A day in the life of Kiel, in miniature by René Raab
You are a student of one of our European Partner Universities and you would like to study at Kiel University as an ERASMUS exchange student for one or two semesters?
We are looking forward to your application and hope to welcome you here soon!
The deadline for the Winter Semester (starting in October) is June 15th and for the Summer Semester (starting in April) January 15th.
Reasons for ERASMUS at Kiel University
There are many reasons why to come to Kiel for a semester abroad. We have listed a couple of them for you to explore:
Kiel is a beautiful and relaxing city. Since Kiel is not a big city, everything is close and can be reached easily by bike or foot. Wherever you are in Kiel, the Baltic Sea and green parks are always close by. Once a year, Kiel is host to the internationally famous ‘Kieler Woche’, a one-week event for everybody.
Everything easily accessible by bike
Easy going city on the water with lots of parks
Host of the largest 'Volksfest' in the Northern Europe the internationally famous Kiel Week
Economics: IWF, größte Bib ZBW
Famous Handball team & rugby team
Studying at the sea
The Baltic Sea is the heart of our wonderful city and beaches go right into the city. On a sunny day, after classes, our students love to go to the beach.
In Kiel there are many possibilities to engage in sports activities, such as sailing, surfing & wind surfing, rugby, horseback riding and much more. If you like to hang out at the beach, no problem! We have beautiful sand beaches where you can hang out with your new friends, have a barbecue party, a relaxed walk on the beach, or study for exams. Besides the Baltic Sea with all its beautiful beaches, Kiel University has an internationally renowned marine research center which is connected closely to other disciplines (e.g. Future Ocean – Cluster of Excellence)
Variety of language courses other than German
If you are interested in learning not only German but other languages as well, you are at the right address! Kiel University offers many language courses, such as Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese for all levels. In addition, we offer also courses designed for business purposes to enhance your skills to communicate appropriately in business environment.
Lots of opportunities to learn German
Students from all over the world
More than 26.000 students call Kiel their home, 1.900 are international students! Kiel University is a meeting point for students from all over the world. It is a great opportunity to make international friends and to get to know a range of different cultures! Kiel is proud of its great international relations and the university is integrated in to the worldwide scientific network.
Good assistance and mentoring
Safety
Moderate prices
University city,
Lots of sport, music and leisure activities
In Kiel you won’t be bored easily. Our city has plenty of activities you can enjoy! You can decide between going to museums, theatre, opera, art galleries, and if you like to watch a movie, we have several cinemas in our town! Also let’s not forget the great range of restaurants, bars, and cafés at which you can have a fabulous time with your friends.
Clean and cheap dorm rooms
Gateway to Northern Europe
Kiel is the capital of Germany’s most northern state, Schleswig – Holstein. Kiel is close to the Danish border (just a 1, 5 hour drive) and thanks to the Schengen Declaration there is no border control. Our port is an important junction (hub?) for international cruise ships and ferries, especially ferries which take you non-stop and in short time to Scandinavia.
Kiel is the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, the most northern German state. Founded in 1233, Kiel is home to more than 250.000 inhabitants. About 35.000 of them are students. Directly located at the Baltic Sea, Kiel is famous for its sailing conditions and hosts the annual Kiel Week (Kieler Woche). The Kiel Week is one of the world's greatest sailing events and atttracts thousands of visitors every year.
Kiel University
Founded in 1665 by Christian Albrecht, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Kiel University is the largest university in Schleswig Holstein. Today more than 26.000 students are enrolled in one of our 185 degree programmes.
