Uni-Tübingen

Arrival in Tübingen and Studying

Welcome to Tübingen!

We are delighted to welcome you at Tübingen University and trust that your stay here will be fulfilling and enriching! Below, you find essential information to help you get started and thrive in your studies.
Arrival Orientation & Support Course choice & registration Exam registration Exam period 2nd semester

Necessary Steps after Arrival

Upon your arrival, there are several administrative and organizational tasks that require your attention.

What You Need to Bring

  • 600€ damage deposit (if not payed online earlier), your rent contract and some cash for the first couple of days
  • Your national ID-card or Passport which needs to be valid for the whole duration of your stay
  • If necessary a student visa
  • Valid health insurance proof

The Next Steps

  1. If you have a confirmation for a room in the official student dormitories: Appointment with the dormitory administration of the Studierendenwerk, Fichtenweg 5, 72076 Tübingen
    • Deposit slip and making an appointment with the janitor
       
  2. Meeting with the janitor of the Studierendenwerk:
    • Handing over the room keys and moving into the room
    • Confirmation of residence (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung) for registration at the Citizens' Office Tübingen (Bürgeramt)
       
  3. Registration with the Incoming Team, International Office, Wilhelmstr 9, 72074 Tübingen: Please book an appointment in advance in  our portal
    • Official check-in with document pickup of student ID / login data for the university databases
    • Information for the first days in Tübingen
    • Signing of arrival forms, if necessary:
      • for Erasmus and CIVIS students (not Erasmus worldwide): Confirmation of the Certificate of Arrival / Attendance, which is usually requested by the home university
      • for Overseas students: only very rarely an arrival form has to be confirmed
      • We confirmed arrival dates up to a maximum of 5 days in the past
         
  4. Registration with the Bürgeramt at the city of Tübingen: Within 2 weeks after your arrival in Tübingen you have to register at the citizen's office (Bürgeramt) of Tübingen as a local resident:
  5. Students from outside the EU who entered Germany without a visa: You must apply for your residence permit at the Foreigners Office of the City of Tübingen within 90 days of entering Germany - you can, however, apply for the residence permit only after your registration with the city (No.4).

Orientation and Support

Tailored orientation programs and counseling services facilitate a smooth transition into your studies and offer support throughout your time in Tübingen.

Orientation Program / Onboarding for New Exchange Students

During the arrival period (mid March - April / mid Sept - Oct.), the Incoming Team offers daily office hours except on Wednesdays. You will receive your documents, useful information for the first time in Tübingen and can ask any questions you may have.

In the two Orientation Weeks (start in the week prior to the lecture begin) numerous welcome events and information meetings for new international and German students take place around the University. The special offers for new international students include:

  • The Welcome Event for New Exchange Students organized by the Incoming Team at the begin of the orientation weeks: We will introduce you to the academic offers and non-academic life (study information, advisory services, social activites, sports classes etc). You will be invited to this event by e-mail.
     
  • The Advisory Course takes place during the first week of the orientation weeks. The course is specially designed for new international students (degree seeking & exchange students) and includes a campus tour, introductory events based on your study fields and social activites where you can easily meet new people. It is run by experienced students of Tübingen University. The registration is online.
     
  • The Intro-Week of StudIT also offers a very good opportunity to get to know Tübingen better and to meet fellow students. The offer includes e.g. a city rally, pub crawl, hiking and a closing party. The Intro-Week usually takes place in the second week of the orientation weeks and is offered by the StudIT Team. You will be invited by e-mail.

Exact dates of these offerings for each semester in our Academic Calendar.

The Starting Your Studies brochure provides information on the introductory events, general information (student initiatives and offers) as well as orientation events at the various departments.

Students with Disabilities and Special Needs

The University of Tübingen offers extra support for (exchange) students with learning difficulties, disabilities and chronic illnesses:

  • The university's general counselling Service for students with a disability or (chronic) illness provides individual support and a special buddy program. You can also request at this counselling unit the so-called Nachteilsausgleich, which means disadvantage compensation: if students need e.g. more time in exams or require certain aids in their studies etc due to their illness or disability, the "disadvantage compensation" helps to adapt the study conditions to your individual needs. The earlier you submit your request for the "disadvantage compensation", the better!
    Application for the disadvantage compensation for exchange students and detailed information
     
  • The Incoming Team offers extra support for exchange students with disabilities or (chronic) illnesses, too. We assist e.g. with solving issues related to your specific status as exchange student and other, often administrative challenges. Please do not hesitate to contact us before or during your stay at incomingspam prevention@zv.uni-tuebingen.de. All information will be treated confidentially.
     If you wish and agree, we are happy to contact on your behalf our colleagues from the Service for students with a disability or (chronic) illness and inform them about the addtitional support you need.

