Are you interested in a guest study period at Goethe University in Frankfurt?
We look forward to receiving your application!
On this page you will find all necessary information on the topics "Requirements", "Application" and "Preparation" to best prepare you for your stay in Frankfurt.
Break: 22 December 2023 – 05 January 2024
End of lectures: 09 February 2024
End of semester: 31 March 2024
Beginning of lectures: 15 April 2024
End of lectures: 19 July 2024
End of semester: 30 September 2024
Winter semester 2024/2025
Break: 21 December 2024 – 12 January 2025
End of lectures: 14 February 2025
End of semester: 31 March 2025
Faculty 01, Law (International Office ("Auslandsbüro") of the faculty)
Faculty 02, Economics and Business Administration (International Office ("Auslandsbüro") of the faculty)
Faculty 04, Educational Sciences
Faculty 05, Psychology und Sports
Faculty 06, Protestant Theology
Faculty 07, Roman Catholic Theology
Faculty 08, Philosophy and History
Faculty 09, Linguistics, Cultural Studies, and Art
Faculty 10, Modern Languages
Faculty 11, Geosciences and Geography
Faculty 12, Computer Sciences and Mathematics
Faculty 13, Physics
Faculty 14, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy
Faculty 16, Medical Sciences (International Office ("Auslandsbüro") of the faculty).
Nomination:
Before you can apply as an exchange/program student at Goethe University, you must be nominated by your home university. Your university must be a partner university of Goethe University and there needs to be an active agreement for student exchange.
Please contact your home university for information on an exchange student application in Frankfurt.
Deadlines for nominiation: 15 May (application for winter semester) / 15 November (application for summer semester)
Once you have been nominated by your home university as an exchange student, we will send you the link to our online application form via e-mail (April/November).
You need an academic supervisor at Goethe University in order to apply as a scholarship holder. Contact details of all departments can be found on the website of the university. Please contact the respective department independently to find a supervisor. If you do not have an academic supervisor yet, you can find suggestions for contacting professors in the tab application > How to find a supervisor.
Please e-mail us a copy of your letter of award by: 15 May (application for winter semester) / 15 November (application for summer semester).
Once we have checked the letter of award, we will send you the link to our online application form.
Visiting doctoral students who come to Goethe University as part of an exchange also need to find an academic supervisor. The supervisor's information/confirmation is not required at the time of nomination, but it is needed for the application (a simple email from the supervisor will suffice).
If you do not have an academic supervisor yet, you can find suggestions for contacting professors in the tab application > How to find a supervisor.
Once you have been accepted for an internship/as a trainee, you may enroll as a Freemover guest student during your internship. Please find information on enrollment as a Freemover in the tab below.
Interns/Trainees at the university hospital (Universitätsklinikum) and the faculty of Medicine can find all necessary information on practical training here.
The following enrollment periods are standard and cannot be adapted individually to your internship schedule:
All students (independent of their study level) may apply as a Freemover guest student. Please note that we do not accept Freemovers from partner universities. In order to apply as a Freemover guest student, you need an academic supervisor at Goethe University. Please contact the respective faculty independently, in order to find an academic supervisor. The Global Office cannot assist in finding an academic supervisor. You can find suggestions for contacting professors in the tab application > How to find a supervisor.
Please send us the letter of invitation from your academic supervisor by 01 June (application for winter semester) / 01 December (application for summer semester) via e-mail, in order for us to send you the link to the online application form.
You need an academic supervisor at Goethe University, in order to apply as a teaching assistant. Contact details of all faculties can be found on the website of the university. On the website of the Goethe Welcome Center you can find information on contacting professors.
An exception applies in the following faculties/degree programs:
If you do not meet the German language pre-requisite (B1), and are studying at a faculty/in a degree program other than the ones listed above, you need to contact the respective faculty at Goethe University directly, in order to inquire whether you may be admitted into courses.
We assume that your home institution or scholarship organization has already tested the required knowledge of German or English prior to your nomination. Therefore, we have waived the German language requirement (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang or DSH) that is normally required for studying at an Institute of Higher Learning in Germany.
