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Study and research in Germany

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DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst / German Academic Exchange Service
wandel durch austausch. change by exchange.
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Study and research in Germany

Home « Study and research in Germany « Services « Links « Higher Education Institutions

Higher Education Institutions

German Rectors' Conference (HRK)
www.hrk.de
Provider: The German Rectors’ Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz – HRK) is a voluntary association of state and state-recognised universities and higher education institutions in Germany. The HRK currently has 261 member institutions and addresses questions relating to the responsibilities of higher education institutions: research, teaching and studies, academic (postgraduate and postdoc) continuing education and training, knowledge and technology transfer, international cooperation plus university self-government.
Description: Besides the link to the Higher Education Compass (see chapter on “Studies”), the website of the German Rectors’ Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz) offers reports on the resolutions, projects and initiatives of the HRK, on press releases, a diary, plus a collection of links to external sites offering information on higher education, science and research policy.
Languages: German and Englishh

Conference of the Ministers of Education (KMK) and Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB)
www.kmk.org
www.kmk.org/zab/home.htm
www.anabin.de 
Provider: The KMK (Kultusministerkonferenz) is the standing conference of the Länder ministers or senators responsible for education and training, higher education and research plus cultural affairs.
Description: The KMK website offers information on fields such as the KMK’s work on securing and developing a common higher education structure in Germany or their activities in respect of European and international education and culture policy. The ZAB (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen) is based at the Secretariat of the KMK. Its website provides information on the responsibilities and services which the ZAB performs in the field of evaluating and recognising foreign educational qualifications and certificates; it also lists further sources of information and publications. The ZAB information system on the recognition of foreign educational certificates and degrees can be found at: www.anabin.de.
Languages: KMK: German, with some basic information in English, ZAB: German and English, anabin: German

CHE/DIE ZEIT: University Ranking
www.das-ranking.de
www.university-ranking.de
Provider: DIE ZEIT is the leading German weekly newspaper in Germany. The DIE ZEIT website hosts the German version of the university ranking jointly carried out by the Centre for Higher Education Development (Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung – CHE) and DIE ZEIT at: www.das-ranking.de
Description: The DAAD presents the English version “University Ranking” on its website www.university-ranking.de in cooperation with DIE ZEIT and CHE. So far, the ranking has examined 36 popular subjects from various faculties. Since 1998, a total of 286 universities have been included in the ranking. More than 250,000 students and around 31,000 professors have participated in the interviews for the ranking since it was first launched. The findings of the survey are not simply added together to produce a total score. Rather, the survey produces a multidimensional ranking: several league tables, arranged on the basis of various criteria, such as “student opinion”, “professor’s tip” or “equipment and facilities”, reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the individual faculties and departments.
Languages: German and English

EXTRA TIP

The virtual University

Germany’s universities meanwhile also offer a wide range of virtual courses and studies. The most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of these can be found at www.studieren-im-netz.de.

The University in Hagen is a pioneer in this field (www.fernunihagen.de) and is now embarking along new paths with its Virtual University Learning Space “Lernraum Virtuelle Universität” concept.

In addition, recent years have seen a large number of further initiatives launched in the field of virtual universities, e.g. the Bundesleitprojekt Virtuelle Fachhochschule (www.oncampus.de), a Federal Lead Project for a Virtual University of Applied Sciences, the Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (www.vhb.org), a Virtual University for Bavaria.

The website of the Centre for Internet-Based Distance-Learning Courses at Universities of Applied Sciences (Zentralstelle für Fernstudien an Fachhochschulen (www.zfh.de) provides information on distance studies courses with online learning phases offered at universities of applied sciences in Hessen, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.

Besides the website of the Centre for Internet-Based Distance- Learning Courses at Universities of Applied Sciences and the Studieren im Netz (Studying online) website (which both offer information in English), all these websites are currently available in German only, as are most of the online courses.


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DAAD Glossary

Fachhochschule

A "Fachhochschule" is a university of applied sciences. These universities have a strong practical focus. Students receive a highly applications-oriented training and complete practical semesters to gain experience in these applied fields. Studies are normally shorter than at traditional universities.

Fakultät

"Fakultät" is the same word as faculty in the sense that a university is made up of various faculties. Classical faculties are law, medicine, philosophy (arts and humanities), and natural sciences. Each faculty is made up of several departments, known in German as Fachbereiche, Institute or Seminare.

Fakultativ

"Fakultative" means elective or optional in the sense that students are free to choose which courses they "elect" to attend. These courses are not compulsory. The content taught in these courses is not generally of relevance to the examinations. However, some of the courses can be credited to the prescribed number of weekly credit hours that students are expected to complete per semester, known in German as Semesterwochenstunden (SWS).

Universität

"Universität" means university and is used for research universities (wissenschaftliche Hochschulen) that offer a broad range of subjects (like arts and humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, economics and business administration, law, medicine). These institutions confer doctorates. The strong research focus benefits students in their training. Please note, however, that English texts often use the term "university" generically, i.e. to cover all kinds of higher education institutions, for example, universities of the arts, universities of applied sciences, universities of education, etc.

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Source: http://www.daad.de/deutschland/service/links/00471.en.html
Date: 2008-11-20