All employees need an FU account in order to work /e.g. for access to centrally managed computers, email, Webex, administrative IT systems and use of the telephone). This account is not only used for authentification, but also provides authorization as an employee, granting further rights in some systems. 

New employees usually receive an email 1-2 days after signing their contract with a link to activate their account online. If this has not happened by the time you start to work, please contact your relevant department office. 

Employees who are also FU students need an employee account in addition to their student account, as the two accounts have different permissions. 

Once you have created your account and email address, please inform your relevant administrative office so that your account can be activated for the various institute resources. 

The my.FU-Portal is the central digital point of contact for FU employees. It provides

• access to the eISA portal > Self-service for employees to view personal data stored in the personnel system, retrieve pay slips, income tax certificates, social security certificates and housing allowance certificates 
• access to the service portal and its ticket system for reporting IT malfunctions 
• access to licensed software 
• access to webmail (as an alternative to the Outlook desktop app)
• access to the Blackboard learning platform 
• access to Webex 
• access to your personal library card 

and more.

A wireless network (WLAN) is available across almost the entire campus of Freie Universität Berlin. 

FU members and members of institutions participating in Eduroam can log into the FU campus network and use the internet via the "eduroam" procedure. The account data of the respective computer center is required for this. 

Conversely, FU members at the other participating academic institutions can also use the internet from their own mobile devices using the FU account details. 

Information on WLAN access for all operating systems can be found here. 

When you set up your FU account, you will receive a personal phone number and a PIN to log in to the phone at your workplace. You can find the phone number and all settings options (e.g. call forwarding and call waiting) in your my.FU portal under "Phone settings". 

For calls from your home office or if you do not have a phone at your workplace, use the Cisco Jabber softphone. Instructions for setting it up can be found here. 

Further information on all telephony services for FU employees can also be found here. 

After starting work, you must collect your electronic office key (transponder) either from your relevant secretariat or, after making an appointment, from the departmental administration office of the Department of Political and Social Sciences: 

Department of Political and Social Sciences 
Key issues 
Ihnestr. 21, 14195 Berlin
Room210
Email: schluessel@polsoz.fu-berlin.de
Homepage: https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/verwaltung/schluessel/index.html

Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 

The locking authorizations on the transponders can be changed at any time if necessary after consultation with your supervisor and the responsible secretariat. 

Important: 

• The transponders must be updated at the latest after 7 days at the so-called master reader on the ground floor of Garystr. 55 (to the right of the entrance door to the stairwell) in order to continue to be able to open doors. 
• The transponders only lock from Monday to Friday during normal working hours (7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.), but not at night, on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays!
• Only professors and security officers can apply for unlimited round-the-clock access. 
• If academic or other staff members need to be at the institute outside the above-mentioned hours for work-related reasons, e.g., if they are holding block seminars, workshops, or meetings on weekends, they can submit a special form to apply for temporary “access authorization outside building opening hours.” The application must be digitally countersigned by the applicant and their supervisor and sent as an email attachment to the department's key department.
• If you lose your locking transponder, please contact your responsible secretariat or the department administration immediately to have your transponder blocked.

Further information and forms for key matters can be found here.

Every FU employee has access to a personal drive labeled H:// and, if applicable, to the group drive for their respective work area labeled I://. 

Both drives are set up as standard on the desktop computers in the offices. If this is not the case, please contact your secretary. 

If you need to access the drive from another computer (laptop) or from home, you will find step-by-step instructions (in German only) on the IT FAQ page of the Department of Political and Social Sciences. 

If you need help, please reach out to your responsible office manager.

As an employee of Freie Universität Berlin, you can use the central, campus and deparmental libraries. You can find catalog listings via the Primo portal. 

To use physical media (registration in Primo required!), you can download your library card from the my.FU portal (Unfortunately, this does not apply to student employees. Please use your student library account to borrow items.). 

Annual leave entitlement is calculated on the basis of regular working days, and only these days must be deducted when submitting a request. Employees who work a 5-day week are entitled to 30 days of leave per year.

