Mathurin Choblet

Climate data science and Oceanography

Information for new students in Heidelberg

Updated last time in February 2023

Hello visitor, where ever you come from!

If you’re a new student arriving in Heidelberg from abroad I hope this is the blog you were looking for. I helped some new students in Heidelberg during the last years and wanted to gather the most important information once and for all at one place.

My focus lies on sharing personal experiences and letting you save money whenever possible.

I plan to maintain this webpage for at least a few years. If any information is missing or outdated, or if something was particularly useful let me know via mail or in the comments. Thanks!

Contents

Topics not covered here

(the unpleasant ones)

  • Enrolment procedure
  • Visa procedure/Residence permit
  • Health insurance: Make sure you have health insurance and that you pay your bills on time (you could be exmatriculated from the university, which might get you in the no matriculation - no visa - vicious circle!) If you’re an EU resident your health insurance card with the EU logo is probably sufficient.

Make sure you have them arranged before arriving or at least have a plan of what to do. This might get really complicated, and it’s absolutely legitimate to demand help from the university administration.

Since recently (2021) there is also a guide by the international office of the university.

Tuition fees at Heidelberg University

If you are from inside the EU (or have refugee status):

Students from inside the EU have to pay an administration fee of 170€ per semester.

If you are from outside the EU (this does not apply to students from Ukraine):

Unfortunately for the whole federal region of Baden-Württemberg from 2017 a tuition fee for students from outside the EU is applied. 1500€ per semester may not seem much in comparison to other countries, but Baden-Württemberg is the only region in Germany applying this fee, so you might get similar education without having to pay 1.5k € every semester (paid at once) at universities outside of Bawü. It’s a shame this fee exists, it is absurd, effectively does not bring money, and is imho racist (the largest groups of foreign students from outside the EU come from China, India and Turkey). There is also a fee of 600€ per semester if one already has a degree in some other subject (e.g. you did a Bachelor’s in math and now want to do one in physics, then you’ll have to pay extra. The Bachelor-Master-Cycle in general counts as one cycle.)

Traveling from Frankfurt Airport to Heidelberg main station

Bus You can take the “Flixbus” to Heidelberg, where you have to buy the ticket in advance online. The bus will take you directly to Heidelberg’s main station without having to change. If you book early in advance you might be able to get a ticket for ~10€. There is also the Frankfurt Airport Shuttle to Heidelberg, for students it costs 18 instead of 29€ and brings you directly to the centre of town. A comfy way to travel!

Train To get to the train station of the airport you need to go to Terminal 1. The main train operator in Germany is called Deutsche Bahn. You can download the app or check their webpage for connections. There is no direct connection to Heidelberg, so you’ll have to change the train at least once. You can buy tickets at a machine, but if you book some weeks in advance online you can get cheaper tickets ( ~20€ instead of 28€). There are two types of tickets, “Sparpreis” means you can take only the train you booked, and “Flexpreis” which allows you to take any train of the same type (S,RB,RE,ICE) on that day.

If you plan to travel around a bit in Germany via train it pays off quickly to have a 50% discount card called Bahncard 50 for a year. The version for students (until 27 years) is called myBahncard and costs ~70€. In June, July and August 2022 there is also the so-called 9€ monthly ticket for all regional trains. From May 2023 on there will be the 49€ ticket to offer a follow-up to the very attractive 9€ ticket.

Where to live in Heidelberg

Types of accommodations

  • Student residence The student dorms are managed by the Studierendenwerk, which is a public institution providing social, financial and cultural support services to students in Heidelberg. As an international student, it can be easier than for locals to get a room in the student dorms. It is the cheapest place to live in Heidelberg and is in general recommendable. You can get apartments where you share a kitchen and bath with just one other or eventually more than 10 people. You never have to share a room with someone else. The administration is student-friendly and not profit-oriented and they have staff that talks English. The situation in the housing market is really tense, so if you want to go to the student residence apply several months in advance. If you don’t want to have a lot of hustle looking for a room and don’t want to spend much money (less than 300€) I really recommend going for a student dorm room. Don’t be too selective in the online application form regarding where/how to live, that will increase your chances to get a room. Make sure everything with your application is fine and contact the Studierendenwerk if you have doubts.

