(as at: 31 March 2022)
You can find further information in the following sections:
Information for Employees and Digital Services for Employees
Information for Students
Information for Visitors
Hygiene Policy
Dear Colleagues and Staff Members,
After expiration of the SARS-CoV-2 occupational health and safety regulation of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on 25 May, various measures taken to protect against infection at the workplace no longer apply. However, the risk of catching Covid-19 remains high in all areas of life and the University of Mannheim still has a duty of care as an employer. To protect the health of all university members and to ensure that the university’s central units remain operational, the following rules will apply as ofMonday, 30 May:
Hygiene policy
The hygiene policy of the University of Mannheim will not be extended. The general occupational health and safety standards will continue to apply.
Tests
Due to budgetary law reasons, the university is no longer able to provide its employees with tests.
Wearing masks in university buildings
The President's Office recommends wearing an FFP2 mask, or at least a surgical mask, in all areas where the minimum distance of 1.5 meters cannot be kept and recommends using disinfectants. Consultations should be scheduled in advance, if possible, and the minimum distance should be observed.
The university will provide its employees with the masks that the university has stored. Due to extended delivery deadlines, we kindly ask you to use your own masks as well.
Working on campus
Generally, it is now possible to return to campus for work and the telework agreement (Dienstvereinbarung Telearbeit) will enter into force on Monday, 30 May 2022. Working from home beyond the telework agreement is then only possible if there are not enough desks at the office, see the following section (Working together in an office).
Working together in an office
It is generally possible that two or more employees use an office at the same time, provided that the employees and their supervisor agree, the minimum distance requirement of 1.5 meters can be kept and the room can be properly aired. When agreeing to several employees working in the same office, the supervisors should take the protection of vulnerable groups into account and ensure that the university remains operational in case of infection.
If a suitable desk is not available and the nature of the tasks allows for it, it is possible that employees continue to work from home, beyond the telework agreement. The supervisors and employees can bilaterally agree on such arrangements.
Work events
Work events may take place on campus. The President's Office recommends that you keep the minimum distance or wear a surgical or an FFP2 face mask. It is still important to frequently air the rooms.
Business trips
Business trips are possible and are no longer restricted if there are no Covid-19 related travel restrictions in place.
We hope that these rules help you to feel comfortable when working on campus and we kindly ask you to take care of one another.
Kind regards,
Barbara Windscheid Prof. Dr. Thomas Puhl
Executive Vice President President
Dear colleagues,
dear staff members,
Most of the statutory regulations on infection prevention on the federal and state level expire on 2 April. However, the infection rates are still very high. The University of Mannheim has decided on the following regulations that will apply as of 3 April 2022 in order to protect the health of all university members and to ensure that the Schools and the university’s central units remain operational.
Wearing masks in university buildings
The President's Office still recommends wearing a surgical face mask or an FFP2 face mask in courses (not for teachers), communal rooms, circulation areas (corridors, kitchenettes etc.) and when the minimum distance of 1.5 meters to other people cannot be maintained. FFP2 masks provide a much higher level of protection than surgical masks.
Due to occupational health and safety reasons, the university’s employees are obligated to wear a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask, if the minimum distance of 1.5 meters to other people cannot be maintained. If employees are in contact with people not wearing masks, e.g. students, employees are obligated to wear an FFP2 mask or a mask with a similar standard. Consultations should still be held digitally, wherever possible, or by appointment and by taking the required distance into account.
Closing of the Classroom Pass Center
As of 3 April, participants in classes are no longer required to present 3G proofs. The Classroom Pass Center (CPC) will close on 2 April. The data stored will be deleted in accordance with statutory regulations.
Working from home
The interim regulation on working from home, scheduled to apply until Easter, will be extended until 22 May 2022. This means that employees have the option to work from home full-time if their superiors agree and provided that the nature of the tasks allows for working from home. We expect that the new regulations on working from home will come into force after 22 May, unless the Covid-19 occupational health and safety regulations still provide for the option to work from home at this point of time.
