Application

 

Application Period

January 4 to 31, 2023
for stays in winter semester 2023/24 and summer semester 2024

 

Requirements

The general application requirements for participation in the Erasmus+ program can be found on the International Office page.

In addition, the following requirements apply at the Department of Earth Sciences and Geography:

  • Time of stay: each faculty or department decides when and at what level of study a stay abroad makes sense from a professional point of view. In Geosciences and Geography this means in the B.Sc. from the 5th semester and in the M.Sc. at each semester.
  • Grade point average: At the time of application, the grade point average should be about 2.3 or better, since the grade point average is a major selection criterion for the committee.
  • Language Proficiency: Some universities teach only in their local language, others offer some English-taught courses, and still others have a wide range of English-taught courses. The minimum language level is determined individually by each partner university; in most cases, a language level of at least B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages must be submitted at the time of departure.
 

Application Process

You can find information about the application process on the International Office page.

Please note the following information:

  • Make sure to use the possibility to apply for several partner universities! This is the only way we can offer you alternatives in case your first preference cannot be considered.
  • Please formulate the academic and personal motivation in the language of instruction. The following points should be addressed:
  1. General brief description of your previous studies, level of study and, if applicable, field of specialization.
  2. Indication of the examinations planned before the start of the study period abroad
  3. Description of your planned study abroad: intended course work, i.e. seminar paper or diploma thesis as well as all other courses (courses, lectures) and examinations. (Do not enumerate, keep it general)
  4. Reasons for the planned stay abroad, i.e. why to this country, why to this university and what does it mean for your studies and your future.
  • Formulate the tabular curriculum vitae also in the language of instruction
  • The language certificate should be current, so not older than 12 months, e.g.
  1. Placement test result or language course certificate from the Language Center of the RWTH
  2. Result of the Erasmus Online Linguistic Support; in short OLS

Preliminary course selection

On the homepage of the partner university, you select the courses you would like to attend from the subject catalog. You need 30 CPs per semester.

  • Additionally you save the corresponding contents / descriptions / module manuals of the courses.
  • With your selection and course description - in German translation, if there is no English version - you go to your departmental student advisor and ask for advice.
  • They will inform you which of the courses are
    • recognized
    • not recognized
    • recognized as an optional additional subject
    • and/or can be recognized in the curriculum.
  • Additional step for geoscientists: You enter the latter courses in the equivalence certificate and go with it, including the description, to the corresponding professorial subject lecturers.
  • They will check the course for equivalence with your own course, which you would like to replace with the foreign course. The certificate is not submitted with the application, but is only required for the recognition of the examination results after your stay

 

Selection Procedure

The selection of the places will be made by the ERASMUS+ coordinators Prof. Sakura Yamamura and Prof. Klaus Reicherter.

Important for this is that every student submits a complete application and his preference list with up to 3 universities.

So far we have had enough places for the number of applicants, but not necessarily for the desired university or country. The following are the selection criteria:

  1. Sort by grade point average
  2. Check whether the choice of courses matches the field of our cooperation partner.
  3. Linguistic proficiency
  4. Number of previous stays abroad
  5. Motivation


The criteria are considered and the applicants are distributed according to their preferences. The remaining places will be distributed to the other candidates according to their preferences in the same competition.