Visiting Scholars

A block week is carried out across the university during calendar week 43 or 44. The block week interrupts the normal winter semester teaching schedule and allows time for special projects. Examples include workshops, intensive courses, practical projects, and field trips. In addition, some faculties offer another block week in the summer semester.

Lecturers from our partner universities regularly come to Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences to lead a project during our block week. Please note that several months’ notice is usually required for allocating teaching assignments. You should therefore contact us well in advance if you wish to take on such an assignment.

You will find information on the block week at the Faculty of Business Management and Social Sciences on our website. If you would like to be involved in a block week course offered by one of our other faculties, please contact the relevant International Faculty Office.

Our intensive summer programs, taught in English, regularly feature international lecturers. For example:

Our International Summer University (ISU) offers various specializations. Some of these three-week modules are taught by visiting faculty from our partner universities. Under certain conditions, it is possible for visiting faculty to bring a group of students from their university to participate in the ISU.

If you are interested in participating in these or other summer programs, please contact the academic director of the relevant course for more information.

In individual cases, international visiting scholars can take on teaching assignments by arrangement. Since most courses at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences are taught in German, international visiting faculty will usually need a good command of German (normally at least level C1 of the European Framework of Reference for Languages). For more information on how to improve your German language skills, please click here. However, there are also opportunities for semester-long assignments in English. Please note that teaching assignments are usually allocated a few months before the start of the semester, so you should contact us well in advance if interested.

Important: To be able to plan reliably for the relevant semester or summer program, we need written confirmation from your university abroad. It should state that the sending university expressly agrees to your planned stay in Germany.

The ERASMUS+ program of the European Union funds guest lectureships lasting between two days (minimum duration of the course at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences: eight hours) and eight weeks. A prerequisite for funding is that your university and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences have concluded an ERASMUS agreement. Please contact the ERASMUS Institutional Coordinator at your university for information on funding opportunities and application procedures.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers a variety of funding programs for faculty mobility. Please use the DAAD scholarship database to look for funding opportunities for your project.

If you wish to teach a course on one of our summer programs or to be responsible for a course for an entire semester, the university may give you a paid teaching assignment, subject to individual assessment and special conditions.

If you do need a visa, we recommend that you contact the German Embassy or Consulate General responsible for your country at the earliest possible opportunity. They will be able to provide you with detailed information on the documents required and the application process. For a research or teaching stay, you will normally need a visa for research. To apply for a visa, you will usually need a hosting agreement and, if applicable, proof of financial resources and/or proof of a blocked account. According to experience, you will need to demonstrate that you have around €1,000 per month at your disposal. We will gladly provide you with a hosting agreement in which Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences confirms your acceptance as a visiting scholar. The prerequisite for obtaining a hosting agreement is that your planned stay has been agreed with the host faculty at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and that funding has been clarified.

If your spouse and/or children wish to accompany you during your stay, please inquire at your local German diplomatic mission about the appropriate visas or residence permits and the necessary documents (certified marriage certificate, birth certificates, etc.).

If you wish, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences can arrange for a Welcome Guide (a student from the university) to meet you at the station and take you to your accommodation. We will also help you set up your workplace and find your way around Osnabrück or Lingen in the first few days and weeks of your stay.

After arriving in Germany, you are required to register your residence with the Municipal Office in Osnabrück. To do this, you will need your passport and a certificate from your landlord.

If you have a visa that expires before your planned departure from Germany, you will also need to apply for a residence permit at the Foreigner's Office.

We recommend that international scholars visiting Germany for a longer period (4-5 months or more) open an account with a German bank or savings bank, enabling them to pay the rent and health insurance contributions, for example. You will also receive an EC card with your account, which can be used for everyday payments. To open an account for you, the bank will usually need to see your certificate of registration (Meldebescheinigung) issued by the Residents’ Registration Office (Einwohnermeldeamt), which you will receive during your appointment with the Foreigners’ Office, as mentioned above. Please note that banks often charge account maintenance fees. If you intend to make frequent payments to a foreign account, it is worth asking whether your foreign bank cooperates with a German bank. This might speed up payments to or from abroad and have an impact on the charges for cross-border credit transfers.