Please note: If required for work reasons, it is possible to work in the rooms available to the individual institutions on campus. As a rule, employees should work in an individual office. It is possible to jointly work in an office if the room is large enough. For more information on the framework conditions for jointly working in an office, please contact the Department of Safety and Security.
Work events (except for courses)
Work events may take place at the university’s premises, if the participants wear masks or the minimum distance requirement of 1.5 meters is kept and the rooms are aired frequently. If the distance requirements are kept and the rooms are aired frequently, the participants may put down their masks when seated.
An external service provider will set up a test center in the rooms of the Classroom Pass Center in the Arkadentheater (EW 086, Schloss Ehrenhof West). The test center will probably be operational on 9 April. Please use this additional offer to get tested regularly.
We hope that these regulations help you to feel safe on campus. Please watch out for one another and take care.
Kind regards,
Barbara Windscheid Prof. Dr. Thomas Puhl
Executive Vice President President
Dear Colleagues and Staff Members,
Currently, we are expecting that the mandate to work from home for employers and employees ceases to apply as of 20 March 2022 when the new SARS-Cov-2 occupational health and safety regulation becomes effective.
In view of the rising number of coronavirus cases, the University of Mannheim has decided to apply an interim regulation regardless of the new health and safety regulations that still have to be passed. Up until and including 14 April 2022 (Easter) employees have the option to work from home full-time. This is if their superiors agree and provided that the nature of the tasks allows for working from home. After Easter, the new regulations on working from home apply, provided that the health and safety regulations will allow this at that point. In case you are planning to work from home after 14 April, but did not submit your request yet, please make sure to do so. Please send your request via e-mail to telearbeit. verwaltung.uni-mannheim.de
All employees working on the premises will receive only one free at-home test kit per week as of next week. The number of test kits per person and week has been adapted to the new draft of the SARS-Cov-2 occupational health and safety regulation. We kindly ask you to consider this in your orders.
Possible changes regarding the 3G rules at the workplace are still being discussed. We will inform you in the upcoming week via our coronavirus website and on the Intranet. Please make sure to check the site proactively.
Kind regards,
Barbara Windscheid
Executive Vice President
Dear Colleagues,
dear Staff Members,
The new Coronavirus Ordinance of 8 February 2022 stipulates that contact tracing is no longer required for events. This applies to courses but also to all other events taking place at the university, such as work meetings. For you, this means you are no longer required to register for in-person events on campus via the Checkin app or by completing a hard copy form. The person running the event or meeting is no longer required to save the data of participants for the health authorities.
If you are working on campus, please note that you are still required to register your presence on campus via Checkin as the 3G status of employees is monitored via this app.
Moreover, contact tracing for courses is no longer required. However, all students are able to continue to register themselves voluntarily via Checkin.As the voluntary registration helps to speed up the process of the 3G status checks, the university continues to recommend a registration via Checkin. Students and teachers will receive detailed information on this in a separate e-mail.
Kind regards – and please stay healthy!
Your Task Force
Dear Colleagues and Staff Members,
The fall semester is about to end and this means that the Classroom Passes are about to expire. In the last few days, the Land of Baden-Württemberg and the Robert Koch Institute have amended some of the coronavirus regulations. These changes also affect the operations at the University of Mannheim. Please find an overview on the most important updates below:
Renewing your Classroom Pass
When the new semester begins, the Classroom Passes issued during the fall semester 2021/2022 will no longer be valid. What do you have to do in order to continue to work on campus?
Verification of your Classroom Pass: Starting 1 February, anyone who works on campus will have to have their 3G proof verified again at the Classroom Pass Center. To avoid long waiting times at the Classroom Pass Center, there will be a transition period for the renewal of the Classroom Pass. Please have your 3G proof verified on the first day you work on campus. This should be done by 28 February at the latest. Please note that in order to renew your digital Classroom Pass in the future, it will be necessary to store additional data (see “Prerequisites for renewing your digital Classroom Pass”).
