Registration at the partner university
1st nomination
After you have accepted your exchange place, we will register you at the partner university. We will only pass on necessary data so that contact persons can get in touch with you. We will not pass on your application documents. We will inform you by e-mail as soon as we have registered you there. Until then, please understand that the nomination periods are completely different for all partners and you may therefore have to wait a few months for the next step after you have been accepted. This is absolutely normal. Nevertheless, you should already have a look at the partner websites and check the information for incoming exchange students. If you have not received any additional information from the partner university regarding the further registration process within a reasonable period of time (approx. four weeks) after our confirmation of nomination, or if you notice that the deadline for the subsequent application process is approaching, please let us know and we will contact the partner university again.
Note regarding e-mail traffic: Please check your spam inbox regularly, as important information from the partner university may end up here first. There is also a quarantine folder directly in your IMT e-mail account, in which messages can be held back due to the university firewall settings. For you to compare: We will register you at the partner university with the Paderborn University e-mail address that you use to enter Mobility Online.
2nd application
After you have been nominated, you will usually have to apply again at the partner university in order to be registered in their in-house systems. You will receive information on how to proceed, on the applicable forms, deadlines, etc. directly from your contact person there - the respective requirements vary greatly from university to university. For better planning, please inform yourself about the application deadlines and application information on the website of the partner university. After a successful application, you usually receive an acceptance letter from the partner university, which you can use to apply for a visa, for instance. Please make sure you adhere to the internal deadlines of the partner universities. You are responsible for this! The time schedule in the months leading up to your stay abroad (especially in non-European countries) can be very tight. Please do not let this irritate you, it is important that you organize yourself well and that you always know the next steps and plan ahead.
Please note regarding admission: You have been selected for an exchange semester in UPB's internal selection process. However, please take the formal registration process at the partner university seriously. If you do not fulfil the respective requirements, you may be rejected there or you may suffer disadvantages in terms of course selection, allocation of accommodation, etc. Pay particular attention to the language skills and certificates required by the partner university. The partner university has the final say on admission. We therefore advise students to wait with important decisions (e.g. cancellations etc.) until they have an acceptance letter from the partner university. As the time frame can often be very tight once the letter has been issued, many students nevertheless make the personal decision to continue with their preparations beforehand.
Guidance on the application process at the partner university
Contact person at the host university - If you have specific questions about the processes and documents at the host university, you will initially always have a contact person on site whom you can ask for advice. The colleagues at the partner university know their own processes best and are happy to help with any problems. Please bear in mind that a reply may take a few days. If you are unable to get in touch, we at the International Office are here to help you.
Departmental Coordinator / Recognition Officer - Do you have questions about the subject-related aspects of your stay abroad, e.g. about your course selection and filling out the Learning Agreement? Then the departmental contact persons in your faculty are there to help you. These are, on the one hand, the departmental coordinators for the respective partner university (can be found on our partner university portal) and, on the other hand, the recognition officers for studies completed abroad in each faculty. Here you can find the appropriate recognition office for your faculty.
International Office - While the faculties support you in all subject-related questions, your IO-coordinators for the respective country in the International Office are your administrative companions. But you can always turn to us if you have any general problems or concerns. If you are going abroad with Erasmus+, the Erasmus+ representative is also your contact person for all duties and documents to be submitted.
The step of registering with the partner university requires a lot of personal responsibility and self-organisation from you. We know that you are probably filling out these kinds of documents for the first time and that the bureaucracy can be confusing at times. But don't worry, you can do it!
- First, sift through what documents are needed. (Allow for a time buffer: Do I still need signatures? Do I need to obtain further documents from other offices?)
- Decide in which way and in which order you need to submit the documents (e.g. is there an online registration? Should all documents be in one PDF?).
- Check the deadlines for submissions and start processing the application early.
As all universities have different registration procedures and paperwork, we are unfortunately unable to provide general guidance to assist you. However, we do provide some tips and assistance on frequently asked questions and terminology.