The cost of living in Germany varies greatly depending on the location and region where you live. To give you a rough idea of the average amount needed, we refer to an analysis by the Federal Statistical Office. According to this evaluation, a one-person household spends an average of around €1,600/month; a two-person household spends around €2,900/month. In Germany, housing costs account for around 35% of this amount. For a summary of further information on the cost of living in Germany, click here. The cost of living is relatively low in Osnabrück and Lingen, compared to other German cities, and experience shows that cheap housing can significantly lower the cost of living.

International researchers are often required to take out private German health insurance for their stay in Germany, which may well cost €90 or more per month (depending on age and underlying conditions). You will also be required to cover one-off expenses incurred at the beginning of your stay. Examples include a residence permit for non-EU citizens (approx. €110), a rent deposit, if required, and purchases for your home.

International visiting scholars who come to Osnabrück or Lingen for a short stay usually opt for accommodation in a boarding house, a vacation rental apartment, or the guest house of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences or Osnabrück University. We will be happy to send you an overview of the available options. Please note, however, that demand is often high and you should therefore book your accommodation well in advance. The sooner you start looking for accommodation, the better! We will be happy to advise you, but can only provide limited support in the search for accommodation.

Perhaps you would like to bring your family with you? Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences attaches great importance to family friendliness and is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance. A key element of this endeavor is our Family Service, which provides advice and practical information on aspects such as childcare and access to kindergarten. For more information, visit the website of the Family Service of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.

In Germany, there is a general obligation to take out health insurance. Whether your current health insurance from abroad will cover you in Germany or whether you will have to take out additional insurance coverage here depends, among other things, on which country you are from and how long you plan to stay in Germany. For example, if you plan to stay in Germany for less than 90 days, travel health insurance will be sufficient in many cases. If you have a fellowship to fund your stay in Germany, you should read the terms and conditions of your fellowship carefully and clarify whether it includes insurance coverage, where applicable.

• Nationals of Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland who hold a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) have coverage for short-term stays in Germany. However, the coverage provided by the European Health Insurance Card is usually limited to emergency treatment only. If you intend to stay in Germany for a prolonged period, you should therefore obtain additional coverage. To do this, simply request an S1 form (a European document) from your overseas health insurance provider. This document establishes your right to full healthcare coverage in Germany.

• If you come from a country outside the EU and intend to stay in Germany for longer than 90 days, the following options are available to you:
  • a) You can take out health insurance in your country and bring your policy with you to Germany. In our experience, however, overseas insurance policies are unlikely to be accepted in Germany.
  • b) You can take out voluntary statutory insurance in Germany. However, you will normally only have access to statutory health insurance in Germany if you have an employment contract in this country or if you previously had statutory insurance in an EU country.
  • c) If options a) and b) do not apply in your case, you will need to take out private health insurance in Germany. Substitutive private health insurance for scholars usually costs around €90 or more per month. Further information is provided by EURAXESS and the DAAD. We generally recommend that you take out insurance online before coming to Germany.

Health services can be very expensive in Germany, and if you do not have adequate insurance coverage, you will be responsible for meeting all of the costs.

Please also ensure that you have adequate liability and accident insurance coverage for your stay in Germany. You will not be insured through Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences during your stay in Germany!

In many cases, knowledge of German is not essential for a research stay because English is the academic language in many research groups and laboratories. If you wish to deliver courses at our university, it is advisable to clarify in advance with your host professor the language requirements for the relevant course. We recommend taking a preparatory German course, if required. Here are a number of potential German language course providers abroad. Whatever the case, it would of course be a great asset for you to have some knowledge of German for your everyday life here.

You also have the opportunity to improve your German during your stay in Osnabrück. German courses of all levels are offered every semester, usually with two 1.5-hour sessions per week. These courses, mainly aimed at students, are also open to all international visitors to the university. Some of these courses focus on specific terminology, such as business German or technical German, but we also offer general German classes. In our semester-long German courses, we additionally employ German tutors to support participants in their learning process. In small voluntary groups with a maximum of four to five people, learners receive support with homework, pronunciation difficulties, and oral presentations. Apart from helping learners to improve their language skills in case of difficulty, the emphasis here is also on getting to know other (German) students. If you are interested, do not hesitate to contact the Welcome Center, which will put you in touch with a contact person at the Center for International Students.

How do our researchers describe their time in Osnabrück? Click here for their testimonials.