Prerequisites for renewing your digital Classroom Pass: As you may have read in the media, the Robert Koch Institute has reduced the period of validity of the status as a person who has recovered from COVID-19 from six to three months. In addition, anyone vaccinated with the vector vaccine from Johnson & Johnson will only be considered to have initial COVID-19 immunization if they have been vaccinated the second time with another vaccine. Due to these changes, it will be necessary in the future to document your basic type of immunization (e.g. “recovered”, “vaccinated”, or “recovered and vaccinated”) and the date of immunization in order to be able to reliably calculate the period of validity of your digital Classroom Pass and adapt it to future legal changes. These important data are stored as sparingly as possible and will of course not be displayed in the Classroom Pass. When visiting the Classroom Pass Center, you can decide for yourself whether or not you consent to the storage of the above-mentioned data. If you do not agree to the storage of such data, you will receive a hard copy Classroom Pass with a validity period of 24 hours. In this case, it is not possible to issue a digital Classroom Pass.
Since we expect that Germany is going to implement the new provisions of the EU according to which individuals who have received initial immunization will no longer be considered to have been fully vaccinated after nine months, you have the option of having your booster shot entered in the system right now. This, however, is voluntary. This would have the advantage that you would not have to visit the Classroom Pass Center again after the new EU provision has been implemented.
All these regulations and options are intended to help ensure that you need to visit the Classroom Pass Center as seldom as possible in order to have your digital 3G proof adjusted.
If you have any questions regarding the renewal of your Classroom Pass, the team of the Classroom Pass Center will be happy to answer them via e-mail.
Start of the spring semester 2022
In general, the spring semester 2022 will be an on-campus semester, as already announced in the fall semester 2021/2022. Unfortunately, the development of the pandemic and the predictions for the current wave of infections require us to make some changes to our plans. The President's Office wants to ensure that classes can be held, but also wants to protect us all against infection. Therefore, the President's Office has decided that teachers may decide if their classes that take place until 8 April 2022 (that means before the Easter break) are held in person, as planned, or digitally. After the Easter break, in-person classes will be the standard and online classes will be the exception. Teachers and students have already been informed about this.
Vaccination appointments
The University of Mannheim wanted to offer vaccination appointments in the university buildings so that everyone interested could get their booster shots. Unfortunately, the demand for vaccination appointments was very low so that we were not able to offer the appointments. We will organize another round of vaccination appointments for students and staff members that will probably take place around mid-February. We will inform you as soon as we have more detailed information. If you are currently looking for a vaccination appointment, we recommend an appointment at the Rosengarten in Mannheim (for Mannheim citizens). On this map, you will find other options for getting vaccinated in Mannheim.
Please take care and stay healthy!
Kind regards,
Your Task Force
You will find answers to many frequently asked questions on this website and in the links below. If your question is not already answered here, please send your request to task-force. uni-mannheim.de
In case a student of your course or a person in your department/
Please also keep yourself informed about local measures in Mannheim and the state of Baden-Württemberg which go beyond the measures taken at the university. You will find more information about those in the Corona Ordinance by the Land of Baden-Württemberg, on the website of the City of Mannheim (in German) and on the website of the Sozialministerium Baden-Württemberg (in German).
Persons showing symptoms indicative of the coronavirus (particularly fever, dry cough and shortness of breath, headaches, running nose, sore throat) shall not enter the premises of the university. Employees with symptoms of a cold have to leave the workplace or stay at home until their symptoms have been checked by a doctor.
Should you notice symptoms indicative of the coronavirus in yourself while on campus, please leave ongoing events and classes/
When it comes to working in times of the coronavirus pandemic, the safety and health of our employees comes first. Safety at work is key in this regard. In light of the present epidemiological situation, this hygiene policy lays out the necessary measures that must be followed by all employees within the buildings, premises, and vehicles of the university. The regulations for our employees also apply to our students and all other members and affiliates of the university.
