FAUcard for students

The front of your FAUcard is your student ID card. It shows your name, your student registration number and your photo. The rewritable strip shows how long the FAUcard is valid.

What you have to do from the second semester:

After re-registering for each new semester, you have to update your student ID card by having your FAUcard reprinted in one of the validation stations. It only takes 30 seconds.

Validation stations can be found at the following locations:

Erlangen town centre:

• Kollegienhaus, Universitätsstraße 15, entrance hall
• University Library (new building), Schuhstraße 1a, first floor
• Seminar building of the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology, Bismarckstraße 1, corridor next to main door (2 machines, one of which is suitable for wheelchair access)
• Student Records Office, Halbmondstraße 6, corridor on ground floor

Erlangen southern campus:

• Building housing the cafeteria, lecture hall and library, Erwin Rommel Straße 60, opposite the Student Service Centre at the Faculty of Engineering

Nuremberg: School of Business, Economics and Society

• Lange Gasse 20, old building, basement (wheelchair access)
• Lange Gasse 20, old building, ground floor

Nuremberg, Regensburger Straße

• Auditorium building, Regensburger Straße 160, ground floor

The FAUcard is also your library card for the University Library. Before you can borrow books using your ‘UB ID’, you have to accept the University Library’s terms of use.

What to do:

1. Log in at www.idm.fau.de.
2. In the upper menu bar, click on ‘Requests/tasks’.
3. In the line below, click on the menu item ‘FAUcard’.
4. In the left-hand menu, click on ‘Library account activation’ and follow the instructions.

If you have any questions regarding the library card function of the FAUcard, please contact the University Library Infodesk directly.

You can use your FAUcard to pay for photocopying at all photocopiers at FAU. Top your FAUcard up with credit – the cash-to-chip machines are in the restaurants and cafeterias run by the Student Services and all central photocopying stations.

You can use the FAUcard to make cashless payments in all restaurants, cafeterias and snack vending machines run by Student Services and FAU. Top your FAUcard up with credit – the cash-to-chip machines are in the restaurants and cafeterias run by the Student Services and all central photocopying stations. You cannot use the FAUcard to pay in the cafeterias and Palmeria at Uni-Klinikum Erlangen.

The advantage of paying by card is that then you are only charged the less expensive student rate. You can pay by cash in the cafeterias, but then the higher price applicable to guests is charged automatically. Paying with your FAUcard is quick and easy to do and cuts down waiting times at the till.

You can use your FAUcard to open various doors electronically, such as those to computer rooms/CIP pools and car park barriers. If you require access to a specific door or car park, please contact the secretary at your Institute or siport@fau.de to have your FAUcard activated for this purpose. They will be able to tell you who is responsible for electronic access control in that area.

First-year students

After you have enrolled at FAU, you can register in the identity management system (IdM) of FAU and activate your user account. You were sent your user name and password by post after enrolment. Your free of charge FAUcard is then sent to the postal address you entered in the IdM.

Visiting students and early students

Visiting students and early students (students who start to study while still attending school) are not enrolled at FAU and only receive an FAUcard if they apply for one. Please fill in an application for an IdM login and hand it in at one of the RRZE service desks. As soon as you have received your login details for the identity management system (IdM), you can log in and apply for an FAUcard. Your FAUcard is then sent by post to the address you have entered in IdM.

Guest students

Guest students do not receive an FAUcard. In order to be able to use the University Library, they can have a library card issued by the University Library.

Returning students

Returning students have to approve their FAUcard before it is printed. This allows them, for example, to replace an old photo from their first semester.

What to do:

1. Log in at www.idm.fau.de.
2. Click on the three dots in front of ‘FAUcard’ and then ‘show’.
3. Check your data and upload a new photo, if you wish. If there are any mistakes in the way your name is written, please contact the Student Records Office.
4. If everything is correct, approve your card for printing. Your FAUcard will then be sent to the address you have given to the Student Records Office.

You haven’t received your FAUcard? Please check which postal address you entered in the FAU identity management system (IdM). That is the address to which your FAUcard is sent. If the FAUcard cannot be delivered, the FAUcard Service Office will try to contact you by e-mail using your FAU e-mail address. You can’t find an e-mail? Please look in your spam folder and check whether you have arranged for your FAU mails to be forwarded to another mail account.

What to do:

1. Log in at www.idm.fau.de and click on ‘Self Service’.
2. Click on the left menu on ‘Settings’/‘e-mail’/‘e-mail details’.

No idea where your FAUcard is and not heard anything from the Service Office?