Information on the so-called Common Reference levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) can be found here on the website of the Council of Europe.
In case you do not receive the link, you need to contact us duly, in order for you to be able to meet the application deadline.
For summer semester: approx. beginning of November - 15 December
Admission/Enrollment as a guest student is not possible after the deadlines above!
01 - Law
02 - Economics and Business Administration
03 - Social Sciences
04 - Educational Sciences
05 - Psychology and Sports Sciences
06 - Protestant Theology
07 - Roman Catholic Theology
08 - Philosophy and History
09 - Faculty of Linguistics, Cultures, and Arts
10 - Modern Languages
11 - Geoscience and Geography
12 - Computer Science and Mathematics
13 - Physics
14 - Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy
15 - Biological Sciences
16 - Medical Science
The semester contribution stated above is for guest students only! The 50€ administration charge has been waived for guest students only!
The composition of the contribution is illustrated in the following chart.
Contribution to the Deutschlandticket and to the improvement of environmentally friendly student mobility | €176.40 |
PAStA-Ticket (Palmengarten (botanical garden)) | €1.10 |
"Sozialticket" (social ticket)/"Kulturticket" (culture ticket) | €1.55 |
Campus-bike | €2.38 |
Hardship Fund Students' Union (AStA-Härtefonds) | €2.10 |
Student Contribution to the Student Government (Studierendenschaft) | €14.60 |
Contribution to Student Services Organisation (Studierendenwerk) | €86.50 |
The semester contribution of passed semesters can be found here.
After your application for admission has been processed, you will receive the letter of admission from us; the letter contains important information about the enrollment of guest students (account data for the transfer of the semester social contribution). The letter of admission for guest students will be sent via e-mail:
Once the admissions letter has been sent, the work flow of your personal account will show a green check mark: “Letter of admission sent by the Global Office."
Students who need to apply for a visa might need the admissions letter before February/August. In this case please contact us, in order to ask for a preliminary letter of admission. The preliminary letter can only be issued, once we have received your complete application.
Regulations on mobility within the EU applying to students of non-EU nationality (third-country nationals) coming to the EU for the purpose of studying have been eased.
If you wish to study at Goethe University under an exchange program and have already been issued a residence permit for studies in another EU member state, you can come to study at Goethe University without having to apply for a visa for Germany. In this case, you have to submit additional documents to Goethe University. Then, Goethe University can apply for a confirmation for your stay here. Without this confirmation, you are not allowed to come to Germany for studies!
Mobility within the EU is facilitated under the following conditions (not valid for Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark; students coming from these states have to apply for an entry visa with the German embassy when they want to study at Goethe University.)
Submission of the additional documents to Goethe University by
15 January (for summer term; earliest planned arrival: March).
Note: The complete notification has to be made available to the National Contact Point (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) at latest 30 days before the planned entry into Germany. In order to avoid delays in your arrival, it is your responsibility to make sure that the Global Office of Goethe University receives the complete documents, in the format described below by the above stated deadline, in order for the Global Office of Goethe University to have enough processing time to forward the documents to the National Contact Point.
If the documents submitted are incomplete or submitted after the deadline, Goethe University will not be able to apply for a confirmation for your stay. In that case, you will not be permitted to come to Goethe University for studies!
Documents to be submitted:
All documents must be uploaded in PDF format in the work-flow of your Mobility-Online account. Please name the documents with your family name and the document type: e.g. Family name_Pass.pdf.
All documents, with the exception of the passport and the residence title, must be submitted in German. Where applicable, the BAMF (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) can accept easily comprehensible documents in a foreign language, but decides whether the documents submitted meet the requirement.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
According to section 2 (information and access to personal data), Articles 13 and 14 of the GDPR, we are hereby informing students about processing of the personal data they need to provide, in order for the Global Office of Goethe University to register them for the eased mobility under the EU Directive 2016/801. According to Article 13, point (e), we hereby inform students – specifically – about the direct and indirect recipients of the personal data: Your personal data will be shared with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in turn may share the data with contact points of other European member states or immigration authorities. Students will not be informed separately about processing of their data and direct and indirect recipients by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
Under the following link of the European Union students may find the relevant General Data Protection Regulations:
Please keep in mind that the certificate for mobility issued by the Federal Office pertains to the originally planned study period. If you extend your study period, you must contact incoming@uni-frankfurt.de, in order for the Global Office to request an extension at the Federal Office.