5-day week – 30 days of leave (UT)
4-day week – 24 UT
3-day week – 18 UT
2-day week – 12 UT

The full annual leave entitlement is acquired for the first time after six months of employment (waiting period).

If the contract begins after January 1, the annual vacation entitlement is reduced accordingly, but only full months of employment are calculated. Public holidays and December 24 and 31 are considered non-working days.

Important: unused vacation days can be carried over to the following year, but must be taken before September 30 of the following year. Vacation days not taken by the deadline will be forfeited!

The vacation request form for the relevant calendar year can be downloaded here (please note: there is a separate form for student employees). The form is then circulated between the applicant, the line manager, and the departmental administration and must be used for the entire calendar year.

Procedure:

1. Applicants fill out the header of the application form and check their regular weekly working days.
2. Leave the fields for total vacation entitlement blank. These will be filled in by the department administration when you submit your application for the first time.
3. Then select the reason for leave and enter the start and end dates of your leave. When submitting your first application, leave the “Remaining leave” field blank. It will be filled in by the department administration. For future applications, enter the remaining leave days here.
4. Sign in the “Applicant's signature” field and save the form. Your supervisor signs in the “Approved by” field. The form is then sent to the department administration at Urlaub-AU@PolSoz.fu-berlin.de. They check it, sign under “Noted” and return the form to the applicant. 
5. Important: only signatures created in the document with a digital ID will be accepted. To do this, click in the blue field "Applicant's signature" and follow the instructions. The document must remain editable!

Sick leave must be reported on the day of illness before the start of regular working hours by informal email to the relevant department in the PolSoz administration at Urlaub-AU@polsoz.fu-berlin.de. 

As your department (line manager and secretary) must also be informed, you should copy them in or inform them separately.

You can report sick for 3 days without presenting a doctor's note.

A doctor's note is required from the 4th day at the latest. Most doctors now only issue an electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU), which sends your data directly to your health insurance company, where your employer can access it electronically. Instead of receiving a paper certificate from you, the department administration only needs the start and end dates of your electronic certificate of incapacity for work (eAU). If you still receive a printed certificate from your doctor, please submit it by email to the above address and send the original to the following address:

Freie Universität Berlin
FB Politik und Sozialwissenschaften
Abteilung Krankmeldungen
Ihnestr. 21
14195 Berlin

Please note: Weekends and public holidays are also included in the calendar days. So if you reported sick on a Friday and are still sick on Monday, you must submit a doctor's certificate by Monday at the latest.

Return to work notification

On the day you return to work, you must send an email with the subject line “Return to work notification” (Gesundmeldung) to the above email addresses. The return to work notification is essential, as otherwise you will continue to be considered sick and the department will make inquiries.

If you have general questions or problems relating to IT, we recommend taking a look at the knowledge base on the new service portal: https://service.fu-berlin.de/servity/km/ussknowledgebasearticles/ 

This portal provides a compact and clearly structured overview of the IT knowledge available at FU Berlin, which can be searched using keywords.

If the articles there do not help you or if you have more specific questions, you can report a problem or submit a request via the ticket system on the service portal's homepage.

Freie Universität provides its own cloud service for all employees. “box.fu-berlin.de” is based on the Nextcloud service. With this service, Freie Universität provides a cloud solution that complies with data protection regulations.

You can access the service using your ZEDAT account.

The service can be accessed via the web interface https://box.fu-berlin.de or as a client. 

Here you will find instructions for setting up the Nextcloud client on your work computer under

• Windows
• MacOS

Features:

• Cloud storage and access to your data from anywhere, anytime
• You can share your data with anyone and make it accessible to everyone 
• High security and data protection, as the servers are located in Berlin at the TU Berlin 
• Calendar and contacts 
• Editing and viewing documents 

The central printing, scanning, and copying devices (“FollowMe” printers) can only be used with your own transponder. This must be activated in advance by the IT department of your department (your secretary will arrange this as soon as you provide them with your FU account after starting work).

