Search for Courses
By using the search for Courses, you can find information about the courses offered at the University of Cologne. This information includes e.g. dates or details regarding teaching staff, as well as information about the specific curriculum versions (= study and examination regulations) for which a course is offered during a particular semester.
Contents of this Chapter
Search Operators and Parameters
| Search Criterion | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Case Sensitivity | The search function ignores upper and lower case. | Searching for “universität” will find "universität", “Universität” and “UNIVERSITÄT”. |
| Placeholders | You can use placeholder characters in order to search for text components. The following placeholders are applicable:
|
|
| Umlauts ä, ö, ü | The search will show results for both ä, ö, ü and ae, oe, ue. | Searching for "universitaet" will find "Universitaet" as well as "Universität". |
| "ss" and "ß" | The search will show results for both “ss” and “ß”. | Searching for "Straße" will find both "Straße" and "Strasse". |
| Other Diacritical Signs | If other diacritical signs are used (e.g. ^, °, ~, `, ´), the search will show results for spellings with or without these accents/signs. | Searching for "Andre" will find "Andre" and "André". |
Additional Tips for Searching for Courses and Degree Programmes
| Search Criterion | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Result Accuracy | All used search terms are interpreted as word components as if they were complemented by placeholders. | The search for "Arbeit" will find "Arbeiten", "Arbeitsrecht", etc. |
| Combining Multiple Search Terms | Multiple words divided by blanks are used as multiple search terms combined by AND, i.e. all search terms must be included in the result. | Searching for "Deutsch Zweitsprache" will only find results that include both "Deutsch" and "Zweitsprache". |
| Number of Characters | There is no minimum for the number of characters. A blank search is possible. In this case, all results are listed (taking into account all other given specifications). |
Search Instructions
The search for courses offers two search options: simple search and advanced search. You may switch between the simple and advanced search by clicking the respective link.
1. Select the Course option from the navigation bar. The Search Course page appears.
2. Enter your search term into the search bar. Please observe the Search Operators and Parameters.
3. Optionally, further refine your search (see Simple Search Options and Additional Advanced Search Options below).
4. Click the Search button. Your search results will be displayed below the search area.
Simple Search Options
- By checking or un-checking different Choice Boxes in the Search Range, you may decide if you want to include the criteria Course No., Title or Course Content/Objectives in your search.
- Choose the desired Academic Year.
- Choose the desired Semester by clicking the respective option (All, Winter, Summer).
Example: Academic year “2025/26” and the option All includes both the winter semester 2025/26 and the summer semester 2026. Clicking the option Winter will only show results for the winter semester 2025/26. Likewise, clicking the option Summer will only show results for the summer semester 2026.
Additional Advanced Search Options
- In order to look for a course taught by a specific Lecturer, enter the name into the respective search box (at least 3 characters). The search results will list all courses taught by a lecturer of that name. This includes tutors and research assistants.
- You may choose the Language of Instruction of a course by clicking the respective pull-down menu. This is especially valuable for Erasmus students.
Example: You want to see all English language courses taught during the summer semester 2026 with the keyword “Economics” in its title (see screenshots):
- By using the date boxes period from/to, the search results are limited to courses during the specified period.
- By using Options you can look for courses with a series of dates or at least one date. Select the preferred option. Additionally, you can limit your search results by selecting the search options on (weekday) and in the time from – to.
How to Use the Results
After explaining the table of results’ different columns, this section will give instructions for accessing course details and dates.
Reading the Table of Results
The Results of your search are displayed in the following table:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Cs. No. | The course number consists of a nine digit series of numbers. The first five digits refer to the organisation offering the course (e.g. faculty, institute, seminar), the final four digits refer to the actual course. Course numbers cannot be assigned twice. |
| Time / Location | Scheduled dates when the course takes place. Clicking on the link opens a new window “Course Dates”. It lists all information regarding dates, times, and location of a course. See “Look up Course Dates” (below) for more information. |
| Title | Clicking the title of a course opens the window “Course – Detailed View”. It provides all listed information about a course. Specifically, this view gives information about the course’s position in the curriculum. See “Look up Course Details” (below) for more information. |
| Duration (SWS) | Duration of the course (semester hours). |
| Type | Type of course, e.g. VO (lecture/Vorlesung), SE (seminar/Seminar). The types of courses are defined in the central settings. |
| Reg. |
States whether registration for a course group is currently open or not. All courses in KLIPS 2.0 are divided into “course groups”. The simplest of cases will list exactly one course group per course, the “standard group”.
|
| SPO C/E/PhD |
Shows the course’s number of allocations to different curriculum versions. The linked letter opens the window “Position within Curricula”.
|
| Lecturers | Shows the name of the lecturer/s. |
| Offered by | Shows the organisation offering the course. |
| Course Cat. | Shows course category. |
(grey): There are no active course groups for this course. No course registration periods have been set. It is not possible to register for this course.
(yellow): Course registration periods for course groups have been entered for this course, but registration has not yet begun. Registration is not yet possible.
(red): Course registration periods for course groups of this course have ended. Registration is no longer possible.
(green): The course registration period for course groups of this course is currently active. Students may register for one of the course groups if web registration is open and students meet the prerequisites for registration.How to Look up Course Dates
1. Click the Link referring to the semester in the column Time/Location, next to the title of the course you are interested in.
2. The window Course Dates opens. The table in this window lists all scheduled dates, sorted by course groups. Apart from dates and times, the table also lists the assigned room for this course. Clicking the link in the column Place opens the respective floor plan.
How to Look up Course Details
1. In the column Title, click on the course you are interested in.
2. The page Course – Detailed View opens.
The provided information is sorted as follows:
- Overview
- Description
- Dates and Groups
- Exam Information
- Status within Curriculum
- Equivalent Courses
2. The page Course – Detailed View opens.
Refer to the chapter "Search for Courses" for a full description of the course details view.
Create a Course Bookmark
By clicking on the Star Symbol next to the course title, you can create a course bookmark. Course bookmarks are cross references to courses that are of special interest to you, comparable to bookmarks in a web browser. These cross references are collected in the view My Bookmarked Courses in the application Courses, which you may access by clicking the application on your Home Screen.
For a detailed instruction on how to create bookmarks refer to the chapter “Organising Bookmarked Courses”.