The hygiene policy is regularly adapted to the latest provisions and recommendations of legislation, ordinances, and authorities as well as to the corresponding measures taken or adapted by the university to contain the spread of the coronavirus and the influence of such measures on the restrictions that the university is subject to or has to implement.
In order to prevent possible further transmission,
Additional Tips
Additional tips on hygiene measures can be found on the websites of the Federal Centre for Health Education, BZgA (in German) and the Federal Ministry of Health.
Moreover, please stay up-to-date on the situation and inform yourself on the websites of the Robert Koch Institute regularly and consider the current information and recommendations.
In case of any questions, please contact the occupational medical service of the University of Mannheim. Please direct concrete medical questions via e-mail to amd. In case you would like a phone appointment with the physician of the occupational medical service, please send an e-mail with the subject “coronavirus” to uni-mannheim.debgm. verwaltung.uni-mannheim.de
The President's Office still recommends wearing a surgical face mask or an FFP2 face mask in courses (not for teachers), communal rooms, circulation areas (corridors, kitchenettes etc.) and when the minimum distance of 1.5 meters to other people cannot be maintained. FFP2 masks provide a much higher level of protection than surgical masks.
For occupational health and safety reasons, university employees are obligated to wear a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask, if the minimum distance of 1.5 meters to other people cannot be maintained. If employees are in contact with people not wearing masks, e.g. students, employees are obligated to wear an FFP2 mask or a mask with a similar standard.
If employees cannot be provided with an individual office, but several people need to be present simultaneously, the office desks must be set up in a way that ensures that employees are not sitting directly opposite of each other and that they can maintain the mandatory distance from one another. If this is not possible, employees should be separated by protective desk dividers or wear a single-use surgical mask or FFP2 mask. Appropriate organizational measures must be taken to guarantee that the hygiene and distancing regulations can be observed.
The university provides its employees with surgical masks and FFP2 masks to use at their workplace, in the circulation areas and the communal rooms. The masks have been checked by the university and comply with the quality requirements set forth in EN149.
For more information on how institutions can order these masks for their employees, please see the website of the Department of Procurement (in German).
Students are individually responsible for securing appropriate medical grade face masks.
Instructions on using FFP2 face masks Please note that you should not be wearing your FFP2 face mask for the entire work day. If you are wearing FFP2 face masks for longer periods of time, please plan on breaks from wearing the mask (e.g. every 75 minutes for 30 minutes) and ideally change your mask after two to three hours.
In case of any questions, please contact the occupational medical service of the University of Mannheim.
In order to implement the Hygiene Policy, the assembly and filling of permanently installed disinfectant dispensers at the main entrances to the university buildings will be organized centrally. In addition, Department IV provides centrally financed and stocked protection and hygiene articles (such as medical-grade face masks). Information on ordering can be found on the website of Department IV (in German).
On the intranet, you will find bilingual signs with behavioral rules and recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic. Please download, print and put up them up in your work area if applicable.
The three documents below will inform you about what to do in case you are tested positive for COVID-19 or if you as superior are informed that one of the members of your team or department was tested positive. You will also find a text template for communicating with the staff members. If you notice an extraordinary high number of cases, please get in touch with Occupational Safety and Health.
In case a participant of one of your classes notifies you that they were tested positive for the coronavirus, please take note of the following information on what to do next:
However, in the interest of all people involved, we would like to ask you to inform the other participants of your class about this confirmed case of infection as a precaution. This is of course, after you have got consent to divulge this information from the infected person. You will find a text template to communicate with your students at the end. In case your students have questions after reading your information, please advise them to speak to a physician.
