Google Search
We are glad that you have decided to study at the TU Ilmenau!
On this page we provide you with important information for the preparation of your start of studies, your arrival in Ilmenau and the necessary administrative steps in the first weeks. We have summarized 5 basic topics for which you can find more detailed information in the dropdown-sections.
If you have any questions or if something is unclear to you, we recommend our Q&A-Sessions. If you can't or don't want to participate, you can of course contact us directly, for example via the contact form on this site.
We wish you a great start at TU Ilmenau!
What does my admission mean, how do I enroll and what are the important dates? You can find the answers in the tabs below.
At the TU Ilmenau, lectures (including internships and exams) are always held face to face in presence.
It is possible that online lectures are offered in your study program. However, we cannot tell you exactly which subjects this applies to. This is because the lecturers are free to decide how they organize and hold their lectures.
Therefore, it is necessary to travel to Ilmenau in order to study. If there are any delays in your home country regarding the visa, you can find all important information here.
The library, mensa and counseling centers are open for you. The sports program is available without restrictions and cultural and recreational events take place on a large scale.
We are looking forward to welcoming you at the TU Ilmenau!
There are four different types of admission for international students in Ilmenau: direct admission, direct admission with obligations,conditional admission and conditional admission with obligations. You can see which type of admission you have received in the first sentence of the admission letter. Depending on on the type of your admission, it differs how you can start your studies.
a) If you have a direct admission, you can enroll directly in the program and begin your studies.
b) In the case of direct admission with obligations, you can enroll directly in the program. However, you must study other subjects in parallel. This is the only way you can graduate later. Details can be found on the admission letter in the section "Obligations".
c) In case of aconditional admissionyou have to fulfill conditions beforeyou can start your studies.
The language condition is considered fulfilled if you can present a recognized language certificate (C1 level) at the time of enrollment. You can choose where to take the language course or the exam for the certificate, it does not necessarily have to be in Ilmenau. However, enrollment as a collegiate (=APC student) is only possible if you complete the language course in Ilmenau.
If you have to fulfill the condition "passing the Feststellungsprüfung", you will be referred to the Thüringer Studienkolleg in Nordhausen. Here you will complete a preparatory course and receive a certificate if you pass the exam. Only then you can start your studies at the TU Ilmenau.
d) Conditional admission with obligations combines the fulfillment of conditions before the beginning of the studies and the fulfillment of conditions during the studies (= case b and c).
Please allow additional time for studying your conditions (additional semesters). Please note that the Foreigners' Registration Office usually grants you a maximum of 4 semesters for study preparation.
In order to start your studies at the TU Ilmenau, you must be enrolled (= matriculated) in a degree program.
The enrollment is done via the campus portal. However, there are differences depending on the type of admission you have received.
a) For students with direct admission (with and without obligations):
Log into the campus portal. Go to the application for which you received direct admission. Online enrollment should now be unlocked here.
Click on "Apply for enrollment" and enter all the necessary data in the online form. Then submit the enrollment application online.
Shortly after, you can download a confirmation of your provisional enrollment in the campus portal.
Now contact a statutory health insurance company in Germany and ask them to report the status of your health insurance to the TU Ilmenau (so called "Report M10"). For that you need the sender number H0001836.
Attention: Even if you have taken out a private health insurance, you have to contact a statutory health insurance in order for them to report your status to the TU Ilmenau. It does not matter which provider you contact.
After some time you will receive a PDF document in the campus portal with the request to pay the semester fee. As soon as the document is available, you will be informed about it by e-mail.
Depending on when you enrolled, this may still take a few months. Until then, you are still provisionally enrolled and will receive regular information by mail. Transfer the semester fee as indicated in the PDF with exactly the specified purpose. Otherwise the payment cannot be assigned!
As soon as your health insurance status has been checked successfully and the semester fee has been received by the TU Ilmenau, you will receive an e-mail confirming successful enrollment and information on how to retrieve your enrollment certificate.
This completes your enrollment.
b) For students with an admission with a language condition who wish to enroll in the APC program:
If you do not yet have the appropriate language certificate to enroll in your study program, you may enroll online as a collegiate (APC) student.
