Study Abroad

First Orientation

Are you interested in studying abroad and would like to gain more details? Ideally, planning earlier would benefit you more. You can receive an introduction by visiting the information event from the Central Office for International Affairs (RIA). An outline of all the information events offered this semester (in German) can be found here.

A maximum of 12 months can be spent abroad by you in your Master’s program. A cooperation agreement must generally exist between a department from your home university and the host university.

Leave from studies / “Urlaubssemester” is generally recommended to apply at the Student Records Office for the duration of your stay abroad since it doesn’t count as a regular study semester at FAU but as a “Zero semester”. Though students are not generally allowed to take exams at FAU during their leave from studies (with the exception of mandatory repeat exams), they are allowed to proclaim their academic achievements abroad which can be accredited for their studies at FAU after their return.

Please note the regulations for accreditation of academic achievements. In the event that the semester periods of your university abroad differ from the ones at FAU and you miss exam deadlines, you have the option to catch up on them during the study leave once you return from abroad. For further information, please contact your study advisor!

The possible destinations for your studies abroad can be checked out on the new Mobility-Online portal. This tool enables you to view the world map and customize your search according to your preferences.

Additional Information

Erasmus+ is part of the EU’s schemes, including the Lifelong Learning Programme and offers scholarships for student mobility between the participating universities in Europe and some non-European countries. AT FAU, the Erasmus+ cooperation agreements are supervised by the program representative of a department or study program. You must hence apply with the respective Erasmus+ representative responsible for the host university of your choice. You can find the Erasmus+ cooperations of the Computer Science Department and further information regarding the application for the Computer Science partner universities below. Please note that the application procedure and deadlines for the cooperation of other departments can differ!

Contact the respective Erasmus+ coordinator for further information.

Erasmus+ Program Representative for the Computer Science Department
Dr. Zinaida Benenson
Martensstr. 3, Room 12.153
91058 Erlangen
09131/85-69908
zinaida.benenson@fau.de

The Erasmus cooperations for Computer Science are still in progress. At the moment an exchange is possible at the following universities:
  • Syddansk Universitet, Denmark
  • Université Bordeaux I, Sciences et Technologies, France
  • Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, France
  • Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs en Génie Electrique, France
  • EPF Ecole d’Ingénieurs, France
  • University of Strasbourg, France
  • Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • University of Strathclyde, Great Britain
  • Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
  • Politecnico di Milano, Italy
  • Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Norway – only Master’s students
  • Politechnika Wrocławska, Poland
  • Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
  • Universitatea ‘1 Decembrie 1918’ Alba Iulia, Romania
  • Universitatea “Ovidius” din Constanța, Romania
  • Umea Universitet, Sweden
  • Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland
  • Univerza v Ljubljani, Slovenia
  • Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
  • Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Spain
  • Universidad del País Vasco, Spain
  • Universidad Pontificia Comillas de Madrid, Spain
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
  • Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
  • Vysoké Učení Technické v Brně, Czech Republic
  • Univerzita Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
  • České Vysoké Učení Technické v Praze, Czech Republic
  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
  • Óbudai Egyetem, Hungary
  • Miskolci Egyetem, Hungary
  • Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Hungary

The application deadline is the 15th of January for the winter semester of the current year and the summer of the following year! If there remain unallocated slots, students can apply for the summer semester of the subsequent year until the 1st of October. Exchange slots allocated in the second round do not necessarily come with a scholarship, so the official deadline in January is preferable!

If you do not have a certificate for the required language skills, please contact our Language Center. The sooner you get in touch with them, the higher your chances to get your language certificate in time.

The Erasmus+ Coordinator for the Computer Science Department collects all incoming applications until the application deadline. After the deadline, all applications meeting the language and subject-specific requirements participate in an unbiased random selection (lot drawing).

Computer Science students can also participate in the Erasmus+ exchange programs of the departments involved in the study program (Electrical Engineering, Medical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Sciences and Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering depending on your branch of study). You can find an overview of all cooperating departments and their contacts here.

Please take note that the application deadlines of the other departments can differ from those of Computer Science!

You can also apply for the exchange programs managed by the Faculty of Engineering. Please contact the International Office of the Faculty of Engineering for the first consultation regarding these options.

If you are interested in International abroad (industrial internship, research internship, practical part of your thesis paper – after consultation with your responsible academic supervisor at FAU), you can also seek financial and administrative support at FAU’s Central International Office. Please find more information here: FAU – going abroad.

If you want to study at a university that is not a cooperation partner of FAU, you can also study abroad as a so-called free mover. Please find further information here.

Preparation for Studying Abroad

  • Research the websites of the host university to decide on your preferred country and city. Inform yourself especially on the lecture offered by the host university.
  • Contact the respective program representative at FAU and submit all required documents.  For applicants for cooperations of the Computer Science Department: Please send your application per email to zinaida.benenson@fau.de, including your CV, required language certificates, current transcript of records from Mein Campus and a one-page motivation description (all in German or English, one pdf-file).
  • Only for the Erasmus+ program: After successful nomination by the program representative, you will be contacted by FAU’s Central Office for International Affairs (RIA)  and receive further information on formalities concerning the Erasmus+ scholarship you are entitled to (an additional application is not needed) and the organization of your stay abroad. This includes filling in an Online Learning Agreement via the online portal OLA (www.learning-agreement.eu). Please find a video tutorial on how to create the Erasmus+ Learning Agreement via OLA here: OLA-YouTube.  The Erasmus code of FAU is DERLANGE01. If you are using an exchange offer by our Computer Science program your “subject area code ” is Informatics / Computer Science and Information and Communication technologies. If you are using the exchange offers of our Departments of Electrical Engineering or other departments, please ask the responsible Erasmus coordinator for the correct “subject area code”. Important: Do not confuse the Online Erasmus Learning Agreement with the separate Learning Agreement for accreditation in your Computer Science program (see below). ATTENTION: The online platform OLA will be replaced by the new DLA (Digital Learning Agreement) via the Mobility online platform by WS 22/23.
  • You will receive information on registering (process, deadlines) at your host university from FAU’s Central International Office. Please make sure that you register at the host university in due time!
  • Please ask your contacts at the host university about housing options. It may be necessary to apply for a dorm room early on.

Please consult your accreditation representative (Dr. Felix Schmutterer, Computational Engineering & Artificial Intelligence) as soon as possible, but no later than 6 weeks before departing to create the Learning Agreement for the concrete accreditation (not the ERASMUS Learning Agreement!). The more detailed your description of the foreign lecture is, the higher the chance of accreditation!

  • During your stay, you can direct your study-related inquiries to the program representative and organizational inquiries to the Central International Office.
  • For questions concerning the accreditation (e.g. changing the Learning Agreement for the accreditation of academic achievements), please contact your accreditation representative!

  • After your stay, please complete the form for accreditation and submit it — including your transcript of records from your host university — to the accreditation representative. At this point, you still have the possibility to apply for the accreditation of achievements not mentioned in the Learning Agreement.
  • The accreditation representative conducts the accreditation. The credits and grades will be transferred into the German system.
  • The accreditation documents are sent to the Examinations Office and registered in Mein Campus.
  • We are excited to receive your feedback and your report!