University Account

The university account is your central access to the university’s digital services. Many IT services can only be used after successful login. Without a university account, you cannot access WLAN, email, Moodle, or the PC labs, for example.

Note

• You have already received an email about this. After enrollment, your login credentials are automatically sent to the private email address you provided in your application.

• If no private email address was provided, you will receive your credentials at the beginning of your studies in the StudiCenter.

Credentials and Password

You can change your password in different ways:

• on a computer in one of the university’s PC labs

• or conveniently through the email system (Outlook Web App) Change password via webmail

Security notice:
If the password is entered incorrectly three times, the account is locked for 30 minutes for security reasons. After that, login is possible again.

If you forgot your password, Campus IT Support can issue a new one. This requires either

• a personal visit to the Campus IT Service Office (W2.2.17) with your student ID or

• an email to campusit-service(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de with a copy of your personal ID and student ID.

What is the university account used for?

With your university account, you can use nearly all central IT services:

• Printing and Copying

• Wi-Fi and Network

• QIS Systems

• Email (OWA)

• E-Campus

Validity of the university account

After exmatriculation, your university account remains active for about one year. During this time, you can still use certain services such as email or printing.

Important: After this year has passed, the account is permanently deleted, including all stored data (for example emails or files on network drives).

You will be informed in advance by email to your university email address. Please back up all important data in time to private storage media or your own cloud service.

Student ID Card

You will receive your personalized student ID card during orientation events or at the latest when lectures begin. This small card is a true all-rounder and gives you access to many campus functions:

• Student ID (for example discounts)
• Cashless payment in the cafeteria, coffee bar, and at printers
• Library card for borrowing books
• Semester ticket for public transportation in the VPE network
• Identity verification (for example during exams)
• Door access (main entrances and computer rooms)
• Use of washing machines in student residences

Loss or defect of the card:

• In case of loss of or defects of the card, please contact the Studi-Center.
• For problems with printers/copiers, the Campus IT Services team or the media engineers in G1 can help 
• For problems with door access, contact Technical Operations.

If a new card is issued, the old card automatically becomes invalid. Only one valid card can exist at any time.

On the back side you will find, among other things, orientation markings for card readers as well as the card number, which is required, for example, when applying for laboratory access permissions.
 

Activation

Before using the card for the first time, you must activate it at one of the university’s multifunction printers. Place the card on the designated reader and follow the instructions. The student ID must be revalidated at one of the terminals each semester as part of the re-registration process. You can also top up your printing credit at these terminals.

You can top up your balance for cashless payments in the cafeteria and coffee bar at the other machines in the cafeteria. After your meal, simply scan your student ID card at the register to pay. With the Autoload feature, your cafeteria card is automatically topped up at the cafeteria register when your balance is low. Autoload also provides you with an overview of your spending. For more information, contact the Studierendenwerk.

Validity & Reactivation

The validity date always corresponds to the end of the respective semester. It can be renewed or updated at the validation machines in the upper floor of the cafeteria of the School of Design in Holzgartenstr. 36 (1 terminal), or on the ground floor of building W1 (2 terminals), Campus Tiefenbronner Str..

How to use the Activation Terminal:

Insert the card with the front side facing up and the photo pointing in the arrow direction into the (blue-framed) card slot. Attention: force is not required here! The machine will pull in the card automatically when it is ready. Otherwise, there may be a malfunction that you should report to the Studi-Center. A wrongly oriented card is usually detected and will be returned without printing.

Student ID card = Semester Ticket (Bus & Train)
 

You can travel free of charge by bus and train in Pforzheim and surrounding areas (fare zone area of the Verkehrsbund Pforzheim-Enzkreis - VPE). Until your student ID is issued, you can use your admission letter together with your personal ID card or passport. The ticket is valid only for you and is non-transferable. It is valid for the following period:

Support

General problems with ID card (damage, loss): please contact the StudiCenter: gestaltung.studicenter(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
Please handle your ID card with care – in case of loss or damage you will have to pay a replacement fee of 20 €
Problems with multifunctional printer/copy machine or with money charging: please contact the Campus IT Service: campusit-service(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de
 

WLAN / Wi-Fi
 

Pforzheim University provides students and staff with a high-performance wireless network. Access is via your personal university account and secured with certificate-based encryption. Please accept certificates only if they can be clearly assigned to Pforzheim University or the eduroam federation. If you are unsure, contact Campus IT.

SSID: hsx

hsx is the regular Wi-Fi network at Pforzheim University and should be used as the default network on campus. Authentication is done with your university account username and password. The connection is protected by a digital certificate that your device checks during setup.

This network offers higher throughput and direct access to university IT services (for example your personal network drive). An additional VPN connection is not required while using hsx.

eduroam

eduroam (education roaming) is a global, secure Wi-Fi roaming network for educational institutions. Students, staff, and researchers can sign in at thousands of participating universities and research institutions in Germany and abroad using their home university account, without applying for separate access. 

On the Pforzheim University campus, please use the “hsx” wireless network, as it offers higher data throughput and provides direct access to the university's IT services (e.g., your personal network drive).

Connecting to eduroam is generally the same as connecting to hsx (see above). However, you must enter your full email address as the username.

Detailed instructions for connecting to eduroam are available on E-Campus:
https://e-campus.hs-pforzheim.de/services/it_anleitungen_informationen

MFA with Cisco Duo

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is an additional security method to protect your user account. Besides your regular password, login requires a second factor. This prevents unauthorized access even if a password has been compromised.

At Pforzheim University, MFA is implemented with Cisco Duo. The second authentication step is usually completed through the Duo Mobile app installed on a smartphone.