Marine Sciences, „Future Ocean“, Earth Systems, Climate and Coastal Zone Research, Economic and Social Consequences
Kiel Nano Sciences
Functional Nanosystems and Materials for Technological and Medical Applications
Societal, Environmental and Cultural Change
Interconnection of Mankind and Environment from Inter- disciplinary Perspectives
Kiel Life Science
Interaction of Organism and Environment Inflammation at Interfaces Nutrition and Health
International Master programmes
Economics
Economics
Quantitative Economics
Quantitative Finance
Environmental and Resource Economics
Mathematical Finance
Agriculture
AgriGenomics
Diary Science
Engineering
Materials Science
Digital Communications
Electrical and Information Engineering
Materials Science and Business Administration (2019/20)
Marine and Geoscience
Biological Oceanography
Climate Physics: Meteorology and Physical Oceanography
Marine Geosciences
Environmental Studies
Environmental Management
Applied Ecology
Ecohydrology
Sustainability, Society and the Environment
Environmental and Resource Economics
Life Science/Medicine
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Medical Life Science
Applied Scientific Dental/Medical Education & Research
Hospital Management
Language and Cultural Studies
English and American Literatures, Cultures, and Media
Interkulturelle Studien: “Polen und Deutsche in Europa”
Law
LL.M. Programme
International PhD Programmes
Quantitative Economics – International Doctoral Programme
Integrated School of Ocean Sciences (ISOS) (= integral part of the Excellence cluster “Future Ocean”)
Human Development in Landscapes
(International Graduate School funded in the framework of the Federal “Excellence Intiative”)
International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for
Evolutionary Biology
(International Graduate School dedicated to highest level research
and training in all areas of contemporary Evolutionary Biology)
Institutions affiliated to the University
Kiel Institute for World Economics
German National Library of Economics (pictured)
GEOMAR-Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung
Leibniz Institute for Science Education (IPN)
Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schloss Gottorf
Lorenz-von-Stein-Institut für Verwaltungswissenschaften
Institute for Security Studies
Forschungs- und Technologiezentrum Westküste
Global academic network
University-wide partnership agreements with ~ 40 different universities worldwide
225 ERASMUS partner institutions in Europe with more than 440 bilateral agreements
Key European links, concentrated in the Baltic Sea Region
Key links with the USA
Key links with China
Testimonials
"For me Kiel was surprisingly more welcoming then I would of expected. The summer semester is full of bbq's and the people want to get out of their houses. A little city which I can feel very quickly very familiar, which is good when here for only 6 months. I also got to know the countryside around Kiel while I found a job with a sheep farm. On the picture you can see my colleague Sue".
"My Erasmus experience in Kiel has been so far an amazing experience. I have learnt a lot, specialy from the great deal of different cultures I got to know. At the beginning it was a little bit difficult because everything was new for me. However, in just one week, I knew that I was about to start one of the best experiences of my life. In this 9 moths I met many people, some of which have become very close friends. Thanks to the Erasmus experience, I learnt how to take responsability for myself, how to deal with defficult situations and, above all, how to be independent. During my erasmus, I traveled a lot, I laughed a lot and I enjoyed a lot.
The city is beautiful and people here are nice and willing to help. The city is not too big and it has big green areas as well as sea. The gratest thing in Kiel is the Kiel-Week, an awesome event that host more than 3 million people. I just can say I loved it.
The quality of education in the university, at least in the English seminar, is quite good. I had very qualified and professional teachers. How ever it was a little bit difficult to handle the website to choose the courses I wanted to take.
In short, Erasmus in Kiel is an experience I warmly recommend."
"Erasmus Law student, I spent 2 semesters in kiel this year 2015/2016. I am really glad to have chosen Kiel to do my erasmus. At first Kiel is a student-city, not so expensive to live. Concerning the university, I found that the professors are at first in general really helpful and available for students (take time to answer to our questions etc) and I have also been really well received at Kiel (coordinator, international center, lektorat etc), everytime I had a question I found someone to answer. I've also noticed the hudge effort that the University made for students; especially to encourage them to participate in a lot of activities, or meet other students. This includes especially foreigns students with for example the 'studdy buddy program'"
One time cost: A Social Fee for every student who enrolls at Kiel University (winter term 2019/2020 it's 259.00 Euro). This Social Fee is valid for the whole semester and includes bus and train through in Kiel, through whole Schleswig-Holstein and travels to Hamburg as well as discounts in the canteens on campus. Furthermore, there are numerous student discounts in cinemas, clubs and train. Every student who stays in Kiel for 6 month receives 100 Euro "Welcome Money".
Assistance and Mentoring
For all questions regarding ERASMUS at Kiel University feel free to contact Mrs. Brode from the ERASMUS Office.