Send an e-mail to info@tu-ilmenau-service.de or visit the website of TU Ilmenau Service GmbH to find out about the language courses, tests and dates offered. Afterwards you have to sign a learning agreement with TU Ilmenau Service GmbH. You will need this to be able to enroll. You will receive the agreement only after you have taken the placement test.
Once you have received the learning agreement, log in to the campus portal. Create a new application for the Academic Preparation Course with certificate degree by clicking on "Add Application". Now upload your conditional admission for your desired study program and the booking confirmation of the TU Ilmenau Service GmbH for the language course and submit the application online.
After a check by the Admissions Office, you will receive an e-mail as soon as online enrollment is activated for you.
Then log back into the campus portal, go to the application form for APC studies and click on "Apply for enrollment".
Enter all required data in the online form. Then submit the enrollment application online.
Shortly after, you can download a confirmation of your provisional enrollment in the campus portal.
After some time, you will receive a PDF document in the campus portal with the request to pay the semester fee. As soon as the document is available, you will be informed about it by e-mail. Transfer the semester fee as indicated in the PDF with exactly the specified purpose of use. Otherwise the payment cannot be assigned!
As soon as the semester fee has been received by the TU Ilmenau, you will receive an e-mail confirming successful enrollment and information on how to retrieve your enrollment certificate.
This completes your enrollment.
Note: If you have an admission with conditions and have to prove the language level C1, you can also take a language course somewhere else as long as you receive an accepted language certificate afterwards. You can then send this certificate by e-mail to registration@tu-ilmenau.de . Direct enrollment via the campus portal (see case a) will then be activated for you. Enrollment as an APC student is not possible with this procedure.
c) For students with an admission with condition "Feststellungsprüfung".
The school-leaving certificates from some countries are not equivalent to the GermanAbitur. If this is the case for you, you will be referred to the Thüringer Studienkolleg in Nordhausen. It is an educational institution that prepares foreign applicants for university studies. There you will complete a preparatory course of study, which may last a maximum of 2 semesters (under certain conditions, each semester may be repeated once). The preparatory studies are concluded with the assessment test, which consists of written and oral examinations.
If you have passedthis assessment test, you will receive a corresponding confirmation. You will then send this confirmation bye-mail to the enrollment office.
Afterwards, the online enrollment will be activated for you directly in your study program.
All further steps are the same as described under a).
d) For incoming exchange/double students:
Please contact our incoming coordination via incoming@tu-ilmenau.de.
Sometimes it happens that you do not manage to enroll directly for the semester of the corresponding application period. At the TU Ilmenau you have the possibility to do this at a later semester, because the admissions are valid for several semesters (see section "Validity").
If you still have access data from the former applicant portal of the TU Ilmenau, you have to register at the campus portal. Your old access data from the previous portal are no longer valid.
Log in at the campus portal and start a so-called "short application".
Don't worry, this is not a real application but rather a re-entry of data into the system. Of course, your admission remains valid.
Click on "Add application" and create an application for the study program for which you have a valid admission in the corresponding start semester.
Now simply upload your admission and a few other documents and submit the application digitally.
The enrollment office will now check your eligibility to enroll in the program. If everything is correct, online enrollment in the desired degree program will be activated.
Then continue as described under a).
Important note: You will only have access to the courses once you have completed your enrollment.
Here we have compiled some important dates for you that you should not miss:
Please note: At the beginning of October, Germany celebrates its national holiday, ‘German Unity Day’. 03 October is therefore a public holiday. The university, the student services, shops and authorities are closed on these days!
More dates especially from we4you can be found in our event calendar
Before you set off to Ilmenau, you can already make some preparations from home. Especially for the apartment search you should start as soon as possible. Below you will find some points including the explanations.
If you are looking for short-term accommodation because you arrive before your actual apartment move-in date, you can find more information here.
The sooner you start looking for an apartment, the better. It's best to start directly after your application at the university, because you don't automatically get a room in a dormitory with your admission to the university!
