As a rule, researchers who need a visa to come to Germany must be prepared to wait for about two to three months to receive it. Researchers from non-EU states need to obtain a written invitation from the host institute and present it to the German embassy in their home country. The letter of invitation should be printed on professional letterhead from the institution and include the following information to describe the stay as precisely as possible:

• Name of the researcher
• Period of stay at RWTH Aachen
• Purpose of the stay, such as doctoral studies, participation in a research project, etc.
• Information on funding; in case of regular employment please include information on the salary and the type of employment
• Costs which are not carried by the host institution should be explicitly named in the invitation, for example travel costs, health insurance

The purpose of the research stay decides on what type of residence permit the visiting scholar will receive. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

During the visa application process, your future guests will often have to present a hosting agreement. This is not only the case where an employment relationship is to be created, but it also applies to scholars and self-funded research stays.

A hosting agreement is concluded between a researcher and a research facility. For academic employees, the HR department shall fill out the hosting agreement once the recruitment process is under way. In the case of scholars, the hosting agreement is filled out and signed by the institute receiving them. The hosting agreement is to be filled out in German and may be annotated in English.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions on the hosting agreement

During the visa application process, your future guests will often have to present a hosting agreement. This is not only the case where an employment relationship is to be created, but it also applies to scholars and self-funded research stays.

A hosting agreement is concluded between a researcher and a research facility. For academic employees, the HR department shall fill out the hosting agreement once the recruitment process is under way. In the case of scholars, the hosting agreement is filled out and signed by the institute receiving them. The hosting agreement is to be filled out in German and may be annotated in English.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions on the hosting agreement.

Before an international researcher can be employed, it must be ascertained that their degree is equivalent to a German university degree. Thus, the certificate of equivalence, also called statement of comparability, is a prerequisite for employment.

Please use the online platform for the recognition of international degrees, where you will have to enter details on the individual who is being hired and upload the necessary documents. The certificate will then be issued by Division 2.1 – Admission and Social Affairs. This may take up to ten working days. As it takes some time to verify equivalence of the degree, we recommend applying for the Certificate of Equivalence as soon as possible. The certificate must also be available for all the other necessary steps for employment to be taken.

The equivalence of a foreign degree is also checked when applying for a doctorate. However, applicants initiate this process independently via RWTHonline.

When international graduates apply for admission to doctoral studies at RWTH, their applications are checked to see whether they fulfill the requirements for doctoral studies and one criteria for example is the equivalence of their university degree. This process can take several weeks. During this time, enrolment is not possible, which may cause problems in terms of the legal residence regulations.

None of the student dorm rooms or apartments operated by Student Services can be rented out to researchers or doctoral candidates.

RWTH has three guesthouses very near the University that offer different accommodation options. Generally it is important to reserve a room very early, that is many months in advance, since the demand is high. Please note that researchers cannot reserve a room themselves; the RWTH institute must register them.

On our accommodation page you can find information on the housing situation in Aachen and our Housing Guide with useful tips for you when looking for an apartment.

Institutes and chairs at the University can award an RWTH Aachen Travel Grant to international researchers who have completed their doctorates and are coming to Aachen for a short stay. The grant is a standard allowance for travel and accommodation costs incurred due to a research stay at RWTH Aachen University. In this way the University is promoting knowledge transfer with international partners. The Guidelines on Funding Scientific Exchange with International Scientists at RWTH (RWTH Aachen Travel Grant) dated July 20, 2018 regulate the allocation.

As in the case of the contract for work and services, which non-EU nationals are not allowed to conclude for various reasons, the funding of the grant is provided by the institute or chair. The administrative processing starts in the Welcome Center. Please contact us to initiate the application process.

A varied program of events, including career-related, social and cultural events, facilitates networking among international researchers and supports the formal and social integration of new employees from abroad.

In our regular workshops for institutes, we introduce ourselves and the services on offer to support you in looking after your international guests. Using best practice examples, we provide you with a wide range of information to help you prepare your guest's stay and arrival in the best possible way.

As part of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Philipp Schwartz Initiative, sponsorships can be applied for to admit researchers at risk. These are fully funded fellowships for research stays of up to 24 months. Nominations are open to researchers from all countries outside the EU who can demonstrate that they face pertinent threat. Further information can be found on the Philipp Schwartz Initiative website. Researchers cannot apply for the fellowship on an individual basis.

Successful institutions will be able to award fully funded fellowships for up to 24 months of research to the vulnerable researchers successfully nominated by them. This is supplemented by a stipend that relieves the host institution of the burden of supporting the integration and career restart of the fellowship holders.

If you have any questions or are interested in hosting a researcher at risk, please contact Cathrin Urbanke.

The German Research Foundation – DFG also funds the integration of refugees into the German research system. In principle, it is possible to finance refugee researchers in all funding programs with the approved funds without having to submit a separate application to the DFG. In addition, in certain funding programs – research grants, Priority Programmes, Research Units, Clinical Research Units, Centres for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences and Research Training Groups, it is possible to submit supplementary applications in order to integrate refugee researchers into DFG projects that have already been funded.

The Erasmus program is usually associated with student mobility, that is, students studying at a European university for one or two semesters to improve their language skills, acquire cultural competences, and make friends.
What is less well known is that Erasmus+ is also aimed at all university staff and offers a specific program for this group – Staff Mobility, ST for short.

Within this framework, you may receive requests from European colleagues who would like to visit your institute or chair.

The Erasmus+ program supports continuing education and training measures for academic and non-academic university staff in program countries for professional development and the expansion of internationalization.
For a collegial visit, usually in the form of a job shadowing, STT for short, it is not necessary to have a partnership agreement with the visitor's home institution.
If, on the other hand, the mobility project is for teaching purposes, STA for short, there must be a corresponding partnership agreement with the visitor's home institution. If you are unsure whether a partnership agreement is necessary for an upcoming visit or whether such an agreement already exists, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Find out what a Staff Mobility visit would mean for you in practice and how we will support you as a host:

Your benefits:

• Sharing best-practice experiences for your field: ideas, inspiration, active participation in the implementation of an internationally oriented university
• Using and improving your language skills
• Establishing contacts and building international networks
• Strengthening your competencies
• Considering your own mobility stay (funded by Erasmus+) and planning a return visit

What you have to do:

• Set up a work schedule together with your guest
• Support your guest during the stay
• At the end of the stay, issue a confirmation of stay (we can send you a template for this if you are interested)

Not your responsibility:

• The costs of the stay are borne by the guest (sponsorship by the home university). However, our recommendation is to invite the guest for lunch or dinner.

How we support you (International Office):

• We send a welcome email to the guest
• We send a welcome bag with information about a stay in Aachen (goodies, city map, hotel information et cetera)
• Upon request: we send a list of hotels
• Upon request: we provide suggestions for extracurricular activities based on our experience with previously conducted visits

Duration of stay:
Job shadowing or similar (STT)
Erasmus+ staff mobility is possible from a minimum of two consecutive days to a maximum of 60 days. At RWTH, stays of two to five working days are common.

Teaching stay (STA)
A teaching stay must include at least eight hours of teaching in a week or within a shorter period of time such as:

• Three-day stay – eight hours of teaching
• Seven-day stay – eight hours of teaching
• For each additional day beyond one week or seven days, the teaching hours are calculated proportionally. Example: Eight days' stay – rounded up to nine hours of teaching.