Choosing courses

In this section you'll find everything you need to know about courses, course registration and ECTS / SWS.

  • Erasmus+, UK and SEMP students must take at least 60% of their courses in the subject area named in the Erasmus+/ UK/ SEMP exchange agreement. If the agreement is for more than one subject area (faculty-wide agreement), students should take at least 60% of courses in their major / minor.
  • LMUexchange students must take at least 60% of their courses in their major / minor only.
  • Erasmus+, UK, SEMP and LMUexchange students can take up to 40% of their remaining courses in no more than two further subject areas (example: 60% of courses in German Philology, 20% of courses in History and 20% in Political Science).
  • Therefore, all exchange students can choose courses in a maximum of three study areas.
  • If you have no previous knowledge in a given subject area, you can only attend introductory courses in that subject area.
  • If you are studying in a bachelor's program, you are generally not allowed to take master's courses (LMU will discuss exceptions to this rule internally).
  • If you are staying for a second semester, you should clarify your course program with your departmental coordinator in the latter stage of your first semester.

You can find a list of all the courses offered at LMU via the LSF portal (you do not need to be logged in for this), including seminars and lectures taught in English. You can search for courses for exchange students by checking the box “for exchange students”. Please note, however, that the field "for exchange students" is still in a pilot phase and can only be used to a limited extent. Currently, it mainly serves as a guide only. Courses for the summer semester are listed from the end of February/beginning of March, and courses for the winter semester from the end of July/beginning of August. Click here for instructions (PDF, 473 KB) on using the course catalog.

The course catalog will not be available by the application deadline. Therefore, please refer to courses from previous semesters for your application. It is still possible to update your Learning Agreement after you arrive in Munich. ECTS points are not disclosed in the online course catalog. You can find this information on the various department websites or via the departmental coordinators.

This overview of courses taught in English in the upcoming winter semester 2023/24 (PDF, 2,273 KB) offers you some orientation. It can, however, be subject to change.

This overview of courses taught in English in the summer semester 2023 (PDF, 2,064 KB)offers you some orientation. Please note that this is an exemplary list of courses and that there is no guarantee that these courses will actually be offered in the next summer semester.

Registration for courses

Please note that by submitting your Learning Agreement you are not automatically registered for the courses you have selected.

The registration procedure varies from one department to another (partly online, partly in person). Please refer to your department's website or contact the departmental coordinator directly.

European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and SWS (“Semesterwochenstunden”)

The number of ECTS (credits) depends on the workload of a course, based on factors such as the number of teaching hours (SWS = "Semesterwochenstunden" / "SWS", which means semester hours per week), number and length of written or oral exams and preparatory and self-study. 1 ECTS = 30 hours of work, 1 hour of work = 45 minutes, 1 SWS = usually 15 attendance hours of 45 minutes each.

Please note that the number of credit points per course is fixed. Hence you cannot obtain less credit points for only partial fulfillment of the course requirements. It is either full credit points or none at all.

Exams and papers are marked with grades from 1 to 5, the best grade being 1, and 5 indicating failure. In order to get a more differentiated evaluation, each grade can be raised and lowered by 0.3. The grades can be transferred into ECTS grades according to the following table:

ECTS gradeGerman grade
A1.0 – 1.3
B1.7 – 2.0
C2.3 – 3.0
D3.3 – 3.7
E, FX, F> 4.0 "n.b." ("nicht bestanden" - failed)

You can find more information on the grading system website.

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