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Ausschreibung der Autonomen Tutorien

Dear fellow students

for the autonomous tutorials, we are once again looking for who would like to work together with fellow students for a semester on an academic topic of their choice and offer it as a tutorial. The tutorials are intended to provide a framework not only for students to set their own priorities in terms of content , but also to try out other forms of joint discussion. As the leader (alone or in pairs) of a tutorial, you will be responsible for developing an approach to your topic and structuring the weekly tutorials.

The application should be in the form of a concept (2-3 pages), stating why you are interested in your topic and what research interest you are pursuing. We explicitly do not require that you are already an undisputed expert. We would particularly welcome applications with an interdisciplinary topic, for example between technical sciences and social sciences.

Each tutorial is remunerated with 360 euros/month for a period of five months.

The application deadline is Sunday, March 10th, 2024.

On Thursday, February 1 at 5 p.m. and Thursday, February 15 at 6 p.m., two application counseling sessions will take place via the video conferencing tool "Senfcall". You can use the following link to participate: https://lecture.senfcall.de/mic-wun-xid-wdc

If you have any questions or need help writing your concept, please contact us by e-mailat any time..

The selection committee discusses applications from female* students before anyone else and selects all those who meet the selection criteria, thereby increasing the chance of getting one of the places. In this way, we hope to encourage more female* students to apply for the autonomous tutorials in the long term.

We will also give preference in the selection process to concepts from students who have not yet offered an autonomous tutorial. We are also happy to receive concepts submitted jointly by former and prospective tutors.

If you have already applied in previous semesters and have not been accepted, do not hesitate to apply again with the same concept.

We look forward to receiving your applications!

Criteria

The following selection criteria are decisive:

  • Selection is based on the topic and stringency of the concept submitted
  • The concept should clearly state the content and objectives of the tutorial. It should include a rough outline of the procedure, the theses and questions pursued, as well as a list of the underlying literature or literature to be dealt with.
  • Should meet current academic standards
  • Expected interest of students
  • Tutorials with a critical view of their respective discipline or reflection on the social context of the sciences fulfill our claim of wanting to offer an alternative to teaching, not only in terms of form but also in terms of content.
  • Insofar as the concept overlaps thematically with regular teaching content, it should differ in the way it is approached.
  • We make sure that the tutorials are spread across as many subject areas as possible
  • Please do not submit applications for language courses. We do not consider the autonomous tutorials to be the appropriate format for holding language courses. The AStA is campaigning in many other places for the lack of language courses and an expanded offer.

The following requirements must also be met:

  • Enrolled at the TU Darmstadt
  • Participation in regular meetings of all tutors
  • Willingness to support advertising measures
  • The tutorial can be led alone or in pairs
  • Only one application may be submitted. This application may can contain one or two concepts, of which only one can be selected.
  • for doctoral students: only without a teaching function at TU Darmstadt

Application

The application consists of the following documents:

  • Concept (2-3 pages)
  • Announcement text (max. half a page), preferably in German and English

The concept includes a detailed explanation of your topic and the focus, the topics, debates and questions that arise, as well as an approximate schedule. However, experience has shown that this is usually difficult to adhere to, which is why the focus should be on the content. We do not require you to be an undisputed expert. However, it is important to us that you refer to scientific literature or authors. We are also interested in why you are interested in the topic and what insights you hope to gain for yourself and the participants. Not out of curiosity, but because we believe that reflecting on your own relationship to the topic is of enormous importance and is largely ignored in the usual university environment. However, please do not mention anything that could allow conclusions to be drawn about you personally. Please also write a few sentences about how you envision your work, for example, what you think an ideal tutorial could look like and how you would like to work towards it. For example, it would be interesting to know how you want to integrate as many participants with different backgrounds as possible (e.g. by teaching the basics) without deviating too much from your thematic interests. This balancing act has been one of the most difficult tasks for many tutors in the past. Of course, this does not mean that you should have a solution ready. Please also send us an announcement text, to make it clear how you want to arouse students' interest. The announcement text may overlap with that of your concept, but should not so much justify your thesis as raise questions and make clear what research interest you are pursuing.

Here are a few examples of applications from previous semesters:

Responsibilities

If your concept is selected, you will have the opportunity to work on your topic with other fellow students for a semester. As the leader of a tutorial, your main task will be to structure the course of the tutorial and organize the group process. You will receive support from our team and will not simply be thrown in at the deep end. You will also be responsible for procuring literature and other materials. The tutorials are not linked to university courses and there are no credit points. Participation is therefore based on interest and voluntariness. Ideally, this results in intensive and highly motivated cooperation, which many students miss in some compulsory courses. A tutorial usually meets weekly in an informal atmosphere and discusses academic texts in a kind of reading circle. In the case of technical topics, for example, a joint discussion of technical procedures is on the agenda. If you apply, keep a date at 16:15 or 18:05 free for your tutorial if possible. In order to inform as many students as possible about the tutorials offered, the tutors are also responsible for promoting the tutorials (distributing brochures, presenting their tutorials in seminars, helping with online advertising).

 

↦ To the application form

 

The application documents must be submitted in anonymized form. Please make sure that your concept does not contain any references to your person, names or even photos. Simply fill out the online application form check your details and send it off. Only the title of the concept, the concept and your specified gender will be sent to the selection committee.

Contact us at@asta.tu-darmstadt.de
Since we as project coordinators are also part of the selection committee, please do not send us any questions relating to the specific content of your concepts.