Home

Organized Study Choice & Academic Roadmapper

Plan your semesters, avoid bad module choices, and stop juggling PDFs – directly in Discord.

Join FinEmporium View Commands

version1.0.0 statusstable licenseApache-2.0

Made by students for students.

🔍 Search modules by name, CP, SWS & exam type
📅 Build your personal study plan
🗓️ Curriculum preview & comparison
- all in one place -

Why OSCAR?

OSCAR is a Discord-based assistant that helps FIN students at Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg plan their semesters and choose modules by turning complex catalogs, exam regulations, and scattered PDFs into one clear, accessible place.

The Problem

Finding module info as a FIN student is fragmented and time-consuming:

• ❌ Scattered sources — exam regulations (PDFs), module handbook, and LSF portal are all separate.
• ❌ Context switching — students already discuss their study plans on Discord (FinEmporium), then switch to the browser and back.
• ❌ Screenshot chaos — module details are shared as images in chat instead of structured data.
• ❌ Inefficient planning leading to suboptimal module choices.

The OSCAR Solution

OSCAR meets students where they already are — on Discord:

• ✅ One Platform: search modules, filter by CP/SWS/exam type, and plan semesters without leaving Discord.
• ✅ Up-to-date: Synced with official faculty data.
• ✅ Focused scope — FIN modules only, no unreliable AI integrations, fewer but better features.
• ✅ Privacy-first — study plan stays local. No messages stored, no profiles, no analytics.

Choose Your Path

For StudentsFor DevelopersFor Administrators

Your Personal Study Assistant

Plan your studies where you chat: OSCAR brings the official module catalog to Discord, helping you build your academic roadmap with ease.

Data Accuracy & Scope

The bot syncs module data regularly from the faculty's Nextcloud. However, always verify exam details in the official LSF/Prüfungsamt documents.

OSCAR is for personal planning only. You must still register for courses, exams, and events through official platforms such as LSF, e-learning portals, or other university websites. OSCAR does not replace any official registration process.

Features

• 🚀 Get Started --- Set up your course of study and semester. An interactive wizard guides you through the process.

  /start
  

  

• 🔍 Find Modules --- Credit points (CP), exams and course content, with buttons to the LSF, the module handbook and the past exams. In a module channel /here opens the module the channel is named after.

  /module [name]
  /here
  

  

• 🎯 Smart Filters --- Find modules that fit your CP, SWS, or Exam Type preferences.

  /filter
  

  

• 📅 Plan Semesters --- Create, customize, and save your personal study roadmap.

  /semesterplan
  

  

• 🗓️ Standard Curriculum --- View the official Regelstudienplan for your degree – see which modules are planned per semester at a glance.

  /standard_plan
  

  

• 💬 Send Feedback --- Help us improve OSCAR with your suggestions and bug reports.

  /feedback
  

  

More commands

Command	What it does
/here	Opens the module the current channel is named after
/compare	Puts two or three modules side by side
/rate, /klausuren	Ratings and reviews by other students, and the past exam archives
/progress	The credit points you planned, against the 30 of a semester
/suggest	Modules that fit your programme and your open credit points
/fristen	Roughly what is due when in the semester
/studybuddy	Find students who plan the same module, opt in only
/lms, /ansprechpartner	The university portals, and who to ask
/my_data	See, export and delete what OSCAR stores about you
/help	Every command explained, in German and English

View all Commands

Getting Started

Follow these steps to get your personal study assistant running.

Step 1: Get DiscordStep 2: Join ServerStep 3: Start OSCARStep 4: Try it out

To use OSCAR, you need a Discord account. Discord is a free communication platform available on all devices.

Available on:

• 📱 Mobile: iOS, Android, Volla OS and GrapheneOS
• 💻 Computer: Windows, macOS, Linux
• 🌐 Web Browser: discord.com

Set up Discord:

1. Already have Discord? → Sign in with your existing account.
2. New to Discord? → Create a free account:
   • Go to discord.com
   • Click "Sign up" and follow the steps
   • Verify your email address → Done!

The (unofficial) community for FIN students is the FinEmporium.

Join FinEmporium Discord Server

For more information about FinEmporium, see the FIN-Community Page.

---

OSCAR is on FinEmporium

OSCAR runs on the FinEmporium server. Join it, type / in any channel and pick a command of OSCAR.

Join the FinEmporium server

Once you are on the server, you can add your Course of Study and Semester.

Type this command in any text channel:

/start

An interactive setup wizard will guide you through the process.

Three commands are enough for the first day:

/module [name]

Find a module: credit points, exams and content, with buttons to the LSF and the module handbook.

/semesterplan

See the modules you saved, next to the standard curriculum of your semester.

/help

Every other command explained. You can start most of them right from the menu.

Contribute to OSCAR

OSCAR is a Python project. We welcome contributions!

• Source Code --- Clone the repository and start coding. Go to GitHub

• Issue Tracker --- Found a bug? Report it or pick up an issue. View Issues

• Architecture --- Understand the database models and module system. See Developer Guide

The guides have every step. This page only says where to start.

You want to	Read
set the project up on your machine	Setup & Install
run the bot in a container	Run It Yourself
know how commits, branches and the pipeline work	Git Workflow
run and write tests	Testing

Resources

• discord.py Docs --- Official library reference for all Discord API interactions. discordpy.readthedocs.io

• Discord Components --- Reference for buttons, select menus, modals and other UI components. Discord Dev Docs

• Discord Quick Start --- Getting started guide for building Discord bots. Getting Started

• Invite OSCAR --- Add the running bot to a server of your own. It also runs on FinEmporium. Invite Bot

View full Developer Guide

OSCAR can be self‑hosted on your own infrastructure. This section gives you everything you need to install, configure and operate the bot as a server admin.

Bot Management & Deployment

Tools and documentation for maintaining OSCAR on your own infrastructure.

OVGU Data Source Dependency

OSCAR currently fetches module data from OVGU's Nextcloud Tables instance. External self-hosting requires either access to the OVGU Nextcloud or setting up a compatible Nextcloud Tables instance with your own module data.

What you need

• a Discord bot token and the ID of your server
• access to the module data in the Nextcloud Tables of the OVGU
• Docker, or Python 3.12 or newer

Where it is explained

You want to	Read
install and configure the bot	Admin Guide
run it in a container at home, back it up and harden it	Run It Yourself
read the feedback students send	Feedback Review
know what is stored about students	Privacy Policy

Resources

• Discord Quick Start --- Getting started guide for creating a bot application. Getting Started

• Invite OSCAR --- Add the running bot to your server. It also runs on FinEmporium. Invite Bot

View Full Admin Guide

---

Quick Links

• OSCAR-REPO ---

  View the source code and contribute.

  GitHub

• Faculty (FIN) ---

  Official website of the Faculty.

  FIN Website

• About OSCAR ---

  Team, goals, and timeline.

  About OSCAR

• Privacy Policy ---

  GDPR compliant data handling.

  Privacy Policy

---

Contact the Project Authors

If you have questions or need support, reach out to the team:

• Christos Lachanas
  DevOps & API Integration
  christos.lachanas [at] st.ovgu.de
• Malte Hedrich
  Frontend & User Experience
  malte.hedrich [at] st.ovgu.de
• Malte Heiß
  Backend & Database Architecture
  malte.heiss [at] st.ovgu.de
• Emin Girimhanov
  Backend & Documentation
  emin.girimhanov [at] st.ovgu.de