You can reach the FAUcard Service Office by e-mail, telephone or in person:

Ordering a replacement card

You can order a new FAUcard via the FAU Identity Management System (IdM) if it has been lost or stolen or if it is damaged. If you can prove that you have reported the theft, you will not be charged 15 euros for a new card. All further information is available in the IdM:

1.       Log in at www.idm.fau.de.

2.       In the upper menu bar, click on ‘Requests/tasks’.

3.       Apply for a new FAUcard (‘Replace FAUcard’)

If you can’t find your FAUcard, you should block your FAUcard in the IdM portal.

You will receive a new UB ID for OPAC/catalogue at the University Library if your FAUCard has been lost or stolen.

If your name has changed, you can apply online for a new FAUcard. If your name has changed, it is important that you first inform the Student Records Office at FAU of the change. Once the new name has been entered in the system you can apply via the identity management system (IdM) for an FAUcard with your new name.

What to do:

1. Ask the Student Records Office at FAU to enter your new name in the system.
2. Log in at www.idm.fau.de and click on ‘Requests/tasks’.
3. Click on ‘Replace FAUcard’ and follow the instructions.

If you apply for a new card via the identity management system (IdM) as described, it can take up to 14 days until you receive your new FAUcard. Please check that the address you have given in the IdM system is correct!

If you would like to replace the photo on your FAUcard you can apply online for a new FAUcard. First upload your picture into the identity management system (IdM) and then apply for a replacement card.  You will be charged 15 euros.

1. Log in at www.idm.fau.de and click on ‘Self Service’.
2. Click on ‘Settings/profile picture’ and upload your (new) photo.
3. Click on ‘Requests/tasks’.
4. Click on ‘Replace FAUcard’ and follow the instructions.

If you apply for a new card via the identity management system (IdM) as described and pay by bank transfer, it can take up to 14 days until you receive your new FAUcard (account data on the right). Please check that the address you have given in the IdM system is correct!

The FAUcard is the property of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Please return your FAUcard to the FAUcard Service Office by post or in person after receiving your de-registration certificate.

The location and opening hours of the main cashier’s offices are listed on the Student Services website.

The functions of the FAUcard involve the collection, processing and use of personal data in automated processes. The University Data Protection Officer was consulted from the start of the FAUcard implementation in accordance with the legislation of the Bavarian Data Protection Act (Bayerisches Datenschutzgesetz) and has approved the technical specification for the FAUcard with respect to data protection legislation.

All data collected, processed and used are only used in the production and administration of the FAUcard or to support the usage of its functions. Data are only transferred to other functional departments (Student Services, the University Library, access control management) in so far as this is necessary to fulfil a defined purpose.

The following information is printed visibly on the FAUcard:

• FAU ID (unique identifier of the card holder in the FAU IdM system)
• CHIP ID (identifying number of the card’s chip)
• Surname, given name, photograph and student registration number, allowing the card holder to be identified.
• Period of validity during which the card may be used as an ID card.
• Library number as a bar code and in numerals (identifying attribute of the card holder for the library system)

The following attributes are stored on the FAUcard’s chip:

• General attributes (readable by all authorized reading devices): CHIP ID
• For Student Services payment functions (only readable by Student Services reading devices):- User group (student, employee, guest)- Balance of digital wallet- Period of validity- Number of digital wallet- Version of digital wallet- Wallet status active/blocked- Tokens for discounts
• For the University Library card function (only readable by library reading devices):- Library number- number of rented locker where applicable (planned but not yet in use)
• For electronic access control (only readable by Siport reading devices):- Siport ID number- Siport ID version- Period of validity- Offline access rights

The responsible bodies only have access to the data required to carry out their respective tasks. Data is not collected centrally and are there no plans to do so.

Thanks to this and the use of a so-called random ID (= randomly generated ID when card is read by unknown reading device), no user or movement profiles can be created.

In most cases FAU commissions an external service provider specialising in such processes with issuing and distributing the FAUcard. This service provider is obligated to comply with data protection regulations when processing the data (restriction to specific purpose, deletion of data after distribution).

Should an exchange of data between several bodies become necessary in special cases such as for the prevention of unauthorized use of the card, this will only occur after notification of and under constant supervision by the Data Protection Officer.

Privacy protection

The data stored on the card’s chip are encrypted with a key length of 128 bit (AES process). This provides comprehensive protection against unauthorized data access according to the current state of technology. Additionally all data exchanged between the card and reading devices are encrypted so as to make them unreadable to unauthorized persons. All online components of the system (online payment and withdrawal terminals, validation stations, etc.) are operated in an especially secured network (VLAN).

Do you have any more questions about the FAUcard? Please don’t hesitate to contact the FAUcard Service Office.

Erlangen, Halbmondstrasse 6 – 8, Room 0.051: Every week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 10am – 12pm

Nuremberg, Lange Gasse 20: First and last Thursday of every month During the lecture-free period: Only the 1st Thursday of the month.