Finding accommodation on campus is the easiest option. You have to contact the Studierendenwerk and apply online. Here you can find more information about the application and the available rooms in Ilmenau. (Don't forget to select "Ilmenau"!).
Besides the dormitories of the Studierendenwerk, there are dormitories of the CJD e.V. at the upper end of the campus, which are also furnished and quite cheap. You can get more information on the homepage of the CJD or by mail.
In addition, the CJD also offers a guest house that is particularly suitable for short stays (for example, if your actual apartment is not yet available). Information about this can be found on the CJD guest house website or by mail.
If you prefer to live in the city, there are many different options. Ilmenau has two large housing areas that are run by a municipal company and a cooperative. Apartments here are usually quite cheap but mostly unfurnished. You can find the two landlords here (IWG) and here (WBG).
The WBG also offers flats for short stays, which is useful, for example, if you are travelling in September and need a flat for a few days. You can find an overview of these flats here.
There are also two large real estate agencies (Marek Schramm Immobilien, Wolf + Fabig Immobilien) that rent out private apartments. However, the rents here are significantly higher than those of the Studierendenwerk, as the apartments are not aimed exclusively at students.
You can also search online portals such as WG gesucht, e-bay Kleinanzeigen, immo-scout24 and Wohnungsbörse for apartments.
Note: For some years now, the city of Ilmenau is also including many smaller towns (Manebach, Langewiesen, ...) in the surrounding area (so called "Ortsteile"). When searching, check carefully whether your new apartment is really close to the campus ("Kernstadt") or in one of the surrounding towns. These are difficult to reach by bus or bicycle, especially in winter, and some of them do not offer good shopping facilities.
In Germany, it is obligatory for all students to have health insurance. Without the appropriate proof, you cannot enrol.
Usually, contributions are due for the health insurance. Which insurances you can or should take depends on your admission and your age. It also depends on whether you arrive at the beginning of your studies or later. From the moment you are matriculated, the insurance obligation comes into force, that means from then on you also have to pay the money for the health insurance. However, some insurance companies handle the payment more flexibly. If you are unsure, it is best to ask several insurance companies and compare the advantages and disadvantages.
You can find more information on our health-insurance-leaflet.
The earlier, the better! We recommend coming to Ilmenau at least two weeks before the first courses start. This will allow you to settle in and take care of the necessary formalities. As a participant of the language APC, please note that you have to be in Ilmenau in time for the language courses, as they are only offered in presence!
Before you start your journey, prepare all necessary documents in printed and digital form. The documents must cover all requirements for entry, residence registration in Ilmenau, registration at the university and application for a residence permit. You can download a detailed overview of which documents you need below in the section Information documents.
We recommend that you bring the items listed below for a smooth start in your new apartment:
*Note: You can buy bed linen, duvet and pillow at the Studierendenwerk when you move into one of the dormitories. Please inform the Studierendenwerk in advance about your arrival date and order the items.
To support you directly after your arrival in Ilmenau , we offer the we4you Buddy-program. Buddies are usually students who have been studying here for some time and have volunteered to help you get started. We will do our best to get a buddy for everyone who applies. The sooner you sign up, the better chance you have of making it work for you. The Buddy Program is of course free of charge.
Here you can find all information about the buddy program.
You can register online using the registration form.
Do you always want to be informed about all the important things on campus? What events are coming up? What dates can I not miss for my studies? When is the next public holiday?
You can find out all this by subscribing to the we4you newsletter. You will always receive announcements of the most important events, dates and changes.
You can freely decide to which e-mail address the news should be sent.
Just visit this website and fill in the two fields at the bottom. You will then receive a mail with a confirmation link. Click on it and complete the registration.
You will always be well informed!
How do you get to Ilmenau and what do you do when you get here? You can find all the information below.
There are various ways to get to Ilmenau. You can find an overview here.
Most likely you will take the train to Ilmenau. This train is waiting at Erfurt main station. Make sure that you are in a car with "Ilmenau" on the line display. After that you can sit relaxed for a while.
Caution: There are several stops with ‘Ilmenau’ in their names. Stay calm and don't get off too early, you will recognise the correct stop by the additional English announcement. If you are unsure, you can always ask a train attendant for the correct stop and further information.
