Studying and working as a parent

If you are interested or would like to become a buddy, please get in touch with Carina Schropp:
schropp.c@stwno.de 

Contacting CampusEltern, more information about the meetings as well as suggestions and discussions are available in the Campus Eltern group in Stud.IP.

There are permanently installed changing tables in almost all university buildings. For breastfeeding or feeding, there are numerous places on campus that are equipped with breastfeeding pillows. You can find a summary of exactly which rooms are designated for this in the overview of changing tables and breastfeeding areas. The University of Passau's breastfeeding areas are certified by profamilia Niederbayern e.V. as a "breastfeeding-friendly location".

All baby changing and breastfeeding facilities as well as the rest rooms on campus are marked on the map.

The "Krümelkiste" nursery of Campuskinder e. V.

The crèche, 'Krümelkiste', is located on the campus grounds. There are two groups of twelve children each, aged from eight months to three years. Preference is given to children of university members, above all those of students. Registrations are accepted throughout the year. Please ask for a place in good time!
More information is available in the crèche's leaflet
Phone: +49 851 509 1930
Address: Innstrasse 47
E-mail: leitung-krabbelstube@stwno.de

Caritas Forest Kindergarten at the University of Passau

The Caritas Forest Kindergarten in Ingling, close to the University of Passau, is due to open in September 2024.

The forest kindergarten is a project of the University Executive in cooperation with the Caritas Association for the Diocese of Passau.
The realisation of this nature-educational childcare facility is an important building block for improving the work–life and study–life balance of our university members. 

There will be 20 childcare places for children from the age of 3 until they start school. Children of university members will be given priority, and any remaining places will be allocated to children of non-university members.

The regular opening hours will be Monday to Friday from 7:30 to 14:00. 

To make an enquiry or reserve a place for your child, please email us the following details at familienservice@uni-passau.de:

• The full names of both parents (given and family names)
• Information on both parents' relationship to the University of Passau: staff, student (please provide the matriculation number) or external/not a university member
• The full name of your child (given and family name)
• The date of birth of your child
• Your address in Passau or in the rural district of Passau (primary residence – "Erstwohnsitz")
• Your current contact details, including telephone number (mobile phone)

We will be happy to reserve a place for your child for September 2024!

The opening of the forest kindergarten in September 2024 is subject to fulfilment of the statutory staffing ratio.

Short-term childcare on campus for students

Daniela Leirich is a pedagogical specialist who provides short-term childcare on the university campus. This service is exclusively intended for student parents who have a temporary childcare shortage – especially if they are unable to organise childcare for their child for the duration of a class.
The maximum care time is five hours per child per week. The use of the childcare service is free of charge for students.
 
Please read the information sheet for details.

It is necessary to make a request as early as possible using the  online form.
 

Childcare for conferences

The Executive Support Unit for Diversity and Gender Equality provides advice and support for organising childcare during conferences and other events at the University of Passau. Please contact us by e-mail at familienservice@uni-passau.de at the earliest opportunity.

Other childcare facilities in Passau

You can find an overview of all crèches, kindergartens and day nurseries as well as information on vacation childcare offers on the website of the City of Passau [German content].

The State Justice Administrations have created the database for interpreters and translators which compiles information about the interpreters and translators who are sworn, publicly appointed or generally authorized in the individual states of the Federal Republic of Germany. The site provides an option to search for individual or combined features of translators and interpreters by name, location or language.

The Dual Career Service of the University of Passau supports the partners of newly appointed professors in their professional reorientation in the region. Further information can be found on the Dual Career Service website.

Every year, the University of Passau holds its Family Day on the Day of Prayer and Repentance (public holiday) in November. Thanks to the commitment of various institutions, professorships and chairs, a varied workshop programme is offered for school-age children.

By allowing employees to set up working areas at home, the University of Passau wants above all to enable employees with family responsibilities to organise their working hours flexibly. Working from home therefore helps to make family and work more compatible.

You can find more information on the page "Personal von A bis Z" under the tab "Wohnraumarbeit".

