APPLICATION PROCESS
Next application period for an exchange place at our partner universities:
15 - 31 March 2025 - for an exchange place in the Summer Semester 2026 in Australia and in the USA
01 - 15 May 2025 - for an exchange place in the Summer Semester 2026 at all other partner universities
Applications for an exchange place in the Winter Semester 2026/27 in Australia and in the Academic Year 2026/27 in the USA will be possible from 15 - 31 October 2025. Applications for an exchange place in the Winter Semester 2026/27 at all other partner universities will be possible from 01 - 15 December 2025.
Please pay attention to different academic calendars: Before you apply, please check the academic calendars of the partner universities you are interested in! The semester times abroad usually differ from the semester times in Germany - especially the Summer Semester often starts much earlier and therefore overlaps with the German Winter Semester. Accordingly, you should carefully plan for the best timing for your semester abroad and how you organize the HdM semester prior to the studies abroad. Since a later extension of the semester abroad is not always possible and can only be done with the approval of the International Office, it is best to decide before you apply whether you would like to study abroad for one semester or for a whole year.
Make sure to check the course offer at your desired host institutions in our world map before you apply. At some partner institutions, you can only select courses from specific programmes, schools or faculties; whereas you can choose courses from all areas of study at other partner institutions. Please note that it is mandatory to successfully complete courses amounting to a minimum of 15 ECTS per semester or trimester during the exchange. These credits should be recognized towards the degree at HdM after the exchange. If the partner institution or the study programme at HdM requires exchange students to complete a higher minimum number of ECTS, the regulations of the partner institution or study programme apply.
All courses listed in the Learning Agreement and agreed on as eligible for recognition (at least 15 ECTS) with the dean or international coordinator of the study programme at HdM, must be credited towards the degree at HdM after the semester/ trimester abroad. Courses that cannot be recognized must be marked accordingly in the Learning Agreement. Master's students who only take Bachelor's courses during their semester abroad are exempt from this regulation, but are still obliged to complete courses totaling at least 15 ECTS credits. In this case, the selected courses must also be documented in the Learning Agreement.
Advising appointments: We are available for advising appointments by phone. If you still have questions about your application, please feel free to arrange for an appointment with us by using our online booking form.
Application:
The application for an exchange place at one of our partner universities will be submitted exclusively online via the application portal "Mobility Online".
After registration you can log in via this link and upload the documents below to complete your application. Please note that your application will only be considered if all documents have been uploaded by the deadline!
- Passport photo in jpeg format
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Letter of motivation (1 - 2 pages in German or English)
- Please focus on your first choice university in more detail, and also briefly describe your interest for your second and third choices! - Curriculum vitae
- Transcript of Records (The PDF-file from SELMA is sufficient.) / additionally for Master students: Copy of the Bachelor's degree certificate
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List of the courses or modules you would like to study at the partner university for all the universitiy choices listed on your application
- Please indicate the respective faculty, the degree course and the course/module titles as precisely as possible! - Proof of English language skills (not older than 1.5 years at the time of application*; e.g. OOPT taken at HdM, DAAD test or another official standardized test taken at a recognized language institute)
- If applicable, proof of language skills in the language of instruction at the partner university or language of the host country (if possible, not older than 1.5 years at the time of application; e.g. High School Certificate, HdM Language Certificate or another official standardized test taken at a recognized language institute).
* Our partner universities usually require proof of language skills that is not older than 2 years at the time of application. Since the application to your future partner university is only processed some time after the application for the exchange place was submitted to HdM International Office, a test that was 2 years old at the time of application at HdM, will have expired
Students who graduated from highschool in English, have been studying in English for at least for 2 years, or whose native language is English, do not initially need proof of English for their application. In that case, please fill out this form.
If you cannot take a new language test due to the current situation, you will have to retake the test by the time you apply to the partner university. In this case, please at this point submit your first OOPT or any other proof of language skills you have. Please contact the HdM Language Center for information on the upcoming test dates for repeating the OOPT!
Please also note: The OOPT language certificate is accepted by the majority of our partner universities as proof of English language skills, i.e. it is not necessary to take any other expensive language test. Exceptions to this are the partnership programs with the California State University and the Oregon University System, for which you need a TOEFL (iBT), as well as our Australian partner universities. If you are interested in studying abroad in Australia, please contact the International Office for more information on the required language certificates.
Further steps:
Once you have completed your application, please be patient. The International Office and the Faculties will be processing your application and will contact you as soon as possible and about 6 weeks after the application deadline.
As soon as your exchange place has been determined and we have nominated you to the partner university, we will inform you via e-mail. You will then apply to the partner university.
If you will be studying at one of our partner universities in an ERASMUS+ program country, you will automatically be accepted into the ERASMUS+ program and - if you do not receive any other funding that excludes ERASMUS+ - you will receive financial support from ERASMUS+. The basis for this is the submission of various documents, about which we will inform you later in the process. There will be no separate application for ERASMUS+. Information about ERASMUS+ is also available here.