Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Expenses for a student living in Erlangen generally range around 930 Euros per month. Depending on the options available, you have to expect to pay between 350 and 500 Euros for rent. Please find more details here.

Since winter semester 2023/24, the semester fee does no longer cover public transport. Students have the option to purchase the “Bildungsticket”  for public transport for 29 € per month, which allows you to use all kinds of public transport at any time of day. More information on the “Bildungsticket” can be found here.

No. As we are a public university and don’t charge tuition fees, FAU does not dispose of a scholarship system. But you can apply for scholarships at other institutions, such as the German Academic Exchange service (DAAD). To gain a comprehensive overview about scholarship options in Germany, please click here.

In addition to the information above, we would like to draw your attention to these scholarship offers:

• IMPRS-PM scholarship, provided by our local Max Planck Center for Physics and Medicine
• Scholarships for Latin American students, provided by our Bavarian Center for Latin America (BAYLAT)
• Scholarships for students from Pakistan and Afghanistan, provided by the Hanns Seidel Foundation
• Scholarships for German-speaking students, provided by the Norbert Janssen Foundation

FAU does not charge tuition fees. You only have to pay an administrative fee of currently (winter 2024) 72 € per semester (i.e. twice a year).

The lecture period of the winter semester starts in the middle of October, the lecture period for the summer semester in the middle of April. The exact dates vary from term to term, you can find these and many other important semester dates on the Student Records Office´s website.

For more detailed information about the applying process, please click here. If you are facing technical problems please contact our campo support campo[at]fau.de.

Yes. You can find an overview of student groups and initiatives here. Moreover, ‘Volunteers for Internationals (VFI)’ ist a group for and organized by international students. You are welcome to join!

The most convenient option is to book a flight to Nürnberg (Nuremberg). From there, you take the subway line U2 (subway station right in front of the airport entrance) to Nürnberg main station (Hauptbahnhof/Hbf). Trains to Erlangen leave several times per hour. You can buy your train ticket at the ticket machines, online or at the Railway Service Centre (“DB Reisezentrum”) located on the ground floor in the western side hall. Choose “Erlangen Bahnhof/Bhf” (Erlangen station) as your destination. The train ride takes around 30 minutes. From Erlangen station you can take a taxi or bus to your accommodation. For more information on bus services, see vgn.de/en/.

Besides the subway connection, you can also reach the airport easily using the Nuremberg bus network. The bus stop for lines 30 and 33 is located in front of the departure and arrival terminals. The bus lines 30 and 33 connect the Airport with Erlangen and Fürth, respectively.

The registration periods for module examinations can be found on the homepage of the Examinations Office.

Registration for these examinations exclusively takes place via our online portal Campo. Please note that exam registration is only possible during the official exam registration period (see above).

This answer might be very surprising for those of you if you come from different academic system, but here at FAU you usually don’t need to register in order to be able to participate in a course (this applies to lectures, which make up the biggest part of our Master’s curriculum, because they usually have an unlimited number of participants). You can use the first weeks of the lecture period to attend different lectures without making a commitment to any of them. You can find out about the lectures that are offered in a certain semester as well as their time and place by reading the module catalog for your branch of study and look up the respective courses in our online course platform Campo. You can just go and attend a lecture meeting one week and then continue to attend it if you like it or never attend it again. You neither need to inform your lecturer nor your study advisor of these decisions – they are completely up to you.

You only “commit” to a lecture to a certain degree when you register for its exam. The exam registration takes place a few weeks after the beginning of the lecture period, hence you have time to make up your mind. And even if you register for exams, you can still delete the registration until the end of the 3rd working day befiore the exam date, which means that you still have a lot of flexibility.

Only if you plan to attend a seminar (module group M4 in the Master’s program) or a practical course (module group M6 in the Master’s program), the rules are a little stricter. Since the number of participants for seminars and practical courses is limited, you have to pre-register for these courses (usually about a month before the lecture period starts). In order to find out about the modalities for registration (usually via our e-learning platform StudOn or via email to the lecturer in rare cases), please look up the course in our online course platform Campo and follow the instructions given there. Please note, however, that seminars and practical courses are only recommended for advanced students. You should only register for them if you have already acquired around 60 ECTS credits.

Firstly, some bad news: In contrast to academic systems in other countries, German universities are not allowed to own and rent out dormitories. Therefore, the admission to our program does not come with a room in a student dormitory. You have to find accommodation on your own, which can be especially challenging if you are still residing abroad, your financial means are limited and/or you don’t speak German. The Erlangen housing market is extremely tense (not only for students), meaning that the offer is small and prices are high. Many students spend their first months in an airbnb or hotel, so please plan your financial budget accordingly!

