Taking steps abroad

Before the stay abroad

1. requirements of the examination regulations

Please first check the requirements for studying abroad as put forth in your examination regulations.

E-SC: In the profile subject, the minimum stay abroad is one semester at a university with an English-language course. If you are studying two philologies, you can spend a total of three months abroad in one of the two subjects in max. three stages. If you are studying English with a teaching degree option, you can either study abroad or work as a foreign language assistant. Please refer to your examination regulations for the exact conditions.

Francophone/Hispanic Studies: In the profile/complementary subject and with the teacher training option, your studies include at least four months of study abroad in the country of your target language. For all options, you can also work as a foreign language assistant in a French- or Spanish-speaking country instead of studying abroad. When studying a foreign language as a complementary subject or when studying two foreign language philologies, the stay abroad can take place in max. four stages. In justified exceptional cases, an internship of at least four months in a Spanish-speaking country may also be possible in Spanish (with the approval of the examination board). Please refer to your examination regulations for the exact conditions.

Even if you are studying German or Linguistics and a stay abroad is not compulsory, you are welcome to apply for a stay abroad, e.g. with Erasmus.

2. select your desired country and university

Please decide whether you would like to study in Europe or in a non-EU country. You should use several criteria for this selection:

• The courses offered by the universities abroad (please check the websites of the universities yourself or - if you are studying E-SC - be sure to check the relevant information in the “Study abroad E-SC” group on Stud.IP. Usually, not all seminars are open to you at British universities). Please check with the universities whether seminars are offered  that are relevant to your studies here at the University of Bremen. You can also find Erasmus reports from former outgoings on the International Office website and on Stud.IP (course: “Hispanic Studies/French Romance Studies/E-SC”).
• Financial support: You do not have to pay tuition fees to study at one of our partner universities in Europe or overseas. If you apply to study abroad in Europe, you may be eligible for Erasmus funding.
• You can apply for BAF?G abroad (www.auslandsbafoeg.de) to study at any university worldwide. However, please check whether the BAf?G grant for tuition fees (currently: 4,600 euros) covers the actual tuition fees. Even if you do not receive BAf?G in Germany, you may be able to receive BAf?G abroad.
• Your personal interest

3. a) Application Europe (Erasmus)

Applications to the University of Bremen are made via the “SOP Mobility Online” database. This database is available online on the website of the International Office from mid-January to February 15th of each year. After registering in the database, you will be asked to upload the following additional documents for your application for an Erasmus study place:

• “Letter of Motivation” (letter of application in the language of the destination country, see below for the criteria). You can summarize all three desired universities in one letter
• Curriculum vitae (as a table, in German, with photo)
• List of all your academic achievements to date (“transcript of records”). For Romance studies, please enclose a table listing the courses you have attended so far / are currently attending. Lecturer signatures or certification are not required for Romance Studies / German Studies. If you are studying E-SC, please enclose a PABO printout.
• Proof of language proficiency (at least B2, in E-SC please enclose the language certificate that you submitted with your application here at the University of Bremen (C1))

If you are applying for an Erasmus study place, please send copies of all documents including a printout of the application form from Mobility Online to the Erasmus Office of Faculty 10 (double-sided printouts are also welcome): University of Bremen, Faculty 10/Erasmus, Universit?tsboulevard 13, 28359 Bremen. Please attach the documents with a paper clip. Please do not hand in folders, loose-leaf binders or envelopes.

Please only indicate universities that are actually suitable for you. Due to the limited number of places at each partner university, we unfortunately cannot guarantee that we will be able to send you to your first choice. Subsequent changes to the target universities (including the second or third choices) are unfortunately not possible.

In Romance Studies, the selection is made on the basis of your reasons in the letter of motivation. In this letter of motivation, you should explain in particular why you are applying to a particular university, i.e. what the courses offered there are and how they fit in with your studies here in Bremen.

In the English-Speaking Cultures degree programme, places at partner universities in English-speaking countries are allocated on the basis of several criteria. The justification for your studies abroad in your letter of motivation is awarded a maximum of 45 points, your average grade is awarded a maximum of 35 points, extra-curricular criteria (such as social commitment, involvement in the StugA, etc.) a maximum of 10 points and social criteria a maximum of 10 points. A ranking of the applications received is compiled from the total number of points achieved and places are awarded in this order.

In your letter of motivation, you should explain in detail why you are applying to a particular university, i.e. what seminars are offered there, how this fits in with your studies here in Bremen or how your stay may relate to your Bachelor's thesis. In addition to your other details, you can briefly describe your extracurricular activities, such as social, political and cultural commitments, in your CV.

For the E-SC degree programme, you can enclose the proof of your language skills that you submitted for your application to the University of Bremen. However, it may be that the partner university at which you may be offered a place has different requirements or requires an official test. Please check this in Stud.IP/Stay Abroad E-SC under “Files/Information from European partner universities”.

