Internationalization
One of the University of Bremen’s guiding principles is the promotion of international exchange among its students as well as members of the teaching faculty in the frame of international programs and partnerships on all the world’s continents. Faculty 11 – Human and Health Sciences – wholeheartedly supports such internationalization efforts and encourages its students and teaching faculty to take advantage of accordant offers.
A study carried out among the members of Faculty 11 in 2010 underscored the fact that the vast majority of faculty members welcome internationalization efforts and are in favor of extending the possibilities for international exchange.
Contact partner
Appointee for International Affairs at Faculty level is Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schüz. The persons to contact for matters pertaining to the individual study programs:
for study programs in the area Nursing Science
Dr. Katrin Ratz and Carine Mendom Feunou
for study programs in the area of Public Health/Health
Nuria Pedros Barnils and Urte Klink
for study programs in the area of BSc Psychology
PD Dr. Iris Stahlke
for study programs in the area of MSc Psychology
PD Dr. Iris Stahlke
Internships abroad
For information concerning internships abroad for students on all study programs in Faculty 11, you should contact Beate Heitzhausen in the Praxisbüro.
International Office
The staff of the International Office are the people to contact regarding general information about all other international activities and affairs outside the Faculty’s study programs.
Faculty-related information
Here you can find some brief information specifically concerning the areas of teaching and education in Faculty 11. Select from the following topics if you are registered on a study program in Faculty 11 and are planning a stay abroad:
- Outgoings – studying abroad, if you have come to the University of Bremen as a guest student from a foreign university and wish to undertake
- Incomings – studying in Bremen, if you are a member of the teaching staff in Faculty 11 and are considering or planning to undertake a period teaching at a university abroad:
- Mobility of teaching faculty, if you wish to invite a foreign guest researcher or educator to come to Bremen, i.e. to our Faculty or to your study program: Internationalization at home program.
For more information go to
Information for outgoings
Generally speaking, there are two quite different frames for studying at a university in another country.
Partner universities
You can take advantage of one of the formal cooperation agreements concluded by the University of Bremen or its Faculties and study programs; i.e. choose to study abroad at one of our partner universities in Europe or worldwide. The University of Bremen has around 500 such agreements with foreign universities.
Faculty 11 itself has entered into more than 30 such agreements with universities in other countries, whereby it is important to distinguish between a) European and b) non-European partners.
European partner universities
A) You can study at a European partner university in the frame of the Erasmus-Programs. Erasmus agreements are concluded exclusively on Faculty or study-program level. See the current list of Erasmus cooperation agreements with the study programs in Faculty 11to find out which universities you can apply for: Students enrolled in Psychology can choose between the universities that have Erasmus agreements within the discipline of Psychology. Students in one of the study programs in Public Health/Health Sciences and Nursing Science choose from the universities with cooperation agreements in those subject areas.
List of Erasmus Cooperation Agreements for the study programs in Faculty 11
Non-European partner universities
B) If you choose one of the non-European partner universities, you fall under a contractually regulated university cooperation. These universities can be found in the
List of Contractual Cooperation Agreements on the University’s central web pages.
This type of cooperation agreement can be concluded on the institutional level, in which case (as a rule) all students of the University of Bremen’s Faculties and study programs are eligible to apply. And then there are cooperation agreements with non-European universities on Faculty level or study-program level. In this case, students belonging to the Faculty in question have priority over others.
Exchange student places are awarded by the Faculty officer responsible for the respective cooperation. You must submit your application to this person, even if you belong to another Faculty.
Below is the list of the non-European universities which maintain cooperation relations with Faculty 11 (contact person: Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schüz), and therefore where priority is given to students in our own Faculty.
List of non-European Cooperation Agreements for the study programs in Faculty 11
How to apply
If you wish to spend some time at a partner university (in Europe or worldwide), you must submit your application to the responsible Erasmus Officer or contact person at your home university, who is also responsible for selection.
Freemover worldwide
Yet another possibility is to apply for a place as a visiting student at a university with which no cooperation agreement is in place. Here, you are completely free to choose the university you wish to apply for. In this case, you make direct contact with the university as a so-called Free Mover.
You will usually need to submit references from your home university with your application. You can, of course, obtain these yourself. Otherwise, provided you are enrolled in a study program in Faculty 11, you can also contact Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schüz. As a Freemover, you will find more information on the University of Bremen’s central web pages.
Foreign language skills
Irrespective of which university or which type of cooperation agreement you eventually decide on, you will always need to provide evidence that you possess sufficient proficiency in the language of tuition. This must always be included with your application documents in the form of testimonies (less common) or certificates.
In consequence, you should only think of applying to a university where you are likely to have sufficient command of the language of tuition by the time you arrive; otherwise you will not be able to pass possible examinations at the end of your stay. The language of tuition is usually the same as the language spoken in the country.
