Incoming Exchange Students

For the application as an exchange student, a German language certificate is generally not necessary if you have certified English language skills (at least intermediate) and want to choose English modules. However, at least basic German skills are recommended for managing daily life. In order to carry out an exchange semester with our program,  there has to be an existing exchange agreement between your home university and our Medical Engineering program. If this is the case, you need to apply to your home university first. Once you have been nominated as an exchange student by your home university, our Central Office for International Affairs will support you with all formalities. For more information, please click here.

Since our bachelor’s program is taught in German, only courses from our master’s program are available in English. Our master’s courses are generally suitable for advanced bachelor’s students and you are welcome to take them regardless of whether your are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s program at your home university. To access our Medical Engineering courses offered in English, please refer to the module catalogs in our info section for current students. You may also take courses outside of the Medical Engineering curriculum if you consult with our study advisor beforehand (contact: see below).

In order to access the specific course contents, please refer to our current module handbook. Time slots and rooms can be found in our online platform Campo. Please note that the time and place of our courses change every semester. The concrete details for a specific semester are published in Campo about 1,5 months before the lecture period starts.

It is not necessary to register for lectures, you can just attend the first meeting when the lecture period starts. It is generally not recommended for exchange students to take seminars or lab courses. If you need those course types for your study program at home, please consult with our study advisor in advance.

It is a unique feature of our academic system at the Faculty of Engineeering that it is not necessary to register for lectures (there is not limitation of participants, i.e everybody gets in who wants to get in). Hence, you don’t need to panic if the lecture period is approaching and you haven’t decided on your definitive courses yet. We suggest that you make full use of this freedom by attending several lectures that interest you during the first two weeks of the lecture period and decide afterward which ones you want to continue to attend. You can then make the respective changes in your learning agreement if necessary.

Exception: Seminars and practical courses/lab courses do require previous registration, but we do not recommend them for exchange students. If you urgently need to take a seminar or practical course/lab course due to requirements by your home university, please get in touch with our study advisor/Erasmus coordinator early on (see below).

Data of the receiving institution: 

Name: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Faculty/Department: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Science

Erasmus code: D ERLANGE01

Country: Germany/Deutschland

Administrative contact person: Claudia Barnickel; claudia.barnickel@fau.de; +49 9131 8567337

How to enter the correct courses:

Please pay attention to our module catalogs, in which we specify when and under which conditions courses offered:

• “WS” (winter semester)
• “SS” (summer semester)
• “WS/SS” (the course has a duration of one semester and is offered in the winter semester as well as the summer semester)
• “WS + SS” (the course has a duration of one year and streches out over both semesters)
• “WS: EN, SS: GER” (the course is offered in English in the winter semester and in German in the summer semester)

If you enter courses in your LA which are not offered in the semester of your exchange, we have to reject your learning agreement.

Taking seminars and/or practical courses/lab courses as part of your LA:

As stated above, seminars and practical courses/lab courses are generally reserved for our regular degree-seeking students due to limited capacities. In case you urgently need to take one seminar/one practical course because your study plan at your home university requires it, please get in touch with our study advisor/Erasmus coordinator before your start to desing your learning agreement. If you enter those course types in your learning agreement without consulting about it with us first, we have to reject your LA.

Lecture periods: please click here. Examination periods at the Faculty of Engineering always take place in the two weeks following the lecture period and the four weeks preceding the next lecture period. Please find the upcoming examination periods here.  Please note that the exact exam dates are usually published quite late, when the lecture period has already started. If our second examination period is too late for because you have to return to your home university, please approach our lecturers at the beginning of their course and ask them for an alternative solution.

Our Medical Engineering program opens every new lecture period with a welcome event for new master’s students, our “Welcome Day Medical Engineering”. It traditionally takes place on the last Friday before the lecture periods starts and is announced on the starting page of this study program website in due time. We strongly recommend that all incoming exchange students attend this event, regardless of whether they are studying on bachelor’s or master’s level. The event is held in English and introduces you to the important contacts persons, infrastructure and regulations of our program.

As an exchange student at FAU, you can take our free language courses, which take place during the lecture period. Intensive courses, which are offered during the lecture-free period, have a fee. You can access the website of our Language Center here. Please find detailed information on German courses here.

After your nomination as an exchange student at FAU, you will receive information via email by our Central Office for International Affairs regarding our welcome events. You will also be invited to participate in our Buddy Program, through which you will be matched with a local student who can show you around and support you with settling in.

Our student initiative FAU Volunteers for Internationals organizes various social gatherings and trips during the semester.

“Studentenwerk ” student services organize a weekly language exchange meetup during the lecture period, which you are welcome to join.

If you would like to meet up one-to-one with a language tandem partner you can register for our language tandem service here.

If you are planning to study with us in the framework of the Erasmus+ program and have organizational questions or if you have general questions about studying in our Medical Engineering program, feel free to contact our  study advisor and Erasmus coordinator for Medical Engineering, Ms Claudia Barnickel.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at FAU!