Location of the devices

The central FollowMe printers are located throughout the university. In the Institute of Sociology, there is one FollowMe printer in room 322 and another on the other side of the hallway in the copy room to the right of the elevator.

Instructions for use

Before using the FollowMe printers for the first time, you must authenticate yourself once at one of the devices. Instructions for this can be found here. For each subsequent use, you only need to activate the device by placing your transponder on it.

On work devices, the printer is usually installed with the name “FollowMe” as the default printer. If this is not the case, please open the following path in your Windows Explorer and click “Enter”: \\drucken.campus.fu-berlin.de\FollowMe

All employees can send print jobs to FollowMe printers from their own work devices and retrieve their prints from any device throughout the university.

Scanning is only possible if you have been approved for the internal institute networks, as scanned documents are sent to the network address of the transponder owner.

Instructions for all processes can be found here:

• Copying
• Scanning
• Printing

The installation of license-free software or licensed offerings that are available through framework agreements with the FU is done by the IT department. However, this only applies to FU devices (private devices are not supported).

For this, the IT team only needs the inventory number of your work device and the username of your FU account. The inventory number is 5 digits long and can usually be found on a small sticker on the back of your device.

An overview of the software programs available from the FU, including download links, can be found in your myFU account under “Software.”

You can submit your request for installation of the desired software either by opening a ticket in the FU service portal or by sending an email to service@fu-berlin.de.

The software will then be installed automatically, or an appointment will be made with you for installation.

For the procurement of licensed software that is not available through an FU framework agreement, please contact your secretary's office.

To participate in external workshops, conferences, guest lectures, and, if applicable, to be reimbursed for related expenses, FU employees must submit a business trip request, even if no expenses are to be reimbursed.

The required application form "Application for Approval of a Business Trip" and helpful information can be found on the website of the PolSoz department administration, business travel department:

https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen 

Most forms are now also available in English.

The request must be accompanied by supporting documents relating to the business trip, e.g., the program or invitation. A business trip request can be submitted with or without travel expense reimbursement. In the first case, the estimated costs must be listed on the request form.

Procedure: 

• The person submitting the application fills out the form, signs it at the bottom left under "Signature of the traveler", and submits it to their supervisor (or the responsible secretariat) with a request for approval. 
• In the "Travel expenses" section, indicate whether and, if so, which expenses are to be reimbursed and how high the estimated costs, including per diem, will be (for more information on per diem and accomodation rates, see FAQ "Per diem and accomodation rates"). 
• If the business trip is combined with a private stay, please indicate this and the duration of the stay in the corresponding field in the form and remember to compare costs (see FAQ "Business trips in connection with a private stay"). 
• Finally, the application (either by the traveler(s) themselves or the responsible secretariat) with the attachments justifying the trip (program/invitation) is sent in a single PDF file to the business travel department of the department at dienstreisen@polsoz.fu-berlin.de. The department send the approved application back to the applicant. 

Important: For business trips lasting longer than 6 weeks, such as a guest stay at an external university, a business trip application is not required; instead, an application for secondment (Antrag auf Entsendung) must be submitted. For more information, see the FAQ “Secondment.”

1. Is it permissible to combine an official business trip with a private stay?
Yes. Under the Federal Travel Expenses Act (Bundesreisekostengesetz – BRKG), it is generally permissible to combine an approved official business trip with a private stay. The following conditions must be met:

• The official purpose must take precedence.

• The private stay must be declared and approved in advance.

• The employer (public authority) must not incur higher costs than would have arisen from a purely official trip – a cost comparison is required for this purpose.

2. How long may the private stay last?
The private stay may not exceed five calendar days.

If this period is exceeded, the trip will generally no longer qualify as a combined business trip within the meaning of travel expense regulations. In such cases, reimbursement of travel expenses may be reduced or denied altogether.

