Recognition of courses from abroad for Computer Science students is carried out after your return from abroad by the recognition officer of the Department of Computer Science Prof. Dr. Harald Köstler.

If you have questions such as „Can this module from university X be recognized at FAU?“, please ask Harald Köstler.

If you do not study Computer Science, please find out who your recognition officer is. For AI and CE students, it is Dr. Felix Schmutterer.

If you need to sign a Learning Agreement for ERASMUS, please look up the information here: https://www.informatik.studium.fau.de/studierende/wege-ins-ausland/#learning-agreement

Internships abroad can be an alternative to a semester abroad. They are shorter and improve your „employability“.

Under some circumstances you can apply for an Erasmus internship-scholarship of internships and the practical part of a thesis. More information can be found here.

Internships abroad are organized decentrally at the Department of Computer Science. If you have any questions, please contact the individual chairs directly.

Here you can find general information about planning and carrying out internships abroad.

If the number of applications exceeds the number of available places, students are selected according to their course of study, number of semesters, subject grades, motivation in the cover letter, language skills, and social/voluntary commitment for FAU:

• First priority group: students of the Computer Science Department (CS, AI, CE)
• Second priority group: students of Medical Engineering (Medizintechnik) and IIS
• All other applications will be considered after the placement of the above priorities

Other criteria are applied inside each of the three above groups of students in the following priority order:

1. Senior Master students have a higher priority in case it is their last chance to study abroad (according to the number of semesters)
2. Students with better grades have a higher priority
3. Good motivation for the chosen universities in the cover letter (e.g., they offer courses that are particularly useful for your study program)
4. Language skills for the particular country
5. Social/voluntary commitment for FAU (e.g., Buddy-program)

After your arrival at the receiving university, you might need to change your LA, for example if some courses are not taking place, or you decide to cancel a course, or to enroll in a new course. This is not a problem at all, just do the following:

• Use the part of your LA that states „During the Mobility“. It contains two tables: „Changes to Table A“ and „Changes to Table B“, where you can mark the corresponding changes.
• Don’t forget to sum up your ECTS anew!
• Fill in the same fields as in your first LA:
  • Responsible person(s) at receiving institution (with signature, if possible)
  • Responsible person at sending institution: name (Dr. Zinaida Benenson), position (Erasmus coordinator) and date. Thus, the only thing I have to add to the document should be my signature.
  • When sending your changed LA to your Erasmus coordinator for signature, explain briefly why the changes were made.

• Important: you need a proof of language skills for the language of study, not the language of the country. For example, if you only take courses at a French university that are taught in English, you need a certificate for English, not for French.
• If you want to study in English, please look up if they have enough courses in English for your degree program at your chosen universities  (Bachelor or Master).
• Especially Bachelor’s degrees are often taught in the language(s) of the country.
• Universities have different language requirements, even if they are in the same country. Moreover, these requirements can change from year to year. Therefore:
  • Before you ask your Erasmus advisor about language requirements, please use a search engine on a query like “university name student exchange“ (or similar), and look for language requirements there.
  • Language requirements for some universities (please notify your Erasmus coordinator if you discover that a link does not work, or information changed):
    • ESIGELEC: B1
    • Bordeaux: French B1 if you plan to attend courses in French, English B2 if you plan to attend courses taught in English
    • Strasbourg: „Most classes will be held in French. Thus, a B1 (even B2 for certain subjects) level in French is required for a period of study at the Université de Strasbourg within the framework of an exchange.“
• Sometimes no formal proof of language is needed for students from EU countries.
  • Examples: NTNU, Umea
• Sometimes the German school certificate (Abitur) is sufficient.
  • Example: SDU
• The generally accepted language certificate is the Mobility test at the FAU Language Center. According to experiences of previous exchange students, you may need around 3 weeks of waiting time before you can complete the test.
• Double-degree FAU-USI students going to USI do not need a language certificate.
• For English, TOEFL, including TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition, is usually accepted. Please note that TOEFL is only valid for 2 years.

• If you study Computer Science:

1. 1. Choose your preferred courses at the university abroad.
   2. Fill in the Learning Agreeement. Write something like „Free choice FAU“ in Table B.
   3. Let Erasmus coordinator sign the LA.
   4. After you are back at FAU, Harald Köstler will recognize all sensible courses. If you have any questions on what courses can be recognized, ask Prof. Dr. Harald Köstler.

• If you do not study Computer Science:

1. 1. Choose your preferred courses at the university abroad.
   2. Ask the person responsible for recognition in your course of studies if your chosen courses can be recognized.
      • For CE or AI that is Dr. Felix Schmutterer (studienberatung-ce@fau.de, studienberatung-ai@fau.de)
   3. Fill in the Learning Agreeement.
   4. Let Erasmus coordinator sign the LA.
   5. Recognition of courses will happen when you return to FAU.

Students who are unable to attend the regular date of a written examination due to the completion of a study abroad program may apply to the Examination Committee for a substitute examination date in agreement with the respective examiner (cf. ABMPO § 16).

It is also possible to change the form of examination, e.g. to an oral examination, if this is compatible with the qualification objective of the module. The decision is made by the examination board. Evidence of the intended study abroad must be submitted with the application. This also applies to compulsory modules and second or third attempts. However, these cannot usually be converted into an oral examination. In consultation with the examination office, these can be made up for in the next examination period after the stay abroad.

Here you can find the application for substitute examination date(s) during a stay abroad.

For stays abroad, it is possible to take a leave of absence from FAU for one semester.

Please observe the applicable leave of absence guidelines.

Here you will find the application for leave of absence.

The application for leave of absence must be submitted to the Student Administration Office before the start of lectures for the semester in question.

Erasmus students receive a partial scholarship, the amount of which depends on the partner country, and they are waived the tuition fees at the partner university (Erasmus+ funding). In addition, DAAD grants, Auslandsbafög or educational loans can be applied for.

If you are unhappy with the selection process or the course recignition, please get in touch with department management or the responsible contact person.

FAU offers a large variety of options to prepare yourself for your stay abroad:

• Courses for your „Schlüsselqualifikation“ (intercultural trainings of e.g. the Ziwis or the language center)
• Language courses at the language center
• The certificate „Interkulturelle Kompetenz für Studierende“
• The Buddy-program