Studying and Research in Germany

General Information

The German education system knows three categories of higher education institutions:

• Universities and comparable institutions (e.g. Theological colleges
• Fachhochschule institutions
• Colleges of art and music

The 315 higher education institutions in Germany belong to the group of universities. The specific types of degrees awarded by this group depend on subject an professional goal, and are: The Magister degree, the Diplom degree, the State Examination, church qualifications, and the Bachelor's and Master's degrees, plus the doctorate and in some cases foreign degrees. Universities offer studies in the following groups of subjects: arts and humanities, theology, law, economics, social sciences, medicine, science and engineering, as well as the full range of teacher training.

Around a half of all Germany's higher education institutions are Fachhochschule institutions (148). The degrees these offer are the Diplom (FH) degree, and Bachelor's and Master's degrees, plus, in some cases, foreign degrees. The focus of study opportunities lies on the fields of business and management, social services, design engineering and nursing studies as well. The education and training provided by Fachhochschule institutions is more applications oriented, more strictly organised and shorter than that offered by the universities.

51 colleges of art and music offer study opportunities in the fields of art and music. They are not comparable with other types of higher education institution on account of their special selection procedures and study organisation. Apart from studying for institution-own qualifications and some few foreign degrees, students can also gain a Diplom degree or appointment as a Master Pupil. Students can also take the State Examination. The colleges of art offer teaching in the fine arts (sculpture, painting, graphic art, design, media, and in some cases architecture), while the colleges of music offer teaching in the performing arts (music, drama, dance, song).

Study Choice Decisions

The Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Forschungsförderung - BLK (a joint central and regional government commission for educational planning and research promotion) and the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit (the Federal Labor Office) offer an Internet service at www.studienwahl.de which provides answers to all questions regarding study and career choice decisions in Germany. This information service has its own team of editors who ensure that it is routinely kept up-to-date. The navigation aids and search masks are available in English and French as well. Besides basic information on all types of higher education institutions, on the available range of degrees and qualifications the service also contains information for people from abroad interested in studying in Germany. A search engine enables users to carry out database searches on the various study opportunities, as well as on school and in-company vocational training programs. A regional search function guides users to information about the universities and colleges as well as to the advice and counseling services which are locally available. All degree program information is networked with the websites maintained by Germany's universities and colleges. Moreover www.studienwahl.de lists all the international degree programs offered at German universities and colleges.

German Academic Exchange Service

The German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, DAAD) is an association of the institutions of higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany. Its goal is to promote closer international relations among universities and other institutions of higher education, especially through the exchange of individual students and scholars. More than 150 programs are designed for German as well as foreign students, scholars and faculties of all disciplines from nearly all countries in the world.

DAAD operates mainly on the basis of public funding and its head office is situated in Bonn, Germany.

In 1971 the New York branch-office was established. It promotes cooperation and exchange between higher educational institutions in North America and higher educational institutions in Germay. It acts as a center of information and advice in both directions.

DAAD offers a broad variety of academic programs. Grants are available to both students and faculty at US and Canadian higher educational institutions, generally of US or Canadian citizenship. Descriptions of DAAD programs and application forms are available on the DAAD Homepage: http://www.daad.org

E-Studying in Germany

To retrieve information about all on-line course offerings available from German universities we recommend the English language site www.e-studying-in-germany.de. There are currently over 1,400 offerings, with information science and mathematics heavily represented. Following shortly behind are the natural sciences and engineering. The offerings cover on-line seminars, internet lectures, web based teaching and learning systems, tutorials and exercises in a virtual laboratory and even include some multimedia courses of study that can be completed in their entirety on the internet.

Research in Germany

Germany is a land of research with a dense network of universities and extra-university research institutions. German research is cosmopolitan. Visiting scientists and scholars from many nations have built up an international network of exchanges with the best research centres and universities around the globe. The website www.research-in-germany.de intends to improve the information about research possibilities in Germany. The site is available in English, Spanish, French and German.Young scientists and scholars are invited to make use of the most attractive German exchange programmes.

Language Schools

Learn German in Germany! The Goethe-Institut, the official German Cultural Institut, offers summer courses as well as intensive, superintensive and business courses. If you search for information about privat or public Language Schools we recommend www.languageschool.de and www.sprachkurse-weltweit.de. Both websites offer a worldwide search for language schools and are available in English and German. For those interested in learning the German language, www.e-studying-in-germany.de is also a valuable resource. It contains a wide variety of links to various on-line German courses.

Useful Links

Useful links for students, science and research can also be found on www.germanyinfo.org at Education and Research.

• Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Forschungsförderung
• German Academic Exchange Service
• Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung
• Bundesanstalt für Arbeit
• www.studienwahl.de
• www.e-studying-in-germany.de
• www.research-in-germany.de
• www.languageschool.de
• www.sprachkurse-weltweit.de
• Deutsches Studentenwerk
• Hochschulrektorenkonferenz
• Kultusministerkonferenz
• Foreign Credential Evaluation
• German Universities
• Worldwide University Index
• www.gate.de
• www.bildungsserver.de

Stand: 22.10.2003

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