3. What is the required cost comparison?
In the case of a combined trip, a mandatory cost comparison must be carried out between two scenarios:

• A hypothetical purely official trip (without a private stay)

• The combined trip actually undertaken

Reimbursement is limited to the costs that would have been incurred for an exclusively official trip.

4. Which costs must be taken into account in the cost comparison?
The cost comparison must be complete and detailed. This means that all cost components must be included, in particular:

• Airfare (including all ancillary costs, e.g. baggage fees, seat reservations, etc.)

• Rail tickets (including reservations)

• Accommodation costs

Important:
The comparison must not be limited to the base ticket price alone. Especially in the case of air travel, additional costs such as baggage fees must also be taken into account.

5. What happens if the combined trip is more expensive?
If the combined trip actually booked is more expensive than the hypothetical purely official trip, only the lower amount will be reimbursed. Any additional costs must be borne privately by the traveler.

6. How are accommodation costs handled?
Only overnight stays that are required for official purposes are eligible for reimbursement.

Overnight stays during the private portion of the trip are not reimbursable.

In the case of a continuous hotel stay, it must be clearly identifiable:

• which nights were for official purposes,

• and which were private.

7. What about per diem allowances (meal allowances)?
Meal allowances are granted exclusively for travel days that are officially required.

There is no entitlement to meal allowances for days of the private stay.

For business trips and secondments, travel expenses must be submitted within 6 months of the return date.

1. Fill out the form

The form (also available in English) can be found here:

https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen

• On page 1, please enter all the details of your trip, as you did when applying for the business trip.
• On page 2, please list all the costs for which you are requesting reimbursement under “Expenses.”
• Please sign the form at the bottom of page 2 in the “Date/Signature of applicant” field and send it to your secretariat for final approval by the cost center owner.

Important information for filling out the form:

• In the “Advance payment/installment” field on page 1 of the application form, please enter either the amount of your installment payment or, if you have not received an installment payment, a “0” or a hyphen. Please do not simply leave the field blank. This way, the travel expenses office will know immediately that there was no installment payment and will not have to check this unnecessarily.
• In the “Means of transport” section on page 2 of the application form, please fill in all the fields that apply to you.
• Please also enter any amounts in foreign currencies in the original currency (do not convert to EUR; this will be done by the central travel expense office).
• Keep all original receipts for 6 months from the date of submission of your travel expense report and scan them. It is sufficient to attach a scan of the report.
• Important: please submit proof of payment (e.g., bank statement) for each invoice (including train tickets) to show that you have actually made the payment.
• If you no longer have a receipt for a specific amount, make a clear note of this under “Explanation of expenses.”
• You do not need to calculate and enter amounts for per diem allowances. This is done by the central travel expense office.

2. Documents to be enclosed

Please enclose the following documents with your travel expense claim:

• Approved business trip application (you will have received this from the business trip office of your department).
• All invoices and corresponding proof of payment
• If applicable, a cost comparison if the trip was combined with a private stay (see FAQ “Business trip combined with private stay”)
• If applicable, an approved request for advance payment (see FAQ “Advance payment”).

3. Format of the application

Please create a single PDF file in the following order:

1. Travel expense report form
2. Approved business trip application
3. Approved application for advance payment, if applicable
4. Invoices and associated proof of payment

4. Submission of the application

Please send the PDF to the department's business travel office at dienstreisen@polsoz.fu-berlin.de. They will review the application and forward it to the central travel expense office and the team responsible for the PolSoz department (Ms. Elisabeth Gruber) at 55@reisekostenstelle.fu-berlin.de. You will then receive the final notification of the reimbursement of your travel expenses from there.

• The current daily allowance rates in Germany can be found here.
• The current accommodation rates in Germany can be found here.
  • (see point 6. “When and how much accommodation allowance is payable?”)

