University of Potsdam: an exclusive opportunity for students from the Department of Music

The Universität Potsdam | University of Potsdam (UP) was founded in 1991 and is the largest university in the federal state of Brandenburgamong in Germany. It has more than 20,000 students, and 10% of these are international. UP has been ranked 201–250th in the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings (and 151–175th in the Arts & Humanities category).

In 2018, the Department of Music from the University of Liverpool (UoL) and the University of Potsdam (UP) established a student exchange agreement that allow Year 2 UoL Music students to spend a semester at UP. UoL students can only study at UP during Semester 2, which corresponds to UP‘s Spring term (April 1 – September 30). The lecturing and assessment period runs from April 15 till July 15 each year.

About Potsdam

UP is located in the historical town of Potsdam.

Potsdam is the capital and largest city of the German federal state of Brandenburg. It directly borders the German capital, Berlin, and is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel some 25 kilometres (16 miles) southwest of Berlin's city centre.

Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser until 1918. Its planning embodied ideas of the Age of Enlightenment: through a careful balance of architecture and landscape, Potsdam was intended as "a picturesque, pastoral dream" which would remind its residents of their relationship with nature and reason.

The city lies in an area of interconnected lakes and is distinguished by a series of cultural landmarks, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany.

Babelsberg, in the south-eastern part of Potsdam, was already by the 1930s the home of a major film production studio and it has enjoyed success as an important center of European film production since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Filmstudio Babelsberg is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world.

For more information see Potsdam Wikipedia page and the Study in Germany webpage about Potsdam.

About accommodation

UP’s International Office will assist our students in finding University run accommodation or private housing in Potsdam. Further information via here (https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/welcomecenter/preparation/housing/housinginpotsdam.html) and here (https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/studying/financing-funding-housing.html). Note that there are trains and bus shuttles available to move around Potsdam and between University sites. Furterhmore, all distances are short and Potsdam is a cycling‐friendly city. We recommend that you deal with accommodations in a timely manner and that you also consider accommodation in the surroundings of Potsdam.

University Accomodation

UP has thirteen locations of University run accommodation. All consists of modern dormitories in direct proximity to the University. The costs are around 200-250 €/month. Students can apply for this type of accomodation (early in advance) here (https://www.studentenwerk-potsdam.de/housing/our-halls-of-residence/?L=1#/).

Private Accommodation

If you rent an apartment or a room, you must pay a rental deposit to your landlord. A deposit typically amounts to between two and three months' rent. Please contact UP’s Welcome Center early on so that they can support you in this process at welcome-center@uni-potsdam.de.

Although prices can vary, consider these process as a rough orientation for private accommodation:

• furnished room in a shared apartment: from € 450
• furnished studio: from € 550
• furnished two room flat: from € 750 (max. 3 persons)

Monthly living expenses

Monthly living expenses in Potsdam are estimated at 735 € (minimum). 

About the modules you can choose

UP offers a comprehensive educational base which is compatible with all subject areas at the Department of Music from the UoL. To simplify your choices, we created a summary table that shows UoL’s Semester 2 modules and corresponding modules that you can take at UP:  

The following modules are also available, and although they are not in UoL’s curriculum you can register for them: 

About assessment 

Assessments in the musicological courses (A-C) vary in forms that include writing exams, coursework, presentations, preparing discussions in class and written essays (4000 words or 2000 words in combination with a presentation). In creative practice the assessment can be a project, e.g. a performance and or a reflection of the performance. All assessments are marked.

Resits or retakes are taken two to four weeks after the lecturing period (Semester2: July 15 – Aug 15). If, for some reason, resits are not taken at UP alternative resit opportunities could be provided at UoL in one of two ways: 1) Offering students standard UoL resit examinations (where there is a cognate module); and 2) Where there is no cognate module, offering appropriate alternative assessment at UoL.

Credits

Each module at the UP (courses in their terminology) is worth 6 ECTS (12 UoL credits), with the exception of Creative Praxis modules which are worth 3 ECTS (6 UoL credits). Therefore, students have to choose a minimum of 5 modules to complete the required 15 ECTS (30 UoL credits) per semester (or more if enrolled in Creative Praxis modules). Note that UP modules involve 30 hours contact time (2h/week over a 15 week period).

Exchange availability for students in different programmes

Students in the following programmes CAN study at UP:

• Music 25%
• Music 50%
• Music 75%
• Music 100% (BA)
• Popular Music 25%
• Popular Music 50%
• Popular Music 75%
• Popular Music 100% (BA)
• Music & Popular Music BA
• Music Technology 25%
  • In this programme, students must take MUSI208 in the Semester 1 at UoL, and take Introduction to Media Technology at UP (which is the equivalent to MUSI243) in Semester

Students in the following programmes CANNOT study at UP due to the limited number of Music Technology modules at UP:

• Music and Technology
• Music Technology 50%
• Music Technology 75%

Grade conversion table