Every semester we offer an information event concerning study–life balance. Topics include the organisation of studies and questions of financing and more. The event also facilitates getting to know and connecting with other parents on campus. The dates are announced on the Family Service website, in our Family Service newsletter and on Instagram.

The University's refectory also offers a free kid's meal to all students' children up to the age of six. Children can choose a main course and side dish from the current daily menu and eat with their parent free of charge upon presentation of the parents' "Kinderteller-Mensacard" (Kid's Meal Mensacard).
The "Kid's Meal Mensacard" can be obtained from the MensaCard office in the central library in room 163 upon presentation of the parent's study certificate and the child's birth certificate.

The KoKi - Network Early Childhood is a nationwide network of professionals committed to promoting early childhood development. It offers parents a central point of contact for information and support on all aspects of pregnancy, birth and the first years of their child's life. The aims of the network are to strengthen parenting skills, coordinate support services and identify risk factors for child development and child welfare at an early stage.

A leave of absence in accordance with § 48(2) of the Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHschG) is possible in accordance with § 10 of the Matriculation Statute (ImmSa), provided that a written application was submitted in due time. A leave of absence can be granted if circumstances exist that entitle employees to maternity protection or parental leave. In this case, the leave of absence may exceed two semesters and is generally not credited to the subject semesters. Furthermore, during a leave of absence resulting from an entitlement to protected maternity or parental leave, students may make their first attempt at examinations (as opposed to other forms of leave which permit only resits to be taken during the leave period) in accordance with § 48(4) Bavarian Higher Education Act (BayHschG). After 25 ECTS credits have been earned during a leave of absence semester, the student's progress is advanced forward by one subject semester.

To apply for a leave of absence and to obtain further information please visit the Student Registration Office's website.
To obtain information on assessments for your degree programme, please visit the Examination Office website..

Students who are on protected maternity leave are entitled to extend the deadline for submitting written term papers, seminar papers or dissertations/theses. It is stipulated in each study programme's examination regulations that the protection period for mothers according to §§ 3, 4, 6 and 8 of the Maternity Protection Act (MuSchG) must be taken into account when calculating all deadlines according to the respective study and examination regulations.

In concrete terms, this means that if you become pregnant or give birth to one or more children when you are a student, the deadline for submitting a written term paper or thesis/dissertation will be postponed by six weeks for the period before delivery (§ 3 MuSchG) and by a further eight weeks after the delivery of one child or by a further 12 weeks in the case of multiple births (§ 6 MuSchG). However, it is always possible to take part in assessments voluntarily.

The double burden of bringing up children and studying is often a strain financially, too. There is some financial assistance to which you are legally entitled, and some which may be provided on a voluntary basis. Notable in this regard are, for example,
gifts from foundations or charitable associations, as well as financial benefits awarded in connection with special study achievements. You can get an overview of the individual funding opportunities from the Student Services Association for Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate and on the Women's Representatives' scholarship page.

Welfare Office

The Student Services Association for Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate's Welfare Office helps you to ease the balancing act between the lecture theatre and the crèche, between the library and nappy-changing table, and also helps to make studying and parenting more compatible. For any questions regarding social welfare, you can approach Ms. Tatiana Cerescu; she can also help with personal life planning.

CampusEltern

The Student Services Association offers pregnant students and those with children the opportunity for dialogue and invites them to meet once or twice per semester. We also invite all those interested in learning more about family policy at the higher education institution.

Kid's Meal Mensacard

In addition, the University's refectory offers a free kid's meal to all students' children up to the age of six. Children can choose a main course and side dish from the current daily menu and eat with their parent free of charge upon presentation of the parents' "Kinderteller-Mensacard" (Kid's Meal Mensacard). The "Kid's Meal Mensacard" can be obtained from the MensaCard office in the central library in room 163 upon presentation of the parent's study certificate and the child's birth certificate.

In the Student Services Association for Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate's Passau student halls, there is "mixed housing stock" consisting of single and double rooms. The double rooms are called "Doubletten" and consist of two adjoining rooms with a common anteroom and hallway, kitchen and bathroom. Parents with a child or children can rent a "Doublette" at half price; for the second room, the basic rent is reduced by half. In Passau, there are 38 "Doubletten" in the Donau-Schwaben student halls and up to five "Doubletten" in the student halls in the Bräugasse, which also features a large studio apartment. You can obtain further information via the Student Services Association for Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate website.

