Erasmus+ KA 171 - Information for Students (Incoming)

The programme is aimed at all regularly enrolled students and doctoral candidates at the University of Göttingen. Unlike the KA 131 programme line, this is a specific cooperation with universities worldwide, which is why it is only possible to apply for places that have already been allocated. Therefore, please refrain from submitting applications that have not been agreed upon.

As the requirements vary, please refer to the respective calls for further information on the specialisation, study level, funding and precise deadlines. The contact person at the home university receives all applications in order to evaluate them and make a nomination. The University of Göttingen, as the host university, in turn receives these nominations and can accept or change the nominees and finally make the final decision. If you would like to apply and have any remaining questions, please contact us at the e-mail address go-international-plus@uni-goettingen.de. If you are eligible for the funding programme and the place, we will inform you directly about the further application process, which documents you need to submit and what else you need to consider. You will be informed of all further steps when your application is accepted.

Please note that Erasmus+ also funds internships completed abroad. The so-called student mobility for internships is open to Bachelor's and Master's students as well as graduates, provided they have applied in the last academic year, and doctoral students. The mobility phase can last between 2 and 12 months, in the case of short-term or blended mobility for doctoral students 5 to 30 days.

Students selected to be grant holders of a Go International Plus scholarship will receive contributions to travel costs and to individual support.

The receiving institution will not ask the grantee to pay fees for tuition, registration, examinations or for access to laboratory and library facilities during his/her mobility period. Nevertheless, the grantee may be charged a small fee on the same basis as local students for costs such as student unions and the use of study-related materials or equipment.

The long-term mobility of students is limited from 3 to 12 months. The individual support for student mobility from Erasmus+ EU funds is 850 EUR per completed month for both studies and internships.

The final amount of the individual support for the mobility period shall be determined by multiplying the number of months of the mobility covered by Erasmus+ EU funds with the rate applicable per month for the receiving country concerned. In the case of incomplete months, the financial support from Erasmus+ EU funds is calculated by multiplying the number of days in the incomplete month with 1/30 of the unit cost per month.

For grant support to travel costs in the Erasmus+ Programme, travel distances must be calculated using the distance calculator.

Erasmus+ also funds internships completed abroad. The so-called student mobility for internships is open to Bachelor's and Master's students as well as graduates, provided they have applied in their final year of study, and doctoral students. The mobility phase can last between 2 and 12 months, in the case of short-term or blended mobility for doctoral students 5 to 30 days.

Travel Insurance: All grant holders are insured by a central Group Insurance (covering Health Insurance, Liability Insurance, Accident Insurance and Assistance Insurance), which will be centrally organised by the Project Coordination Team at the institution. The participant shall have adequate insurance coverage. The insurance costs (approximately 1.50 EUR per day) are deducted from the individual support.

Please note that there was a change in German legislation related to the residence title for study purposes. In the future, all incoming international students are required to get a German public health insurance in addition to the travel insurance mentioned above. The law affects all mobilities from October 2018 onwards. The German public health insurance costs approx. 125 to 150 EUR per month. All incoming students will be informed upon their arrival/during the introductory days how to get this insurance. More information can be found on this website: Health insurance coverage for international students.

In preparation of the mobility, participants are required to hand in various documents. One very important document is the so-called Learning Agreement in which the courses that a student would like to attend at the host university are agreed on. Furthermore, the recognition of these courses at the student's home university is arranged in this form as well.

Here you can take a look at the Learning Agreement form: Learning Agreement Studies

More information on filling in the Learning Agreement: Learning Agreement - Guidelines

The mobility can also be organised as a so-called ‘blended mobility’, meaning a combination of physical mobility and a virtual component which makes a shorter mobility possible. The latter enables better teamwork and an online learning exchange. It should be noted that the ‘virtual’ days are not financially supported and do not count towards the Erasmus+ quota.

For the so-called long-term mobilities for study or internship purposes or as part of doctoral mobility, the virtual component is optional and has no time limit. In the shorter ‘blended’ format, on the other hand, it is mandatory, but also has no time limit. For all three forms of mobility mentioned, a 5-30 day mobility would be combined with the virtual component.

The Erasmus+ Programme aims to promote equity and inclusion by facilitating the access to participants with disadvantaged backgrounds and fewer opportunities compared to their peers whenever disadvantage limits or prevents participation in transnational activities such as:

• disability (i.e. participants with special needs): people with mental (intellectual, cognitive, learning), physical, sensory or other disabilities;
• educational difficulties: young people with learning difficulties; early school-leavers; low qualified adults; young people with poor school performance;
• economic obstacles: people with a low standard of living, low income, dependence on social welfare system or homeless; young people in long-term unemployment or poverty; people in debt or with financial problems;
• cultural differences: immigrants or refugees or descendants from immigrant or refugee families; people belonging to a national or ehnic minority; people with linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion difficulties;
• health problems: people with chronic health problems, severe illnesses or psychiatric conditions;
• social obstacles: people facing discrimination because of gender, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc.; people with limited social skills or anti-social or risky behaviors; people in a precarious situation; (ex-)offenders, (ex-)drug or alcohol abusers; young and/or single parents; orphans;
• geographical obstacles: people from remote or rural areas; people living in small islands or in peripheral regions; people from urban problem zones; people from less serviced areas (limited public transport, poor facilities).

