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Student Mobility for Studies (SMS) - Incoming

Are you interested in an exchange programme at the University of Freiburg? Erasmus+ offers students from our partner universities the opportunity to study abroad here. Check out our homepage to see the inspiring environment that awaits you at the University of Freiburg. For additional impressions, consider a virtual campus tour. Ask the International Office or your department at your home university about exchange places at the University of Freiburg. The most important facts are summarized in our Erasmus+ Fact Sheet. The following provides you with information about an Erasmus+ stay as well as about studying and living in Freiburg.

 

Application Procedure

Application

The University of Freiburg has Erasmus+ exchange agreements with more than 300 European universities. If you are interested in an Erasmus+ stay at the University of Freiburg, please apply for an exchange place through your home university.

Nomination

In order to undertake an Erasmus+ stay at the University of Freiburg, you must first be nominated by your home university. Your home university will send the nomination to the Erasmus team at the International Office in Freiburg (erasmus[at]zv.uni-freiburg.de). The nomination deadlines for stays in Freiburg are:

 

  • For the winter semester: 10 June
  • For the summer semester: 25 November

 

For organizational reasons, we recommend submitting the nomination earlier. Once we have received your nomination, we will send you an email that allows you to register on our mobility platform.

 

Registration

As soon as you have been nominated by your home university, you will receive an email with the link to register on the Mobility Online mobility platform. Once you have registered, you will receive further information from us by email. The registration deadlines are:

 

  • For stays starting in the winter semester: 15 June
  • For stays starting in the summer semester: 30 November

 

For organizational reasons, if you want to apply for a room in a student dormitory, you must adhere to these deadlines. There is no guarantee that you will receive a room in advance. It is also possible to look for accommodations on the private housing market. However, a shortage of housing is to be expected here, especially at the beginning of the semester.

Your Erasmus stay

Before your stay

Once you have registered with Mobility Online, you will need to complete additional steps to prepare for your Erasmus+ studies at the University of Freiburg:

  • Learning Agreement: First, you will prepare the Learning Agreement with your departmental coordinator at your home university. The University of Freiburg prefers to use Digital Learning Agreements (DLA or Online Learning Agreements, OLA) that can be exchanged digitally via Erasmus Without Paper (EWP). The Learning Agreement will be signed on behalf of the University of Freiburg by the designated departmental coordinator (see list below).

List of Erasmus+ departmental coordinators

Further information can be found under the heading “Course selection/Learning agreement” (see below).

  • Accommodations: After registering, you can apply for a space in a student dormitory via Mobility Online.
  • Enrolment: You have the option of enrolling at the University of Freiburg before leaving home. We will send you an email with the relevant information (see checklist). This allows you to prepare for the start of your studies in advance and has several organizational advantages.
  • Arrival: If possible, we recommend that you travel to Freiburg using sustainable transport such as the train or bus.
    • Train: If you are travelling by train, you will arrive at Freiburg Main Station (Hauptbahnhof). There are direct connections from Frankfurt Airport, for example, as well as from Basel, Milan and Paris.
    • Bus: Freiburg's bus station is located near the train station and is served by various regional and long-distance bus routes.
    • Air: The nearest airport is Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg. Make sure to exit the airport on the French side. From there, several buses travel directly to Freiburg every day. Other airports in the vicinity are Frankfurt, Zurich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden Baden. From there you can take the train or bus to Freiburg.
  • Documents: Please bring the following documents with you to Freiburg:
    • Letter of acceptance: This will be sent to you in good time before the start of your studies in Freiburg.
    • Proof of health insurance: European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or certificate of health insurance that is approved for Germany
    • Identity card/passport and, if necessary, your visa
    • Disenrolment certificate: if you have previously studied in Germany

 

Arrival in Freiburg

We recommend that you arrive during the first week of the semester in October for the winter semester and in April for the summer semester. If you have a place in a student dormitory, your rental agreement will typically begin on 01 October or 01 April. Orientation events will be held during the first two weeks before the beginning of the teaching period and you can focus on making the following preparations:

  • First steps: You must complete the following steps at the beginning of your stay in Freiburg in order to enrol at the university and register with the city, provided you have not already done so (see above):
    • Pay the student activity fee
    • Have a German health insurance company issue a certificate of existing insurance abroad or take out health insurance
    • Enrol at the university (immatrikulieren)
    • Register with the city of Freiburg

 

The Studierendenwerk has useful information on these steps.

