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Incoming Austauschstudierende

All about studying at the TUM and living in Munich for international exchange students. This goes from the selection of modules, learning German and the administrative as well as practical support from other TUM students to housing search, excursions and cultural program.

International exchange students International exchange students at the welcome event. International students coming to TUM from a partner university via one of our exchange programs or bilateral agreements are called exchange students. These students benefit from a simplified application and enrollment process, and in general they can attend lectures from all TUM departments. The Physics Department has a number of partner universities in Europe through the Erasmus+ and SEMP programs and elsewhere in the world through TUMexchange.

Application requirements and conditions

  • You have to study at one of our partner universities and apply there for an exchange program. The partner university selects students for the exchange program and nominates them for a stay at TUM via the web-based platform “moveonnet” (= eNomination). After an acknowledgement-email from TUM, the international office of your home university sends the application documents to TUM. Deadlines are May 15 for the winter semester or the whole academic year, and October 31 for the summer semester. More details can be found on the website of TUM Global.
  • To be enrolled in our Physics Department, you need to take at least 60% of your workload in physics. Thereof, consider well your choice of modules and department before applying. DTU-TUM 1:1 students are due to the structure of the program exempted from this rule.
  • Please consider that our Bachelor program is mostly taught in German and that most of our Master modules are taught in English. Depending on your selected modules, you have to provide proof of sufficient language skills in the respective languages of instruction with your application. We require a German and/or English certificate of at least CEFR level B1 at the time of the application. CERF refers to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
  • The maximal length of your exchange studies at TUM is three semesters.
  • To enrol succesfully at TUM, you have to pay the semester fee (student union plus basic semester ticket) and show proof of your health insurance to our Welcome Office. Deadlines are August 15 for the winter semester and February 15 for the summer semester.
    Only students that have submitted all their documents on time are able to register for language courses (places fill up very quickly!) and obtain their student card early enough to gain access to all student services (basic transportation, cafeteria, library, internet, sports, etc.).

Selection of modules, study plan and course registration

To enroll in our Physics Department, you need to choose at least 60% of your workload in physics. DTU-TUM 1:1 students are due to the structure of the program exempted from this rule. On the study plan that you will submit with your application you should list modules and not courses. In the case of Erasmus students, this also applies to later versions of their Learning Agreement. Each module has a module ID or "Kennung", which you need to indicate on your study plan (e.g. PH0001 for Experimental Physics 1).

Your academic advisor and departmental Erasmus coordinator at TUM physics is Maria Eckholt.

Our study offer for a given semester is normally published before the previous lecture period ends. However, few courses may still be announced later on.

Our physics modules are listed in our module catalog. Please consider that our module catalog contains currently offered as well as past modules. If a module has been regularly offered in the last years (i.e. its course/s), there are good chances that it will be offered again.

You can also look up physics modules specific to each of our study programs:

TUM module and courses catalog is TUMonline. Following the path Fakultäten/Departments >> Physik/Physics >> Lehrveranstaltungen/Courses, you will also find the courses taught by our department in the current and past semesters (check options on the upper-right corner). You can find more information about TUMonline here.

Registration for courses can be done when the corresponding semester begins. For more details on the different kinds of course registration (for lectures, exercises, student seminars and lab courses), please have a look at our page on course registration. Please consider that course and exam registration are independent from each other. To participate in the examination of a module, exam registration is mandatory in all cases.

Examinations and grading system

Our first examination period is normally during the three weeks following the lecture period. If you have any time constrains given by the schedule of your home university, please discuss this directly with the lecturers during the first weeks of lectures.

Registering for examinations is compulsory and missing the registration period means that you will not be able to take the exams. Besides that, it is not allowed to repeat exams that have been already passed (i.e. improving your grade through a retake is not possible).

In the following links you will find more details on our examination dates and our academic calendar:

  • Exam periods: registration deadlines, late registration, examination periods, individual dates for oral exams, etc.
  • TUM dates and deadlines: lecture periods, lecture-free days and holidays, semester fees deadlines, etc.

When registering examinations and to alocate them correctly in your study program, you should avoid the option "free registration". Whenever you are only given that option, please register that way and let Maria Eckholt know. That may happen sometimes for new physics modules or modules from other departments, which we would then have to include in the curriculum for exchange students.

Our grading system applies for most modules. However, student seminars and lab courses are only marked as passed or failed. If to transfer the credits at your home university you need to have grades, please talk at the beginning of the semester with the corresponding lecturers and discuss with them the possibility of getting a numerical grade.

Research projects and registration

Students finishing their degree at their home university can arrange directly with our research groups to work on a research project like a Bachelor's or Master's thesis during their stay. We can offer research projects with different workload sizes – check with your home university for the required workload size and discuss with your TUM supervisor which project size is suitable for the topic:

  • Exchange Program Physics (Bachelor’s level, 12 CP + 3 CP colloquium)
  • Exchange Program Physics (Bachelor’s level, 27 CP + 3 CP colloquium)
  • Exchange Program Physics (Master’s level, one year research phase, 55 CP + 5 CP colloquium)
  • Exchange Program Physics (Master’s level, nine months thesis, 45 CP + 5 CP colloquium)
  • Exchange Program Physics (Master’s level, half year thesis, 30 CP + 5 CP colloquium)
  • Exchange Program Physics (Master’s level, five months thesis, 30 CP including colloquium)

After finding a supervisor and a research topic in one of our reseach groups, you have to register your thesis. For ongoing research projects, you can find more information on the status page.

