General Information and Expectations
These pages are not intended as a substitute for individual counselling and support. Rather, they are intended to prepare you and me for the personal counselling interview. This is especially important if we do not already know each other from seminars or lectures.
If you are looking for a topic and / or are not yet sure whether I am the right examiner for you, you should first find out what my academic preferences and areas of specialisation are. You can find out which areas I examine (and which I do not) under the subheading "Examination profile" opposite.
General Remarks
A good part of my support happens by e-mail. Of course, this does not mean that you are not allowed to contact me personally. But I believe that many personal counselling sessions are more efficient if they are prepared in advance by email.
If you have always been a little unsure about how to address professors elegantly and with style in an email, you can find professional help here:
www.sekretaria.de/bueroorganisation/korrespondenz/din-5008/anrede/
After all, we don't want to provide the FAZ with further material for gloating (and amusing) glosses like this one!
My advice: If we have not had any contact so far, "Dear Professor Radatz" may be appropriate and inconspicuous (the salutation "Herr" belongs to it and simply "Professor" is not correct. You leave out the doctoral title in this case, as the higher-ranking title "consumes" the other. If you want to omit a title, then it should indeed be the higher-ranking one; addressing someone as "Herr Dr." is then rather embarrassing. If you are already studying with me and we know each other, the title as a whole is no longer necessary and you are welcome to choose between "Dear" or "Dear Mr. Radatz". "Werter Herr Prof. Dr. Hans-Ingo Radatz M.A.", on the other hand, in its baroque opulence would be more of a salutation to make you smile, "Hallo", "Guten Morgen / Tag / Abend", "Hallo Professor Radatz" or "Servus Prof.", on the other hand, would make you frown ... In the end, of course, it is your own choice.
If I accept you for the exam, I will create a virtual folder for you on my computer where I will store all the files of the joint exam preparation. I would be grateful if you could send me an electronic photo of yourself for this purpose, so that I at least have a chance to connect your face with your name.
From many years of experience, I have accumulated a whole lot of tips and rules for conducting examinations, papers and assignments, which I would like to make available to all candidates in the same detail. In order not to have to say the same thing for half an hour every time, I have summarised the most important things here. If you register for a further interview in my office hours, I will assume that you are familiar with these pages!