Study Buddy Programme

NO DATES AVAILABLE

The programme is open to students of all disciplines interested in voluntary work and exchange with people from other countries and cultures. You should at least be in your second semester.

Local buddies support one or more international students, answering their questions about living and studying in Hannover. You are welcome to get in touch with your international buddy before his or her arrival in Hannover via email, or via other means of communication such as WhatsApp and Facebook. Local buddies act as contact persons for international buddies. You should meet up on a regular basis during the semester. It is entirely up to you whether you meet for coffee, go to the events of the international office, or prepare a meal together. Many international students will be visiting Germany (or Europe) for the first time and will encounter new challenges while settling in. As a buddy, you can help and assist in overcoming these challenges. In many cases even good friendships have developed.

As soon as possible. For the summer semester you can register from January until the beginning of April and for the winter semester from the September until the beginning of October. Matching does not occur based on when you register, but rather on your availability.

The arrival of international students varies greatly, thus cannot be anticipated with certainty. Most students arrive in Hanover in September and October for the winter semester or in March and April for the summer semester. Some students arrive earlier to participate in language course or similar.

Depending on when the international students register, it is possible that you will get matched up as late as April/October.

Study Buddies will be allocated in August for the winter semester and in February for the summer semester. The exact date will depend on when the international students arrive as well as your availability. You need to have participated in an information event before you get matched. In general, matching ends in April or October.

Preferences with regard to languages spoken by the international buddy and their native country will be taken into account where possible. However, the number and nature of international students that register as well as your availability will determine whether such wishes can be fulfilled. Thus, fulfilment of such wishes may not always be possible or may only be partially possible.

Please keep in mind that we also want to encourage intercultural competences within the Study Buddy-Groups.

The Study Buddy Team is happy to help with any questions you may have concerning the programme and will gladly assist you in finding the relevant contact person with respect to any other questions. You can contact the Study Buddy Team via email at  study-buddy@uni-hannover.de .

The information event at the beginning of the semester is a great opportunity to meet other local buddies. Additionally, there will be a kick-off event each semester, where all local and international buddies can get to know each other.

Throughout the semester, there will also be events organised by the International Office, where local and international students will have many opportunities to meet.

Additionally, there are so called Get-Togethers or Meet-Ups where all international and local Study Buddies can get together.

Numerous information events will take place at the beginning of the semester (March/April and September/October). They will comprise an informative component, a short workshop on intercultural communication and a get-together where local buddies can get to know each other. The information events are identical in terms of content and you therefore only need attend once. Attendance is compulsory in order to receive a certificate at the end of the semester.

If you require a certification of your voluntary work (e.g. for BIKO), certain requirements must be met.

• you must attend one of the information events (information component, workshop and get-together)
  You only need to attend once during the course of your studies
• At the end of the semester in which you participated, you should also complete an evaluation form (see website). You need to complete this evaluation form every time you are requesting the certificate.

In order to receive a certificate for participating in the programme, you must request this via the website – it will not be issued automatically.