Transcript of records and confirmation of stay

Transcript of academic records

A transcript or grade report is an official document containing the modules you have visited during your stay at TUM, including the respective amount of ECTS credits and grade you have achieved.

Register for exams!

You will only obtain a complete transcript of academic records at the end of your stay, if you registered for all your exams on time. Registering outside the registration period is not possible.

Transcripts can be easily printed out from your TUMonline account, as soon as all examinations are completed and the grades validated in TUMonline. Log in and select "transcripts" in the "studies" column on your visit card. Select the option "print certificate" to generate an transcript of your academic records. It is an automatically generated document, valid without a signature.

If you do need a signed copy of the document, you can request it to our examinations office. Given the different final examination dates of all students, these documents are not sent without your request. Please make sure that all your grades have been introduced into the system and that they have been validated (i.e. further changes of the grades are not possible). Then and only then, you can request the document by:

Natalia Hutanu / Carina Fritzsche
Examinations Office, TUM Excellence Center, Boltzmannstraße 17 (Research Campus Garching)
Opening Hours: Mon, Tue and Thu 8:30 – 12:00, Wed 13:00 – 16.30, closed on Friday
Tel. +49 89 289 14775, Fax +49 89 289 14779

If you are not in Germany anymore, you may contact her per e-mail and provide her with a postal address – electronic versions of the document are **not** available. Please consider that it may take some time for the post to arrive to you or your home institution.

Confirmation of stay

Please clarify with your home university if you need a confirmation of your stay signed by TUM. If so, your home university will provide you with a form, please fill it out and send it to Maria Eckholt.

Language courses

The TUM Language Center offers more than 15 languages, including German language courses during the semester as well as tandem learning partnerships (see their special programs). International exchange students are welcome to join, but do register well in advance in order to secure a place. The courses are free of charge, but they fill up very quickly!!! Check also their intensive language courses taking place during the semester breaks.

TalkTUM[i:] Language Café

The TalkTUM[i:] Language Café provides an opportunity to speak foreign languages and meet other students. It also allows international students to improve their German in an informal setting over free coffee and cake ;-)

We are always looking for native speakers who are interested in presenting their own language and moderating a table. If you are interested, please e-mail us at: student-exchange@in.tum.de (Garching) or tumi@zv.tum.de (Munich, Weihenstephan).

International Day

Every year in May all our international students as well as former outgoing exchange students represent their home and guest countries, respectively, at the International Day. This colorful event takes place in the Magistrale (big entrance hall) of the MI building. You can also get in contact there with other students and chat about countries, cultures and exchange destinations. This is a joint project from the departments of Infomatics, Mathematics and Physics.

Fellow program

A great opportunity for international exchange students to get in contact with our regular students is through our fellow program.

Accommodation and life in Munich

To find appropriate accommodation in Munich can be very difficult, especially in October when the semester begins and short-time accommodation is booked out due to the Oktoberfest. The limited number of places in student dormitories available to TUM Global are primarily reserved for participants of the TUMexchange mobility program. For exchange students of other mobility programs (e.g. Erasmus), TUM Global cannot guarantee the provision of accommodation. However, they can support you with information on how to search the private housing market. Please have a look to their accommodation site for exchange students for more details. The TUM Housing Search Assistance for degree-seeking students has published a booklet Finding a new home in Munich (PDF, 1,2 MB) containing also the most important information you need to have when looking for a place to live in Munich.

The Student Union Munich also offers information and advice on accommodation, finances and cultural life, including psychotherapeutic and psychosocial counselling as well as a protection service against sexual abuse and discrimination.

International Campus Life and ESN TUMi Munich offer orientation weeks before the beginning of academic activities and regular meetings throughout the year. They also support you in administrative affairs (residence permit, enrollment, public transport, etc.) and offer you a cultural program to get to know Munich and its surrondings. Remember to register well in advance for the activities to ensure you a place!

Student initiatives and associations

Are you looking for hands-on experience that can help you in your future career? Do you want to give something back? Our students are highly involved in the student union (Fachschaft) and as student representatives on the faculty council and appointment commissions. They also contribute to the design of teaching and module contents. In addition, many extracurricular initiatives are run entirely by students or rely on their engagement and energy.

Working in Munich

If you would like to take a student job to support yourself during your studies or experience the job market through an internship, there are several possibilities on Campus Garching and in/around Munich.

In terms of research, you could take a student job e.g. either in a group of the Physics Department or at one of the Max Planck Institutes. Please either have a look at the TUM black board or contact directly the professors in each institution (most of them do not publish their student job oppportunities!).

For advice on an internship in the industry sector, please do refer to the carefully selected information and contacts from the TUM Career Service.

How much are you allowed to work?

International students can find this and further details on the subject on TUM Global's site on finding a part-time job.

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