Tips for freshmen

Please note that the below information at the present is written with the Bachelors students of the Computer Science programme in mind. If you attend something else, please double-check the information!

Glossary

  • MFF : Matematicko-Fyzikální Fakulta meaning the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics in Czech

  • Matfyz : A nickname for our beloved school MFF. Most students after the first year will refer to it by this name.

  • ISIC : International Student Identity Card. Basically your student card that you can use to get a bunch of discount and enter university buildings.

  • SIS : Student Information System. The centralised information system that Charles University uses for course registration, exam results, credit checks, etc.

Resources and points of contact

When you run into difficulties or are not sure what to do, it can be useful to know who to contact and ask for help. Below is a non-exhaustive list of resources and contacts that may become relevant during your studies.

  • Zuzana Biskupová : Student well-being advisor. Contact her if you run into some issue and are not sure who to talk to.

  • Mgr. Jarmila Vágnerová : Point of contact from the Student Affairs Department responsible for Bachelors students. If your issue is related to the administrative part of your studies, she is the person to contact.

  • Mgr. Veronika Jonáková : Coordinator of Student Well-Being Services.

Enrollment and starting university

What is SIS and what can I use it for?

SIS, the Student Information System,

The Beginning of the Academic Year

At Charles University, each faculty determines its own start of the academic year. Usually at MFF, it is the last week of September or the 1st of October. The exact information can be found in the Academic Calendar

Food and groceries

Canteens

Visas and residence permits

If you are a 3rd country national, i.e, a non-EU national, you have the extra responsibility of making sure that your stay here in legal. Details can be found here

Passing courses : credits and exams

At MFF, we have a peculiar system for organising requirements to pass a course. It is in your best interest to learn this sooner than later as there is nothing more frustrating than not passing a course because you did not know the technicalities and potentially delaying your graduation!

Lectures, tutorials and exams

Your typical 5 credit course will have

What are C, C + Ex and MC?

On SIS, if you go into Education/Subjects and Schedule Registration, you will see something like 2/2 C+Ex or 2/0 C for every course. Let's break it down.

Behind all this complicated notation lies one simple concept - what is needed to pass the course? The first part of the notation A/B denotes the number of lecture hours and the number of tutorial hours respectively per week. So, 2/2 means 2 lecture hours and 2 tutorial hours per week, whereas 2/0 means we have only lectures.

The second part denotes the assessment method of the course. We have 4 possible combinations and their meanings are listed below.

  • C : Credit. You will fulfill this requirement by work throughout the semester in the tutorials of the course. The exact requirement vary course to course, usually some combination of homeworks, quizzes and/or projects. This is not graded. You just need to obtain it.

  • Ex : Exam. You fulfill this by taking and passing an exam, most often during the examination period at the end of each semester. Exams at MFF are graded 1 to 4, with 4 being a fail grade.

  • MC : The graded version of C. You do regular work throughout the semester but you obtain a grade based on how well you did overall.

  • C + Ex : C and Ex combined. Beware that in some courses, teachers may not let you take the exam before obtaining the C credit.

Examples

2/2 C + Ex : You need to do some homeworks and take quizzes throughout the semester to get the C component. After getting the C component, you need to take a written exam during exam season to pass the course.

2/0 Ex : There is no homework or quizzes throughout the semester. You just need to pass an exam during the examination period.

0/2 C : You just need to pass the C component in order to pass. Usually language courses follow this structure.

2/2 MC : You do assignments regularly and based on how many points you have at the end of the semester, you are given a grade.

Reference

Much of the content on this page was inspired by the Czech version of the same content here