  • Confirmation of arrival: If your home university requires a confirmation of the beginning of your stay or of your studies at the University of Freiburg, please visit our Erasmus office in the Student Service Center (SCS) during office hours after you have enrolled. Bring the form from your home university, proof of the date of your arrival (e.g. train, bus or plane ticket or confirmation of key handover at the dormitory) and proof of your enrolment.
  • Welcome Day for international students: Welcome Day takes place about 10 days prior to the beginning of the teaching period as an online and in-person event. If you have already arrived in Freiburg, you will have the opportunity to make new contacts at the in-person event. The online information event provides you with important information about studying in Freiburg, even if you have not yet arrived here. Welcome Day offers a helpful introduction to life in Freiburg and studying at the university. We will inform you of the event by email. You can also find some information in advance here:

 

Welcome Day for international students
  • Course selection and Learning Agreement: Once you have arrived in Freiburg, please contact the respective departmental coordinator to find out how to register for your courses and to obtain information about studying in your department. Many departments also offer their own orientation events and consultation hours for incoming students. The links in the list below will take you directly to the relevant information on your department’s website:

 

List of Erasmus+ departmental coordinators


Alternatively, you can also search for courses yourself in the course catalogue. The course catalogue is structured according to faculty/institution, department/institute and degree programme/examination regulations.

 

During your stay

During your Erasmus+ stay, you have the same rights and obligations as other students at the University of Freiburg. We wish you every success as you pursue studies in your discipline, improve your German language skills, make new contacts and discover culture and nature in and around Freiburg during your stay here. You will find detailed information about opportunities under “Studying at the University of Freiburg”, “Life in Freiburg” and “Further opportunities for international students”.

Before leaving Freiburg

  • Disenrol: Before you leave Freiburg, you must disenrol (exmatrikulieren) from the university. Please download and complete the application for disenrolment and ask the University Library to confirm that you do not have any books checked out. Then bring your application for disenrolment to the Registration Office at Sedanstraße 6. Once you have been disenrolled, you will receive the disenrolment certificate.
  • Deregister with the city: Please also remember to deregister with the city before you leave. Deregistering with the city can be done online [in German].
  • Certificate of stay: Send your completed Certificate of Stay together with the disenrolment certificate and proof of your arrival and departure (flight/train tickets, etc.) to or visit us during office hours at the Erasmus Office of the International Office.

 

After your stay

After your Erasmus+ stay in Freiburg, submit all the necessary documents to your home university. If you would like to stay in touch with the University of Freiburg, please visit Alumni Freiburg e.V.

We hope that you have fond memories of your time in Freiburg and wish you all the best for the future!

 

Studying at the University of Freiburg

Language skills

The language skills required for Erasmus+ studies at the University of Freiburg are specified in the exchange agreements with your home university. When selecting students for an Erasmus+ stay at the University of Freiburg, your university will also check your language skills. As a rule, German language skills at B2 level (in some cases B1 is sufficient) are required in accordance with the agreement. If the agreement references an English-language programme, English language skills at B2 level (in some cases B1 is sufficient) are required.

Courses in the Department of German (Germanistik) are an exception. Here German language skills at C1 level are required.

If you have any further questions about language skills, please contact your home university or the respective departmental coordinator at the University of Freiburg.

Language courses

The University of Freiburg’s Language Teaching Centre (SLI) offers intensive German language courses at various levels to help you prepare for the semester as part of its Summer and Winter University. These courses are subject to a fee and offer good language preparation for your studies in Freiburg.

During the semester, German courses are free of charge for Erasmus students, but places are limited (P-courses). For more information on these and other opportunities, please consult the website of the Language Teaching Centre. In addition, semester-long German courses are offered at reduced prices for students of the University of Freiburg (G-courses).

The Tandem Programme of the Studierendenwerk Freiburg as well as the Language Teaching Centre’s Tandem Language Learning offer additional opportunities to learn the language and make new contacts.

Academic calendar

An overview of the semester and teaching periods at the University of Freiburg is available here.

Course selection/Learning Agreement

In order to find the right courses, we recommend that you consult the website of your departmental coordinator at the University of Freiburg or contact the departmental coordinator directly. You will find links to the departmental coordinators here:

List of Erasmus+ departmental coordinators

In this way, you will receive appropriate information on course selection, enrolment procedures, ECTS credits, grading and the right person to sign your Learning Agreement.

Alternatively, you can also search for courses yourself in the course catalogue. The course catalogue is structured according to faculty/institution, department/institute and degree programme/examination regulations. Depending on the department, the complete course catalogue is available approximately two months before the start of the semester. We therefore recommend that you prepare your “Learning Agreement – Pre-Mobility” for the winter semester in early September and for the summer semester in early March. At this point, the course programme is complete and you have time to finalize your Learning Agreement before the start of the semester in October or April.

The University of Freiburg offers a broad range of courses at the bachelor’s and master’s level each semester. As at all German universities, the University of Freiburg offers three main types of courses: lectures, seminars and exercise courses.