You can buy tickets for the train either online or on the platform.
For many things you need internet, which may not work with your mobile phone SIM-Card in Germany or may be very expensive.
Access to open and free WiFi is possible in many public places in Germany, e.g. at airports, train stations and tourist places and even in some trains. Many supermarkets now also offer free WiFi in their stores.
Some WiFi hotspots in Germany are operated by Telekom and you have to pay for them. However, you can usually surf for free for a short time. You can do this at Erfurt train station, for example.
In Ilmenau, you will find free WiFi at these places in addition to the WiFi at the university:
There is eduroam WiFi in the university buildings and also in some outdoor places on campus. Eduroam is an international initiative of universities that enables students and scientists to use WiFi easily and free of charge at all participating universities worldwide.
If you were already connected to the eduroam WiFi in your home country, your devices should also connect to the network and the Internet in Ilmenau without any problems.
If you want to connect to the WiFi for the first time, you will find instructions for different devices and security certificates for download in our cloud.
Please note: Due to energy saving measures, the eduroam WiFi is not available around the clock. You will also need your university account credentials to connect to the network.
The internet in the dormitories on campus is provided by a voluntary association, FeM e.V.. To get internet access you have to become a member of this association. To do so, you have to fill out the forms on this website and hand them in to the admin in your dorm.
The fee for the membership in the association (and therefore internet access) is 40 € per semester. When you register you have to pay an additional one-time fee of 25 €.
This is significantly cheaper than all commercial Internet providers and you always have a contact person on site.
Please note: not all dorms are equipped with sufficient WiFi resources. You should therefore bring a LAN cable and an Ethernet adapter (if necessary).
Without an address in Germany you won't really get ahead. Therefore, you should sign your lease as soon as possible. If you live on campus, you can do this at the Studierendenwerk in Haus B, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 98693 Ilmenau. Please contact the dormitory administration beforehand (Marlene Amling, +493677-691917).
If you do not live in an apartment of the Studierendenwerk, contact your landlord and make an appointment to sign the contract.
In both cases, make sure that you get the original contract and the so-called "Wohnungsgeberbescheinigung".
With this certificate you can officially register at the city of Ilmenau as a resident. To do this, you have to go to the Residents' registration office in the town hall.
During October 2 - 12, 2023, there are additional office hours of the city registration office:
Monday and Wednesday: 14 - 16 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday: 9 - 11 a.m.
You can find out which other documents you need to bring with you in our overview (see "Information documents").
Note: To avoid problems with the broadcasting fee (see below), you should only register the street and house number of your apartment with the city. If you live in a dormitory of the Studierendenwerk, do not register your room number!
As soon as you are registered, you can leave your new address wherever it is needed (health insurance, matriculation, ...).
All students (except for short stays) from non-EU countries have to open a bank account at a European (EU) bank for payments, direct debits or salary transfers.
You can do this in Ilmenau at one of these bank branches, for example:
Besides branch banks, online banks can also be a good option to open an account quickly. In case of problems, however, you have no personal contact on site. To open an account at an online bank you have to prove your identity, usually at a post office or by video call, for example via Postident online. Unfortunately, not all countries' passports are accepted here.
You can find out which documents you need to open an account in our overview (see Information documents).
Click here for a short video explanation
Every person living in Germany has to pay the so-called Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting fee). This is a contribution to finance the public television and radio stations and their online offerings.
You must therefore register your apartment on the website www.rundfunkbeitrag.de.
If you don't do this, you will receive letters after some time asking you to make a back-payment. Do not ignore these letters, otherwise you will have to face penalties and legal consequences!
Tip: In a shared flat (WG) you can share the contribution with your flatmates by registering with the contribution number of the WG (more precisely: the main payer).
To do this, you first register personally with the contribution service using this form. Then you wait for a letter in which you will receive your contribution number and a request for payment. Now go to the online deregistration form, enter your contribution number and choose as reason for deregistration that you move to another contribution payer. You then give your share of the broadcasting fee to the person who is already paying.
