Students
Who to contact and for what?
We, the Office for International Programs at the Faculty of Law (int.rewi@hu-berlin.de), provide support for subject-specific questions and problems in the law degree program:
- Learning Agreement
- ECTS credits
- Course selection
- Examinations
- Transcript of Records
- etc.
The central Welcome Center / Incoming Team (exchange-students@hu-berlin.de) for international students provides support with general questions and problems:
- Admission and immatriculation process
- Payment of semester fees
- Health insurance
- Housing
- etc.
The coordinators of other faculties at Humboldt University of Berlin will support you if you take courses at other faculties.
- Signature on the Learning Agreement for courses outside the Faculty of Law
- Examination registration for courses outside the Faculty of Law
- Transcript of Records for courses outside the Faculty of Law
Before the stay
Exchange stay at the Faculty of Law (faculty cooperation, university cooperation)
You can complete an exchange program at Humboldt-Universität (HU) if your home university has concluded a cooperation agreement with the HU. There are two types of cooperation agreements:
- direct cooperation agreement between the Faculty of Law of your home university and the Faculty of Law of the HU
- Cooperation agreement at university level, which also includes an exchange at the law faculties in addition to other subjects
Here you can find the list of partner universities of the Faculty of Law (faculty cooperations).
If there is a cooperation between your home university and the Faculty of Law of the HU, please contact your home university to find out about the necessary requirements and the procedure for being selected as an exchange student for the HU.
You can only take part in a student exchange at the HU if you have been selected by your home university!
A fact sheet summarizing the most important information about an exchange at the HU can be found here.
Application at the Faculty of Law of the HU
After you have been selected by your home university for a study place at the HU, the home university will nominate you to the HU. After receiving the nomination, you will promptly receive information from us about the online application at the HU.
The application period takes place every year in the following periods:
- Start of studies in the winter semester: April 15 to May 31
- Start of studies in the summer semester: October 15 to November 30
Required language skills and language courses
During the application process at HU, all incoming students of the Faculty of Law are asked to take the online placement test in German (also called C-Test). This also applies if you already have another German language certificate at B2 level or higher.
If you complete the test with less than 50 points, we will ask you to register for one of the two courses:
- Preparatory German Intensive Course
Intensive language courses are offered before the start of exchange studies at HU. All important information about this course format and registration can be found here. The course fee is 500 euros. - Study-accompanying German course
There are also study-accompanying language courses of 2 hours per week. Registration for these courses takes place in mid-October for the winter semester and in mid-April for the summer semester at the HU Language Center. The course fee is 40 euros.
We strongly recommend that you complete the preparatory German Intensive Course so that you start your stay with the best possible language skills.
For students with a score of more than 50 points in the online placement test in German, participation in these courses is voluntary.
If you have (almost) no knowledge of German and plan to attend courses exclusively in English, please be aware that the range of courses offered in English at the Faculty of Law is very limited and that in some semesters fewer courses than usual are offered. In this case, it may be difficult to achieve the number of ECTS credits required by your home university if you are required to take law courses.
Immatriculation
The central incoming team of the HU is responsible for the immatriculation (enrollment) following your application. The Incoming Team will inform you about the most important steps in good time. If you have any questions about the enrollment process, please contact the Incoming Team directly. The contact details of the Incoming Team, their office hours and information on the documents required for enrollment can be found here.
If you would like to take several courses at the Faculty of Law and at another faculty, please apply during the application phase to enrol for a second subject at the faculty where you would also like to take courses. This is only possible for Bachelor students.
If you are only enrolled at the Faculty of Law, you can only take a maximum of two courses at another faculty. This rule does not apply to central courses such as those offered by the Language Center and Berlin Perspectives.
Fees at Humboldt University of Berlin
Students on programs such as Erasmus+, university contracts, DAAD and Fulbright scholarships are exempt from paying the enrolment fee.
Even if you belong to this group, there are amounts that you still have to pay in order to be enrolled:
- Contribution to the student union (student union),
- Contribution to the student union and
- Semester ticket.
In Berlin, there is a special ticket for local public transport, the Deutschlandsemesterticket. This ticket is obligatory for all students at Humboldt University of Berlin. It allows you to use the public transport network (all regional trains, subway trains, suburban trains, buses, streetcars and ferries) throughout Germany for the entire semester, i.e. six months.
The total amount you have to pay per semester is approximately 250 euros.
Further details and information on payment (bank transfer) can be found here.
Preliminary (Online) Learning Agreement
You put together your individual timetable according to your interests and the requirements of your home university from the courses offered on the undergraduate law degree program. We do not have a deadline for submitting the (online) Learning Agreement. Please follow the deadlines of your home university and use their online learning agreement platform or the learning agreement form as a pdf or Word file provided by your home university.
We only stipulate that a maximum of 30 ECTS credits may be registered for examination as soon as we ask you to register for the examinations in the first weeks of the lecture period. However, you should not select more than 5-6 courses with examinations, otherwise the workload will be very high.
You can find the annotated course catalogue with all courses and the ECTS credits awarded for each course on AGNES under Course Catalogue/Faculty of Law/ERASMUS.