Our FAU accommodation service will assist you in your search as much as we can but we can only offer you what is available on the market at a given time (again, FAU does not own housing facilities). Please find a compilation of online resources and tips for finding a dorm/apartment here.

A word of advice: Have a “plan B” in case you come to Erlangen and don’t find a place to stay within the first months. Do you have friends or family members in other parts of Germany where you could stay for a while? Can somebody borrow you money if the apartment you found turns out to be more expensive than you thought? Do you have enough savings for a return flight ticket if you want to go back to your home country? Please consider these aspects before travelling!

This is a serious issue! Please note that the deadline for submitting your original bachelor’s certificate (1 year after the beginning of your master’s studies) cannot be extended under any circumstances. This deadline is imposed on the university by the Bavarian law, which means that no person at FAU can change, adapt or overrule it.

If you fear that you might not be able to submit your original degree certificate in time, it is crucial that you apply for several other English-taught master’s programs at FAU as well as for English-taught master’s programs at other German universities so that you have a backup plan. Your residence permit for study purposes is tied to your student status. Hence, if you lose your enrollment status in our Medical Engineering program due to your missing certificate, you will also lose your visa and become “illegal”. This means that you have to leave Germany and the Schengen area immediately.

You can find an overview of all English-taught programs at FAU here. This database contains all study programs taught at all German universities.

Please pay close attention to the application deadlines! You will not be able to apply for another study program last minute. Therefore, it is of great importance that you start doing your research of suitable alternative programs at the beginning of your second semester, even if you still have some hope that you might receive your degree certificate in time. It is better to be safe than sorry!

Please log into www.idm.fau.de, go to the section “self-service” – “email” and click on the magnifying glass symbol next to your FAU email address. Enter the private email address to which you want to forward your FAU communication and click on the “update” button.

When you start your first semester in our Medical Engineering program, the answer is no. We will be happy to give you step-by-step introduction on our Master Welcome Day Medical Engineering on how to create your class schedule and what you need to bear in mind when selecting your couses. Definitely make sure to attend the event – you can find out the time and place on the starting page of our Medical Engineering website or from the Student Advisory Service.

If you are an EU citizen you can select between full-time and part-time studies when enrolling and are allowed to switch between the two modalities once per year. More details on the rules for part-time studies can be accessed here.

If you are a non-EU student you are not allowed to change to part-time studies because your visa for study puposes/residence permit for study purposes depends on your status as a full-time student. Only exception: Pregnant students might get permission from the immigration authorities to study part-time. If this is your case, please consult with you local immigrations office before you change to part-time at our Student Records Office.

Your study advisor will be happy to help you with any question you might have concerning the Medical Engineering program. In addition to that, various introductory events are held at the beginning of every semester to provide you with general tips and information about your studies. We highly recommend that you attend those events, as the knowledge provided there is oftentimes the decisive factor in whether international students study successfully and obtain their degree (or not).

If you have questions that are specific to your status as an international student (e.g. regarding your visa situation, specific working conditions for Non-EU students etc.) you are welcome to contact our International Office.

Moreover, FAU offers a “buddy program”, in which international students are assisted by an experienced German volunteer from their faculty. Your personal “buddy” can help you with everyday problems, show you the city etc. and hopefully will become a good friend! You can apply for this program here.

Our student body representatives, who participate in various committees of the university and help shaping the study conditions at FAU, also have a working group for international students. If you would like to become a member of this group or are just looking for support, please contact them here.

We grant you the possibility for late arrival until May 15 for the summer semester and November 15 for the winter semester. If you are unable to travel to Erlangen until this deadline, you cannot join our program in the respective semester anymore. In this case, you must deregister from the semester you are currently enrolled in (please find the deregistration form on the website of our Student Records Office). If you deregister until May 15/November 15 the semester will not count towards your studies. However, you will not receive your semester fee back.

After you have de-registered from our program you can re-apply to our master’s program for the following semester. In order to do so, you must apply within the official deadline, submit all required documents again and, aditionally, upload your previous admission letter. Once you are done, please send an email to zimt-qfv[at]fau.de and inform our officers of your re-application to accelerate the process.

If you received your first admission letter in winter semester 23/24 or later, we will admit you again – without you having to retake the digital admission test.

Experience shows that it is close to impossible to graduate from our master’s program within the standard period of studies of 4 semesters if you need to work a significant amount of hours (~20 hours per week) alongside your studies. This is due to the fact that study programs in Germany are designed to be a “full-time job”, meaning that you will only be able to pass your exams and fulfill the standard workload of 30 credits per semester if you actually make your studies your main priority and dedicate most of your time to them. A regular full-time job is defined as a time commitment of 35 to 40 hours per week, which you spend attending classes and preparing/revising your course material at home.