Please inform the task force about the situation in any case and let us know, which class was affected on which day. You should also inform your chair and the dean’s office of your school about the situation. If you have any questions, please write an e-mail to task-force. uni-mannheim.de
Text template “Information for the students”:
Dear Students,
Today we would like to inform you that one of the participants in the class „___“ on weekday, date, was tested positive for the coronavirus.
Please reconsider whether you have adhered to the DHM formula (distance, hygiene, mask) during the class. Please make sure to test yourself regularly for the virus and observe the regulations on self-quarantine (CoronaVO Absonderung, in German). In case you feel unsure about the situation, please reach out to your doctor with any additional questions.
We would like to remind you that in case you develop symptoms that are typical for a coronavirus infection, you are not allowed to enter the campus and you may not participate in classes and events of the university until your symptoms have been checked by a doctor.
We kindly ask you to watch yourself closely for symptoms of a coronavirus infection and, regardless of symptoms, test yourself regularly. The Central Administration also recommends using the Corona-Warn-App of the Federal Government.
In case you have any questions to the university, please send an e-mail to task-force
uni-mannheim.de.Kind regards and please take care!
All employees working on the premises receive only one free at-home test kit per week. The number of test kits per person and week has been adapted to the new draft of the SARS-Cov-2 occupational health and safety regulation. We kindly ask you to consider this in your orders.
The university will provide test kits to all employees (including student assistants) who (have to) work on campus, either occasionally or regularly, and all those taking part in on-campus examinations. The (self-swab) test is voluntary for employees and does not replace strict adherence to the hygiene policy.
How do employees get their weekly Covid-19 test kit?
Per institution/
How to take the test
The Covid-19 tests provided by the university are at-home tests. This means that the tests will not be performed by medical professionals. You will receive the tests by internal mail. Please take the test at home and follow the instructions for use in the package insert. On the website of ZEIT Online, for example, you will find a video with step-by-step instructions.
When should I test?
After you have received the at-home Covid-19 test kits, we ask you to take a test once per week on one of the days you are spending on campus before you enter the university’s premises. If you test positive, this is the only way to react in due time and to prevent a possible infection of colleagues and students you might meet on this day.
What should I do if I test positive/
Positive test result: If the result of your at-home test is positive, please do not enter the campus. In this case, please stay at home or return to your home as soon as possible for self-isolation. To make sure that the result is correct, a PCR test needs to be taken. Please contact your physician or call 116 117. On our website on coronavirus measures, you will find more information on what to do if a team member tested positive for the coronavirus.
Negative test result: You may enter the campus. Please note that the test is not 100% accurate and provides results only for the moment in time that the test is collected. It is a useful addition to the hygiene policy, but no replacement.
Persons showing symptoms indicative of the coronavirus (particularly fever, dry cough and shortness of breath, headaches, running nose, sore throat) should not enter the premises of the university. In accordance with occupational health and safety regulations, employees are prohibited from entering the campus if they have symptoms typical of Corona or other colds.
If employees show symptoms of Corona while being on campus, we kindly ask them to leave the workplace and stay at home until their symptoms have been checked by a doctor.
Please note: Currently, the university cannot authorize any business trips to areas of variants of concern! Please find out before your business trip whether the country you are planning to travel to is classified as one of these areas (details available on the RKI website). This also applies to business trips that were approved before the area in question was classified as an area of variants of concern. Should the area you traveled to be classified as a high-risk area or area of variants of concern after your arrival, please contact thehead of Division Vimmediately.
Business trips to areas that are neither high-risk areas nor areas of variants of concern
The number of employees who are put at additional risk of infection on business trips is to be reduced to a minimum necessary to complete the task. In view of the pandemic situation at the destination, please check whether the business trips can be substituted by electronic means of communication or reduced to a minimum.
In cases in which it is necessary to participate in a business trip to a non-risk area for work-related purposes, an individual decision can be made upon request. For such an individual decision to be made, we need the following documents in advance:
For business trips abroad, we require confirmation from the traveler that he/
Please submit all relevant documents in due time and consider that the processing time for approving the business trip is two weeks. Please note that the general insurance coverage and the option for reimbursement are subject to the approval of the business trip.