Please also note the information in point 6 regarding higher accommodation costs:

"If the actual costs for the accommodation booked by the employee exceed the amount of EUR 70 or the location-specific price cap specified in the hotel directory, the unavoidability of the costs incurred must be explained and proven in each individual case. Increased accommodation costs are unavoidable, for example, if no other reasonably priced hotel was available or if a specific hotel must be used to carry out the business trip (conference hotel). Without proof of necessity, only €70 can be reimbursed in these cases. The prerequisite for full reimbursement of necessary hotel accommodation costs, including breakfast costs, is that the hotel bill is issued to the employer and the name of the business traveler is only mentioned on the bill as an overnight guest (employer-initiated booking).

• The current rates for daily allowances and accommodation allowances abroad can be found here.

If you need an advance payment for the expected costs (e.g., for purchasing your airline tickets) of your business trip, you can receive an advance payment for this immediately after submitting your business trip request.

This advance payment amounts to a maximum of 80% of the expected costs (which must be at least EUR 200) and can also be submitted before the trip has been approved (while the application for approval is still being processed).

You can find the form “Application for an advance payment for expected travel expenses” here: https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen

Procedure:

1. Fill out the form with the requested information.
2. Calculate the amounts (max. 80%) based on the specified costs and enter them in the appropriate fields.
3. If the advance payment is also to cover accommodation costs and daily allowances, please tick the box “Please include an additional 80% of the meal and accommodation allowances in the advance payment.”
4. Date and sign the form under “Signature of the business traveler.” You can leave the field “To the paying agency” blank.
5. Collect the relevant invoices and proof of payment (e.g., bank statements) and attach them to the application form.
6. Send everything in a single PDF file by email to the department's business travel office at dienstreisen@polsoz.fu-berlin.de.
7. The travel office will return the form to you after approval. With the approved application, your responsible secretariat can prepare a payment request for you. You will usually receive the payment within one week.

The remaining travel expenses will be reimbursed to you as part of the regular travel expense report after the end of your trip. For more information, see the FAQ “Travel expense report.”

For business trips from Freie Universität Berlin to other EU/EEA countries, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom, an A1 certificate is always required, regardless of how short the trip is (even for one day), as it proves that German social security law continues to apply and that no social security contributions need to be paid abroad. Employees and civil servants must apply for this document from their health insurance fund or pension insurance fund and carry it with them during their trip.

When you need an A1 certificate:

• Travel within the EU/EEA: (e.g., to France, Italy, Spain).
• Travel to Switzerland.
• Travel to the United Kingdom (UK).
• Regardless of the duration: even for one-day trips.

What the A1 certificate does:

• It confirms that you are still subject to the German social security system.
• It ensures that you do not have to pay social security contributions in the country where you are temporarily staying.

What you need to do:

• This information sheet on the A1 certificate for business trips provides clear instructions on how to apply for the A1 certificate. There is a separate application procedure for salaried employees and civil servants.

If you have any questions, please contact your local office.

In our wiki for lecturers, you will find a compilation of all important information for the start of the semester.

In the wiki for lecturers, lecturers in hte Master's program "Sociology - European Societies" will find comprehensive information on, among other things

• Performance requirements per module 
• Guidelines for active and regular participation 
• Guidelines for module examinations 
• Information on oral examinations 
• Information on Master's theses 
• Start of semester

Campus Management:

Newly hired faculty members will receive an email after signing their contract with a link to activate their FU account online. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your departmental office or the FUB-IT user service at service@fu-berlin.de. 

You can use this FU account to log in to Campus Management (CM) and Blackboard. 

Please note: To use Campus Management, your account will usually be activated by the key user of your department after you have signed your contract. If this has not been done for some reason, you will not have access to CM even if you have a valid FU account.  For more information, see the FAQ “I don't have access to Campus Management despite having a valid FU account.” 

For lecturers without an employment contract, the key users of the department will activate the corresponding FU account for use of CM. See also the FAQ “How do lecturers obtain an FU account?”

Initial telephone and personal support is provided locally by the PolSoz departmental office, which can be reached by email at studienbuero@polsoz.fu-berlin.de and by phone at 030 838-71822 and/or -63929.