Studying with a low time commitment (due to work obligations etc.) will either result in your eventual deregistration from the program (due to failed last exam attempts) or in the need to extend your study period to 5, 6 (or, in justified cases, even more) semesters. Please be aware that this extension will affect your planned financial budget significanty! Unfortunately, we have seen many, especially international, students drop our of our study program because they were unable to handle the double burden of work and our highly demanding study system. Please take care of yourself and assess your financial possibilities as well as you mental and physical health before you take on this challenge.

Yes, of course!

We highly recommend that you start with this short video, which introduces you to the main characteristics of German culture.

In order to get an realistic idea of what university life will look like for you, this introduction to the German academic system by Prof. Andreas Maier (Head of our Pattern Recognition Lab at FAU) is a must-read!

You can find more detailed information about housing, health insurance, etc. in our Welcome Brochure.

You are also welcome to join our Facebook group for international Master’s students (https://www.facebook.com/groups/223841687666224/) as soon as you receive your admission letter. Feel free to post your questions in this group or get in touch with your future classmates!

Moreover, we recommend that you watch this video series by the international student association DEGIS. It prepares you for all important aspects of your student life in Germany (studying, working, saving money, making friends) and gives peer-to-peer advice.

When it comes to the German academic system, it is crucial for your study success to understand that your study experience at FAU will differ in many aspects from your studies in your home country and that you will need to adjust to these differences, such as:

• how the university and its infrastructure are organized
• how students and teachers interact in class, how students communicate with lecturers, staff and other students
• what exams look like and how you prepare for them
• which services the university offers (and which it doesn’t offer)
• which activities students engage in in their free time
• etc.

But don’t be scared! If you have an open mind and are willing to learn about these differences, you will find that they broaden your horizon and enrich your life. If you are unsure whether the intercultural experience is for you or want to prepare for your time at FAU, you can take this online course offered by the Virtual University of Bavaria (VHB). You have to create a user account, but it is free of cost!

This general introduction to German culture and etiquette on Reddit will enable you to manage social life in Germany. If you want to learn about life in Germany in a broader sense (society, politics, tips and tricks for expats), we recommend this informative and entertaining podcast by The local.

• Grocery shopping: The communally organized food cooperative Teilerei in Erlangen sells food that doesn’t look “pretty” enough to be sold in regular supermarkets or produce from the gardens of local citizens etc. There is no fixed price for the goods but everybody can pay what they can afford at the moment.
• Transportation: Make sure to get the student discount ticket for public transport.
• Furniture and household items: You can get very affordable second hand items in good condition at Erlanger Trödelhalle. The facebook group “Erlangen verschenkt” (i.e. Erlangen donates) is an online space where people post anything from matrasses to smaller items which they either donate or sell for a very low price.
• Smaller household items and clothes: You can make great bargains at the outdoor second hand market which takes place on Bohlenplatz in Erlangen on every first Saturday of the month (open from the early morning until the afternoon). It is also a good idea to get your own sales stand there at the end of your studies if you have any items you would like to sell before you leave Erlangen.
• Clothes: The second hand shop KleiderKaffee close to the Faculty of Engineering sells mainly clothes but also smaller household items. ALDI supermarket sells affordable new clothes and shoes from time to time; those offers are announced in the weekly info leaflet you can pick up at Aldi or you can look them up online. Since these products are extremely sought-after, you have to be there early in the morning on the day they are are introduced to make your bargain.
• Notebook/tablet, books or other study materials: Students in need can apply for the Oskar Karl Forster scholarship to receive financial support to buy necessary study materials.

Apart from finishing one’s studies with good grades and having a solid German level (B1 or higher), an ideal job candidate for engineering positions on master’s level is expected to do more than just receive orders and complete the tasks they are assigned. Instead, you are expected to be communicative, have your own opinions on work-related topics and to come up with your own, creative solutions for problems. You have to convey this attitude in job interviews to show recruiters that you fit well into their team. The best way to train this kind of skillset is to engage activily in your studies, e.g. by forming study groups, joining a student initiative and interacting with many different students on campus.

1. Scams/involment in criminal activities (laundry washing): Unfortunately, international students are often the target of scammers/criminals, either in the form of an accommodation scam or a job scam. Please watch this video so that you are able to recognize the most common scam situations and avoid them. If you accept an illegal job, you will be punished for criminal activity!

