FAQ - Short-term study

In order to become an exchange student (e.g. ERASMUS+) at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Cologne, you need to go through the application process at your home university first. Please note that we only accept students from universities, faculties and departments that we hold an exchange agreement with.

We strongly recommend at least a B1 (CEF) level. If you are interested in courses from the department of German language and literature (Germanistik), B2 competence in German is required as a minimum to be able to follow the course.

You can find information and links to the course catalogue on our website. Course listings are usually published two months before the start of the lecture period.

If you are required to include a preliminary study plan in your application, you can choose courses from the current year. You should be aware, however, that course offerings can change from one semester to the next.

After your home university has selected you for a study abroad in Cologne, you will officially be nominated at the University of Cologne. Once we have reviewed your nomination, you will receive an e-mail with further information on the registration process at the University of Cologne which includes these steps:

1. (ERASMUS students only): Registration in the information portal UKI
2. Application for admission through the campus management system KLIPS 2.0
3. Enrolment

You have to apply for admission through the online application portal KLIPS 2.0. Please pay attention to the application periods (deadlines):

• Winter term or full academic year: May 15 until July 15
• Summer term: November 15 until January 15

ERASMUS+ students can find a step-by-step guide on how to apply for admission in the online portal UKI. Students of other exchange programmes will receive instructions via e-mail from the Center for International Relations.

After your admission, please follow these three steps to enrol at the University of Cologne:

1. Pay the social fee: Pay the social fee by bank transfer as soon as possible. You will find the bank details in your applicant account in KLIPS 2.0.
2. Upload a portrait photo:Upload a recent high-quality portrait photo of yourself to KLIPS 2.0. It will be printed on your electronic student ID card (UCCard).
3. Upload a proof of health insurance: Upload a proof of health insurance (EHIC, membership certificate of a German statutory health insurance or exemption certificate) to KLIPS 2.0.

The semester contribution (Semesterbeitrag) of approx. 290 Euro is not for tuition, but covers all of the subsidized services for students. All students – both regular students and exchange students – have to pay this contribution every semester.

Subsidized services include:

1. Travel Ticket for North-Rhine Westphalia for the entire semester
2. Student Services of the Kölner Studierendenwerk (restaurants and cafés, housing, social and financial counselling, psychological counselling)
3. Sport: Unisport and Hochschulsport

Citizens of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland can enter Germany and study at the University of Cologne without a visa. A valid ID or passport will be sufficient.

Citizens of Non- EU/EEA countries can find further information on visa regulations on our website.

You can apply for a room in one of the university's student residences or find private accommodation online, for example a flatshare. Further information can be found on our website.

CAUTION: Do NOT transfer any money before seeing the apartment or signing a rental contract!

Within 14 days after finding permanent accommodation (moving in), you have to register your place of residence at the City Hall in Cologne. In case you live in Hürth or Hürth-Efferen, you will have to register in the service center there. Further information can be found on our website.

Information and links to course listings can be found on our website. Course listings are usually published two months before the start of the lecture period. This means that course listings of the winter semester are usually published at the end of July, those of the summer semester are published at the beginning of February.

Vorlesungen (VO) are academic lectures which means that usually there is limited or no interaction between the lecturer and the (up to 800) listeners.

Seminare (SE) (seminars) are interactive. Usually about 30 to 100 students take part in a seminar. Students are supposed to participate in classroom sessions, which means that they are invited to take part in discussions, they give presentations and/or write papers.

• Einführungsseminare (ES) convey basic knowledge and are primaly aimed at students in their first or second semester.
• Proseminare (PS) are aimed at students in their introductory study period (first to third semester).
• Hauptseminare (HS) are advanced seminars, designed for students who already have a certain knowledge in the areas of study that are covered.
• Oberseminare or Kolloquien (KO) are aimed at master's students or advanced bachelor's students working towards their degree.
• Blockseminare (block seminars) are seminars that take place over the course of one week or three or four weekends, usually with an initial meeting at the start of the semester and group work before the intensive week.

Übungen (UE) (practical courses) are interactive and there are between 30 and 100 participants. They are similar to seminars but with a stronger focus on practical skills or work.

Tutorien (TT) (tutorials) help students to prepare for exams and accompany and run parallel to a lecture or seminar.

As an exchange students at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, you can take courses from different departments in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Philosophische Fakultät).

Please note that access to courses from other faculties is limited and we cannot guarantee your participation in these courses!

We recommend completing full modules (Regular Track), but in many cases it is also possible to take only specific parts of modules (workload reduced study options). All available study options are listed in the module guide for short-term students.

Yes. The Department of German as Foreign Language (DaF) offers German language courses for international exchange students before and during the semester.

Please note: There are special application procedures and deadlines! For more information, please visit our website.

There is no specific number of credit points. It depends on how many credit points your home university demands!