Technical support is also available from the Campus Management Hotline at cm-hotline@fu-berlin.de and/or by calling 838-77770.

There is a very helpful Blackboard Wiki that addresses many questions and answers about Blackboard, such as

• I can't see my course on Blackboard - what can I do? 
• Students can't see my course on Blackboard - what can I do? 
• How do external sutdents get access to my Blackboard course? 
• How do I manually add students to my Blackboard course? 
• How can I merge two Balckboard courses into one? 

Unforatuntely, this Wiki is only in German so far.Therefore, please reach out to the teaching planning team of the Institute at lehresoz@polsoz.fu-berlin.de if you need help.

In the wiki, you also find the contact information for support.

In addition to the contact information provided on the IT service portal, you can also reach them as follows: 

Phone: (0)30/838-54900
Email: support@cedis.fu-berlin.de

You may not have the necessary permissions to access Campus Management. Please contact the responsible key users in the Department of Political Science and Sociology:

Lecturers and other external instructors require an FU account to use email or systems such as Campus Management, Blackboard, and Webex.

They will be created as lecturers in the system by the key users of the respective department and will then also receive an email with a link to activate their account. If this has not happened by the start of your employment, please contact the key users in your department.

For the PolSoz department, your contact persons are:

Yes, you may accept external students from other institutes/departments/universities or exchange students in your course, provided there are still places available in your course. However, priority is always given to students enrolled in the degree program in which your course is offered. 

External participants cannot be registered in Campus Management. At the end of the course, you will provide them with a signed certificate of achievement to submit to the relevant examination office. Students are responsible for submitting the correct certificate of achievement to you for signature. 

For your information: The relevant forms for students within the department and exchange students of the Master's progrm "Sociology - European Societies" can be found here.

Teaching evaluations are conducted at the department every three semesters for the individual programs. The Quality Assurance Department informs the respective instructors and oversees the implementation. Instructors receive a QR code and a link that lead to the evaluation.

Unscheduled (voluntary) course evaluation 

If you would like to voluntarily evaluate one of your courses outside of the regular evaluations, please contact Quality Assurance in good time (before the scheduled evaluation period).

More information and the relevant deadlines can be found on the department's quality assurance page:

https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/qualitaetssicherung/lehrevaluationen/index.html

Contact persons at the department 

Marvin Momberg, Verena Schulze-Knoll und Jennifer Nickel

Email: leva@polsoz.fu-berlin.de

For courses that can be booked via Campus Management, grades and attendance confirmation are issued by the respective instructors via the SAP system.

To register in the SAP system, you need an account at Freie Universität Berlin. This also applies to all lecturers. For more information, see the FAQ "FU Account for Lecturers". 

Examination results and attendance certificates in paper form are only issued to students who cannot (yet) be managed via the SAP system: 

• Exchange students 
• Students from other universities 
• Students in non-modularized degree programs

To issue examination or attendance certificates, please use the examination and/or attendance certificate (paper form).

With the new Panopto platform, lecturers and staff can record, manage and publish video and audio files for teaching purposes. Find out more here.

The institute has a license for Unipark.

If necessary, please contact the institute's administrative office. 

You can obtain an employer's certificate (e.g., for applying for parental allowance, daycare vouchers, residence permits, etc.) from your designated administrator at the central human resources office. 

The contact details for the relevant employees in the PolSoz department can be found here: 

I 1 – Team Civil Servants 
I 2 – Team Research Assistants

If you are an employee and wish to take on secondary employment, you are required to notify your employer. Civil servants are also subject to a general requirement to obtain approval for secondary employment; in any case, all secondary employment must be notfied in advance using the appropriate form. This form and all further information can be found here.

If you have any questions about filling out the form, please contact your responsible secretariat. 

You can generate a housing allowance certificate for applying for housing allowance yourself via your my-FU portal > elSA portal > Self-Service Employees. The document is valid without a signature or official stamp.