First-Year Students Tutorial (EsTut) is a project designed to support first-year students studying physics. Its aim is to make it easier for you to get started with your studies. It is run throughout Austria and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Austrian Federal Representation of Students (ÖH).

Already during the first week of your physics studies - after a course such as Experimental Physics 1 or Introduction to Mathematical Methods - you will hear from us, the Study Representatives for NaWi Physics (also known as BaGru Physik), for the first time. You will then be assigned to an EsTut-group. We will, of course, try to take any preferences regarding group members into account. The EsTut-groups not only include other new first-year students, but also tutors who are in different semesters of their physics studies and will accompany you during the first few months of your studies.

Advantages of active participation in EsTut:

• Easier “settling in” at the university and explanations about everyday student life (e.g., what to expect from Prof. XY)
• Formation of study groups- promotes cohesion, makes it easier to get started
• Contact with students in higher semesters, who will also support you with your first exercise sheets
• Getting to know the two university campuses (study areas, lecture halls, coffee machines, places to eat)  
• Help getting started in the city of Graz (activities, sights, parks, restaurants, nightlife, etc.)

EsTut is completely voluntary and is offered by students for students, but our experience shows that participation is definitely worthwhile!

Seminar

To help new and existing tutors plan their respective EsTut, there is a preparatory seminar that lasts a weekend. This year, it will take place in September and will be held in collaboration with the STV Mathematics (SIGMA). The costs for accommodation and meals are covered by the Ministry of Education, but this also means that the number of participants is limited – a registration list will be posted on the BaGru door starting at the “Grillfest” (and experience shows that it fills up quickly!).

Goodies

What do I get for my work as a tutor?

• Tolerance semester*: To qualify for a tolerance semester, you must have attended our EsTut seminar once and worked as a tutor twice.
• ECTS: You will receive 2 ECTS credits per semester in which you worked as a tutor. These can be credited as free-elective ECTS credits.

* Detailed breakdown: If you worked as a tutor for two semesters and attended the EsTut seminar once, you will receive ¼ tolerance semester for each semester in which you worked as a tutor. This means that you will receive ½ tolerance semester, which will be rounded up to 1 tolerance semester! For a second tolerance semester, you would therefore have to work as a tutor six times.

Attention: The significance of tolerance semesters varies depending on which university you are primarily enrolled at!

• TU Graz: relevant for tuition fees & allowances
• University of Graz: only affects allowances

It is also important to note that it is not possible to carry over tolerance semesters from your bachelor's degree to your master's degree!

Application for a tolerance semester

To apply for a tolerance semester, you need confirmation of EsTut participation from the organization team of BaGru. Please send us an email with your name, your matriculation number, the semesters in which you had an EsTut group (including the names of these EsTut groups), and whether/when you participated in the EsTut seminar.

You will then need to submit an application for a tolerance semester to HTU Graz. There are two different forms for this (depending on whether it concerns family allowance or study allowance), which you can obtain from the HTU Graz Department for Social Affairs. You must then submit these documents to HTU Graz for signature.