Thank you for your interest in exchange studies at the Department of Biology. In order to ensure that the course of your studies runs smoothly, please observe the following regulations.

Application

• Applications can only to be submitted to the Department of International Affairs (Dezernat “Internationale Angelegenheiten“). All information concerning applications can be found here.
• Please note that the Department of Biology cannot assist in any application related issues.

Course selection

• All our courses and lectures can be found in the online course catalogue of the University of Tübingen.
• The course catalogue for the summer semester (April 1st to September 30th) of each academic year is available from the end of January and the catalogue for the winter semester (October 1st to March 31st) from the end of July. You can also use the course catalogues of previous semesters as a preliminary guide.
• Categories in the catalogue

  • VVZ-BIO-INFO Orientation Events and Preparatory Courses: for degree-seeking students
  • VVZ-BIO-G Basic Courses: First- and second-year courses in German, only suitable for guest students with German B2/C1
  • VVZ-BIO-WP Compulsory Elective Courses: Third-year courses in German or English, suitable for guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-DID Didactics of Biology: Third- to fifth-year courses in German or English, suitable for guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-EvE Evolution and Ecology: Fourth- and fifth-year courses in English, suitable only for advanced guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-NEUR Neurobiology: Fourth- and fifth-year courses in English suitable only for advanced guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-MIBI Microbiology and Infection Medicine: Fourth- and fifth-year courses in English, suitable only for advanced guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-ZELL Cell Biology and Immunobiology: Fourth- and fifth-year courses in English, suitable only for advanced guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-ZMBP Molecular Biology of Plants: Fourth- and fifth-year courses in English, suitable only for advanced guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-ETH Ethics in the Biosciences: Third- to fifth-year courses in German or English, suitable for guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-ZUS Additional Subjects: Third- to fifth-year courses in German or English, suitable for guest students
  • VVZ-BIO-EXP Courses for Other Degree Programs: Third- to fifth-year courses in German or English, suitable for guest students
• The teaching language for 95 % of the bachelor’s degree program (=1st to 3rd year) is German. Successful participation is not possible without a sufficient proficiency in German (level B2 at least).
• We offer two types of courses: block courses (8 weeks) and “Schiene” (x h per semester week) where “W” stands for winter, “S” for summer. A block course will be finished after 8 weeks, including exam. Usually it will not be possible to combine two blocks in the same slot (e.g. 2 x W1). It is quite easy, though, to combine blocks and one or two “Schiene” courses, for their schedules will not conflict.
• In the master’s degree program (=4th & 5th year, Version 2024), the majority of courses and lectures are held in English. You can look for specific courses given in English with the help of the search function in the course catalogue. The master’s degree courses are, in general, suitable for advanced students, only (4th & 5th year).
• Please note that all courses in the catalogue are supposed to have an English title in order to issue English transcripts. An English title does not necessarily mean that the course is taught in English. Please check the teaching language accordingly!
• Lab courses, especially in the fields of molecular biology, cell biology, immunology, and microbiology will have no free places for guest students.
• Courses you cannot participate: project modules, colloquia, seminars for doctoral students and academic staff, progress reports. Courses at Faculty of Medicine also do not have free places for exchange students from other faculties.
• The courses in most of the other faculties are, on the other hand, open to you, on condition that places are available. Please check in advance with the responsible professors.
• For we, unfortunately, cannot guarantee the access to the courses you selected in advance, you should inform your home institution about the fact that after your arrival, changes in the "Learning Agreement" or in your (already approved) list of courses are very likely.
• Usually our students would take 30 ECTS credits per semester. 1 ECTS credit is equivalent to 25-30 h of total workload (10 h contact). Most biology courses yield 6 ECTS credits, some of them 9 or 12. For details see course catalogue.

Course enrolment

• As the automatic allocation of places for our courses will most probably take place before your arrival in Tübingen, please contact the responsible lecturers via email and ask them to register manually. If you paid the matriculation fee and sent the proof of Health insurance, you might use the login data from the application portal to sign into classes.
• In many cases, places for the courses are still free even after the semester has started. Regular time slots for registering electronically to courses: Summer: mid February to mid March, winter mid July to mid August. Exact dates and an explanation of the enrolment are to be found in the online course catalogue.

During your stay in Tübingen

• It is important that you contact our Academic Advisory Service immediately after your arrival in Tübingen, as they will help you to get started in our department. You should always arrive in Tübingen well before the Semester starts. The respective dates are to be found here.
• The results of all your assessed coursework in biology will be automatically recorded in the data bank of the Biology Examinations Office. Certificates of achievement from university language courses or from courses taken in other departments (e.g. Biochemistry, Medicine, etc) have to be submitted by you or by the professor to the Examinations Office in order to be recorded. On the completion of your exchange studies, you will be entitled to an official transcript of record (in English and/or German). Please remember to apply for your transcript well in advance (before your return home!), as the Examinations Office needs a certain amount of time to process it.

(Erasmus) lab projects

• If you are an Erasmus student from one of our Erasmus partner universities and would like to take a lab project/TFG/final thesis in one of our labs, please check our information sheet for Erasmus lab projects.
• If you are a trainee (e.g. financed through Erasmus) please note that you are no Erasmus exchange student and thus you cannot take any course. For details see here.

Please note that all the regulations mentioned above apply to the Department of Biology only. In other departments (Biochemistry, Medicine etc.), different regulations often apply and for this reason we can provide no information or assistance with regard to courses held by other departments.

We wish you a successful and informative course of studies at our department!

Yours

Prof. Dr. Hannes Link, Dean of Studies

Dr. Matthias Stoll, Student Advisory Service/Departmental Coordinator