In order to submit your request and in case you have any other questions regarding business trips, please contact the travel expenses office of Division V via e-mail, if possible.
Business trips to high-risk areas
Business trips to so-called high-risk areas are currently not admissible at all (please see the list of high-risk areas and areas of variants of concern, information on international risk areas of the Federal Foreign Office, Ministry of Health and Ministry of the Interior and the Covid-19 dashboard of the RKI). This also applies to business trips that have been approved before the area in question was classified as an high-risk area. In case as the area you traveled to is classified as an high-risk area after your arrival, please contact the head of Division V immediately.
Please keep informed about the development of the coronavirus pandemic at your destination during your business trip. Please also take note of the information provided by the Federal Foreign Office, the Robert Koch Institute and the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Mandatory testing and quarantine
Please note and observe the current regulations for entry to or return to Baden-Württemberg (CoronaEinreiseV) regarding mandatory testing and quarantine.
What this means for you: Please do not come back to the university until you have fully complied with the regulations on entry or return (please see above) and especially if you are required to quarantine yourself. Should you have questions regarding retuning to your workplace at the University of Mannheim, please contact the head of Division V (from home).
Cancellation fees
Due to the current situation, we recommend that you only make bookings that are refundable in the event of cancellation. In case the organizer cancels the event due to the pandemic (please include proof), the cancellation fees, e.g. for hotel, train, flight or attendance fees, are refundable with the business travel expense report. The traveler needs to prove that they have made an effort to get a cost-neutral cancellation.
Voucher refund
Various transport companies are forced by the coronavirus regulations to cancel planned business trips and are now offering refunds in form of vouchers instead of monetary reimbursement. In general, the University of Mannheim does not accept vouchers issued as reimbursement. Please do not accept a voucher before you get in touch with out travel expenses office. Your contact is Diana Lechner.
To enable teachers and employees at the University of Mannheim to work well together in times of home office and hybrid teaching, the University IT (UNIT) provides a range of digital services:
You can book advising appointments with the staff members of the administration via phone, e-mail or Microsoft Teams. Booking virtual meetings with several persons is also possible.
Online appointments
You have the option to book appointments with the responsible advisors online. You can find a link to book appointments online in the contact information of the respective contact person. For matters regarding student affairs, it is possible to book appointments on the web pages of Division II. For matters regarding human resources or other topics of Division V, you can send appointment requests via the intranet page of Division V. Persons who are not employed at the university can use the online contact form on the web page of Division V to get in touch. For infection control reasons and due to the room conditions, these appointments will primarily take place via MS Teams or telephone. In special cases, appointments may also be possible in person.
Signing contracts
Wherever possible, contracts will be concluded either electronically or by (internal) mail. If this is not possible, for instance in the case of employment contracts, you will receive an individual appointment in person.
Requesting certificates
The Central Administration are happy to send you confirmations and certificates either electronically or by (internal) mail.
Submitting documents
You can send files and documents either electronically or, if an original is required, by (internal) mail to the Central Administration.
Janitor
All janitors are working during their regular working hours and can be contacted as usual.
Reception Desk
The Reception Desk at the main entrance is occupied by two persons at all times (24 hours / 7 days a week). In case of any questions or problems, please contact the hotline of the Reception Desk by calling 181-1110.
Technical Equipment
All technical equipment and systems can be used as in times before the start of the pandemic.
Ventilation systems
All measures of the University of Mannheim aim at minimizing the risk of infection and stopping the further spread of the coronavirus. However, it is impossible to guarantee full protection. According to the latest scientific knowledge, the coronavirus is primarily transmitted through droplets. Airing generally reduces the risk of infection through aerosols and therefore plays a vital role in our concept to slow the spread of the coronavirus. For this reason, we recommend to air rooms frequently with as much fresh outdoor air as possible.