Our students are very dedicated to support students from abroad. You find various organisations and programmes listed below:
Kiel International Student Organisation (currently candidate section for Erasmus Student Network)
The Kiel International Student Organisation (KISO) is a campus group at the Kiel University, which was founded in April 2019 and is funded by the International Center. We closely cooperate with the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and became an ESN Candidate Section in July 2019. Many of our active members have already been abroad, which helps us understand the needs and wishes of students, who study in a different country. Our main goal is to make sure that all of the international students at our university are able to enjoy their time abroad as much as we did. Therefore, we want to help the incoming students to get to know Kiel better as well as help them to create bonds with other international and local students. To achieve that goal, we offer all kinds of different events, such as parties, trips to cities outside of Schleswig- Holstein, sport activities and Social Inclusion Events.
If you are looking for more information about our network or have further questions, simply contact us under the following addresses: EmailFacebookInstagram
Tutors for international students
We offer help during enrollment period and orientation programmes and provide you with a programme in which many important information are listed for the whole semester (Link).
Intercultural Mentor programme
Use the service of our interculturally trained mentors who guide you individually through your first term at Kiel University:
How to write a seminar paper or an assignment, how to work on a project
Become familiar with presentation skills and moderation methods
Be aware of different styles of communication and patterns of behavior in seminars, lecturers, and in teams
Find contact persons at your faculty
Study Buddy - Find German Friends
Study Buddy is a mentoring-programme for international students. It aims to encourage and enhance the contact between German and international students. The Studdy Buddy team consists of two students (International & German) who have similar interests and knowledge of languages. The Study Buddies meet in their free time and do whatever they like. They decide how often and where they want to meet. There are also some events where all Study Buddies are invited to come together:
Welcoming Event
„Stammtisch“: meetings for all Study Buddies in a pub (once a month)
Café (once a month)
events for all Study Buddy teams (once a semester)
Every Erasmus student who applies in time is guaranteed a dorm room. For the start in the autumn/winter semester this is June 15th. If you start in the spring/summer semester then it is January 15th. The application for the dorm room is included in the application process for your stay. You find the form and the contact in Mobility Online after you logged in. The rent is between 190 Euro to 230 Euro. Please only apply via the International Center. More information on living in Kiel.
General information on modules, ECTS credit points and the grading system
Course Structure
Most study programmes are Bachelor / Master programmes. Few exceptions are Medicine, Dentestry, Law and Pharmacy which are so called Staatsexamen. Here you find an overview of our current study programmes. On this page you see the main teaching language.
Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes are modularised, i.e. several thematically related lectures are combined into modules. In the individual modules the skills to be acquired are taught as part of the overall qualification of the particular degree programme. Each module is assigned ECTS credits (in accordance with the provisions of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)), which are acquired by attending all the lectures assigned to the module and by passing all required examinations.
Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes are modularised, i.e. several thematically related lectures are combined into modules. In the individual modules the skills to be acquired are taught as part of the overall qualification of the particular degree programme. Each module is assigned ECTS credits (in accordance with the provisions of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)), which are acquired by attending all the lectures assigned to the module and by passing all required examinations.
ECTS Credits
ECTS credits represent a unit of measure of the student's average hours of work. Hours of work include attendance at module lectures, preparation and follow-up work on learning material, time required to produce protocols, seminar papers, assignments, etc. as well as examination revision and examination attendance.
1 ECTS credit = 30 hours of work
1 semester = 30 ECTS credits = 900 hours of work
6 semesters (Bachelor) = 180 ECTS credits = 5,400 hours of work
4 semesters (Master) = 120 ECTS credits = 3,600 hours of work
The grading scale for graded examinations that have been passed ranges from 1.0 for "very good" to 4.0 for "sufficient":
1 = Very good = an excellent achievement,
2 = Good = an achievement that is well above average,
3 = Satisfactory = an average achievement
and
4 = Sufficient = an achievement that is sufficient despite certain deficiencies.
To differentiate between these grades it is possible to raise or lower each grade by an intermediate value of 0.3. Exceptions to this rule, however, are the grades 0.7, 4.3, 4.7 and 5.3, which are excluded.
A grade of 4.0 or worse is regarded as "not sufficient" (a result that does not meet the requirements due to a significant deficiency). Failed examinations are graded 5.0.
"Calculated" grades can also be raised or lowered by intermediate values other than 0.3. Calculated grades are formed from two or more partial grades for individual examinations, modules, etc. The (degree-specific) Examination Regulations stipulate how the partial grades are incorporated into the module grade, subject grade or overall grade. Only the first decimal place after the decimal point is taken into account here, other decimal places are deleted without being rounded up or down.
