Infrastructure

Online examinations are written either at home (remote online exam) or with your own device at the University of Zurich (Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) exam). In order to complete the online exams smoothly, there are some technical notes regarding technical infrastructure to be considered, which you can find on this page.

What technical infrastructure do you need to have ready for your online examinations?

It is your responsibility to ensure a suitable infrastructure for digital teaching and digital examinations. This includes in particular Internet access and equipment with hardware that is sufficiently tested and stable.

In concrete terms, this means that you must have a laptop (or Microsoft Surface or desktop) computer (no tablet or iPad), an integrated or separate camera and microphone, and a smartphone for taking photos or scans. Also have the battery chargers for your devices ready.

The devices must operate with either the operating systems (OS) Windows or MacOS (no Android or iOS), and must be equipped with a current Firefox and Chrome browser version. For MacOS, you will need OS 11 Big Sur or higher. You will also need MS Teams and Zoom on your computer and smartphone. The software will be provided to you as a UZH student.

At BYOD exams (on-site at UZH), log in to the Wi-Fi network “uzh-5GHz”. Turn any additional networks into the flight mode.

If further aids are required in individual courses (additional software (introduced during the lecture), calculators, etc.), you will be informed in good time before the examination. Again, it is your unconditional obligation to ensure this.

We recommend the following measures to ensure that the online examinations run smoothly:

• Software or System Updates: Do not perform any updates to your computer between the time of the mock examination (test run) and the time of the examination. Ideally you should perform all updates before the start of the examination period.
• Automatic Software Updates: Make sure that your computer does not perform automatic system updates during the examination. Set your computer to manual updates.
• Stable Internet Connection: Make sure that your Internet connection is sufficiently stable. Ask other persons in your household to avoid excessive Internet use during the examination in order not to compromise your Internet connection. Alternatively, have a hotspot from your smartphone ready.
• Exams with Upload of Files: Plan enough time for uploading files at the end of the examination. The upload must be done within the examination duration.