At the University of Mannheim, all commonly used rooms and offices can at least be aired by manually opening the windows. Larger rooms with a possible seating capacity of more than 50 persons are usually equipped with a ventilation system. When using such large rooms, ventilation systems (RLT systems) are absolutely necessary from a hygiene and energetic point of view to fulfill the legal requirements.
RLT systems ensure a high level of safety, because they purify the incoming air from outside with filters to separate small particles. As a result, the secure supply of purified air in an RLT system dilutes possible contaminations and lowers the number of viruses in a room. Furthermore, special zones and pressure controls ensure that contaminants from outgoing air of a room cannot spread throughout the whole building. In addition, RLT systems can be operated in every weather condition.
Find more information on the RLT ventilation system on the intranet.
In order to minimize the risk of infection, the university management has instructed all superiors to make sure the adopted measures are implemented in their respective divisions and departments. Implementation of the measures must be documented. The form for risk assessment, which you can find on the intranet, is intended to be a checklist for superiors and is to support help them fulfill their responsibility in this regard.
The necessary measures that superiors need to implement before their employees return to the workplace include a safety training regarding the fundamentals of the hygiene policy. The safety training needs to take place on the employees’ first day back at their offices at the latest. Participation in the online safety training needs to be documented by means of a signature and needs to be forwarded to the superior. Please find the respective form on the intranet.
Currently, the mandate to work from home for employers and employees ceased to apply as of 20 March 2022 when the new SARS-Cov-2 occupational health and safety regulation became effective.
In view of the high number of coronavirus cases, the University of Mannheim has decided to apply an interim regulation regardless of the health and safety regulations. Up until and including 25 May 2022 employees have the option to work from home full-time. This is if their superiors agree and provided that the nature of the tasks allows for working from home.
The current SARS-Cov-2 occupational health and safety regulation of the federal government that recommends working from home amongst other things is expected to expire on 25 May 2022. However, as the rate of infections remains very high, the President’s Office plans to extend the hygiene policy of the University of Mannheim until further notice. This means that the option to mostly work from home remains in place after 27 May 2022. This is to protect risk groups from a possible infection and to ensure that the university can keep operating. Approval of the option to work from home remains with the respective superiors. In case more than one person works in an office at the university, please make sure the room is aired properly and keep a safety distance of 1.5 meters at all times. You will receive more detailed information as soon as possible via e-mail.
The new Coronavirus Ordinance of 8 February 2022 stipulates that contact tracing is no longer required for events. This applies to courses but also to all other events taking place at the university, such as work meetings. For you, this means you are no longer required to register for in-person events on campus via the Checkin app or by completing a hard copy form. The person running the event or meeting is no longer required to save the data of participants for the health authorities.
Spring Semester 2022
The current pandemic situation requires us to change our plans for the spring semester 2022. In general, the spring semester 2022 will be an on-campus semester, as already announced in the fall semester 2021/2022. Upon consultation with the deans for student affairs and the student representatives, the President's Office has decided to make the following adjustments:
We want to ensure that classes can be held, but we also want to protect us all against infection. Classes that take place until 8 April 2022 may be held in person or digitally. The teachers will take the individual framework conditions (type of class, number of participants, room situation, infection rates and quarantine situation among the participants) into account when deciding if the class will be held on campus or digitally. They will inform you if there are changes to the plan for your class. As of 25 April 2022, classes will generally be held on campus again.
With the return to on-campus classes, examinations will also take place on campus. However, individual examinations can take place online. Your examiner will inform you of the exam form at the time of registration in spring 2022 at the latest.
Please note:
However, if infection rates rise in the fall, it is generally possible that the measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus will be adapted on the state level. If there are any changes in the legal or factual situation, we will inform you as soon as possible.