The grade is
up to 1.5 = Very good,
from 1.6 to 2.5 = Good,
from 2.6 to 3.5 = Satisfactory,
from 3.6 to 4.0 = Sufficient and
above 4.1 = Not sufficient.
Courses to study and how to find them
You are free to choose courses from different study fields and study levels. The access to some courses might be restricted due to a low course capacity (e.g. courses in Biological Oceanography). We recommend a language competence of B1.
UnivIS is our main Lecture Directory. Unfortuntately sometimes it is updated shortly before the start of the semester. In this case use the previous semester as reference.
Some study programmes already have a complete module handbook ready. The you find detailed course descriptions.
Another approach to find courses when univIS is not yet updated or you can't find the number of credits
If courses are not uploaded yet or you can't find the information about the number of credits please look in the study structure of your study programme. First you choose a subject. You open "Modulübersicht" and if necessary you choose "Studienfach 1". Study programmes consist of Moduls.Those moduls include a flexible number of teaching units (e.g. lecture, seminar, exercise, excursion, internship).
In the column "im...Semester" you find out in which semester the course takes place: Uneven numbers indicate that the course takes place in the summer term, even numbers tell you that course takes place in the winter semester).
In the example you see that the module "Einführung in die Sozialwissenschaften" consists of two lectures (VL) and one exercise (Ü). All courses take place in the winter semester. For the lectures you receive 4 Credits (LP) each and for the excercise 2 credits.
Learning German
There are plenty of possibilties to improve your German language skills before and during your stay:
Every Erasmus student has the chance to particpate in a German course during the semester. We offer courses for all levels. At the end of the course you will recieve 6 Credits. Registration.
To be eligible to apply for a stay at Kiel University, there must be a bilateral agreement between our universities. Depending on your main study language during your stay, you need to provide a language proficiency certificate (B1) for either German or English.
Find courses either in our Course Catalogue (course suggestions) or in Kiel University's Lecture Directory (not fully updated until the beginning of the semester).
Three signatures on your Learning Agreement (signed by yourself, a representative of your university, by your Departmental Coordinator in Kiel). The International Center does not sign Learning Agreements.
Language Certificate of the main study language during your stay in Kiel: either an OLS test, a confirmation letter by a lecturer from your university, or something similar.
Examinations at Kiel University
The common way to register your examination is on the CAU Portal. Registration on the portal has the advantage that you not only can check your examination results yourself but if all results are in you contact the examination office to send your Transcript of Records to your home address. If the online registration does not work for a course then you register by paper. After the examination office processed your application you find the registration online.
As every faculty has its own examination office, different forms need to be used. You find the documents and the contact information below:
The forms are either handed in personally or in the post box of the respective examination office. You might send them also per mail but make sure to send it with your mail address of Kiel university.
IMPORTANT: Use the respective forms from the Faculties (respectively from ther examination offices) you have courses in. Otherwise your application might not be processed completely.
NOTE: If you agreed on special conditions, e.g. a different number of credits or instead of a written exam you take an oral test, then you do not need to register for the exam. In this case, you ask the lecturer to issue a "Schein". A "Schein" is a document that contains the minimum information of the name of the student, semester, name of the course, awarded credits and grade, name of the lecturerer, signature of the lecturerer, and the date. It is issued by the lecturer after you took the exam. In the section "Transcript of Records" it is explained how you will recieve your Transcript of Records.
It is not necessary to stay in Kiel until it is issued. Ask the lecturer to send it to you.
At the following faculties/institutes you can ask for suppport:
Faculty of Medicine: Mr. Fickenscher and Mrs. Hoppe
The Transcript of Records is an official ERASMUS document that shows all the courses you took during your stay. If you were able to register all your courses at the examination office(s), then the examination office issues your Transcript (except for Medicine). Otherwise you are in charge of creating your Transcipt of Records.
Students studying Medicine, Law, Business Administration and Economics need to contact their Departemental Coordinator.
Download the template here or in Mobility Online. You may also use the one provided by your university.
In the column "im...Semester" you find out in which semester the course takes place: Uneven numbers indicate that the course takes place in the summer term, even numbers tell you that course takes place in the winter semester).
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