Your housing tutors can also help you with questions on this topic; you can find their contact details in the entrance area of your residence hall.
You can find more information about when and how much you have to pay here.
We have summarized all important information about the boradcasting fee on this poster.
Your visa is only valid for a limited period of time. It is therefore essential that you apply for a residence permit before your visa expires. Apply in time, about 8 weeks before your visa expires.
Follow the steps below:
After your arrival, it will soon be time for the lectures to start. For this you should be familiar with some processes and systems that are used at TU Ilmenau, which we explain here.
All students of the university receive a personal university account. It is the access to all IT services of the university (WiFi, Mail, Moodle, etc.) and consists of a user ID (scheme: abxy1234) and a self-selected password. The university computer center will send you an e-mail with information to the address you entered in the applicant portal.
Once you have completed your enrollment, you can register for your university account at https://service.tu-ilmenau.de/boarding. Please confirm the terms of use and the privacy policy. Afterwards you will receive your access data for your university account. You can use them to log in to the various services of the university in the future.
Please note: The registration will only work if your enrollment is complete. Without enrollment and a university account, you will not be able to fully participate in your studies.
Every student of the TU Ilmenau receives a personal email account together with the university account.
As a rule, the e-mail address is composed of the following pattern:
surname.lastname@tu-ilmenau.de
If there are several first or last names, they are appended to each other with a hyphen.
You can access your mailbox via the portal webmail.tu-ilmenau.de. This is the so-called "Webmailer".
For most students this possibility to read and write e-mails should be sufficient.
Of course, you can also integrate your university e-mail address into an external mail program (also on your smartphone). You can find more detailed information here.
Important: Always use your university e-mail address for all university matters. Also, check your mailbox regularly (preferably daily), as this is where you will receive official and important information from the university, examination offices and lecturers!
Here we have summarized some tips for you on how to formulate emails.
Click here for a short explanation video
The directory of all lectures, seminars, courses, etc. (Vorlesungsverzeichnis) is called "Opentimetable" in Ilmenau. All students enrolled in a normal course of study at the TU Ilmenau (i.e. not APC or exchange students) have to retrieve their timetable themselves.
Note 1:
By default, the display is always for exactly one week. If you don't see any events, make sure that you are in a lecture week.
With the grey arrow buttons in the upper right corner you can jump between the weeks.
Note 2:
You will see all courses that are available for your study program, even from elective modules all options are shown. Of course you only have to participate in the courses you have actually chosen. Therefore, not all dates displayed are relevant for you. We therefore recommend that you compile your own timetable based on the opentimetable, for example using Excel or by hand.
Language APC: You can get information about your courses and your study plan from TU Ilmenau Service GmbH (info@tu-ilmenau-service.de).
Master APC: Information about your courses and study plan can be obtained from the Central Institute for Education (ZIB) (apc@tu-ilmenau.de).
Further information can be found at: www.tu-ilmenau.de/apc.
Please contact our incoming coordination via email at incoming@tu-ilmenau.de for information about your courses.
At the TU Ilmenau Moodle is used in many courses to support face-to-face and online teaching. Moodle is a learning management system and provides digital course rooms. In these course rooms you can find working materials such as lecture slides and/or scripts, but also forums for exchanging learning content and interactive quizzes and tests can be taken. Very often lecturers require homework, assignments and similar results to be submittedvia Moodle for assessment.
You can access the learning platform at www.moodle.tu-ilmenau.de. To log in , use the credentials of your university account. After successful login you will see your personal dashboard.
Normally your lecturer will tell you when he/she is using Moodle. They will usually show you the name of the course. To find this course on Moodle, first log in.
On your dashboard you now click on the button "Zu allen Kursen". On the next page you can either enter the name of the course in the search field or search for it in the list. The list is sorted by faculties and institutes. (Abbreviations of the faculties).
When you have found your course, click on it. Now proceed as follows:
You will now see the course room and can familiarize yourself with it. Furthermore the course now appears in the overview on your dashboard.
Your personal overview page can quickly become very confusing. That's why there are a few ways you can clean it up .