Emergency, Crisis & Illness

If you become ill or find yourself in a dangerous or difficult situation (physical or psychological), there are various points of contact for you: from special counseling units at the university or the city to doctors or hospitals.

  • Our Emergency & Medical Services Guide informs about the most important contacts and explains what to consider when seeing a doctor in Germany.
  • An illustrated health dictionary from the German Student Union illustrates important vocabulary for visiting the doctor and explains the basics of emergency and illness in German and Englisch.
  • The General Student Counseling Service outlines further mental health support services for both crisis situations and preemptive health management for students.

The Incoming Team (incomingspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de), other members of the International Office and further departments at Tübingen University are also available for an initial consultation. Do not hesitate to contact us: The counselling is confidential.

Plan Your Studies and Register for Your Courses

If you require assistance with selecting your courses, our comprehensive advisory services provide useful guidance. Be sure to plan your course schedule well in advance to make the most of your academic experience.

Course Options

On our website Courses for Exchange Students you find detailled information about the course offer at Tübingen University. Please note the access restrictions for study fields of the science or medical faculty.

Course Selection, Learning Agreement and Academic Advisors

Our many academic advisors will help you plan your studies and select appropriate courses - contact them in good time:  See academic advisors for an overview of the departmental advisors and websites for international exchange students. Please also consider the important aspects for your course choice on the course information page.

Erasmus / CIVIS students must specify In the Learning Agreement the courses they wish to take. They will receive the Learning Agreement form from their home university.
Students coming to Tübingen on an overseas exchange program may need to fill out a similar offical study form, which they receive from their home university.

The academic advisors at Tübingen University will sign your Learning Agreemet or official study form. The International Office is not authorized to sign these documents.

The academic advisors are also responsible for signing the Learning Agreement During Mobility / Changes to the Learning Agreement of the Erasmus / CIVIS students.

Course Registration in ALMA and Further Information

Upon full enrollment (for new exchange students) or re-enrollment (for exchange students entering their 2nd semester), you will be able to sign up for courses, once the course registration period has started. Below, we outline the basic steps for course registration. A comprehensive email containing additional guidance will be sent to all new exchange students.

Course Registration Options

The main database used for course registration is ALMA. To see how the course registration works, please use the video guide Introduction to the ALMA Portal at minute 3:42. The Instructions for ALMA provide more details on course registration and administration. Sometimes course registration is carried out outside of ALMA. The options are as follows:

  1. Register via your study planner in ALMA: ALMA > My Studies > Planner of Studies with Module Plan
    • Available for non-faculty course offers, such as:
    •  A few departments (Economics and Business Administration / Managment and Economics / Political Science / German Studies) with many exchange students have a special course program for exchange students in the study planner in ALMA
      • If you are enrolled with your study field in the same faculty, you can register for courses of these study fields via your study planner
         
  2. If courses are not listed in your study planner, you can apply for a course via the University Course Catalogue: Log in to ALMA, open the requested course in the University Course Catalogue and register for it. If you can't register this way, it means
    • there is restricted access to the course OR
    • check the course detail information if another way of registration is explained: If the registration is possible via the learning platforms Ilias or Moodle, please read this FAQ.
    • If the course registration platform is neither ALMA nor Ilias nor Moodle, please check option no.3 or 4.
       
  3. Check the course registration information on the regular department websites / departmental websites for exchange students / provided by your academic advisor: Sometimes the course registration is carried out via another platform than ALMA, e.g. for classes in Medicine (Humanmedizin), Biology, Mathematics. Contact your academic advisor if necessary.
     
  4. Last but not least, if no other option works: Contact the lecturer responsible for the course directly by e-mail, and ask for registration
    Mention in that e-mail that you are an exchange student and provide your matriculation number

Please note the following course status in ALMA:

  • registered or applied / angemeldet: You have indicated your wish to participate in the course. You are not yet admitted to the course.
  • admission or admitted / zugelassen: You are admitted to the course and can participate.
  • rejected / abgelehnt: You did not receive a spot, as e.g. too many students are interested in that class and not enough places are available.