On their website, the Department of Gender Equality and Social Diversity has compiled a number of useful links on various topics – all of them are related to the issue of reconciling family and career or family and studies during the coronavirus crisis.
The flexible working hours remain unchanged until further notice so that employees can work between 5 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The requirement to avoid personal contact set forth in the Corona-ARbSchV applies to all work events (such as departmental meetings, research meetings). Meetings of statutory bodies of the University of Mannheim, or other work-related events may be held in person, if there is an operational or official necessity. A decision on whether a work-related event shall be held in person or online must be made carefully and in consideration of the general pandemic situation (incidence levels, etc.). For further information, please see point 7 of the hygiene policy.
Approval of operational necessity
Operational necessity is, for example, if a research meeting in person is deemed as important and necessary and cannot be replaced by an online meeting for lack of quality of said online meeting.
The operational necessity is checked and an event must be approved by
If an event is approved, the following requirements must be fulfilled:
The room must be aired intensively and frequently.
To keep the groups as small as possible, guests are to join meetings via video or telephone conference.
The rooms in which the meetings are held are sanitized by the cleaning services according to the respective cleaning policy in place.
The university post office is open at the usual opening hours (find more information on the intranet). You do not need to make an appointment in advance. Please maintain the mandatory distance when picking up your mail and wait in front of the post office in case a colleague is already inside.
In case a staff member must go into an ordered quarantine, the respective staff member should work from home/
Employees lose their claim for compensation if they are not vaccinated (exception: being younger than 18 years old or not being able to get vaccinated due to medical reasons) or if they went on an avoidable trip to an area that was already classified as a risk area on the starting date of that trip and this is the reason why they must quarantine.
Civil servants lose their claim for renumeration during a quarantine if they are responsible for the reason why they must quarantine. Since getting vaccinated is not compulsory, a person is responsible for a quarantine if they behave in a risky way, for example if they travel to a high-risk area without valid reason.
In case a staff member is ordered to quarantine, the employer who is represented by the Human Resources department must evaluate if the claim for compensation/
Please note that the claim for compensation/
Private trips to risk areas
It is your private decision if you travel to a risk area in your private time. However, please note that you must comply with the prevailing regulations for mandatory testing and quarantine according to the decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs on quarantine measures for entering and returning to the Land of Baden-Württemberg in order to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (CoronaVO EQ) when you return to Baden-Württemberg from private trips. The relevant regulations are available here (in German).
Please bear in mind that you have to check with your superior/
In this context, we would like to point out that we cannot grant you paid leave while you are in mandatory quarantine, since this absence is based on your private decision. For this reason, you have to check with your superior/
In cases of doubt, please contact the head of Division V.
Please inform yourself about the development of the coronavirus pandemic in your destination and about possible travel restrictions before and during your private trip. Please also take note of the information from the Federal Foreign Office, the Robert Koch Institute and the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Should the coronavirus situation worsen during your private trip and the region or country that you are in is classified as a risk area after you arrive, you must observe the current regulations for entering and returning to Baden-Württemberg. Should you have questions regarding retuning to your workplace at the University of Mannheim, please contact the head of Division V (from home).
Events that are neither work-related events nor courses and that are organized by external persons not belonging to the University of Mannheim may take place under the conditions set forth in the Corona Ordinance (CoronaVO) or in a general ordinance of the City of Mannheim.
Such events are approved upon request by
Catering can be offered under the conditions set forth in the Information Sheet on Event Catering at the University of Mannheim, if the minimum distance can be maintained. The university’s regulations for the allocation of rooms remain unaffected. Organizers of an event need a hygiene concept that covers at least the standards set forth by the hygiene policy of the University of Mannheim.
Our guidelines for a fair interview process during the coronavirus pandemic are available on the intranet.
Please find answers to frequently asked questions about the current study and teaching conditions as well as all important information on the website Coronavirus: Information for Students.
Up-to-date information on the opening of the library can be found on the website of the university library.