The Welcome Center is the main service center for international guest researchers and doctoral candidates visiting FAU and their host departments. Browse the following pages for an insight into the various topics we deal with.
Contact
Contact the Welcome Center
The Welcome Center is available online and in person as follows:
Office hours
Wednesdays and Thursdays: 9 am–12 noon
Visiting address: Helmstraße 1 (entrance B) in Erlangen
Zoom consultations
Appointments by email (welcome@fau.de)
The Welcome Center caters to visiting researchers and doctoral candidates only. International students and interns should refer to information for international applicants.
Your contacts
What you should know about your stay in Germany and at FAU
Advice and formalities
As soon as you have received confirmation from your host department and your financing has been finalized, please register in our database, the mobility portal. Providing your data in this way means we can offer you the best support for your stay at FAU. You can benefit from all the advisory services we offer at the Welcome Center, and a wide range of different events.
All you need to know for your stay in Germany
Click on the tabs for information, tips and details about what you should bear in mind before coming to Germany, at the beginning of your stay and just before you leave.
Please feel free to contact the Welcome Center team if you have any further questions.
Once you have been in touch with your host institute at FAU, you can start getting ready for your stay in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. You should make the following preparations:
Entry visa and residence permit
The visa you require for your research stay depends on your nationality and the work you intend to do.
The website of the Federal Foreign Office gives a list of states and visa requirements.
Please check what applies in your case.
If your stay exceeds the period of validity of your visa, you must contact the immigration authorities at your place of residence and apply for a residence permit (roughly 3 to 4 weeks before your visa expires).
Please contact the Welcome Center for individual advice.
Further information is available, for example, on the website “Make it in Germany“
Health insurance
Health insurance is mandatory in Germany. You can take out statutory insurance if you have an employment contract with FAU. You must take out private health insurance if your stay is being funded by a scholarship or with your own funds.
Please contact the Welcome Center for individual advice.
Looking for accommodation
We are happy to be of assistance in finding accommodation, however we cannot guarantee any accommodation for you. It is very difficult to find affordable accommodation as the housing market is overstretched. This presents a challenge not only for individuals, but above all for families.
Childcare and schools
If you intend to come to Germany with your family or children, we would ask you to get in touch with the Welcome Center in good time, as there is a shortage of daycare and kindergarten places in Bavaria.
Information on the Bavarian school system is available on the website of the Bavarian Ministry of Education.
Important documents
You should bring the following documents with you for your stay in Germany (both the original document and copies, if applicable translated into either German or English):
- Passport
- Original and copies of your doctoral degree certificate
- Only for doctoral candidates: School leaving certificate, degree certificates, academic transcripts
- Birth certificate, if applicable, marriage certificate
- Proof of health insurance
- Vaccination records, any medication currently required, medical documents if necessary (for instance in the case of a chronic illness)
- Proof of funding for your stay, for instance proof of a scholarship or employment contract
- Several (biometric) passport photos
- If you are signing an employment contract with FAU: Job references and confirmation from previous employers
- If applicable, marriage certificate
- If applicable, copies of the birth certificates of any children
- Register with the local authorities
- Non-EU citizens: Apply for a residence permit with the immigration authorities if you will be staying in Germany after your visa expires.
- Open a bank account, if necessary
- Arrange sufficient health insurance, if you have not yet done so.
- Doctoral candidates: Admission and enrollment as a doctoral candidate at FAU, if applicable (doctoral candidates can enroll for a maximum of eight semesters, visiting doctoral candidates for a maximum of two semesters)
Once you have registered in the Welcome Center, you will receive detailed information on the individual steps you have to take and advice tailored to your situation, if requested.
The Welcome Center is happy to help wherever we can, whether you have questions about family allowance, parental allowance, school attendance or life in the region, to name just a few.
Start planning your departure in good time. Often, accommodation has a three months’ notice period and insurance policies or the “Deutschlandticket” may require even more notice than that.
- Cancel your accommodation rental contract
- Close your bank account and cancel insurance policies
- Cancel electricity, water, gas, telephone, internet, radio and TV license fees
- You must de-register with the local authorities (no more than one week before your departure).
- Return your FAU card
- Cancel your “Deutschlandticket”
- De-register with Welcome Center
Accommodation for international researchers
Accommodation
The cities of Erlangen, Fürth and Nuremberg offer a high quality of life. This means, however, that accommodation is scarce and highly sought after. This is particularly the case during the period before the start of a new semester. We would recommend starting to look for a room or an apartment as soon as possible.
The accommodation market changes nearly on a daily basis, so it is definitely worth checking the offers on the internet every day. Try to be flexible when it comes to price, furnishings and location. The region has an excellent public transport system (www.vgn.de), so you should not have any problems getting to your place of study or work. If you are unsure if an offer is genuine or not, please feel free to contact us, we are always happy to help.
If you intend to come to Germany with your family, you should start looking for accommodation as soon as possible. The choice of schools or kindergartens is often closely linked to your exact address and the location of your apartment is therefore potentially limited to certain neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find any suitable accommodation for you.
Never transfer any money for the deposit or rent if you have not yet signed the rental agreement or if you have not yet viewed the apartment. Please contact us if you have any doubts.
General information
You can find general information about looking for accommodation and signing a rental contract on the accommodation page under information for international applicants. Much of the information available on this page is also relevant for doctoral candidates and researchers, however, public student accommodation is only available to Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree students.
FAU guest houses
FAU guest houses provide rooms for researchers from abroad for the initial period of their stay to allow them to feel at ease right from the start and to concentrate on their research. Since capacity is limited, please send an e-mail to this address as soon as possible if you require accommodation at an FAU guest house: uni-gaestehaus@fau.de. Further information is available on the websites of the guest houses.
Links and information
Further information
The websites of the organizations listed below give general information and useful tips for planning and making the most of your time in Germany.
Family
Language courses and continuing education
Accommodation and life in the region
- Public transport VGN, VAG, Deutschlandticket, Deutsche Bahn
- Find a doctor
- Accommodation for international researchers.