While lecture courses are exclusively lecture-based, the seminar (introductory seminars for beginning students; advanced seminars or graduate seminars for advanced students) is characterized by active student participation, for example in the form of presentations and subsequent discussion. Exercise courses allow for the practical application of the subject matter learned. You must register for courses in the departments at the beginning of the semester using the University of Freiburg’s campus management system HISinOne. You will not receive access until you have enrolled at the university.

Erasmus+ students can earn ECTS credits in all of the courses agreed upon in the Learning Agreement. The achievements are usually confirmed by the lecturers. Confirmation is given at the end of course if there is evidence of achievement (e.g. an examination or a written assignment). Your achievements will then be shown with the corresponding result in the transcript of records and will be available for you to download in HISinOne.

Another distinctive feature of courses here: Most courses last two hours. However, this time period includes the “akademische Viertel” or “academic quarter”, which is customary in Germany, meaning that the courses actually start 15 minutes later than officially stated. This is often indicated by the abbreviation c.t. (lat.: cum tempore): 10 am–12 pm c.t. means 10:15 am to 11:45 am. However, if s.t. (lat.: sine tempore) is indicated, the course begins at the specified time. 10 am s.t. means 10:00 am.

Students with special needs

Do you have special needs in your studies due to a disability or chronic illness? The University of Freiburg aims to enable you to participate in your studies and in student life as equally and independently as possible and to support you in managing your studies with a variety of information and advising services. We would be happy to advise you on support options during your studies and can mediate between you and a lecturer should a conflict arise.

Representative for Students with a Disability or Chronic Illness
Solveig Roscher
Student Service Center
University of Freiburg
Sedanstr. 6, Room 02/ 015
79098 Freiburg

Phone: +49 761 203 67380

If you need support such as extra time for writing exams, breaks during exams, extensions to deadlines or the use of technical aids, please also inform your Erasmus+ departmental coordinator.

Life in Freiburg

Accommodations

There are various options for finding a room in Freiburg:

  • Once you have registered with the Mobility Online mobility platform, you can apply for a room in a student dormitory. To get a sense of the options, you can check out an overview of the dormitories in advance.
  • You can also look for a room or a flat on the private housing market. Many Freiburg students who go abroad for a few months rent out their furnished room while they are away.

Insurance

Everyone is fundamentally responsible for their own insurance coverage. Please find out about your coverage before the start of your stay. Helpful information on insurance is provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Studierendenwerk Freiburg (SWFR).

  • Health insurance: You must have health insurance to enrol at the University of Freiburg. Students from EU countries should bring their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or proof of insurance with them to Freiburg. Students from non-EU countries can take out health insurance in Freiburg with a statutory health insurance company that offers special rates for students. Private health insurance companies also offer insurance policies. Please pay attention to the different benefits that an insurance policy offers.
  • The semester fee that you paid when you enrolled means that you are insured by the Studierendenwerk against some losses if they arise in direct connection with your studies. Further information can be found on the website of the Studierendenwerk Freiburg (SWFR).
  • You may also be insured through your home university. Please ask your home university about existing insurance coverage.
  • We also recommend that you discuss with your insurance provider whether you need additional coverage. We recommend that students with a European Health Insurance Card also consider taking out international health insurance in their home country.

SemesterTicket

Once you are enrolled at the University of Freiburg, you can purchase a SemesterTicket. This ticket is valid for one semester (October to March/April to September) and entitles you to use all buses, trams and regional trains (2nd class only) in the RVF network.

Freiburg students without a SemesterTicket can request a free 7 pm ticket, which is valid daily after 7:00 pm on all of the aforementioned RVF means of transport.

IMPORTANT: Please carry your SemesterTicket/7 pm ticket, your Unicard, a current certificate of enrolment and an official photo ID with you every time you travel!

 

Further opportunities for international students

 

Additional mobility options for incoming students

For students wishing to come to the University of Freiburg, there are other mobility options besides Erasmus+.

International partners

In addition to the Erasmus+ programme countries, there are also agreements with international partners within the framework of Erasmus+ Worldwide (International Credit Mobility). If you are interested in these partnerships, please contact Greta Matthis .

The University of Freiburg and its global partner universities also offer the opportunity to study abroad in Freiburg through the Freiburg Global Exchange.

European partners

Eucor – The European Campus offers students at our partner universities on the Upper Rhine (Basel, Mulhouse, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg) the opportunity to attend courses at the University of Freiburg.

The University of Freiburg is a member of the European University Alliance EPICUR, which means that all students are eligible to participate in EPICUR activities.

There are also still partnerships with universities in Switzerland and the United Kingdom.