We recommend a number of 20 - 30 credit points per semester.

You can find the number of credit points for each module (or reduced workload option) in the module guide. Please note: You only receive ECTS if you pass the module exam and complete all the required assignments in each class.

Your Learning Agreement has to be approved by both the advisor at your home university and the Center for International Relations (ZIB PhilFak) at UoC. Please send your Learning Agreement to philfak-incomings(at)uni-koeln.de

A draft Learning Agreement should be sent to philfak-incomings(at)uni-koeln.de by the end of August (for the winter semester) or the end of February (for the summer semester).

To avoid unnecessary paperwork, we kindly ask you not to send Learning Agreements before the course listings of the upcoming semester have been published. Course listings of the upcoming winter semester are usually published at the end of July, those of the upcoming summer semester are published at the beginning of February.

To avoid unnecessary paperwork, we kindly ask you not to send Learning Agreements before the course listings of the upcoming semester have been published. Course listings of the upcoming winter semester are usually published at the end of July, those of the upcoming summer semester are published at the beginning of February.

If your home university needs a Learning Agreement urgently, you can choose courses from the year before and subsequently change your Learning Agreement.

Yes, there is a "During the mobility" section in your Learning Agreement. There you can make changes to your courses and/or ECTS. Your changed Learning Agreement has to be approved by both the advisor at your home university and the Center for International Relations (ZIB PhilFak) at UoC.

Course Selection - Instructions for short-term students at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Registration for courses is done online via KLIPS 2.0 during designated course registration periods. During these periods, students may submit "course place requests" (applications for courses). At the end of the registration period, course seats are allocated through a lottery system. You can find the dates of the registration periods on this website under "Course Registration in KLIPS 2.0".

To sign up for classes via KLIPS 2.0, you need to

1. be enrolled at the University of Cologne, i.e. you must pay the semester contribution in full and switch your KLIPS profile from applicant to student
2. send a Learning Agreement with your desired modules and courses to philfak-incomings(at)uni-koeln.de for approval.

Following this, we will unlock Bachelor and/or Master modules in KLIPS for you.

Shortly after each registration period has ended, you will see on KLIPS in the section "Course registration" whether you have received a "confirmed place" (Fixplatz) in your desired classes or not.

In case you did not get a "confirmed place" (Fixplatz) in your desired course, we recommend you go to the first session and ask the lecturer politely if you can still get a Fixplatz in the course.

For the German language (DaF) courses, you can apply solely through a special online form (not through KLIPS 2.0). Applications for the winter courses can be submitted in July, applications for the summer courses in January. We will inform all incoming students via e-mail about the exact registration process and periods.

ERASMUS and other international short-term students can take one free German language (DaF) course per semester.

The Department for German as a Foreign Language (DaF) offers language courses on the following levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEF): A1, A2, B1, B2.1, B2.2, C1.

Please find further information on their website.

Both the pre-semester courses as well as the German language course that runs during the semester are worth 9 ECTS credits.

There are the following types of exams:

• term paper / essay:
  A term paper is an independently written elaboration of a specified topic. It usually encompasses a cover sheet, table of contents, several chapters and a bibliography, as well as in-text citation and references. An essay is usually shorter and does not necessarily contain formation or a bibliography.
• presentation:
  A presentation is a lecture on a specific topic within a course.
• presentation with elaboration:
  On top of the lecture within the course, a written account and expansion is demanded.
• written exam:
  A written exam is a test that takes place under supervision. The time period is usually 45 to 180 minutes.
• oral exam:
  An oral exam consists of a 20- to 30-minute conversation between the examiner, the examinee and an observer in which the examinee is asked to show their awareness of the relation between different exam topics and to answer questions accordingly.

Information on the specific type of exam can be gathered from the module guide.

Most written exams take place in the last week of term or during the first three weeks of the semester break, meaning end of January to middle of Februrary for the winter semester and mid- or end of July to middle of August for the summer semester. However, it is also possible for written or oral exams to take place later in the semester break. Sometimes you can choose between two different exam dates.

The due date for term papers is usually March 15 for the winter semester and September 15 for the summer semester.

We have compiled extensive instructions on exam registration via KLIPS 2.0 in this document.

A Transcript of Records is an official certificate listing all of your courses taken at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities as well as your achievements (credit points and grades).

Your Transcript of Records is generated via KLIPS 2.0 and issued (i.e. finalized and sealed) by the Center for International Relations (ZIB PhilFak) upon request. You can find further information on how to apply for your Transcript of Records here.

Please note that without an official seal your Transcript of Records is invalid!

The Certificate of Arrival / Departure is used to document the start and end dates of your mobility so that your scholarship (e.g. ERASMUS) can be calculated accurately. For more information on how/where to obtain this document, please click here.