Pre­lim­in­ary con­sid­er­a­tions

During the lecture period, the International Office regularly organises an initial consultation as an information event. Here we inform you about the possibilities of a semester abroad as well as the application procedure and answer general questions. After the information event, you can come to our individual counselling service to discuss individual questions without making an appointment in advance. If you would like advice on individual countries or partner universities, please get in touch with the contact person responsible for this region. The dates of the next information event and counselling times can be found here.

Study visits abroad are possible for both Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes.

For Bachelor's students, the 5th or 6th semester is usually suitable for a semester abroad. You must apply for this at the beginning of the 3rd semester (if you start your studies in the winter semester). If you have already studied for a few semesters, it is often easier to decide on the "right" host university. In addition, your chances of applying for particularly sought-after exchange places increase because you already have the relevant academic achievements to show for it.

Master's students usually study abroad in the 3rd semester.

However, if in doubt, you should clarify the timing of your semester abroad with the academic advisors in your faculty at an early stage.

Study visits abroad are possible for both Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes.

For Bachelor's students, the 5th or 6th semester is usually suitable for a semester abroad. You must apply for this at the beginning of the 3rd semester (if you start your studies in the winter semester). If you have already studied for a few semesters, it is often easier to decide on the "right" host university. In addition, your chances of applying for particularly sought-after exchange places increase because you already have the relevant academic achievements to show for it.

Master's students usually study abroad in the 3rd semester.

However, if in doubt, you should clarify the timing of your semester abroad with the academic advisors in your faculty at an early stage.

This is possible if you plan carefully. Find out as early as possible about the semester times and the courses on offer at the partner university. Check whether you can bring forward courses that are not offered in Paderborn or take them after your stay abroad. If you are studying two or more subject areas (e.g. double Bachelor's degree, teaching degree, interdisciplinary degree programmes such as Business Informatics), you will not always have the opportunity to study both subjects at the partner university. You should also take this into account when planning your semester.

You should also find out in good time (e.g. from your degree programme advisor) which academic achievements you can complete abroad and have recognised.

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) provides numerous tips for planning a stay abroad on its website. You will also find information on the cost of living in the respective country. You can follow the experiences of current outgoings from all over Germany at Studying Worldwide.

In the experience reports of former Paderborn outgoings you will also find information on travelling costs, living costs and accommodation costs.

Yes, it is possible. It just needs to be well planned.

Here you can find information from the Family Service Office.
Here you can find information on the Erasmus+ top-ups (for students with child(ren)).
Here you can find general information about studying abroad with a child.

All active exchange opportunities are published centrally by the International Office in the winter semester for the following academic year (winter semester and/or summer semester!) on the International Office website under the heading Partner Universities. In the summer semester, any remaining places and any new collaborations for the following summer semester will be called for proposals.

All information about the application can be found here.

All exchange places are allocated by the respective programme officers in the faculties. A pre-selection is usually made after reviewing the written applications. The final selection is usually made after a selection interview, which can sometimes be held in the language of instruction of the chosen host university.
The general selection criteria were determined by a survey of the programme representatives. You can find the results here.

You can find out which exchange opportunities are suitable for which degree programmes (and specialisations, if applicable) on our partner university portal. Please also check the semester times and courses on offer before you apply for a host university!

You can also find testimonials from previous exchange students about the individual partner universities on our portal.

Various people are involved in an exchange at both the home and host university. At Paderborn University, the staff in the International Office are the contact persons for administrative and organisational questions about the exchange, and the Departmental Coordinators are the contact persons for subject-related questions about the exchange, e.g. for advice on studying at the host university from a subject-related perspective or for course selection. The Departmental Coordinators also select the students who apply for an exchange place at the partner university.

You can find the right contact person in your faculty in the detailed information on the partner university portal.

In most cases, the cooperation agreements with partner universities specify the subject areas or subject groups in which the exchange may take place. It is therefore not possible to submit an application from another subject.