Some universities, for example in Scandinavia, offer courses in English – in which case you will have to provide an English language certificate.
At any rate, you are strongly recommended to start thinking about the language issue in good time before setting out on your visit, see language courses.
Recognition of credits
Having the credits you acquire abroad recognized when you get back to Bremen is another thing you should think about and clarify before deciding which foreign university to go to. As far as possible, you should make sure that these credits will be recognized by your home university as being compatible with the module your stay abroad is based on.
However, during your stay abroad, you don’t necessarily have to choose courses/modules that correspond exactly with those you would have studied here.
Contact person: Officer for Internationalization/Erasmus Delegate in Faculty 11
You can obtain precise information on everything you need to know about studying abroad from the internationalization/Erasmus officers in your study program.
You should get in touch with these persons as soon as you have thought your plans through and have maybe already found appropriate courses at the university you have chosen (see list of cooperation partners).
Owing to the large number of different study programs and subjects, Faculty 11 has appointed several internationalization/Erasmus officers.
The respective contact persons are:
- for the study programs embedded in Nursing Science: Frau Dr. Katrin Ratzund Carine Mendom Feunou
- for the study programs in Public Health/Health Sciences: Herr Christopher Jones und Frau Lisa Hilz
- for the study program B.Sc. Psychology: PD Dr. Iris Stahlke,
- for the study program M.Sc. Business Psychology: PD Dr. Iris Stahlke.
In summary: Once you have decided on a stay abroad at one of our partner universities, you submit your application for a place as an exchange student to the responsible officer at our university.
Applicants in the Erasmus Program must contact the person responsible for their study program (see above).
If you intend to go to a non-European partner university of Faculty 11, you submit your application to Prof. Dr. Benjamin Schüz. For all other partner universities, you should contact the persons mentioned in the List of non-European Cooperation Agreements for the study programs in Faculty 11.
Information for incomings/international exchange students in Faculty 11
Everything you need to know about the various possibilities to study and live in Bremen can be found on the central web pages of the University under Orientation & Application. Irrespective of the subject you wish to study or at what level, your initial contact partner is the International Office.
Your contact partners in Faculty 11
If you are a student of Psychology, Public Health/Health Sciences or Nursing Science, you come into contact with the area “Internationalization” in Faculty 11. All these subjects are taught in Faculty 11. It is therefore Faculty 11 that you turn to for support and advice in all matters concerning your studies.
We will also be happy to help you with preparations for your stay here (e.g. when choosing courses for the – preliminary – Learning Agreement) and will naturally be there for you to answer any questions that arise concerning your studies throughout the whole time you spend in Bremen.
Your contact persons are the officers in Faculty 11 responsible for internationalization/Erasmus Program:
- for the study programs in Nursing Sciences: Frau Dr. Katrin Ratz und Frau Carine Mendom Feunou
- for the study programs in Public Health/Health Sciences: Frau Lisa Karla Hilz
- for the study program B.Sc. Psychology: PD Dr. Ires Stahlke,
- for the study program M.Sc. Business Psychology: PD Dr. Iris Stahlke.
You should get in touch with the person responsible for you at the latest when you arrive here and before the semester officially starts. During Orientation Week, for instance, there are already special consultation hours for international exchange students. On your arrival, you can find out more from the International Office.
Course offerings
You can choose the courses you wish to attend from the Course Catalog. Apart from a few courses taught in English, the language of tuition is German. To be able to study successfully, it is therefore important to have a sound command of German. Under certain circumstances, and only on the basis of prior individual agreement with the member of teaching staff in question, you may be allowed to write your examination(s) in English.
International education
Information for members of the teaching staff in Faculty 11
Members of the teaching staff who wish to spend some time teaching at a university abroad can find detailed information on the central web pages of the University of Bremen under Erasmus Staff Mobility.
Inner-European Cooperation
The partner universities which have cooperation agreements with Faculty 11 that include mobility of teaching staff can be found in the List of Contractional Cooperation Agreements for the study programs in Faculty 11.
You will find general information on the central web pages of the University of Bremen under under Teaching Staff Mobility.
Owing to already existing contacts and enthusiastic support on the part of both the home as well as the hosting institution, members of the teaching staff will find it quite straightforward to arrange such an exchange.
Non-European Cooperation
It is similar in the case of our non-European partner universities. You can choose from the List of non-European Cooperation Agreements for the study programs in Faculty 11.
Here, too, owing to already established contacts it is relatively easy to plan, organize and participate in an exchange visit. The person to get in touch with for an exchange of this type can be found in the list mentioned above.
Extend an invitation to a visiting scholar/scientist
Members of the teaching staff are able to invite their foreign contacts to come to Bremen.
The procedure is straightforward and virtually no costs are incurred for visitors from partner universities. You can find more detailed information on the central web pages of the University of Bremen under International and in the Internationalization Strategy 2011-2017.