the legal representatives, executive employees and other vicarious agents of German UDS is concerned.
6.3 For property damage and financial loss caused by slight negligence on the part of German UDS, its legal representatives or vicarious agents and not based on the breach of a cardinal obligation, the liability of German UDS is limited to the amount of the tuition and/or course fees paid by the student in the previous year. This limitation of liability does not apply to damages caused by gross negligence or intent or which affect life, body or health.
6.4 Any further liability of German UDS is excluded regardless of the legal nature of the asserted claim. Insofar as liability is excluded or limited, this also applies to the personal liability of employees, workers, staff, representatives and vicarious agents of German UDS.
6.5 Insofar as the special terms and conditions for individual business relationships or other agreements provide otherwise, these shall take precedence over any deviating provisions.
7. Disruption of operation
German UDS shall not be liable for damage caused by force majeure, riots, acts of war or natural disasters or other events for which it is not responsible (e.g. strikes, lockouts, traffic disruptions, orders from higher authorities in Germany or abroad).
8. Liability in the event of fault on the part of the student
If the student has contributed to the occurrence of damage through culpable behavior (e.g. by violating the obligations to cooperate listed in No. 2 of these terms and conditions), the extent to which German UDS and the student must bear the damage shall be determined according to the principles of contributory negligence.
9. Termination
9.1 Unless otherwise stipulated in the special terms and conditions for the respective degree program, the contract for a degree program can be terminated by the student up to two weeks before the start of the degree program at the latest.
9.2 Notice of termination must be given in writing. At the student's request, German UDS will confirm receipt of the notice of termination.
9.3 The right of German UDS and the student to extraordinary termination of the contract for good cause remains unaffected. German UDS is entitled to terminate the contract without notice in particular if a) the student is in arrears with the payment of the fee invoiced for the course of study and does not pay within a period of four weeks despite a written deadline and a threat of possible termination by German UDS or b) the student's behavior significantly disrupts the proper teaching or course of study or the trusting cooperation with fellow students, lecturers or German UDS or its employees despite a written warning and setting of a deadline. § Section 323 (2) BGB applies accordingly.
10. Lecturers, dates and place of study
10.1 German UDS determines the lecturers and the course and examination schedule of the degree programs at its reasonable discretion.
10.2 The German UDS determines the event and examination dates.
10.3 The German UDS offers regular online courses that are conducted both synchronously (live events with real-time interaction) and asynchronously (self-directed learning with recorded content). In addition, voluntary face-to-face events, such as summer schools, can be offered to supplement the regular curriculum.
Changes to the teaching format, such as adjustments within the online formats or the switch from face-to-face to online events, will be communicated to participants in good time. Students are not required to be present at a specific location.
10.4 The participant is not entitled to compensation for any additional costs incurred.
11. Deadline for objections, remuneration and default of payment
11.1 Six weeks after receipt of the invoice by the student, the invoice shall be deemed to have been approved by the student, unless a complaint is made to German UDS within this period. German UDS shall make special reference on the invoice to the possibility of objections within the six-week period.
11.2 The student shall pay German UDS the remuneration for the degree program as set out in the Special Terms and Conditions.
11.3 The student's obligation to pay is not affected by the fact that the student does not start the course or does not attend classes at a later date, unless German UDS has caused the non-attendance through behavior contrary to the contract.
11.4 Timely payment of the fee invoiced for the degree program is a prerequisite for the student's admission to the degree program. German UDS is therefore not obliged to admit the student to the degree program if the student is in arrears with the payment of at least 50% of the invoiced fee.
12th German UDS learning platform
The German UDS online learning platform consists of several components:
- a system for processing and managing applications with a connected online payment system.
- a system for processing and managing students and their study progress.
- the actual learning management system with connected peripheral learning tools for semi- and asynchronous learning opportunities.
- an online proctoring system for monitoring online examinations.
- an online tool for checking plagiarism and (as far as possible) AI-generated solutions.
- a communication and collaboration system for the synchronously offered learning content as well as for the students' group work.
- an online tool for the collaborative creation of academic conference or journal papers, reports, theses, etc.
- a system for processing and managing alumni and maintaining communication with them.
Initial access to the tools mentioned is usually via the German UDS website.
Applicants who have officially achieved student status after successful registration will receive an MS365 account from us with an associated [email protected] address, which as an ID provider enables central access to all participating services.
All tools used are of course GDPR-compliant and are hosted on servers in Germany or comparable EU countries.
12.1 Processing and administration of applications
Before starting your studies, you must apply for one of our study places. We use a system from the provider Full Fabric, which enables us to configure individual application processes for the individual degree programs.
As soon as these application processes are activated and published, prospective students can enter all the necessary information and upload their documents in an easy-to-use process, where they can be checked and processed by German-UDS employees who have the appropriate authorizations.
The system used is available at the URL https://campus.german-uds.de. It has been possible to check the admission requirements since around March 2024. The actual application process has also been activated since May 15, 2024.