The chances depend on both the number of applications and the country preferences. The more flexible you are in your choice of partnerships, the better your chances of getting an exchange place abroad.

Please upload the complete application documents in a PDF document to Mobility Online by the deadline. Submission in paper form is not possible.

Please be sure to adhere to the published application deadlines. Once the deadline has passed, the application process is finalised and no application documents will be accepted retrospectively.

You can provide proof of language proficiency in the respective language of instruction either via a recognised language certificate (TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge, DELE, DELF/DALF, ^UNIcert®) or via the DAAD language certificate. Other forms of certificates or attestations (e.g. Abitur certificate) are not recognised for the application. You can find further information on language certificates on our homepage . Please note in particular the regulations for individual degree programmes and the corresponding lead times.
Please contact the Centre for Language Teaching for information on the various ways to obtain a DAAD language certificate.

It is not necessary to prepare these documents in the usual national form. The application documents are used exclusively for the faculty's internal selection procedure and are not forwarded to the partner universities.

After you have submitted your application documents to the International Office, they will be forwarded to the responsible Departmental Coordinator (programme officer) in the faculties after the application deadline. After reviewing the documents and, if necessary, making a pre-selection, students are usually invited to a selection interview. Information on the selection procedure can be found here.

If you have unfortunately not been offered an exchange place at a partner university, you can apply for a semester abroad as a free mover at foreign universities or placement agencies. You may also be eligible for other forms of stays abroad(internships abroad, summer schools, work & travel, etc.).

Even if you have not been offered a place in this procedure, you can apply again for an exchange place at a partner university in the next application round.

You can apply for a leave of absence for the duration of your semester abroad at the UPB Service Centre within the re-registration period. You will also receive information there about the advantages and disadvantages of a leave of absence. If necessary, clarify the effects on your BaföG entitlement.

If you do not take a leave of absence for the duration of your semester abroad, you will continue to pay the regular semester fees at UPB. Please remember to re-register within the re-registration period. If you take a leave of absence, you may pay a reduced amount. You can obtain further information from the UPB Service Centre.

We would like you to be aware that a stay abroad is associated with increased costs. Depending on which country you go to, the cost of living can differ greatly from the German standard.
Even if you are exempt from tuition fees at our partner universities, you may, for example, be required to provide certain financial resources in advance as a guarantee (possibly from a sponsor). In non-European countries, this can easily amount to several thousand euros per semester.
Other fees (such as application fees, administration fees, visa costs or health costs (e.g. compulsory vaccinations)) are also not included in the tuition fee waiver and must be paid by you. Accommodation costs and living expenses must also be paid by the students themselves.

Information on insurance can be found here.

You do not apply for BAföG abroad at the Studierendenwerk Paderborn, but at the central international office responsible for the destination country (e.g. for semesters abroad in Spain: Studierendenwerk Heidelberg, for semesters abroad in the USA: Studierendenwerk Hamburg). You can find the International Office responsible for you here.

In addition to the domestic BAföG, the Auslands-BAföG also includes allowances for travelling expenses, any additional costs for health insurance abroad, etc. You may therefore be able to receive BAföG abroad even if you do not receive BAföG in Germany. More detailed information can be found here.

Whether and how the partner university supports you in finding accommodation varies from university to university. Please also note that there is no connection between the accommodation service at UPB and the possibility of finding a room at the partner university.

Once you have registered at the partner university, you will receive information on finding accommodation from your contact person there (e.g. application forms for rooms in halls of residence, private accommodation agencies, Facebook groups, etc.). Further information on the local housing market can also be found in the testimonials of former exchange students.

The recognition of the compulsory stay abroad as part of the B.Ed. programme is carried out by the faculty. Your contacts are
English Studies: Dr Markus Freudinger
Romance Studies: Mara Büter

Further information can be found here.

Information about the Erasmus+ scholarship can be found here.