Essential Tips for First-Year Students

The Welcome Days take place during the week before the Fall Semester begins and help you get started at the University of Zurich. Throughout the week, you will become familiar with your study program, the university, and the many services and opportunities available to students.

The week begins with the Warm-up Day for all new students. This university-wide event introduces you to UZH's digital tools, student services, and campus facilities, and provides many opportunities to meet fellow students. Faculty- and study program-specific introductory events take place throughout the rest of the week. An overview of all Welcome Week events is available on the UZH Welcome Days webpage.

Note for Master's students in Computational Linguistics: You are warmly invited to attend the Bachelor's introductory sessions, especially if you have been admitted with additional Bachelor's requirements. There will be a reception for Master students with pizza and drinks on Monday, 14 September 2026, starting at 16:30 in the social room (AND 2.11 at Andreastrasse 15, 8050 Zürich). During this reception, our Department and study program will be presented, and any questions you may have will be addressed.

Program for Thursday, September 10, 2026

• Greetings and information by the Co-Deans of Studies of the Faculty
• Venue: Aula KOL-G-201 (main building), with live stream in additional rooms at UZH Zentrum

• Key information about the study program and the Department of Computational Linguistics.
• Venue: Room KOL-G-209

• Key information about the study program and the Department of Computational Linguistics.
• Venue: Room KOL-G-209

The tour starts after the major introduction in room KOL-G-209. Members of the student association will guide you through the UZH Zentrum campus and then take you to the Oerlikon campus. There you will visit the Department of Computational Linguistics, study spaces, and lecture rooms.

The Department of Computational Linguistics invites all participants to a free lunch at the BIN cafeteria.

Material

The presentation for the 2026 introductory session will be published here after the event.

1. You study the guidelines and study regulations (see below) of the major and minor subjects you have taken and determine which courses you should take in the various subjects in the first semester.
2. You use the electronic course catalogue to determine whether time conflicts arise; if such conflicts arise, proceed according to the information in our "FAQ on the Study of Computational Linguistics" under the heading "Course Planning/Modules" "What can you do if courses in major and minor/subjects overlap"?
3. You book the courses with the university's booking tool (please note booking deadlines! see also details on module booking).
4. All CL courses are displayed as campus courses in OLAT. When you book a module, you are automatically registered (after 4 hours at the latest) as a participant in the corresponding OLAT course.

For questions that are not answered in the guidelines and study regulations or the FAQs, please contact the Student Advisor for Computational Linguistics.

If you have no programming knowledge and your timetable permits it, it is advantageous to combine Programming Techniques in Computational Linguistics 1 with a visit to Informatics I. Both offer an introduction to the programming language Python, but have different approaches. But don't overstrain yourself! You should definitely prioritise the modules of the module group Introduction to Computational Linguistics or rather the compulsory courses in your Major/Minor. 

On our download page you will find our most important documents, leaflets etc.

Please always consult the site Student Service of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences which publishes information about dates, admission, student mobility, modules and exams and about the completion of your studies.

Our mailing list "cl-listATlists.ifi.uzh.ch" distributes information (important announcements, excursions, courses, vacant tutoring positions, job offers) to our students. Be sure to subscribe to this mailing list!