Nummer gegen Kummer e.V. is the umbrella organisation of currently 87 local providers of counselling telephones, mostly local associations of the German Child Protection League and other welfare organisations. The network is the largest free telephone counselling service for children, young people and parents in Germany. Specially trained and mainly volunteer counsellors support the callers and help them to help themselves with everyday problems and in difficult life situations.

Children's and young people's telephone: 116111
Parents' telephone: 0800-1110550

In order to make the services better known to young people with impairments, such as blindness or visual impairments, and to convey to them that it is good to seek help for worries and problems, Nummer gegen Kummer e.V., together with the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the Federal Government Commissioner for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities as well as associations, competence centres and self-help associations for blind and visually impaired people, has further developed the materials of the current school box.

The Parent-child corner in the refectory's conservatory area was ceremonially inaugurated on 14 December 2017 by Head of Administration Dr Achim Dilling.
It was designed for students, employees and their children to make visits to the refectory more relaxed and enjoyable. The area is also available to parents, children and above all breastfeeding mothers as a place of retreat outside of mealtimes.

Food can be heated up in the kitchen. There is a games corner, a travel bed and a comfortable couch. The room is locked. You can get the key for it at the check-out desk of the Central Library by leaving your CampusCard as a deposit. Anyone not affiliated with the university may apply for permission to use it from the Executive Support Unit for Diversity and Gender Equality.

Please send us your suggestions and wishes: familienservice@uni-passau.de

Student parents can park in the student underground car park, even if they live in Passau. If a child is under ten years old, the CampusCard will be activated upon presentation of the birth certificate.
Contact:
RGB, room 218
Rudolf-Guby-Strasse 3
See the regulations for using the University's underground car parks

A designated parent–child parking space has existed since July 2017 in the underground car park for students at Innstrasse 27/29.Map showing the parent–child parking space (labels in German)

116117 is the telephone number for the medical on-call service in Germany. It offers a central point of contact for medical help outside the regular consultation hours of doctors consultation hours. The medical on-call service enables patients to receive medical advice and, if necessary arranges a home visit or referral to an emergeny clinic. You can find more information on the website of 116117. 

Our campus pram is now available for short-term rental for use on the university grounds.
The pram can be used as a means of transport for one child or also asa twin pram; for example, for an infant and a toddler.
The campus pram can be borrowed on prior request from the Family Service of the Executive Support Unit for Diversity and Gender Equality. To borrow it, please send an e-mail to familienservice@uni-passau.de

The Psychological Counselling Service assists students of the University of Passau during their studies with individual counselling and support services, tries to make their integration into the university easier and helps them to fulfil the requirements of their studies well. Please find detailed information on the website of the Psychological Counselling Service.

Rainbow families are families in which at least one parent is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex and/or non-binary. These family constellations can come about in many different ways. For more information, visit the Family Portal of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. 

The Student Services Association for Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate's Welfare Office helps you to ease the balancing act between the lecture theatre and the crèche, between the library and nappy-changing table, and also helps to make studying and parenting more compatible. For questions about the Welfare Office, please contact
Zsofia Schnelbach, Student Services Association
Phone: +49 851 509 1900
Innstrasse 29, room ZB 238
94032 Passau
Germany
Office hours

Studying abroad as a parent? A study visit abroad is possible for studying parents!
On this homepage (in German), you will find important information about studying abroad with a child and can read about the experience of student parents.
When planning a study trip abroad with a child, the Academic Advice Service and the International Office of the University of Passau will assist you.

The University of Passau honours the achievements of parents who have been able to successfully combine studies and childcare with the "Studying as a Parent Award". This is awarded once per semester at all faculties to the best students with a child or children. The prize money is a one-off payment of 500 euros.

The University of Passau offers many working models. Parental leave, part-time work and flexible working hours are important elements of reconciling work, family life, teleworking and organised childcare. Career researchers can renew fixed-term contracts under certain conditions.

Tips for working from home (as a parent) (German)