Information for international students

It is best if you sign up 3 weeks before arriving at the university. Please use the Registration platform for students.

As soon as we have received your registration, you will be sent a welcome email with more information to confirm your registration. Then you have to be patient (see next question below).

As soon as we know your exact date of arrival, we will try to find a Welcome Buddy for you. When we have found one, we will send you both a so-called "assignment e-mail" with the contact data.

The team of the International Office begins with the assignment of buddies to students at the end of August or in March. As a matter of principle, we try to assign your Welcome Buddy one to two weeks before your arrival in Jena. 

Your Welcome Buddy will get in touch with you. Also check your spam or junk mail folder.

If you have not received an E-mail after three days at the latest, please write to your buddy yourself.

If you you are not in contact with your buddy after one week write an e-mail. We will be glad to help you.

We wish you a good time together and a good start at the University!

At the end of the first lecture month, we will send you an e-mail asking you to give us feedback. This enables us to continuously improve the Welcome Buddy programme. Thank you very much!

The Welcome Buddy programme of the International Office helps international students with orientation at the university and in the city. It arranges for new students to have contact with experienced volunteer mentors, who have already been students at the University for a while. The mentors/buddies support international students with all of their trips to local authorities for enrolment purposes and therefore facilitate their start at the university.

The International Office Welcome Buddies are advanced and experienced students who have already been studying at the University of Jena for at least one semester and who volunteer for mentor activities (without being paid). They know all about important things concerning enrolment and were trained for their activities. The buddiess speak different languages, some of them have already gained international experience, and they like to have contact with people of different origins.

We will assign you with a Welcome Buddy who we know will be in Jena when you arrive. If possible, we will also try to assign you with a buddy who is studying in the same department as you or at least in the same faculty. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. For this reason, please be understanding if your buddy is not able to answer all of your questions concerning your field of studies and its contents. However, buddies can give you tips on where you can find academic assistance for your field of study.

The Welcome Buddies help new international students with certain activities:

• main contact person in Jena
• support upon arrival in Jena
• orientation in the city and at the university
• help with enrolment
• going along to local authorities
• support with registration at the University Computer Centre

If your Welcome Buddy has time, he/she will probably pick you up at the train or bus station and bring you to your housing. Please arrange this before your arrival. But please understand that your buddy will not be able to pick you up from the airport in cities such as Frankfurt, Berlin or Munich. If your buddy does not have time when you arrive, he/she will surely be happy to help you with directions and will explain how to use public transportation. Be sure to discuss these aspects with your buddy before your arrival, so that you arrive in Jena well prepared.

If you signed up early for the Welcome Buddy programme, you can already organise appointments (e.g. at the bank or registration office/residents' registration office) together with your buddy before your arrival.

If you need more help, maybe with looking for housing, signing up for university sport or with other things, ask your buddy if he or she has time, as these things do not belong to the main activities of the Welcome Buddies. Please understand that the buddy cannot sign any contracts for you and also cannot act as your guarantor.

You have too look for your own room, for example, by applying in due time for a room in the hall of residenceExternal link. And you must also plan your own arrival. You will have an easier start in your studies if you take our adviceExternal link. We also expect you to read all emails and information regarding your enrolment - your buddy will support you but not act, speak or think for you!

The coordination team of the Welcome Buddy programme of the International Office begins with the assignment of buddies to students at the end of August or in March. As a matter of principle, we try to assign you with a Welcome Buddy one to two weeks before your arrival in Jena. 

No. If you have received a confirmation e-mail after your registration, your registration was successful.

We need your precise arrival date to find a suitable buddy for you. It is therefore important that you inform us of your precise arrival date with your registration or afterwards.

Only if you did not receive an confirmation e-mail and you also cannot find it in your spam folder, then you should sign up again as there was probably an error in the e-mail address that you entered.

Participation in the Welcome Buddy programme is free for international students. It is a special service provided by the International Office of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

You can still register for the programme even if you do not know your precise date of arrival, yet. For us to be able to assign you with a suitable Welcome Buddy, however, we ask you to inform us of your arrival date with a short e-mail, as soon as you know it. 

If your arrival date changes, please inform us briefly per e-mail, so that we can assign a suitable mentor for you.

It is a shame that you are not coming. Please write to us: welcomebuddy@uni-jena.de.

Please also remember to inform the housing service of the Studierendenwerk Thüringen: wj@stw-thueringen.de. 

You can still sign up for the Welcome Buddy programme after your arrival. Please read the information above (question: "How does the REGISTRATION work?")

We also recommend you to come to the WelcomeCafé at the International Centre ("Haus auf der Mauer"), Johannisplatz 26, in Jena. During the enrolment period, experienced international students offer advice and support with problems here. You will also meet other new international students there or students that have been studying in Jena already for some time. Moreover, the office of the mentoring programme (opposite from the WelcomeCafé in the same building) is normally occupied during the WelcomeCafé. Come by and visit if your questions cannot be answered at the WelcomeCafé or if you still need a Welcome Buddy.

If you have not heard from your Welcome Buddy for a certain time, he is not reacting to your e-mails, and you also cannot find any e-mails from him in your spam/junk mail folder, please write us a short e-mail in which you inform us about the problem.

If you have problems with your Welcome Buddy, please first talk to him/her. If this does not help, please explain the problems to us in an e-mail. We will then try to mediate. If we cannot solve the problem, we will try to find a new buddy for you.

Your Welcome Buddy cannot look for housing for you. Butshe/ he can give you tips on how to find a room or a flat and what you should pay attention to. Please also look at our Advice for looking for a flat.

The Welcome Buddies should help you with your first steps in Jena and with your enrolment. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to assign you to a buddy from your own department. Therefore, it is not automatically the buddy's responsibility to answer your questions concerning your field of study or to help you with structuring your schedule. Please also look at our Advice for subject-specific academic advisory servicesExternal link.

Yes, of course! The International Office organizes intercultural training courses which are open to all students at the University, but are particularly geared towards internationally mobile students and mentors/buddies. You will receive an invitation for this in due time or you can find the dates and registration information hereExternal link.