We are pleased that you decided upon a research stay at the University of Passau, one of the top ten percent of young universities worldwide according to the THE World Ranking, and welcome you at our University and in the city of Passau!
Whether you are a visiting scholar, a lecturer or researcher on a regular employment contract with the University or an international graduate looking to start your doctoral studies in Passau – the Welcome Centre is here to help you with all non-academic issues.
We wish you a good stay and hope that you feel comfortable in Passau!
To subscribe to the Welcome Centre newsletter please click here.
Dear international academics,
There are many ways to learn German. We have curated a list of options where you can start or continue your learning journey. You can also choose between them based on your way of learning.
The Goethe Institute offers a variety of courses. To determine how you would like to learn German—whether in-person, online, or by taking exams—and to find the best course for you, please see here.
If you want to practice German for free, there is an online platform where you can improve your skills at no cost.
Situated in the city centre, VHS offers many courses ranging from beginner to advanced. The courses are offered in different time slots to fit your weekly schedule. For more information on the prices and the type of course you'd like to sign up for, see here.
VHB offers many different types of courses that are easily accessible:
OPEN: Free courses available to everyone, with no ECTS credits awarded. For more information, see here.
CLASSIC: Free for students (including registered doctoral students), with ECTS credits awarded for these courses. Others can register as external users and attend the courses at very reasonable prices. For more information, see here.
Register here: VHB Portal Registration.
If you're a beginner and unsure where to start, we have the perfect course for you in Passau! ESG Passau offers beginner classes ranging from A1.1 to A2.2 in the upcoming summer semester. For more information and to register, see here.
This course is designed for international academics and researchers at German universities who wish to improve their German language skills to levels B1/B2 and enhance their knowledge through practical exercises. The focus is on teaching relevant specialised vocabulary related to academic careers and labour market integration.
For more information on the course and to register, see here.
To practice conversing in German in an informal setting away from language courses, there are two regular language cafés in Passau.
Café Deutsch takes place every second Thursday from 17:00 to 19:00 in the common room of the Gemeinsam Leben und Lernen in Europa Association (Lederergasse 1). The exact dates are always published one month in advance in the flyer on the website.
There is also a language café every Thursday from 20:00 at RIO (Lederergasse 50). Various tables are opened there for several languages.
Feel free to try out the offers, alone or with friends and family. Everyone is welcome, regardless of their language level!
For enrolled doctoral students, the Language Centre at the University of Passau also offers free language courses in many different languages every semester.
We would like to inform you about the possibilities of obtaining an official German language certificate for your residence permit etc. Officially suitable certificates are the Goethe-Zertifikat, the TestDaF and the telc.
We hope this overview helps you to find the certificate that's right for you. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Welcome Centre Team.
The Foreigners' Office of the City of Passau is moving. As of 01 July 2024, the new location of the Foreigners' Office of the City of Passau is Dr.-Ernst-Derra-Straße 2, 94036 Passau.
You can reach it with the city bus lines 1,2,8 and 9 via the stop "Kohlbruck-Erlebnisbad" and with the city bus lines 5 and 6 via the stop "Dr.-Ernst-Derra-Straße".
The e-mail contact auslaenderamt@passau.de remains unchanged.
To practice conversing in German in an informal setting away from language courses, there are two regular language cafés in Passau.
Café Deutsch takes place every second Thursday from 17:00 to 19:00 in the common room of the Gemeinsam Leben und Lernen in Europa Association (Lederergasse 1). The exact dates are always published one month in advance in the flyer on the website.
There is also a language café every Thursday from 20:00 at RIO (Lederergasse 50). Various tables are opened there for several languages.
Feel free to try out the offers, alone or with friends and family. Everyone is welcome, regardless of their language level!
On 6 March 2024, the University of Passau was awarded the 'Shaping Diversity' certificate by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e.V. (Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany). This marks the successful completion of the diversity audit in which the University has participated since the end of 2021 and certifies that the University recognizes the diversity of its students and employees and furthermore embraces this diversity for new opportunities in potential for organisational development.
Keeping in context of the Diversity Audit and in collaboration with Dimas D. Laksmana and Enid Still from the Chair of Critical Development Studies, we have collected articles for the Welcome Centre Newsletter. Now we are happy to present these contributions as a collection in the form of our magazine Let's Talk About Diversity and Inclusion.
If you are a doctoral or postdoctoral student at our University and have questions related to academic matters, please contact the Graduate Centre.
The Welcome Centre does not cater to undergraduates or master's students. If you are an international bachelor's or master's student, visit the coming to Passau webpage or contact the International Office.