Why is MFA necessary?

To increase IT security and protect sensitive university data, multi-factor authentication was introduced. In the first phase, VPN access is secured with MFA using Cisco Duo.

This measure ensures that only authorized users can access the university network and significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

Setting up MFA with Cisco Duo

You will receive an email from no-reply@duosecurity.com. This email is legitimate and sent by Cisco Duo.

The email contains a personal link to:

• connect your user account with Cisco Duo

• set up the Duo Mobile app

• register your smartphone as the second authentication factor

Please follow the step-by-step guide to complete the setup.

Important note: Do not stop the setup process after you have started it. Otherwise, you may lock yourself out of your user account.

Duo Mobile App

Apple App Store For macOS / iPadOS / iOS

Google Play Store For all Android-based devices

If you cannot download Duo Mobile from Google Play Store, you can alternatively obtain the APK file directly from Cisco Duo’s website. More information is available in the Duo Knowledge Base: https://help.duo.com/s/article/2211

Unsupported Devices

Some devices are currently not supported for Duo Mobile usage. Please note:

• Huawei devices without Google Play services are currently not supported.

• In these cases, a hardware security key can be used instead, for example a YubiKey or another WebAuth-capable security key.

Duo Security - Add Another Device

You can manage your second factor. For example, you can add another second factor using the following link: 
hs-pforzheim.login.duosecurity.com/central/

Duo Security – Lost Access

Have you lost access to the Duo Mobile app, for example, because you have a new smartphone? If you still have access to your old device, add your new device as a second factor as described above before deleting your old smartphone. If you no longer have access, contact Campus IT via the Service Desk ticket system. Send a scan of your ID and request that your account be reset.

Instructions

Detailed guides for setting up and using Cisco Duo are available for different platforms:
https://e-campus.hs-pforzheim.de/services/it_anleitungen_informationen

Support and Contact

If you have questions or need support, contact Campus IT: campusit-service(at)hs-pforzheim(dot)de

VPN Access

You can access HIZ’s online services directly via the Internet.

In a few cases, a secure connection via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is required to access the university’s resources from off-campus. These include:

• Access to your personal storage space
• Searching library databases

Internet access in Pforzheim student housing

In the Pforzheim student dormitories, you have direct access to the Internet.
Network access is managed by the operators of the student dormitories. If you have any questions or encounter any problems, please contact your landlord or the persons designated by them (Internet tutor or building manager).
If you wish to conduct research via the HS library or access your drive, you must establish a VPN connection to the HS.

Detailed instructions and links to the software can be found on E-Campus:
https://e-campus.hs-pforzheim.de/services/it_anleitungen_informationen

Printing, Copying, and Scanning

Printing is easy at Pforzheim University: after you send a print job, you can release it at any multifunction device on campus. Your documents will only be printed after you authenticate at the device.

•    Printing is available from computers in computer labs or the library.
•    You can print from personal Windows computers if they are connected to the hsx Wi-Fi network. Mac devices are not supported.
•    You can print by sending an email to mprint@hs-pforzheim.de.
•    You can also print files (PDFs) directly from a USB flash drive.

Further instructions for using the devices can be found directly at the printers as well as in the respective quick start guide.

Activating your print account

To use the university’s printing and copying system, you must activate your print account once. Activation is done by logging in at any multifunction device on campus.

To log in, place your university ID card on the card reader at the device and follow the instructions on the display. Enter

• Username: your university account ID (everything before the @ in your university email address)

• Password: your university password

After successful login, all multifunction devices across campus are available to you for printing, copying, and scanning. Then log out again by placing your chip card on the card reader once more or pressing the Logout button on the device.

Adding credit to your print account

To print or copy, you need credit on your print account. You can add credit at the designated top‑up terminals:

• Tiefenbronner Straße 65 – Foyer W1

• Holzgartenstraße, upper floor of cafeteria

The top‑up terminals accept banknotes only, no coins.

If a print job is not completed due to a problem (e.g., a paper jam), delete the job at the device before leaving. Otherwise, the printer may continue printing later and the pages will be charged to your print account.

Expiration of unused credit

Your print credit is linked to your university account and can be used for the entire duration of your studies. After the university account expires (e.g., after exmatriculation), unused print credit will expire. Remaining balances cannot be paid out.

Print via Email

You can send an email from your university account to mprint@hs-pforzheim.de. If the email includes a printable PDF file as an attachment, it will appear as a print job on the multifunction devices.

Quick Start Guide for Canon Multifunction Devices

https://e-campus.hs-pforzheim.de/services/it_anleitungen_informationen/anleitungen/canon_drucker_funktionen

INCOM

INCOM serves as a communication platform for the School of Design. INCOM hosts the digital classrooms (“course workspaces”) for all courses offered by DesignPF—and this is also where you register for all your courses each semester.
In addition, students can create their own workspaces (digital rooms) for group projects, and there is a job board and a digital bulletin board with apartment listings, etc.

Register / Log In

1. Go to the Incom website: designpf.incom.org

> If you’re new to DesignPF-Incom: click “Register” in the top right corner. 
> If you completed KATAPULT before starting your studies, you can log in as usual via “Login.” You’ll then just need to update your degree program and (if necessary) your email address in your profile settings.

2. Enter your name and use your university email address (only this will work!). You can choose any password you like (it doesn’t have to be the same as your password for other university systems).

3. After registering, you’ll need to confirm your account: Log in to your university email account and click on the activation link you received from the system.

4. Then complete the registration on Incom: select your user group (‘Students’) and your department (the degree program you are studying) from the dropdown menus, and log in with your credentials.