  • Shared flat on the private housing market The most used platform for finding a shared flat is WG gesucht. For a shared flat it is common to pay at least 300€, depending on the city district also more than 400€. You’ll have to contact people looking for flatmates by writing a bit about yourself. Unfortunately, the platform is sometimes crowded with cheap offers from fraternities (Studentenverbindungen), male societies with a doubtful historical past. Writing them is likely a waste of time. The Studierendenwerk also offers an information board for finding flats.

Districts of the city

In general, you can consider living in every part of Heidelberg, especially if you have a bike you can get around in less than 30 minutes from one end of the city to the other. The central districts like Handschuhsheim, Neuenheim and the Altstadt will be more expensive of course. Some districts are less wealthy than others, but all are safe.

Cities outside Heidelberg

When looking for a flat you can also look for nearby cities which are not part of Heidelberg. For instance, Dossenheim is actually really close to the Campus Neuenheimer Feld. Eppelheim and even Leimen can also be an option, check the distance to your institute on google maps. Up the river Neckar (towards the east) you might also find a cheap flat in Neckargemünd/Neckarsteinach etc., but here you will depend on public transportation (S-Bahn). The big city of Mannheim may also be an option, the S-Bahn to Heidelberg main station takes 12 minutes, but Mannheim is also not so cheap and depending on where you find a flat the total trip to the university may get long.

Starting at the university

Before you arrive you might:

  • Get a buddy: The international office offers a buddy program for international students, meaning that you can get in touch with a student from Heidelberg, likely from the subject of your studies. This can be extremely useful, for instance for selecting your courses. You can register here.

  • If you have an account on a social network like Facebook you can look for expat/tandem learning groups for Heidelberg in order to connect with people from Heidelberg. You can also follow what organizations like AEGEE are planning.

  • For the first days the international relations office guide has some info, e.g. about the residence permit. If you go to the university administration (Seminarstraße 2) you can also validate your student ID card if you have it already (you need to put it into a validation machine every semester in order to have the current semester printed on the back).

Public transport/Communication

Public transportation

  • Tickets can not be bought inside the train. You can buy them via an app or at the ticket machines outside, Preisstufe 2 inside Heidelberg (it is indeed expensive (>2€), even with the Bahncard 50 discount)

  • Student ID: If you have a validated student ID you can use the public transportation in Mannheim and Heidelberg for free on weekends, holidays and on weekdays after 7 pm. This is due to the administration fee students pay to the university every semester.

  • Semester ticket: Costs approx 180€ for a 6-month period and allows you to freely travel around the region handled by the service provider. In my opinion, the semester ticket is in general a bad deal. It is expensive, the region is ill-shaped (you don’t even get to Karlsruhe or Frankfurt) and the service is not very frequent. I would recommend getting a bike.

  • 9-Euro-Ticket (June, July and August 2022): Valid for one month. In March 2022 the german government announced to subsidize public transportation as part of a relief package due to the current energy crisis. Since June there is a monthly public transportation ticket for nine euros. It is valid for all regional trains, buses and trams inside Germany.

  • 49-Euro-Ticket (From May 2023 on): Valid for one month. It replaces the 9-Euro ticket and includes the same service.

  • 365-Euro-Ticket in Baden-Württemberg (From March 2022 on): Yearly ticket for all regional trains, buses and trams inside the federal state of Baden-Württemberg for pupils, trainees, students and volunteers up to the age of 27.

Cycling

  • Riding a bike is fun and lets you get enough exercise for the day. One can get used to it quickly. Inside Heidelberg, you can get to every place in less than 30 minutes. In my opinion, having a bike in Heidelberg is necessary.
  • Next-bike (Bike sharing): The students’ parliament (Stura) negotiated a deal with the bike-sharing company Next-bike that lets you use their bikes for 30 minutes for free (as many times as you like during a day). For the account, you have to use your uni-email account, check more details here (in German). You need to charge at least a 1€ balance to your account and then can use Nextbike for free. Unfortunately, you can not leave the shared bike at any place but only at specific locations. Nextbike can also be used for free in other german cities.

E-Scooter

Many e-scooter companies emerged in Heidelberg during the last few years. E-scooters produce a lot of e-waste and are parked like crazy everywhere, please don’t use them. Get a bike, that’s also way cheaper in the end.

At the University:

Selecting courses:

The digital infrastructure related to selecting courses is spread over a bunch of services, thus it may seem confusing at first (As of March 2023, the university is transitioning to a new universal system called HeiCO, however, it is not fully operational yet.) . Keep in mind that in case you do not manage to register for a course online it is also always possible to just go to a course/tutorial directly and ask the prof/tutor for how to do it.

