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Division 8.1 – Academic Employees and Assistants

Division 8.2 – Technical and Administrative Employees

Travel and visits from abroad

The legal requirements relating to travel are being continuously updated. The German Ministry of Health (BMG) has issued a Coronaeinreiseverordnung (CoronaEinrVO for short, Coronavirus Entry Ordinance in English) in addition to the Coronavirus Entry Ordinance of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Ministry’s Ordinance also contains specifications on reporting, testing, and self-isolation obligations when entering Germany from abroad. In addition to risk areas, the Ordinance also designates current areas with high infection rates and areas in which virus variants are present. Further information is available on the website of the Robert Koch Institute: RKI risk areas.

The following still applies as a basic principle: As soon as an individual exhibits COVID-19 symptoms, they are banned from entering the RWTH premises with immediate effect. Business and private travel is strongly discouraged for all individuals. If, however, an employee goes on a trip, the Crisis Management Team and University Management request that the individual finds out about the classification of the travel destination and the currently applicable reporting, testing, and isolation obligations there well ahead of time. Division 8.3 is happy to advise employees on this matter.

Exemptions for cross-border commuters and individuals entering the country from a risk area for urgent work-related reasons or because of their training or studies continue to apply. In case of doubt, employees should contact the responsible health department. Individuals who are subject to mandatory testing are not allowed to enter the RWTH premises until they have received (negative) test results.

If a certificate is required for absolutely necessary and urgent travel to an employee’s country of origin, the following departments will be happy to help:

• Division 2.1 for students
• Human resources departments for employees
• Division 2.2 for guests, visitors, service providers, etc.

RKI risk areas
CoronaEinrVO – NRW
CoronaEinreiseV – BMG

Until further notice

Duty to report infections of University members

Cases of infection of University members are immediately to be reported to the University Medical Center at +49 0241 80 94444 ("Hochschulärztliche Einrichtung")

Until further notice

Contact tracing

The immense workload the municipal health departments are dealing with now due to the large number of recent coronavirus infections has resulted, in many cases, in delays in the departments’ contact tracing efforts. For this reason, all RWTH members who have been classified as category 1 contact persons are not permitted to enter the RWTH premises for the duration of the usual quarantine period. All RWTH employees concerned shall work from home during this period. If you are uncertain about whether you may be classified as a category 1 contact person, the University Medical Center will be happy to advise you in this regard. Furthermore, you should also get in touch with the local health department.

Important Note for Employees and Students Living in the District of Heinsberg:
The local health department no longer issues quarantine orders for category 1 contact persons in all cases. If there is reliable information, however, that employees and students are to be classified as category 1 contact persons, they are not permitted to enter the RWTH premises for the usual quarantine period. All employees concerned are asked to work from home office during this period.
If there are any uncertainties regarding the classification as a category 1 contact person, the University Medical Center will be happy to advise you.

Quarantäneverordnung NRW

Until further notice

Work from home arrangements

• Since December 16, 2020 all employees who can work from home must do so, even if this results in quality losses.

• Exceptions to this rule may only be granted for good reasons, in particular for activities that secure the infrastructure of RWTH or for experiments in the university institutions. The respective managers are responsible for objectively and closely interpreting this regulation and ultimately deciding how to implement it.

• If employees have questions regarding the organization of working hours and childcare, the human resources departments will be happy to help. The federal government has also announced it will provide additional offers for this group of employees. As soon as new information is available, we will, of course, announce them. Further information on the Blog.

Until further notice

Study and reading rooms

All study spaces and reading rooms will be closed from Saturday, October 31, 2020.

Until further notice

University Library

The University Library and the Medical Library are open for the loan and return of books and other items. However, these services are only available to students and staff who need to prepare for exams for which a date has been set. Access is limited to two individuals at any one time – please note that this may lead to longer waiting times. The libraries are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm.

RWTH students and staff can order books and other items from the Central University Library, University Library 2, the Central Textbook Collection, the Center of Patents and Standards PNZ, and the Medical Library using the KatalogPlus online catalogue. The ordered media can then be collected from the checkout desk on the ground floor of the Central Library and from the Medical Library.

Special restrictions on in-person advising services

In principle, in-person advising services can be available again as long as the special hygiene measures are observed. We strongly recommend contacting the respective service point by phone or email beforehand to find out what the measures and conditions are and to then arrange an appointment if possible.

Until further notice

Written exams

All in-person classroom teaching activities (including written exams and exam reviews) will be suspended from December 16, 2020. If possible and reasonable, instructors can offer virtual formats instead.

Until further notice

Work meetings

Work meetings may now only be held in person if absolutely necessary and only absolutely necessary participants may attend. All attendees must wear their masks and adhere to the known hygiene regulations throughout. Please note that currently most employees are obligated to work from home.

The current applicable minimum distance between individuals must be maintained during all activities. If this is not possible, the activity may only be carried out under application of compensation measures previously agreed with Occupational Safety.

Please also refer to the guidelines on how to conduct job interviews (de).

Until further notice

Regulations on events

The Rectorate has decided to put special regulations in place for hosting events, which are in force until the end of the 2020/21 winter semester.

Such events include, in particular:

• First-semester student events (Bachelor's students)
• Classes for students in higher semesters (Bachelor) and Master's students
• Work meetings
• Conferences, symposia, etc.
• Cultural events and events not explicitly regulated by the Corona Protection ordinance ("CoronaSchVO")
• Community events
• Events hosted by third parties

However, due to the lockdown measures, these events cannot take place at this time. As soon as it will be possible again to hold in-person events, the present guidelines will be updated.

Special regulations are also in place for internships and lab courses as well as excursions:

• Guidelines in the Area of Teaching , see Lab Courses and Practical Training
• Guidelines on Holding Excursions

Due to the current lockdown and the attendant regulations, the following provisions apply:

• All in-person classroom teaching activities (particularly lab courses, written examinations, and exam reviews) will be suspended from December 16, 2020. If possible and reasonable, instructors can offer virtual formats instead. We would also urge the exam boards to find solutions that help students progress with their degree programs.
• All virtual teaching and exam offerings that have already been planned will continue during this time.

Public events (congresses/conferences, cultural offers as well as third-party events) may no longer be held on RWTH premises as of Saturday, October 31, 2020.

University Sports

All sports operations have been suspended. This applies to all offerings of the University Sports Center (HSZ) without exception. This means all sports halls, the cage soccer facilities, the all-weather pitch, the wood chip track, the running tracks, the natural grass pitch, the outdoor fitness facilities, the RWTH Gym, the sauna, as well as the changing rooms and sanitary facilities will be closed.

The date for resuming operations and opening registration for the 2020/21 Winter Semester will depend on future developments and will be announced on the HSZ Website at short notice.

Until further notice