Frequently used terms
Here are some explanations of terms used when filling out application forms at the partner university.
Departmental Coordinator / Academic Coordinator/ Tutor: This refers to the Departmental Coordinator for the partner university in your faculty. You can find out who is responsible for which cooperation in our partner university portal.
Erasmus Coordinator: Ms Melek Boubaker
Institutional Coordinator / Administrative Coordinator: Your IO coordinator for the respective country in the International Office.
Contact Person: If no further explanation is given, you can indicate your IO coordinator for the respective country in the International Office.
Responsible Person: In the Application Form, this usually refers to the IO coordinator for the respective country in the International Office. In the Learning Agreement, however, the person from the faculty who signs the Learning Agreement is meant.
ISCED code or field of study: Our agreements are concluded in individual fields of study. There is also an abbreviated code (ISCED code) for each field of study. For the exact name of the field of study at your host university, please refer to the respective Bilateral Agreement in our partner university portal.
In many cases, our partner universities require an Transcript of Records in English, i.e. a list of courses attended and achievements made during your studies in Paderborn. You only need to have an Transcript of Records drawn up in English if this is required by the partner university. We do not require this document.
If you need an English ToR and cannot download it yourself in PAUL, please request this from the Central Examination Office.
Some partner universities require you to provide your GPA (Grade Point Average) as part of the application. This is the conversion of your German grade point average into the international standard. The US GPA (4.0) is the standard that many universities around the world use as a guide.
Limited validity: The table and the formula are only intended for the conversion of international grade point averages (GPA). If partner universities provide their own information or tools for grade conversion, these must always be used.
The “modifizierte bayrische Formel” can be used for the calculation:
x = 1 + 3 x Nmax - Nd / Nmax - Nmin
x = grade sought in the German system
Nmax = upper benchmark (best grade in the grading system)
Nmin = lower benchmark (lowest passing grade)
Nd = foreign average grade
Example table: US GPA (4.0):
| Grade (DE) | US-GPA (4.0) |
| 1,0 | 4.0 |
| 1,1 | 3.9 |
| 1,2 | 3.8 |
| 1,3 | 3.7 |
| 1,4 | 3.6 |
| 1,5 | 3.5 |
| 1,6 | 3.4 |
| 1,7 | 3.3 |
| 1,8 | 3.2 |
| 1,9 | 3.1 |
| 2,0 | 3.0 |
| 2,1 | 2.9 |
| 2,2 | 2.8 |
| 2,3 | 2.7 |
| 2,4 | 2.6 |
| 2,5 | 2.5 |
| 2,6 | 2.4 |
| 2,7 | 2.3 |
| 2,8 | 2.2 |
| 2,9 | 2.1 |
| 3,0 | 2.0 |
| 3,1 | 1.9 |
| 3,2 | 1.8 |
| 3,3 | 1.7 |
| 3,4 | 1.6 |
| 3,5 | 1.5 |
| 3,6 | 1.4 |
| 3,7 | 1.3 |
| 3,8 | 1.2 |
| 3,9 | 1.1 |
| 4,0 | 1.0 |
| 5,0 | 0.0 |
A confirmation for a place to study abroad (necessary for BAföG or leave of absence) as well as a Confirmation of Nomination (if required by the host university) is available for download in Mobility Online after you have been nominated.
Note: If the document is not available for download, you may not yet have completed your personal data in the Mobility Online workflow. Please always make this entry as soon as possible, as we may also need this information for the nomination.
It may happen that a partner university wants you to submit a letter of recommendation as part of the application documents. As this is a professional assessment, your contact is your faculty. You can contact the Departmental Coordinator for the respective partner university, they will help you further. You can find the Departmental Coordinators for the respective collaborations in our partner university portal. Please contact the responsible persons in good time, as experience has shown that the issuing process can take a little time. Please ask for a version in English to avoid expensive official translations.