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KIT

in Karlsruhe · official site · International Office

KIT is the only German university that is simultaneously a state university and a national research centre of the Helmholtz Association — a dual mandate no other TU9 institution has, giving students unusually direct access to large-scale research infrastructure and paid research roles in energy, mobility, information technology and the natural sciences. It operates across two main sites: Campus South, in central Karlsruhe, where teaching is concentrated, and Campus North, the former nuclear research centre outside the city, which houses the Helmholtz research programmes — check which campus your programme uses before choosing where to live. Formed in 2009 by merging Universität Karlsruhe (founded 1825; older materials and review sites may still use that name) with Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe; one of Germany's 11 Universities of Excellence, and at roughly 23,000 students markedly smaller than RWTH or TUM. Note: KIT is a Baden-Württemberg state university. Non-EU/EEA students pay an additional tuition fee of €1,500/semester on top of the standard €201.50 semester contribution. One honest caveat from recent student reviews: several KIT programmes have recently been converted from German to English tuition, and reviewers report the switch can make lectures harder to follow — 'taught in English' and 'designed for international students' are not yet the same thing everywhere at KIT.

Master's programmes here

Compare all programmes with filters →

Services for international students

Your first stop for almost everything is the International Office: admission letters, visa questions, enrolment, and orientation weeks all run through it.

  • International Students Office (IStO)

    First stop for international degree-seeking students: admission, enrolment, and the tuition-fee desk (Zulassung: Studiengebühren, Adenauerring 2, studiengebuehren@intl.kit.edu) that administers the €1,500/semester non-EU fee and its exemptions. Official page

  • Zentrale Studienberatung (ZSB)

    Central study advising for programme choice, switching and study problems. Engelbert-Arnold-Str. 2, 76131 Karlsruhe · +49 721 608-44930 · info@zsb.kit.edu. Official page

  • Studierendenservice

    Enrolment, re-registration and student-records administration. Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe · +49 721 608-82222. Official page

  • Psychotherapeutic counselling (Studierendenwerk Karlsruhe)

    Included in your €109.50 Studierendenwerk contribution — as is personal liability insurance. Both are little-known and genuinely useful. Official page

Scholarship directory

  • Deutschlandstipendium at KIT

    €300/month (half federal, half private sponsors), initially for 2 semesters and renewable by reapplying. Criteria: excellent results plus civic/social engagement, with personal and family circumstances considered. Paid regardless of income or parental support, and not counted toward BAföG. Online form + PDF uploads. Official page

  • §7 LHGebG tuition remission (hardship)

    Honest framing: a hardship backstop, NOT a scholarship. Full or partial remission of the €1,500 non-EU tuition only where an unforeseen, unfaulted financial emergency arose AFTER starting a fully-financed course — requires a written account, Finanzierungsplan, 6 months of statements for every account in your name, and proof of four financing attempts. It does not help someone who cannot afford the fee from the outset. Official page

  • VM-Stipendium

    Up to €1,000 from the Verfahrenstechnische Maschinen research association, awarded twice yearly. Official page

  • Karlsruher Kreis e.V.

    Local association offering scholarships for master's students. Official page

  • DAAD scholarship database

    The definitive searchable database for international-student funding in Germany — the standard external route alongside the 12 Begabtenförderungswerke (Stipendium Plus). Note: the Baden-Württemberg-Stipendium and Helmholtz-specific scholarships are still being verified for KIT and are deliberately not listed yet. Official page

Amounts, windows and eligibility rules change every cycle; verify on the official pages before planning your budget around any of them.

Campus systems you'll actually use (Campus Management Portal · ILIAS · Studierendenportal (studium.kit.edu) · SCC Self-Services)

German universities split "one student portal" into several systems, and nobody tells internationals which is which. At KIT:

Campus Management Portal
Re-registration (Rückmeldung), exam registration and de-registration, certificates (Studienbescheinigung, Notenspiegel), address changes — and where the semester fee and the €1,500 non-EU tuition are paid each semester. Three traps confirmed for internationals: (1) exam-registration video tutorials are German-only (the English/German pair exists only for ERASMUS students); (2) fee payment by wire transfer counts on the date it ARRIVES at KIT (§13(1) of the enrolment regulations), transfers can take a week, and weekend deadlines do not roll forward — a SEPA direct-debit mandate avoids this; (3) admission decisions typically issue 3-4 weeks after the deadline, i.e. AFTER the re-registration deadline — current KIT bachelor students should re-register in the bachelor's to preserve status. Late re-registration costs €18; continued non-payment leads to de-registration ex officio. campus.studium.kit.edu
ILIAS
The learning platform: course materials, assignments, online courses. KIT runs an onboarding course, 'The first steps with KIT-ILIAS'. Same product name as TU Dortmund's ILIAS but a completely separate installation — your TU Dortmund research does not transfer. ilias.studium.kit.edu
Studierendenportal (studium.kit.edu)
The umbrella over Campus Management, ILIAS and the SCC self-services; the old portal still hosts the course catalogue (Vorlesungsverzeichnis). Honest note: KIT's systems are mid-migration — expect to use more than one portal until Campus Management absorbs the rest. studium.kit.edu
SCC Self-Services
KIT account and 2FA token management (Steinbuch Centre for Computing). 2FA covers ILIAS and Campus Management via Shibboleth. Lose your 2FA token and you cannot log in — KIT recommends printing a backup TAN list. Do it in week one. www.scc.kit.edu