Going Abroad
Information about Studying Abroad
It is mandatory for students to study abroad for at least one semester during the course of the program. The modular structure of the program facilitates the going abroad process as makes it easier for students to find appropriate courses that match the curriculum. The modular structure also permits students to spend up to two semesters abroad.
There are four possibilities how to fulfill the obligation for studying abroad:
- Students go on an exchange semester to one of our partner universities (e.g. ERASMUS)
- Students go on an exchange semester to any recognized university as a free mover
- Students do their master‘s thesis in cooperation with one of our academic partners located outside Germany (Limited number of possibilities)
- Students do their master‘s thesis in cooperation with a company located outside Germany
We also encourage our students to do internships abroad during the semester breaks, but this does not count as a study abroad semester.
Important note concerning ERASMUS scholarships: Even though there is no obligation from our side to obtain a minimum ECTS score at the abroad university as part of an ERASMUS exchange, we cannot accept applications for ERASMUS scholarships if the respective student decides not to physically go abroad. If you are planning to stay in Germany during your abroad semester, please choose an option where you do not obtain a financial scholarship for going abroad. Notice that any fraud attempt related to this can have severe consequences!
The process of planning and organizing the study abroad period can be challenging due to the many options offered and the diversity of potential host countries. The attached document serves as a guide to help students manage this challenge.
General Information
- FAQ and example of WISO Learning Agreements (not Erasmus) – especially for IIS students from entry WS2014/2015 (PDF, November 2022)
- Newsletter and social media
- Internships abroad
Partner Universities
The accreditation process consists of the following steps:
- Learning Agreement
- Get the module handbook of your university abroad
- Consult the respective chairs about learning agreements
- Make sure to fill in each Learning Agreement with correct module and exam numbers before your stay abroad
- Stay Abroad
- Complete your stay abroad
- Acquire a Transcript of Records
- Application for Accreditation
- Fill out the application form for accreditation
- Approval of Accreditation
- Submit the application to the IIS Abroad Coordinator
- The grades are transferred and approved
- Submit Documents to the International Office
- Write an experience report about your stay abroad
- Submit the report and your application for accreditation to the International Office
- Achievements Record
- Submit the application for accreditation to the Examinations Office (Prüfungsamt)
- The acknowledged achievements will be recorded
Further information about Learning Agreements
- The Learning Agreements for Study Abroad Courses Informatics are handled by the Professorship of Open Source Software. To request a learning agreement, please follow the process outlined here.
- FAQ and example of WISO Learning Agreements (not Erasmus) – especially for IIS students from entry WS2014/2015 (PDF, November 2022)
- You can also find the general information for learning agreements at the School of Business and Economics here:
Further information about the Application Form for Accreditation
- Please make sure you fill out correctly the credits and the grades you obtained abroad, the module and the exam number for the FAU course (if applicable), and the ECTS you will get at FAU – these are columns 1 to 6 from the accreditation form.
- Do not fill out the column for the transferred grade (column 7 from the accreditation form). This is done by us.
- Please make sure you submit the following documents necessary for accreditation:
- The Antrag auf Annerkennung
- The learning agreements
- The transcript of records.
- Please note: you are responsible for correctly filling out the form, as described above. If the information is not correctly filled out, or something is missing, the documents will be returned from the examination office and the process will be further delayed.
- Every course needs to be on a separate row as each course has it’s own FAU module and exam number!
- Please also check the FAQ document above.
Further Information about modul and exam numbers for Study Abroad Courses
- Study Abroad (Informatics):
Modul number: 57265
Exam numbers: 72651, 72652, 72653, 7265… - Study Abroad (Information Systems):
Modul number: 57262
Exam numbers: 72601, 72602, 72603, 7260… - Exam numbers from other modules can be found in Campo under Home/Studies offered/ Show university course catalog.
- Most of our exchange cooperations are supported by international programs, e.g. the ERASMUS program. In most of these case, the study fees are waived
- Students receiving BAföG, also normally receive funding by Auslands-BAföG (Payment of study fees, travel expenses, etc. up to 4.600€ per year)
- There are various external scholarship programs that financially support students in studying abroad (e.g. DAAD, Fulbright, GOstralia!, BayInd, BayLat, etc.). More information can be found here.
- For general questions about ways and possibilities to go abroad, please contact the International Office.
- For questions about learning agreements and the accreditation process, please contact René Gröbner.
As mentioned above, all IIS students are obliged to spend one semester abroad by law as part of the examination regulations. However, we do except certain exemptions, which are listed below:
IIS students with study start in winter term 2021/22 or later have the possibility to be exempt from the obligation to spend a mandatory semester abroad if they have completed their entire Bachelor degree in a university located in a country where German is not an official language. For details, please read the information provided in this document.
Please find here the respective form to be submitted to the examination office.
An exemption from the obligation to spend a semester abroad is possible in justified individual cases if all of the following evidence can be provided:
- The student submitted a formally correct application for abroad universities / companies in at least two different countries that were open to international students from a German university by the time of the application.
- There is a (possibly conditional) confirmation from the foreign university / company that the student is permitted to conduct the abroad semester (letter of admission).
- At the scheduled start date of the semester abroad, it was not possible to enter or stay in the guest country due to official requirements or regulations, or an official body explicitly advises against starting the trip (e.g., “Reisewarnung” by the German Foreign Office) . Note that this criterion is only considered fulfilled if the inability to enter or stay in the guest country was not yet valid or foreseeable at application time.
If you think that all of the above criteria are fulfilled in your case, please navigate to the “IIS Self Service” and use the form linked below:
Link to the form: https://www.win.rw.fau.de/iis-help/iis-contact-form/semester-abroad-exemption/