The new courses are published there every year from the beginning of July for the winter semester and from the beginning of February for the summer semester. If you need to submit your (online) Learning Agreement earlier, you can create a provisional course selection based on previous semesters. You can view the course catalogues of previous semesters by clicking on "Semester" in the top left-hand corner of the course catalogue.
The ECTS credits relevant for exchange students can be found in the course catalogue on the details page of the individual courses under ‘Programmstudium-o.Abschl.’ (programme studies without a degree).
Information for the (online) Learning Agreement:
- Erasmus code of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin: D BERLIN13
- Coordinator at the Faculty of Law: Annelin Starke, e-mail: int.rewi@hu-berlin.de
Please note that you will receive the following ECTS credits for courses taught in German, depending on the number of weekly semester hours (SWS):
- 2 SWS – 5 ECTS credits
- 4 SWS – 10 ECTS credits
- 6 SWS – 15 ECTS credits
Courses taught in English have fewer ECTS credits (often only 3 ECTS credits for 2 SWS).
Our office can only sign the (online) Learning Agreement for courses offered at the Faculty of Law. If you wish to take courses at other faculties, these must also be signed by the international office of the respective faculty.
Please note: The Free University of Berlin (FU) has announced that there are no more places for HU students in the FU courses! Therefore, please choose only the HU courses.
Living in Berlin
If you are interested in a place in a hall of residence, you can apply for one using the online application form. However, the places available in halls of residence are very limited, which is why many students also look for accommodation privately. Information on places in halls of residence as well as general information and tips on living in Berlin can be found here. If you have any questions about accommodation, please contact the Incoming Team.
Arrival by car/train/long-distance bus/plane
Berlin is located on the federal motorway (Berliner Ring: A10) and is easy to reach by car via the A24 from Hamburg, the A2 from Hanover, the A9 from Leipzig, the A13 from Dresden and the A11 from Szczecin/Poland.
If you are travelling by train, you should obtain an international student card in your home country. This will entitle you to discounts on train fares, and later also on theatre tickets etc.
You can also reach Berlin from a larger city in your home country using the European long-distance bus services. You will then usually arrive at the central bus station (ZOB). From the Kaiserdamm underground station (U2), you can travel to Hausvogteiplatz underground station, which is about a seven-minute walk from the Faculty of Law.
By plane, you will arrive at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). From there, take the half-hourly trains (Flughafen Express, FEX) to the Ostkreuz stop and from there take the S5 light rail to Friedrichstraße station.
During the stay in Berlin
Orientation event
The orientation event is held in German and is expected to take place in the first week of the lecture period (winter semester: mid-October, summer semester: mid-April). You will be informed of the exact date by e-mail at least two weeks before the orientation event, together with the most important information about your studies. Attendance at this event is compulsory.
There you will receive important information about the study programme, your choice of subjects (= binding examination registration) and you can ask any questions you may still have. In addition, this is the perfect opportunity to get to know the other incoming students.
Course selection (exam registration)
During the first few weeks of the lecture period, you will finalise your timetable. Please start by looking at more courses than you ultimately select so that you are sure that the courses are right for you. Approximately two weeks after the start of the lecture period, you will receive an e-mail from us with a link to the course selection form. Please complete the course selection form and send it to us by the deadline stated in the e-mail. It is your binding examination registration. Only courses that you register for examinations on time can be included in your transcript of records later and only for these courses can you receive ECTS credits.
If you are attending courses at another faculty, please clarify with the international office of the respective faculty directly at the beginning of the lecture period whether or how you need to register these courses for the examination.
Information on course selection, examinations and the transcript of records as well as the study information brochure, which contains the most important points for your exchange programme at the Faculty of Law at Humboldt-Universität, can be found under News.
Moodle
Please also note the Moodle courses associated with the respective course, as materials and information relating to the course are often provided there. The links to the Moodle courses, if available, can be found in the descriptions of the individual courses on AGNES.
You will receive a password - if this is necessary - either during the first date of the course or at the beginning of the lecture period on request from our office.
Please note: Enrolment in the Moodle courses does not constitute registration for the course itself, nor does it constitute examination registration.
Campus Card
At the beginning of your studies at the HU, you will receive the Campus Card, your student ID card, which also serves as your HU library card and canteen card. You can find more information about the Campus Card here.
Tandem database of the Language Centre
If you would like to improve your language skills outside of language courses, a language tandem is a good way to do so. You can find the Language Centre's tandem contact form here.
Extension of stay
If you start your stay at HU in the winter semester, an extension to the summer semester is generally possible until the end of January.
- Please first clarify with us (int.rewi@hu-berlin.de) whether an extension in the current academic year is possible.
- Of course, your home university must also agree to the extension. We therefore need an email from the responsible person at your home university sent to int.rewi@hu-berlin.de officially confirming your extension. If necessary, please also remember to clarify with your home university whether you can continue to receive funding in the second semester.
A simple extension beyond one academic year (start: October, end: September) is not possible. If you would like to extend your stay from the summer semester to the following winter semester - i.e. into the next academic year - you must be re-nominated by your home university for the winter semester. Please clarify with your home university whether this is possible.
All other important information can be found in the study information brochure, which can be found under News.