HeiCO

The university is currently (2023) transitioning to a new, universal campus management system called [HeiCO] (https://heico.uni-heidelberg.de/heiCO/ee/ui/ca2/app/desktop/#/login) which seeks to replace the existing individual platforms described below. Fortunately, this is happening after my time. I guess the full transition will take some years, such that the information below (except for the LSF part, which is directly substituted by HeiCO) will still be valid in 2023.

LSF

The central database for all courses is the LSF, there you can browse through the list of courses offered at every faculty and this is the first place you should look at for planning your semester (database updated 1-2 months before the upcoming semester) All the courses that are offered have to be listed there, the entries for the lecture normally contain the most basic information (lecturer, time and place, Credit points, Lecture Token (as found in the module handbooks which lists the courses one has to do). Although it might look like the LSF is the place where you register for your courses, in most cases it is not, subjects like math and physics use their own system (see below). The LSF has a timetable option where you can add courses in order to plan your weekly time schedule. Adding a course to your LSF timetable does not necessarily mean you registered for it.

Uebungsgruppenverwaltung (Physics only)

The Physics faculty uses its own system for course administration, the ÜGV. You can log in via your university account (uni-id + password). Here you can register for the courses, if there are tutorials for this lecture signing up for a tutorial automatically implies being signed up for the lecture. There you will also find more detailed information than in the LSF. Exercise sheets are also often uploaded on the Uebungsgruppenverwaltung. It is not mandatory and sometimes not even possible to register for courses before the semester start. For seminars, you often have to contact the professor directly to get a topic for the talk you have to prepare. Note that not all physics courses actually use the ÜGV-system.

Muesli (Math/Computer Science only)

The faculty of math and computer science has its own course administration system called Muesli. For logging in you have to create a separate account, you do not need to be matriculated yet.

Getting connected to WIFI

In Heidelberg, there is a publicly available WIFI service, called Heidelberg4You which is also accessible from all public routers in the university. Using the eduroam network is recommended from a privacy standpoint. For info about how to get access look here.

Using public printers:

The basic way to print documents goes the following:

  1. Upload your document on this webportal: https://ricoh-eop.urz.uni-heidelberg.de/login.cfm?dest=index.cfm&
  2. Go to one of the Ricoh printers (e.g. at the university libraries), and log in with your uni account.
  3. Print by paying with your Student ID card (can be recharged at Mensa)

Other useful pages regarding study regulations and organization:

In general, the module handbook (Modulhandbuch in german) of your subject is the most important document to look at. If you had to fill out a learning agreement as part of an Erasmus stay you probably know the module manual already. It contains a list of courses/modules that you have to do in your studies and also contains some kind of timetables for what you should do at what point in your studies. Keep in mind that what is written there are in general only suggestions, you do not have to study like that and also do not have to do 30 credits per semester as suggested there. Finishing a degree might have time limits (e.g. for the physics master’s 4+3 extra semesters), these kinds of regulations are written down in the Prüfungsordnung, in the year 2022 these documents are only available in german at Heidelberg university. It depends on the subject if these length of study limits are rigorously enforced or not, do not be too worried if you think you need some extra semesters Some faculties offer information on a website like FAQ and answers, e.g. the physics examination board.

Types of courses

Here is a basic description of the types of courses offered at the university (especially in math/computer science/physics, it can be completely different in the humanities), you might encounter these names while browsing through the course list in the LSF. For an exact description look in the module manual of your subject.

Lectures (Vorlesungen)

A professor presents the content of a course following a script/book. Presence is not mandatory.

Tutorials (Tutorien)

In order to get admitted to the final exam of a lecture (or to just pass the course) you have to submit weekly exercise sheets. The solution to these exercises (which can be solved in teams) are presented in a tutorial. Presence is not mandatory, nonetheless, it can be really useful to go there, one learns the course content through the exercises.

Seminars

In a seminar students have to present a research topic/publication, attend their fellow students’ presentations and write a final report.

Journal Club/Research seminar/Oberseminar:

This is a fuzzy thing. Some module manuals include attending Journal Clubs/Research seminars as an opportunity to get Credit points. Nonetheless, some of these events you can find in the LSF are just group meetings in disguise, meaning that it does not make so much sense to go there as a regular student. If you’re interested in the topic it’s best to contact the professor.