For example, you can use a dropdown menu to select which courses are displayed on the dashboard (favorites, only current courses, etc.). You can also change the sorting of the courses.
You can also choose the way the courses are displayed. For a better overview you can use the list view .
On this page in the intranet you can find instructions and videos on various topics.
If you have questions about the content of a Moodle course, please contact your lecturer.
Cisco Webex is the video conferencing software used at TU Ilmenau for lectures, courses and much more. Every student can use this software to participate in virtual meetings or to organize meetings themselves.
Webex works either in your browser (Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) or if you have downloaded the software to your PC, Mac or smartphone. We recommend downloading it as you will be able to use more features.
After the installation you have to login at Webex. Enter your university email address (surname.lastname@tu-ilmenau.de) in the text field. You will be redirected to another login page. Here you have to enter your university user ID ( e.g. abxy1020) and the password of your university account. The window will close and you are automatically logged in to Webex.
In Webex there are two different ways to organize or participate in meetings.
In both cases, before joining a meeting, a preview window will appear where you can set your camera image and sound.
If everything is alright, click on the "Join Meeting" button and you're ready to go!
For detailed instructions, visit the official Webex Meeetings help page.
All students enrolled at the TU Ilmenau receive the so-called Thoska (abbreviation for Thüringer Hochschul- und Studierendenwerkskarte). You can pick it up in person at the ASC during the Opening hours. The Thoska is not only your student ID, but also a chip card with many different functions:
By showing your Thoska you can prove that you are a student at the TU Ilmenau both at the university and outside (swimming pool, museum, etc.). Therefore you have to validate your Thoska before each new semester. During validation, the date imprinted on the front of the card is renewed and the validity of the Thoska is extended. This is done at a specially designed terminal. You can find such terminals in the Humboldt Building, UniRZ, ASC and the university library. You can see how the validation works in this video. The validation only works if you have successfully re-registered for the new semester, i.e. if you have paid the semester fee.
On campus you can use the Thoska to pay at many places. For example, in the refectory and the library, but also at printers or the washing machines in the dormitories. For this you have to load money on your Thoska before the first payment. There are so-called "Aufwerter" in the Humboldt Building, the Röntgen Building, the University Library and the Mensa. You can use your bank card to transfer money to your Thoska. If you want to transfer cash to the Thoska, you can only do this in the Mensa (please note the opening hours!). As soon as you have transferred money to the Thoska, it is stored as a credit and you can use it to pay.
On the back of the Thoska there is a barcode and a number. This allows the university library and you to use the Thoska as a library card. The prerequisite is that you have registered at the university library. Online access to papers, journals and other library services is also possible without Thoska card. You can find all information about this on the website of the university library.
The Thoska can also be used as an electronic key for some rooms at the university, but also for barriers and access to the student houses of the Studierendenwerk. As a normal student, however, you will rarely use this function. And when you do, you will be made familiar with it.
For many years, the Thoska was used as a semester ticket. On 1 October 2024, this will change and the Thoska will NO LONGER count as a bus and train ticket.
At the TU Ilmenau there are various contact persons available to answer your questions depending on your issue. You can find out who you should contact with which question below.
The live welcome sessions are available in the first weeks before and after the start of the semester.
Here you can find the live sessions
In addition, we have recorded the sessions with all the information you need for a smooth start to your studies. You can watch the recordings here.
After your arrival in Ilmenau you are not alone. The we4you student service is there for you to answer all your questions about your stay. In addition, there is a large we4you community of advisors, tutors and buddies.
You can find an overview of the we4you services here and on our team page. Please do not hesitate to contact us outside of our office hours.
Subscribe to the we4you info mailing list to regularly receive up-to-date and important information for international students.
You can also find and follow us on social media: Facebook and Instagram.
It's perfectly normal to have some questions at the beginning. Depending on their nature, you will need to contact different people.
Your topic is not listed? No problem! You can still contact us and we will put you in touch with the right contact person.
Do not hesitate to ask us your questions. This is the only way we can help you!
Here we have linked some important documents that should help you at the beginning of your studies. In particular, you will find the information of our arrival website in a step-by-step checklist.