In the field of youth support, an Inclusion and Diversity Strategy has been designed as a common framework to support the participation and inclusion of young persons.

Please note, it is possible to apply for exceptional funding available through DAAD (you can find further information here). In case you need any kind of support in this regard, please contact us at go-international-plus@uni-goettingen.de.

Further information can be found on our page Equal Opportunities for International Mobility.

Having been accepted as an Erasmus+ grantee, you will soon receive the following documents from us for your visa application:

• Invitation Letter
• Insurance Policy
• Enrollment Letter
With these documents, you need to go to the German embassy in your home country and apply for a visa. Since we are working only with electronic signatures and not sending out the paper documents, please print all the received documents in colour and good quality for the visa services.
The right type of visa for you is a student D-visa. Do not apply for a Schengen visa. That’s a tourist or business visa, not meant for studying and not extendable!
When applying for the student D-visa, please mention that you will be a grantee of a publicly funded scholarship programme, and that the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen was significantly involved in the selection of candidates. On these grounds you ask for a D-visa according to § 34 without previous consent of the local Göttingen Foreigner’s Office.

Please make sure that you apply for a student visa in time. If possible, ask the embassy or consulate to issue the visa for the full time of your stay. If they do not agree and issue it for only 3 months, that is equally fine. More information on how to prolong your visa in Germany will be given to you at our first meeting in Göttingen. Furthermore, you can inform yourself on these websites: Visa and Residence Permit: Information for International Students and EU Visa policy.

If you need any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at go-international-plus@uni-goettingen.de.

Flight Ticket to Germany

Please keep in mind that you have to buy your flight ticket to Germany and your train ticket to Göttingen on your own and that you will receive the travel support upon your arrival at our first meeting (the amount you will receive is written in your Acceptance Letter). The nearest International Airport to Göttingen is the Airport Frankfurt am Main. From there you will have to take the train to reach Göttingen.

Train Ticket to Göttingen

From the moment of your plane’s landing to reaching the central stations, it will probably take at least one hour, given that Frankfurt is Germany’s biggest international airport. If baggage claim or the declaration of goods are very busy, it may even take longer.

There are very convenient direct trains from the Airport of Frankfurt am Main to Göttingen central station at 120 minute intervals. However, it is possible to change the trains, usually at Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof (central station), and then there are more connections during the day to Göttingen central station. Please check the following website for more information and for buying the tickets: Deutsche Bahn.

Please notice that there are two train stations at the Airport of Frankfurt am Main: The regional station for regional commuter trains (in German: Regionalbahnhof, short: Regionalbhf.) and the station for long distance trains (in German: Fernbahnhof, short: Fernbhf.). So take care and always check which one of the two stations is the right one for your connection.

While travelling, do not get confused if any of the signs read "Frankfurt (Main)" or "Frankfurt am Main". It does not necessarily mean that you are in Frankfurt main station (Hauptbahnhof), but indicates that you are in Frankfurt upon the river "Main", and not in Frankfurt upon the river "Oder". In Germany, we have two cities bearing the same name.

How to Buy the Train Ticket

You may either purchase the ticket at the station or online. As a recommendation, buy the ticket online because it will be less stressful for you after the flight. For buying the ticket online, a credit card for the payment is necessary. Please keep in mind to print the ticket by yourself in case you are supposed to show the ticket to the train conductor.

Moreover, we recommend buying a full price ticket (standard fare). The budget price tickets are only valid for one exact train connection. In case of a delay of your flight, you might not catch that connection and then the ticket is not valid anymore. Consequently, you would have to buy a new ticket at the station.

Upon arrival in Göttingen, you will receive the contribution to the travel costs (the amount you will receive is written in your scholarship acceptance letter) and the first two instalments of the individual support in cash. This amount will be handed over to you at the first meeting with the project coordinator. You will be informed about the exact date and time of this meeting before your arrival.

Please make sure that you arrive in Göttingen with sufficient money of your own for the first days of your stay in Germany.

Further individual support will be transferred in monthly instalments directly to your German bank account, which you will open at the beginning of your stay.

The last instalment shall be given to you in cash, just before the end of the mobility at the final meeting with your project coordinator.

What is ECTS?

ECTS was developed by the European Community in order to provide common procedures to guarantee academic recognition of study exchange programs abroad.

How does ECTS work?

The ECTS is a credit transfer system as the name already says and its basis is the student workload. This workload encompasses lectures, practical training, seminars, self-study and all relevant work needed to prepare for the exam and other performances. Thus, it is a relative value.

Usually, 30 ECTS have to be achieved for one semester (6 months). In this regard, one ECTS conforms 25-30 hours of work. Depending on the ECTS amount a course possesses, the workload can be calculated individually.

An example:

Course XY has 6 ECTS. This means approximately 180 hours of work (including attendance time in terms of lectures and seminars and time for self-study and preparation for the exam) have to be realized for this course.

German Language Courses

Course Catalogue

For the English version of the course catalogue, you can switch languages in the lower right corner.

• Welcome activities for new international students

• Exchange Buddy Service

• Language Tandem Evening

  Tandem Matching Service

• Accommodation Service

• Health Insurance

• Visa and Residency Permit

• Study Guide for International Students

• Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Göttingen

• Life in Göttingen