Additional Information:
Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
Addresses of German Foreign Representation
Further information from the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtigen Amt)
Health System in Germany
Students in Germany must have adequate health insurance in order to enrol at a state or state-recognized university (§5 Abs. 1 Nr. 9 SGB V). Since 01.01.2022, the new electronic student registration procedure of the statutory health insurance companies applies at Goethe University (= GU). This means that the insurance certificate will be provided digitally to the universities by the health insurance company. Please contact your chosen German statutory health insurance / health insurance company at an early stage. Please note that the presentation of the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) or a written membership certificate is not sufficient. If you have health insurance in your home country and want to have it recognized whilst in Germany, please clarify in due time which documents are required! In principle, you can contact any statutory health insurance to have your insurance status recognized. An overview of all statutory health insurance companies in Germany can be found here.
Please take care of the proof of insurance as follows after receiving the admission letter:
You must apply for a European Health Insurance (EHIC) (equivalent to Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)) from the relevant authority in your home country. The cards are issued by your insurance company in your home country. After your arrival in Germany, you must present your EHIC card to one of the statutory health insurance companies and indicate that you are studying at GU (GU company number: H0001406). The health insurance company will then send a digital certificate to GU confirming that you have sufficient insurance coverage.
Please note that the EHIC card does not automatically make all medical services free of charge. Please check with your health insurance company at home which services are covered.
Finding accommodation in Frankfurt can be very lengthy and time-consuming. Therefore, please start looking for suitable accommodation early enough.
Since every student enrolled at Goethe University receives a semester ticket, it is also worthwhile to look for accommodation outside of Frankfurt. Prices and demand are usually lower outside of the city.
Guest/Exchange students can apply for student housing. Unfortunately, accommodation is very limited. Therefore, placement for all exchange students cannot be guaranteed. Your admission as an exchange student does not guarantee your accommodation through the allotment.
Unfortunately, we do not provide student housing for Freemover guest students.
You will receive an e-mail once the application form has been released. You will also receive an e-mail, if no accommodation is available through the allotment.
Exchange students apply for student housing through the allotment together with their exchange student application (Global Office).
Please do not fill out the application form on the website of the Studierendenwerk. The additional application does not increase your chances of receiving accommodation.
If you are not an exchange student nominated for Goethe University by one of our partner universities or by your scholarship organization, unfortunately, you are not eligible for the allotment.
You can specify "apartment" or "room" or "no preference" when applying. We cannot guarantee the accommodation of your choice (apartment or room). There is only a very limited number of apartments with private bathroom / kitchen. Therefore, if you limit your choice to apartments, you limit your chances of getting accommodation in the student residence.
Important notice
The application is considered a binding application! If you have handed in the signed application form and do not need a room, you need to inform the Global Office (incoming@uni-frankfurt.de) immediately!
The accommodation can only be rented for an entire semester.
The deposit is €600. If you receive accommodation in a student residence of the allotment, the student housing administration requires you to pay a deposit plus the first monthly rent approx. six weeks before the beginning of the standardized rental period. You need to be prepared to transfer the required amount (€900 (room) or €1000 (apartment)) from your home country in July (application for winter term) / January (application for summer term).
Provided there is no damage to your accommodation and no outstanding bill, the student housing administration will return the deposit eight weeks after the rental period has ended (= end of standardized rental period and not moving out date).
All accommodation for guest students is basically furnished. Please note that bed sheets, duvets, blankets, pillows and towels are not provided by the student residence. Please bring these items with you or you will need to buy them after your arrival in Frankfurt.
The deposit remains intact throughout the entire rental period (i.e. it will not be used to pay rent).
The processing period for the return of the deposit by the Studierendenwerk takes at least two months from the time the lease ends.
Accommodation in student housing is assigned according to availability by the student housing administration.