Please note: If you are allocated an Erasmus place, we will nominate you at the partner university. To do this, we send the following information to the university: your name, date of birth, e-mail address, gender, degree programme and the semester in which you would like to study at the partner university. The partner university will then contact you and you must register in their system. Only when you have confirmation from the partner university is your place definitely secured.

3. b) Application partner university non-EU

A list of non-European partner universities can be found here.Information on the partner universities can be found on the pages of the respective university and in Stud.IP, course “Auslandsaufenthalt Land” / files.

Applications for partner universities must be submitted to the respective cooperation officer at the University of Bremen (Dr. Esders (USA) or Dr. Evers (South America)). You can apply for BAf?G abroad for any university worldwide (www.auslandsbafoeg.de). As the assessment limit is higher than for domestic BAf?G, it may be worth applying even if you do not receive domestic BAf?G.

It is also possible to apply for a PROMOS scholarship.

The University of Bremen also has a cooperation with Dickinson College, for which very good scholarships are awarded every year. Information on this cooperation can be found here . Your contact person is Dr. Janine Ludwig (ludwigjprotect me ?!dickinsonprotect me ?!.edu)

Please note: If you are awarded a place at a partner university, we will nominate you to the university. We will send the following information to the university: your name, date of birth, e-mail address, gender, degree programme and the semester in which you would like to study at the partner university. The partner university will then contact you and you must register in their system. Only when you have confirmation from the partner university is your place definitely secured.

3.c) Free application (“Free Mover”)

Please check the website of the (partner) university to see which documents you need to submit. Please send free applications directly to the respective university yourself.

It is also possible to apply for a PROMOS scholarship.

There are various organizations that help with the application (for a fee), for example the Institut Ranke-Heinemann or GoStralia. The university does not accept any liability for these organizations.

4. selection/grant agreement

If you have applied for an Erasmus study place, you will be informed by April whether we will nominate you for a place at one of your chosen universities. Please note: After you have been accepted by us, we will nominate you at the partner university. You will then be asked to register again at the partner university and upload all the necessary documents (proof of language proficiency!). You will only be definitively accepted once the partner university has confirmed your place.

You must now accept or decline the place on Mobility Online. After accepting it, you will be asked to complete your personal master data. You must then prepare and submit the Grant Agreement. The Grant Agreement is a contract between you and the International Office in which the rights and obligations of both parties are set out. Without this agreement, you are not entitled to a mobility grant. You will receive further information from the International Office as soon as this step has to be processed.

5. learning agreement / selection of seminars

Before your trip, fill out a so-called Learning Agreement (you can find the template in Mobility Online). In this agreement, you specify which seminars you would like to attend at the university abroad, how many credits you would like to earn and for which seminar you would like to have the course you attended abroad recognized. The Learning Agreement must be signed by Ms. Jana Wachsmuth in Romance Studies and in E-SC and then by your host university before the start of the semester. If you change your timetable (usually after the start of your studies), please complete the second page (“Changes to Original Learning Agreement”).

In terms of content, you should attend seminars during your stay abroad that roughly correspond to the requirements and content of the B1a Literature, B2a Linguistics and B3 Language Practice modules in Romance Studies. In E-SC, the seminars you attend should be “relevant to your studies” and you may find information on the seminars offered by the partner university on Stud.IP / Course “Stay abroad”. You should contact the Recognition Officer in advance if you wish to have your work abroad recognized at a later date. For Francophone Studies and the E-SC degree programme, this is Jana Wachsmuth (jana.wachsmuthuni-bremen.de). If you are studying Hispanic Studies, please contact Dr. Ramona Kreis (rkreis@uni-bremen.de). Dr. Hauke Kuhlmann (ha_ku@uni-bremen.de) is responsible for German Studies and the TnL course and Dr. Sibylle Seyferth (seyferth@uni-bremen.de) for Linguistics.

In principle, you can also take seminars in your minor subject. However, the decision as to whether this is possible is made by the partner university. In this case, please also discuss with the coordinator of your minor subject at the University of Bremen whether you can have the selected seminars recognized.

In total, you should acquire at least 20 ECTS for a stay with Erasmus in Romance Studies (but you should take more ECTS to be on the safe side). In the Romance studies courses, two independent study units are planned for your stay abroad, which you can complete independently. The examinations for the independent study units will take place after your return to Bremen.  If you successfully complete the independent study units, you will receive 3 CP each (literature and linguistics, registration via Stud.IP). These can be credited towards the 30 ECTS.

If you are studying English-Speaking Cultures, only 15 credits are required for your studies abroad. Additional credits can be credited for General Studies or key qualifications.

If the university you have chosen does not award ECTS for seminars or if these do not conform to the European ECTS (especially in the USA, Canada, Australia), please submit documents on course content and weekly semester hours after your return. Please also clarify in advance how many courses you need to take there! Courses at beginner level cannot usually be recognized. If in doubt, please contact the recognition officer.

Under no circumstances should you apply for a semester of leave for your semester abroad, as your achievements will not be recognized.