12.2 Processing and administration of students
As soon as the applicants have achieved student status after successful registration, we will provide them with an MS365 account with an associated [email protected] address, which, as an ID provider, enables central access to all participating services. Using this ID provider, students now have the opportunity to take the study modules and electives. At the end of the quarter, lecturers have the option of either importing students' grades fully automatically from the LMS or, in special cases, creating or overwriting them manually.
These functionalities are also provided by the provider Full Fabric at the URL https://campus.german-uds.de. The actual learning content is then provided on the connected learning management system.
12.3 Learning management system
We use the Open edX system developed jointly by MIT and Harvard University as our learning management system. Open edX has been further developed by a global open source community for around 10 years and is used at many universities worldwide. In contrast to conventional LMS systems such as Moodle, which are more suitable for hybrid teaching models, it is very much geared towards providing highly scalable, purely online learning opportunities. In addition to the provision of learning videos and texts, quizzes and various examination formats can also be created here. Particularly worth mentioning here are the peer grading options and the approaches for creating tasks that have to be completed in a team. The standardized LTI interface (Learning Tools Interoperability) can be used to create a whole range of other exercise and examination tools such as MatLab or so-called auto-graders developed by us for the automatic assessment of programming tasks. Tools such as a discussion forum are available for learners to interact with each other and with teachers. There are also plans to connect a digital twin of the German UDS premises. Further 3D applications, such as virtual labs, are conceivable in this direction.
The LMS is available at https://lms.german-uds.academy/ and is hosted on the servers of a GDPR-compliant and ISO 27001-certified provider in Germany. Access to the courses in the LMS is only possible for enrolled students via SSO using the MS ID provider or via the Full Fabric interface.
Another instance of this system serves as the basis for the open learning platform we operate with up- and re-skilling offers for lifelong learners. This platform is open to anyone interested in learning at https://german-uds.academy/.
12.4 Online proctoring tool
We use an AI-based online proctoring tool to ensure that students do not proxy themselves or use unauthorized aids during online examinations. We have been working very successfully with the provider, SMOWL, a Spanish company, since 2016 (then still on the openHPI platform). In a re-evaluation of providers in this area carried out by us at the end of 2023, SMOWL once again performed excellently in terms of price/performance ratio. In special cases and for special requirements, the connection of other proctoring providers is also conceivable.
Proctoring is integrated directly into the LMS in a way that is transparent to the learner. Further information about the provider can be found here: https://smowl.net/en/
12.5 Plagiarism detection
Submitted term papers, academic papers and theses must be checked for plagiarism. The understanding of plagiarism differs in many cultures. It is therefore important to establish a common understanding, to support students in recognizing unintentional plagiarism and to punish the intentional use of plagiarism. Of the tools available on the market for these purposes, we have chosen the market leader, which also scored best in a recent comparative study of several leading providers.
Further information about this provider: https://www.turnitin.com/
12.6 Communication and collaboration tools
In addition to the asynchronous learning opportunities, synchronous events are planned in various forms. Due to the international target group, which is potentially spread across all time zones, synchronous events that address the entire population of a module will tend to be the exception. As a rule, these events will address subpopulations of the modules. Examples include meetings between lecturers and individual students or groups of students on coursework, meetings between groups of students to work on team tasks and similar. In addition to communication tools, group work also requires tools for joint file storage or joint editing of files.
A final decision on which toolset to use here is still under discussion. Suitable options are Microsoft Teams or the Zoom Suite. Students can also use tools such as Miro Board or similar. Access is provided to students via their central German UDS ID provider.
12.7 Collaborative writing
Students are provided with an Overleaf account for the (collaborative) writing of academic papers. Overleaf is an online LaTeX editor. Templates for final theses can also be provided there.
Access is provided to students via their central German UDS ID provider.
12.8 Alumni administration
The Full Fabric System mentioned at the beginning of this article also accompanies students after they have completed their studies. Contact can be maintained via the Full Fabric System and alumni can be informed about new developments, etc.
Access is provided to alumni via their central German UDS ID provider.
System overview
13. Changes
13.1 The student shall be notified in writing of any changes to these General Terms and Conditions and the Special Terms and Conditions.
13.2 If the student has agreed an electronic communication channel with German UDS as part of the business relationship (e.g. the intranet, the extranet), the changes can also be transmitted via this channel if the method of transmission allows the student to save or print out the changes in readable form.
13.3 Amendments to these General Terms and Conditions shall be deemed approved if the Student does not object in writing or by the agreed electronic means. German UDS will specifically draw the student's attention to this consequence upon notification. The student must send the objection to German UDS within six weeks of notification of the changes.
14. Written form
14.1 There are no collateral agreements. Collateral agreements must be made in writing.
14.2 Amendments, supplements and the rescission of this contract must be made in writing to be effective. This also applies to the amendment of this written form clause itself.
15. Validity of German law
The business relationship between the Student and German UDS shall be governed by German law.
16. Place of fulfillment
The place of performance for the academic services owed by German UDS is the venue selected by German UDS.
17. Place of jurisdiction
If the student is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the contractual relationship between the student and German UDS is exclusively the registered office of German UDS.
18. Online dispute resolution
The European Commission provides a platform for out-of-court online dispute resolution (ODR platform) at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. We would like to point out that we do not participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer dispute resolution body.