Student representatives

The student representatives organization for each subject is called “Fachschaft”. The people active there are in general happy to help other people. They may give your tips regarding lectures and lecturers, how to plan your studies and may have a database for previous exam problems from the last years. Look for “Fachschaft + < your subject > + Heidelberg” on google and you’ll find out how to contact them. The Maths/Physics/Computer Science representatives, Fachschaft MathPhysinfo organize a welcome session for new students every semester, a recording of this presentation can be watched on Youtube.

German language courses

Especially if you plan to stay longer in Germany, for instance, if you want to do your complete masters here I’d really recommend doing a language course, even if your courses are held in English. With students of your age you’ll probably have no problem at all communicating in English only, but if you want to break out of your student bubble (I always find that a good idea) it is valuable to have at least some basic knowledge of german.

There is for instance the Internationales Studienzentrum of the university, the tandem program if you already have basic knowledge of german, or many different language schools in Heidelberg (Heidelberg Pädagogium, Alpha Activ, F+U and many more). The quality of teaching might vary from teacher to teacher, and in case you really don’t have a good feeling at the beginning of a course, don’t mind insisting on switching to another course.

Cultural life

Theatre and Opera

Heidelberg theatre offers theatre plays, operas and classical music concerts. As a student you only pay half the price, furthermore, there are some free student tickets that are accessible five days before the event. More info on how to access it can be found on this page: https://www.theaterheidelberg.de/karten/neu-studi-flatrate/ It’s also good to know that your theatre entry is also valid as a public transportation ticket on the day of the event.

If you want to see the big classic operas you can also consider going to the national theatre in Mannheim. You can also get cheap student tickets ~10€ there, also the public transportation ticket to Mannheim is included in your ticket.

Cinema

My favourite cinema in Heidelberg is the small Karlstorkino in the old town (Moved to the Südstadt). It’s an arthouse cinema that shows all kinds of movies, old classics, documentaries and also new productions. The movies are always shown in their original language, which is unfortunately not so common in Germany. There is also the Gloria/Kamera-cinema in the Hauptstraße/Brückenstraße which offers movies in their original language and is a nice place to go out. We also have a big movie theatre in the Bahnstadt called Luxorkino if you want to see blockbuster movies, but it’s really expensive to see a movie there (>12€).

Other

For life in Germany in general there are many valuable expat blogs online, therefore I keep my thoughts rather short.

Cell phone contract:

One of the first things you probably want to do when you arrive in Germany (especially if you’re from outside the EU) is get a German cell phone contract. Note that for getting one you need to have a bank account for most of them. Prepaid contracts are not very common. A rule of thumb is that you do not need to pay more than 10€ for a monthly contract with a reasonable amount of data and unlimited calls inside Germany. The cheapest contracts are found on the internet and not in the stores of the larger companies in the cities (Vodafone, O2, Telekom). There are many different companies that use four different networks. If you want to check the coverage, look for “Netzabdeckung” on the internet. During the last years, I had contracts at one of the Drillisch sub-companies (they own a whole set of discount cell phone contract providers, like handyvertrag.de . They rotate their tariffs between companies, but basically they are all the same) and it was always fine for me. Getting a 24-month contract is cheaper, for a monthly one you have to pay some extra amount once at the beginning (Bereitstellungsgebuehr).

Bank Account

One important thing to know is that there are still some banks out there that offer you a visa card for free without an account management fee (Note that we also use a debit card in Germany called Giro/EC/Maestro-Card, but this is not a credit card!). Some pure online banks like N26 or DKB might be the bank of your choice. Of course, you can also go to a classical bank branch office you find around the place you live (Volksbank, Sparkasse …), but normally they do not offer an account for free. Although it might be less obvious to withdraw money without a fee for one of the online banks, they let you retrieve the money at supermarkets for instance. It is not possible to pay by card in every situation in Germany (for instance at the bakery), so you should always have at least a small amount of cash with you.

German broadcast fee (Rundfunkbeitrag)

In Germany public broadcast is financed by a fee that is paid by every household, meaning that you have to share the monthly fee with your flatmates. And if you’re looking for a way to get around it, sorry, there are few exceptions and as an international student it is unlikely you can be part of it (https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/welcome/englisch/index_ger.html#exemption_and_reduction). After you have registered as an inhabitant of Heidelberg the agency will write you a letter that is probably redundant because your flatmates may already have registered the flat. Ask them to give you the appropriate number to register online and not get bothered by the “Beitragsservice). Make sure you have done this in time or you may have to pay some fine.

Disclaimer: I do not get any financial advantage from any company mentioned here.

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