Information on studying abroad

Travel, accommodation and meals: Studying abroad involves additional costs. Depending on your destination country and city, the cost of living may be higher or lower than in Hamburg. However, there are plenty of funding options available! The DAAD, in particular, offers a wide range of scholarships. 
The exchange places offered under the Erasmus+ programme come with financial support for a minimum of two months. This is why the programme is particularly popular with students! 
For an exchange outside Europe, you can apply to the PROMOS programme (DAAD). 

Both options are generally possible (depending on the exchange programme). However, because the semesters at German universities have different dates than those at universities abroad, it is often easier to complete a semester abroad during the winter semester.

In some countries, winter semester classes start at the beginning of August or, for the most part, in September. Courses for the summer semester, also called the spring term, often start at the beginning of January or the beginning of February, when you would still have exams to write at TUHH.

You need to take these different semester dates into account in your individual planning. If you do a search for the term 'academic calendar', you can usually quickly find the semester dates for the university you are interested in.

The application period for TUHH (Erasmus & Oversea) student exchange will start on 15. November and ends on 15. December. This period covers applications for the entirety of the following academic year (i.e. for both the winter semester and following the summer semester).
The application process involves the following stages:

1. Internal application at TUHH: First, you need to apply for a study exchange place at TUHH's partner universities and be selected. If you want to know more about the application process please see here.
2. Study place allocation and acceptance: Once you have been awarded a place from TUHH, you need to accept or reject the offer within a short time frame. Your response is binding.
3. Nomination at the host university: Once you have accepted the study place, your exchange coordinator will nominate you at the partner university (i.e. your information will be sent to them).
4. Application at host university: You will receive further information about the subsequent process from your exchange coordinator or the partner university: You need to apply and register independently and by the respective deadline at the university you have been assigned to by submitting the necessary documentation.

Please note: The final decision regarding acceptance for a study abroad semester is made by the partner university. In general, those students selected by the TUHH Schools and nominated are accepted. But on rare occasions partner universities may change the terms of their exchange programmes on short notice (e.g. place quotas, language requirements, and other acceptance criteria) that TUHH has no influence on.

In the main, it is the Deputy Dean International in your school of study who reaches a decision on your application. 

The most important selection criteria are

• your marks so far
• the duration of your studies
• your language skills
• feasibility of your study plan
• any extra-curricular activities, such as being a mentor in the Erasmus Student Network.

You are required to have good skills in the host university's language of instruction (level B2) so that you will not have difficulty completing the semester successfully. Language of instruction at most partner universities is English, but might also be Spanish or French in Spanish/French speaking countries. Your application must include alanguage proficiency certificate demonstrating your skills in the language of instruction of level B2.
Make sure to inform yourself beforehand about the language of instruction of your host university. 

Some universities ask for some basic knowledge in the official language of the country. Please make sure to provide us with a suitable language certificate.

Please be aware that a regular student exchange semester/year means that you attend courses offered for incoming exchange students.  
It might be possible to complete research/project work during your time studying abroad. This depends on the offer of the partner university! A supervisor must be found at the host university - it is your responsibility to take care of that yourself. It is important that a TUHH professor has also agreed to be your supervisor.

• need to have successfully completed 30 ECTS credits
• must have sucessfully completed Mathematics and Mechanics (I and II)

• need to have a minimum of 30 ECTS
• must have successfully completed Mathematics I and Mathematics II. Exception: students in Technomathematics must have sucessfully completed Linear Algebra for Technomathematicians or Analysis for Technomathematicians

The school of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics provides additional information for ALL outgoing exchange students on their website.

• must have completed a minimum of 30 ECTS
• should show adequate advancement of studies depending of the number of completed semesters

The school of Management Sciences and Technology provides additional information for ALL outgoing exchange students on their website.

• need to have a minimum of 40 credits
• for mechanical engineering the following courses have to be completed: Mathematics I and II, Mechanics I and II, Thermodynamics I, Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering Design
• In addition Mechanical Engineering Design should be completed
• for Naval Architecture the following courses have to be sucessfully completed: Mathematics I and II, Mechanics I and II, Thermodynamics I
• In addition Mechanical Engineering Design, Hydrostatics and Body Plan should be completed

• The school of Mechanical Engineering provides additional information for ALL outgoing and incoming exchange students on their website.

• need to have sucessfully completed 30 ECTS
• must have sucessfully completed Mathematics I and II

For AIW/GES/ES:

• selection criteria: corresponding to the criteria of the school (Dekanat) of the chosen specialization  (Vertiefung)
• courses (gemeinsamer Kernbereich) of the semesters 1-3 should be taken at TUHH, preferably before the exchange  

For Mechatronics:

• selection criteria corresponding to the criteria of the school Mechanical Engineering

For Green Technologies:

• selection criteria corresponding to the criteria of the school Process and Chemical Engineering

Erasmus+ is an educational programme run by the European Union which was initiated in 1987 to promote cross-border mobility of students within Europe. The programme enables you to study at a TUHH partner university in one of the EU states or one of the other Erasmus programme countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia or Turkey).

Über Erasmus+

TU Hamburg maintains a number of direct exchange cooperations with partner universities. These are usually partner universities in overseas countries or non-EU countries. (Exceptions: Norway, Iceland, Republic of Turkey are non-EU-countries, who are taking part in the Erasmus programme. Hence our agreement with them are always through the Erasmus programme.)

In the new Erasmus programme generation 2021-2027 it is possible to fund so-called short-term mobilities within the Erasmus programme.

TU Hamburg supports such short-term mobilities exclusively within the framework of the European network of the ECIU University (European Consortium of Innovative Universities).

Free Mover

It is also possible to study abroad at a university of your choice outside of an official exchange program. You are then a so-called 'freemover'. You should anticipate a 1 to 1.5-year preparatory period when planning your studies abroad.