Hamburglobal FAQs

Hamburglobal is a program offered by the Department of International Affairs to promote international mobility among students at University of Hamburg. Hamburglobal draws its funding from various sources: PROMOS (DAAD), budgetary funds of University of Hamburg, and the Steffens Memorial Fund (foundation funds). Each funding source has its own requirements and conditions. Applications may be submitted during the application periods (in March and October) via the online portal. The Study Abroad Team reviews applications to determine which funding sources an applicant is eligible for

The funding period is calculated based on the information from your host institution in the Confirmation of Host Institution form. If you have not yet received the Confirmation of Host Institution at the time of application, please indicate the expected duration of your stay on the online application form. Please note that you may not add on personal trips before or after. Indicate the exact dates of the period of study abroad (not the semester dates!) including orientation days and exam period. When in doubt, first enter a somewhat longer period on the application form. We suggest this because once we receive the Confirmation of Host Institution we can only decrease, not increase the original funding amount.

The funding period is based on the information provided in the Confirmation of Host Institution. If you have not yet received this confirmation from your host institution when you apply for funding, indicate the anticipated duration of your stay abroad on the online application form. Private travel before or after your academic stay may not be included. If you plan to study abroad, enter the actual study period (not the semester dates!), including the orientation week and exam period. If in doubt, enter a slightly longer period: when we receive the Confirmation of Host Institution, we can only reduce—but not increase—the amount of funding originally calculated.

When the funding period ends, the actual funding period will be calculated based on your Final Confirmation of Stay. The amount of funding originally awarded can then only be reduced but not increased.

If you complete 2 stays abroad (e.g., 2 internships or 1 internship and 1 language course) with 2 different host institutions and/or in 2 different countries, and both begin in the same half year, you can apply for Hamburglobal funding for both stays abroad separately. Example: your language course in the USA runs from 3 January until 3 April. Your internship in China begins on 15 May and ends on 15 September. The start date is decisive—you can apply for both stays abroad in October of the previous year. Submit 2 separate applications together with the required documents. If the internship in China were to begin on 1 July, you should apply for Hamburglobal funding for the language course in October of the previous year and for the internship in March of the same year.

A letter of motivation gives reasons for doing your project abroad. The selection committee should understand your personal and academic reasons for wanting to go abroad. Your stay abroad should be related to your field of concentration. The letter can include the following:

• brief personal description (e.g., personal background and academic development, interests or objectives, and activities at or outside of the University)
• description and justification of your project (how this project fits into your academic studies; reasons for choosing the particular overseas university; how and what have you prepared so far, e.g., language proficiency, the opportunities this project offers

Unless you are planning to take part in a language program or study abroad as a philologist, language acquisition alone is not a sufficient reason for wanting to go abroad. Generally you are expected to have good-to-excellent language skills enabling you to study abroad without major language problems.

One of your professors or a university teacher holding a doctoral degree may provide an evaluation. These individuals must have had teaching responsibilities for classes in your subject area for an entire semester. Emeriti and retired professors may provide evaluations if they are still actively involved in teaching at Universität Hamburg. Language instructors and instructors without a doctorate will only be accepted as evaluators in exceptional cases and then only after prior consultation with the Study Abroad Team. In such cases, contact the Study Abroad Team(elisa.imanuwarta"AT"uni-hamburg.de) well in advance.

Use only the Hamburglobal form for the evaluation. This is the only way to ensure that the selection committee will have all necessary information. The evaluation can be given to you or sent directly to the Outgoing Students Team.

Use the Learning Agreement for Hamburglobal to record the courses you plan to take when you study abroad. The Agreement shows that you have spent time reviewing the courses offered by the host institution and planned the academic component of your study abroad. The responsible coordinator, academic office, or examination office must sign the Learning Agreement. However, for the Hamburglobal application, the host university does not need to sign the form. As the host institution’s course catalog for the semester you plan to study abroad is usually not yet available when you apply, choose suitable courses from the current course catalog for either the winter or summer semester, depending on when you are planning your semester abroad. These courses are only preliminary; you can make changes later.

If the Confirmation of Host Institution has not yet been received when you apply or if the duration of the stay abroad has not yet been finalized, document the current status of your preparations (e.g., by submitting an email from the host institution). If the confirmation is not yet available, students nominated by the Central Student Exchange Program should first submit the Central Student Exchange Program notice of acceptance. In the case of research stays (preparing a final thesis) without a fixed host institution, the form should be completed by the final thesis supervisor (as should the Final Confirmation of Stay at a later point). In the case of conferences/conventions to which you will contribute, instead of the form you may submit an informal confirmation (e.g., an email) provided by the guest institution.

The selection committee, which reviews all complete applications submitted by the deadline, meets 4–6 weeks after the application deadline. You will receive notice 6–8 weeks after the application deadline. You will also be informed if you do not receive funding or if you are on the waiting list.

In addition to the subsidy for travel expenses, the top-ranking applicants additionally receive a country-specific flat-rate travel grant based on available funds. These can be disbursed only if you depart for your approved stay abroad from Germany. This also applies for retroactive approval of the flat-rate travel grant.

Before the funds can be disbursed, you must have submitted the signed Declaration of Acceptance as well as the completed, signed and stamped Confirmation of Host Institution. Once both documents have been submitted, the funding amount will be reviewed. Afterwards your funding will be disbursed, but no earlier than 6 to 8 weeks before your trip begins.

You are obliged to inform us immediately if you cannot begin your stay as planned, you shorten your stay, or the period of your stay changes. You must be enrolled at University of Hamburg for the entire funding period.

No, because we are only allowed to provide support in the form of Hamburglobal subsidies if you are enrolled at University of Hamburg during the entire funding period. If you withdraw, you must return the funds received. Please inform yourself about the possibility of taking academic leave.

As soon as the funding period ends (note: not the entire stay!), you must submit the Final Confirmation of Stay so that the funding amount you received can be checked once again. If your stay was shorter than planned, we may ask you to return the funds. If your stay is shortened or the time period of your stay changes, please inform us immediately!

For research stays (preparing a final thesis) without a fixed host institution, the form should be completed by the final thesis supervisor.

See this website for brief instructions and templates to help you prepare your experience report.

In order to maintain equal opportunities, special individual circumstances which, for instance, have had an adverse effect on the course of studies or on the possibility of doing voluntary work alongside your studies, can be taken into account in the assessment if desired and specified clearly in your application. This can include prolonged or permanent health-related impairments, raising children, tending relatives, socioeconomic, or ethnic factors.