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TU Berlin

in Berlin · official site · International Office

TU Berlin is a founding TU9 university in the heart of the German capital, with one of the highest proportions of international students of any leading German technical university. Its Charlottenburg (City West) campus puts students in direct reach of Berlin's startup ecosystem, federal government, and international organisations, and it is widely regarded as Germany's leading university for urban and regional planning alongside its engineering, computer science and economics core. As a Berlin city-state university it charges no tuition — including for non-EU students — and the semester contribution (≈€280, exact total pending confirmation) includes the nationwide Deutschlandsemesterticket, delivered digitally via the S-Bahn Berlin app and re-fetched monthly — confirm the current arrangement at tu.berlin. Note the ticket history: TU Berlin students voted to abolish the old Berlin VBB Semesterticket (ended 30 September 2023), so guides describing a Berlin ABC-zone semester ticket are out of date. One honest caveat from student reviews: TU Berlin's StudyCheck average (3.7) is the lowest of the five universities profiled here, with run-down buildings and chaotic exam administration the recurring explanations — the counterweight to the capital-city, €0-tuition story.

Master's programmes here

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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 Office / Department of International Affairs

    First stop for international students: arrival support, visa/LEA guidance, orientation and buddy programmes, and dorm allotment for exchange students. Worth asking specifically whether the university-side visa-support route can submit your residence-permit application to the LEA — Berlin universities run such desks, and it can sidestep the appointment scramble. Official page

  • General Student Advising (Allgemeine Studienberatung)

    Programme choice, study organisation and switching, before and during your degree.

  • Career Service

    Jobs, internships and employer events — with Berlin's startup and industry scene as the hinterland.

  • ZEMS Language Center

    German courses at all levels plus language certificates — ZEMS also issues the onSET English test that TU Berlin accepts in master's admissions.

  • Centre for Entrepreneurship (Gründungsservice)

    TU Berlin is one of Germany's top founder universities; the Centre for Entrepreneurship supports student start-ups with coaching, incubation and funding routes — a real draw for the IMES and ICT Innovation audience. (Confirm the unit's current name and URL — 'StartUp Incubator Berlin' belongs to HWR Berlin, a different university.)

  • Psychological Counselling (via studierendenWERK BERLIN)

    Free psychological counselling funded by the semester contribution's social component — usually much faster than the statutory-insurance therapy queue. Official page

  • University Library (Volkswagen-Bibliothek)

    The central library, shared between TU Berlin and UdK Berlin, by the Charlottenburg campus.

  • Hochschulsport (ZEH)

    170+ sport courses at low student fees — one of the cheapest ways to meet people in a big city.

  • studierendenWERK BERLIN

    Mensa network (including the large Hardenbergstraße Mensa by the Charlottenburg campus), the dorm system, and international counselling — a separate organisation serving all Berlin public universities. Official page

Scholarship directory

  • Deutschlandstipendium at TU Berlin

    €300/month (half federal, half private sponsor) for one year, renewable — the confirmed TU Berlin-administered route.

  • Erwin-Stephan-Preis

    TU Berlin's own prize for outstanding graduates who complete their degree quickly, awarded twice yearly.

  • Sozialfonds semester-ticket subsidy (Semesterticketbüro)

    Low-income students can apply for a subsidy toward the semester-ticket portion of the contribution via the Semesterticketbüro shared by TU Berlin and UdK. Honest note: processing takes about a semester, and you must pay the full contribution first regardless.

  • DAAD scholarship database

    The definitive searchable database for international-student funding in Germany — the standard external route alongside Stipendium Plus (the 12 Begabtenförderungswerke). Note: Berlin-state/IBB student support was not confirmed this research pass and is 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 (Moses · ISIS · tuPORT · Application Portal + uni-assist)

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

Moses
TU Berlin's administrative account: exam registration and de-registration, tutorial-group sign-up and course admin. Exam registration is time-boxed with strict deadlines — miss the window and you cannot sit the exam. Students describe TU Berlin's exam administration as chaotic and German-first, so learn the Moses workflow in week one, not exam week. moseskonto.tu-berlin.de
ISIS
The learning management system (Moodle-based): course materials, assignments, forums and some online exams. Distinct from Moses — you will use both. Course enrolment in ISIS does not register you for the exam — that happens separately in Moses. The classic first-semester trap at TU Berlin. isis.tu-berlin.de
tuPORT
The newer 'Study & Teaching' student portal/app: enrolment and re-registration self-services, and where the Beitragsquittung (contribution receipt) lives. Paying the semester contribution from abroad? TU Berlin's own warning: bank fees are deducted from the transfer, but the FULL sum must arrive — send extra to cover fees.
Application Portal + uni-assist
Applicants with a German first degree apply directly in TU Berlin's Application Portal; international applicants with a foreign degree apply via uni-assist, with a VPD required from summer semester 2026. Only ONE master's application per semester is considered at TU Berlin — a second application, even after a rejection, is not. Choose carefully. www.uni-assist.de