Alan's comment: This is great stuff from a great guy in Dresden, thanks Vladimir for this!
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Hi Sutroforians, I’m Vladimir and I’m
currently on my second year at TUD. I’m here, along with all the other second
year students, to help you make informative decision regarding the choice of
your second year institution. I’ll split my impressions in two parts: academic
and non academic.
Academic
Course in Tharandt (where Forestry faculty
is located, 20km from Dresden) is relatively short one. It lasts until the end
of February, and after that you are expected to go to the tropical country of
your own choice to conduct fieldwork for your master thesis. There is no exact
period that is expected from you to stay in your tropical country, but I guess
anything below one month will be a bit suspicious (this is in comparison with
Bangor where is not necessary to go to the tropics and Copenhagen where you
should spend at least three months in the tropics).It is expected that you
defend your thesis until the end of August, but that is only because your
scholarship covers your expenses until the end of that month. Yes there are
SUTROFOR students that were defending their thesis in November.
In the course you will be having 5 or 6
modules (I know it sounds weird, but I’m still not really certain about this).
I can make some comparison with Bangor University here, since this was my first
year institution. Course at Bangor was organized module by module, while in
Dresden you are having all the modules at the same time. Deadlines were strict
at Bangor, while in Dresden they are more plastic. Here you will have to make
up your mind about your thesis pretty quick, and there wouldn’t be any of the
presentation of professors with possible thesis titles (again in comparison
with Bangor). You just say what do you want to do on your first presentation
(which will be in October) and then one of the professors will tell you who
would be the right person for your supervisor. Modules and lecturers vary in
quality; the best ones, according to me, are the ones from Urban forestry,
Economics, Biostatistics, and Biodiversity. The course is more based on classical
forestry with a mix between temperate and tropical forestry issues. For all of
you who have BSc from forestry will be a lot of familiar things I guess. Currently
TUD wants to achieve something they’re calling “excellence” which means, as
much as I could gather, that they’ll be
controlling themselves (instead of independent institutions) and then declaring
whether they have achieved “excellence” or not. A good thing in that mess is
that students will be having something to say about the quality of the study at
TUD. Use that right, if not for the sake of yourselves then for the sake of the
next generations. The bad thing is off course that it is only the student evaluation of the course, which means that there
is no guarantee that it will be taken in to account while making decisions
regarding your study.
Non-academic
Regarding your accommodation in Dresden,
you should decide as soon as you can whether you want to live in Student Halls
(Studentenwerk) or will you be looking for private accommodation. In first case
you will be able to reserve your place from June (I think) 2013. Prices of
Studentenwerk vary from 160-280 Euros per month (all utility bills included
except internet connection). Price of student accommodation has soared for 40%
in the last year, and it is expected to continue to rise further. Off course,
price will be higher if you are requesting bigger accommodation for your
family. You have also International Student Guesthouse that will provide for
accommodation (for a price) for maximum of three months.
In case you are looking for a private
accommodation the most important advice that I can give you is start on time
(at least one month before your arrival). There is a major website for looking
for flats - WG Gesucht
. Most of the ads are in German. If you know anyone who is leaving their
apartment, or have a spare room, that could make your life much easier. You will
be needing contract of your accommodation in order to register in the Municipal
office.
Transportation is covered by University,
but until you get matriculated you will not be getting your semester
transportation card, so you would need to cover your own transportation costs.
Weekly ticket for tariff zones of Dresden and Freital (where your Faculty is
located) is 27.5 Euros and is available from machines on most of the tram
stations in the centre.
There’s a lot of bureaucracy, so be patient
and be prepared. For all non EU students you will need you rent contract, in
order to open a bank account and to register yourself at Municipal office, and
then in the Foreign office in order to extend your residence permit. For this
you will need a lot of papers, showing them that you actually exist. EU
students do not need to extend their visa or residence permit but are still
required to register and open a bank account (for receiving the scholarship).
Dresden is a beautiful city, with rich
history, and a lot of thing to do whether during the day or during the night.
I’ve met a lot of great people here, and I’m proud of knowing them. However, as
with every city there are always dangers that most of us are not aware of.
Recent incidents are forcing my hand here, and I want to be understood in a
correct manner. This is NOT accusation that entire Dresden is packed with
racist. I come from Serbia and I could tell you a lot of things...a lot of things regarding dangerous
parts of Belgrade. This off course does NOT mean that you shouldn’t go in
Dresden of Belgrade for that matter. Every city in the world has dangerous
neighbourhoods. As you will not be having nice time in the group of hardcore
Lazio fans in Rome, or during the city derby in Belgrade, or during the riots
in any city that you choose, you will most certainly not have a nice time
facing a group of skinheads in the middle of the night. While in Dresden in 99%
of cases you will not be having any problems there are couple of incidents, in
recent period, where students of different ethnic and racial background were
confronted with violent racist groups, which were stopped thanks to the other
passersby. Also it would be wise to
avoid football games of Dynamo Dresden. Again Dresden IS a good city, the one
that has a lot to offer, but there are couple of idiots everywhere on earth.
Anything else you wish to know about second
year in Dresden, you can reach me on my e-mail (which Alan has sent to first years) or you can find me at SUTROFOR facebook page. I will be happy to help you in
any way that I can.
29/11/12 Dresden Vladimir Zindovic
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