The outcome of being admitted or rejected for a class with limited places is normally made after the course registration period has closed, not during the course registration period.

Sometimes there is more than one course registration period for the same course, so that remaining places can be distributed.

Course Registration Period

There is no general course registration period available for exchange students as course registration periods are defined by the individual departments. To check the registration period for your courses, please proceed as follows:

  • Go to the course detail view in ALMA by clicking on the title of the course entry
    • individual courses are marked in ALMA with a book symbol
  • Check the registration period on the right side of the tab Basic data
    • BELEGUNG: describes the course enrollment period; sometimes there is more than one registation period so that remaining places can be allocated.
    • ABMELDUNG: describes the de-registration period if the course registration period(s) are already over; you can also deregister during the registration period.

If no course registration period is indicated in ALMA or if it is already over, please contact the lecturer per e-mail for registration and mention your matriculation number and that your are an exchange student.
 

ALMA Course detail view with registration period
Course registration period in the course detail view in ALMA

Register for Your Exams

During the exam registration period, you must register for the examination for all your courses that are to be listed on the transcript: In addition to courses with final examinations, exam registration is also necessary for courses without an official final examination in which you submit during the lecture period assignments or actively participate.

Exam Registration Period

The regular exam registration period takes place 2 months after the semester start:

  • Winter semester:     1st Monday in December – mid-January 
  • Summer semester:  1st Monday in June – mid-July

The exact dates will be announced for each semester in an information e-mail by the Incoming Team with further instructions.

Exam Registration Procedure

You need to register for exams either directly in ALMA or via the special exam registration form for exchange students: Details on the  website for exam registration of exchange students by the Central Examination Office.
All exchange students will also receive an information e-mail with further instructions by the Incoming Team.

Finish Your Studies

If your courses include an official final exam, you will sit for it during the exam period. Subsequently, the semester break starts.

Exam Period

Exams typically take plase during the final week of the lecture period and extend into the initial 2-3 weeks of the lecture-free period. However, specific exam schedules vary across departments or faculties. For precise details, please consult your academic advisor and/or the lecturers of your courses.

Lecture Free Period

If you are required to write one or more term papers, this usually takes place during the lecture-free period (semester break). Occasionally, the grades for the paper or the entire course may be received only at the beginning of the next semester.

Staying for more than one semester

If you are going to stay for two semesters or wish to extend your stay from one to two semesters, certain administrative procedures must be adhered to.

Steps for Re-Enrollment

If you are admitted for two semesters, you have to re-enroll during the re-enrollment period for the second semester. Please follow these steps:

  1. The student administration sends an e-mail to your student e-mail adress concerning re-enrollment, do not miss it
  2. You need to pay the semester contribution of 96,80€ within the re-enrollment period, see below
  3. Your need to state your matriculation number on the payment form for the 96,80€, so the payment can be matched with your ALMA account easily

After successful re-enrollment, the enrollment certificate for the next semester can be downloaded from the ALMA portal.

Re-enrollment period is:
  • June 01 to August 15 for the winter semester (delayed re-enrollment with 10€ fine possible by September 30)
  • January 15 to February 15 for the summer semester (delayed re-enrollment with 10€ fine possible by March 31)

 At the start of the next semester, you need to renew the validity print on your student ID card at one of the terminals, e.g. in the main library next to the lockers.
For further details see the website for re-enrollment of the student administration.

Extension of Stay

If you would like to extend your stay at Tübingen University, this must be confirmed by

  • the administration for outgoing students of your home university and
  • the academic advisor of your study field at Tübingen University

to the Incoming Team (incomingspam prevention@zv.uni-tuebingen.de). If you are an overseas or an Erasmus worldwide student, the coordinator of the International Office Tübingen has to agree, too.

If all necessary parties agree, the Incoming Team will extend your stay. You will receive an extension letter with information on re-enrollment for the 2nd semester.

Extension period and deadlines are:
Extensions for the summer semester
  • will be processed from December onwards
  • February 01 is the deadline for complete extension requests
Extensions for the winter semester
  • will be processed from June onwards
  • August 01 is the deadline for complete extension requests

Please note that in case of an extension you have to re-enroll at the University of Tübingen, i.e. you have to pay the semester fee of 96,80€ again for the 2nd semester. The student administration sends an e-mail to your student email adress, please check it.