2. Fraud via email (phishing emails etc.): If you receive emails alerting you about the urgent need to click on a link and enter your personal data, be very suspicious and verify who the sender is! German banks, our university computer center and other official institutions in Germany will never approach you in such a way, therefore, chances are high that you are confronted with an email scam. Don’t react and direct the email to your spam folder. When in doubt, call the official institution and ask them whether they sent you such an email. Please note that our FAU professors and other FAU staff will NEVER send you emails to aks you for favors, e.g. to send them money or to buy things for them (google play cards or similar). If you receive such an email from an FAU member, it means that their email account has been hacked. Please report this to our Computer Center: rrze-zentrale[at]fau.de

2. Getting severely ill due to lack of vaccination: The German authorities recommend these vaccines to all individuals living in Germany, all of which are covered by your German health insurance and therefore free of cost for you. Make sure to find a general medical practitioner (family doctor) as soon as you arrive in Germany and make an appointment with them to discuss which vaccines you need. The last thing you want to happen to you is to get severly ill while you are in a foreign country and don’t know anybody who can support you. Luckily, this is easy to avoid if you take care of getting all required vaccines. The same applies to your spouse and children if you came to Germany with a family.

In contrast to seminars and lab courses, attendance in lectures is not mandatory. You will find that most of your lecturers provide you with materials via our online platform StudOn, thus making it possible for you to revise the content at home. For many lectures, you will find recent or older recordings on our video platform www.fau.tv

Despite these resources, it is strongly recommended that you attend lecturers in person! Many scientific studies have shown that students who attend lectures in the lecture hall have a higher chance of passing their exams and obtaining their degree. Here you can find scientifically proven tips on how to use lectures and lecture recordings to your benefit.

Knowing the general community rules for living with other students in a dorm or shared apartment is crucial for your stay in Germany. Not only will it help you keep your accommodation and avoid you costly repairs, fines etc. – it will also ensure a harmonious community life. Please find a comprehensive brochure in different languages here.

Yes, but only the branches of study “Medical Image and Data Processing”, “Health and Medical Data Analytics“ and “Medical Robotics” are taught in English. These branches of study focus on programming, pattern recognition, algorithms and data structures or robotics. Please be aware that a students with English and German skills have a bigger variety of lectures to choose from, as some optional courses are in German.

Please note that many Germans don’t speak English. Therefore, we highly recommend that you take at least a basic German course before you start your studies at FAU. It will make dealing with daily life taks and administrative matters a lot easier. If you want to work in Germany after graduating, solid German skills will be one of the decisive factors in whether you are hired or not. Please keep this in mind and make sure to reach at least B1 level (i.e. intermediate German skills) via the free German courses offered at the university while you are enrolled in your program.

Our other two branches of study, “Medical Devices and Prosthetics” and “Medical Electronics”, are taught in German only and require very advanced German skills (DSH 2 or TestDaF 4, but also keep in mind that academic vocabulary is more difficult to understand than daily life German).

If you only fulfill the English requirements, please make sure that you choose one of the English branches when you apply for the Master’s program, otherwise we will have to reject your application.

No. The Bachelor’s program in Medical Engineering is offered in German only. German language requirements are DSH 2, TestDaF 4 or equivalent. Please be aware that the academic vocabulary is more difficult to understand than daily life German.

Our Medical Engineering program is highly interdisciplinary, meaning that you will not only take classes at various departments at the Faculty of Engineering (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Sciences, Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Engineering), but also at the Faculties of Science and Medicine. This means that although you will mainly conduct your studies on the South Campus (“Südgelände” in the southern part of Erlangen), you might have to got to the Faculty of Medicine from time to time (located in the city center of Erlangen).

You can reach every location within 15 minutes by bike or bus.

Please understand that we cannot assess your chances of admission before you actually apply. However, our basic academic academic requirements can give you an initial idea of what we expect from our applicants:

• a subject-related qualification (computer science or engineering) for university entrance at Master’s level (e.g. bachelor’s degree).
• Furthermore, we expect our students to possess excellent programming skills (C/C++/Java, Matlab, Python), profound knowledge in Electrical Engineering and a strong theoretical Mathematics background. Our entrance qualification board individually evaluates each application with all taken courses in the Bachelor’s program. This means that having studied Medical Engineering does not automatically make you suitable for entering our Master’s program, as the content of each Bachelor’s program varies enormously. On the other hand, you do not necessarily need a degree in Medical Engineering to join the program.
• an overall grade of 2,5 or better according to the German grading system (in which 1,0 is the best grade and 4,0 the worst passing grade)

Our English language requirements can be viewed on our info page for prospective Master students.

Studying Medical Engineering at FAU is closely linked to strong research and industrial partners, such as Siemens, adidas, Fraunhofer Society and many others. This gives our students the chance to make useful contacts early on (e.g. during their Master’s project) and increases their job prospects. For an overview of companies involved in the ‘Medical Valley’ of Erlangen-Nürnberg, click here.

Master

The standard period of study in the Master’s program is 4 semesters. You will automatically get an extension for a 5th and 6th semester if you re-register on time. After that, study time extensions for a 7th or 8th semester are possible, but you have to file a petition then and give justified reasons for it.

If you want to know more about deadline extensions or extending the standard period of study, click here.