Cancelling the reservation between 16 August to 31 August / 15 February to 28 February will mean you will not get back the rent for September / March because a new tenant can be found no earlier than 01 October / 01 April. The deposit will be refunded.
If you plan to arrive in October / April, you need to inform the Global Office (incoming@uni-frankfurt.de) and the Studierendenwerk (wohnen@swffm.de) via e-mail of the delayed arrival no later than 15 September. In this case, the rent for September / March is still to be paid, it cannot be refunded.
In the event of a general cancellation of your study period, you are obligated to inform the Global Office (incoming@uni-frankfurt.de) by 15 September / 15 March at the latest, otherwise the rent for October / April is due, because a new tenant cannot be found before 01 November / 01 May.
Here a list of common signs of a possible rental scam:
Here a link to signs of scam as listed by the US government agency Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
One of many ways to finance your mobility in Germany is to apply for a scholarship. Since many scholarship organisations have deadlines and application procedures, we recommend that you start looking for a scholarship as early as possible.
Through the following links, you can get an overview of several funding opportunities and scholarship databases:
Erasmus+ scholarships are paid by the respective sending institution. If you have any questions about the Erasmus+ scholarship, please contact your home university directly.
You will find the online course overview (of all faculties) on the following website: qis.server.uni-frankfurt.de. You can access the course overview without login, by simply clicking on "Courses", then "Course Overview".
*Some English language courses may be found in the course overview under "Language of instruction" -> "German / English". This category lists courses that are bilingual, but not necessarily "German / English" other bilingual constellations may also be listed. It is worth checking this section for additional English language courses not listed under "Language of instruction" -> "English".
Below Links to English Courses in the Summer Semester 2024:
Dep. 2, Economics and Business Administration (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
Dep. 3, Social Sciences (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
Dep. 5, Psychology and Sports / bilingual*
Dep. 6, Protestant Theology / bilingual*
Dep. 7, Roman Catholic Theology
Dep. 8, Philosophy and History / bilingual*
Dep. 9, Linguistics, Cultural Studies, and Art / bilingual*
Dep. 10, Modern Languages (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
Dep. 11, Geosciences and Geography (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
Dep. 12, Computer Sciences and Mathematics (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
Dep. 13, Physics (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
Dep. 14, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Pharmacy / bilingual*
Dep. 15, Biosciences (Bachelor; Master) / bilingual*
In order to differentiate between Bachelor and Master level courses, you can select a “Header structure" on the "Search for Lectures" query. Select the faculty/ department, then, select the level of degree programme.
If you have questions regarding your study program (e.g. ECTS credit points, course/exam registration, language of instruction, etc.), please contact your Departmental Coordinator at Goethe University directly.
The Global Office, in cooperation with the International Study Center (Internationales Studienzentrum) = ISZ, organizes various courses to improve your German language skills. All courses are free of charge for registered exchange/guest students. The courses at the ISZ can be added to your schedule in addition to the courses in your field of study at Goethe University. In general, you can earn 2-3 ECTS credits per course.
The German Intensive Course for Exchange Students (Deutsch-Intensiv-Kurs für Austauschstudierende), or later referred to as DIA-Course, takes place every year in March and September before the start of the semester. The course lasts 4 weeks (in September) / 3 weeks (in March) and consists of about 20 hours per week. The course is free of charge for registered exchange students and you can earn 4 ECTS (in September) / 3 ECTS for the course.
Information about the online placement test will be provided before the course begins. Your score determines which group you will be placed in. You can join the DIA course without any previous knowledge of German as we also have a beginners course.
During the course of the semester, there will be various courses offered by the ISZ to help improve your knowledge of German. Further information and links pertaining to these courses can be found here under "Courses during the semester".
Guest students at the faculty of Economics and Business Administration may receive a Buddy through the WiWir Buddy Program.
Application for admission as a guest student for the summer semester 2024 is currently no longer possible. Starting in May application for the winter semester 2024-25 starts.
Student Mobility Team - Incoming Students
E-mail: incoming@uni-frankfurt.de
Tel.: (069) 798-17191, -17254, -15080