As soon as you have arrived in Potsdam or Berlin, please report your arrival and your address via the Moveon Portal*. We need your German address so that we can send you your information folder and e.g. the Erasmus+ Certificate of Arrival by postal mail. If you cannot travel to Germany and will study at the University of Potsdam from your home country, we will send the information folder to the address in your home country.
*You need the login-data for the Moveon portal you have already used (please do not register again but only log in).
The central university account (UP account) is your personal identification for access to a number of IT services, such like:
Before using it for the first time, you must activate your account on the Account.UP website.
Follow the steps for account activation. Please make sure to enter the same data as in your identity card/passport. You will also find instructions for account activation directly on the personalized letter under the Potsdam University chip card (PUCK).
The PUCK (Potsdam University chip card) will be sent to you by postal mail together with other important documents, if no personal delivery is possible. It serves as:
What to do if your PUCK is stolen or lost, how to use it as a money card and other topics can be found in the "Guide for International Exchange Students".
Your info folder with further important documents will be sent to you by postal mail, if no personal delivery is possible. Among other documents you will find your iTAN list, which you will need for booking courses in PULS.
You will also find relevant information on starting your studies summarized in our "Guide for International Exchange Students".
The departmental exchange coordinators as well as the faculty tutors are at your disposal. Make sure to attend the meeting with your departmental exchange coordinator before the start of the lecture period.
Lots of courses and advisory sessions take place digitally via the ZOOM software. Details on how to use ZOOM can be found on the Homepage of the University of Potsdam.
Please check regularly for Information on the consequences of the corona crisis on studies and teaching. Specific information can be found under "Consequences for international program and exchange students".
You can withdraw from enrollment until December 31, 2020. In this case you must submit an application form, sign it and send it together with your PUCK by postal mail to the International Office on time.
If you wish to postpone your stay to the summer semester 2021 or the winter semester 2021/22, please contact us.
Students having paid the deposit will receive their tenancy agreement and keys for the dormitory room from the house keeper, provided they are not subject to quarantine.
Therefore, please contact Mr. Ostermann from the Studentenwerk Potsdam at least 5 working days before your planned move-in to clarify the move-in: ronald.ostermann@studentenwerk-potsdam.de. Please do not use this email address for any other inquiries and state the title of the email "Move-in program student".
If you come from a pandemic risk area, you will need the following documents to move into the dormitory:
You can choose to stay in a hostel or a hotel (please bring a negaive PCR test!) for the time of the quarantine.
Information for tenants of the residence halls of the Studentenwerk Postdam
In this document you will find a detailed description of how to conclude the contract for the Internet. You can do this shortly before your arrival, so that the Internet is immediately available to you when you move in.
Detailed information on how to register at the Residents' Registration Office and the Foreigners Registration Office can be found in our "Guide for Program Students".
Students from pandemic risk areas must also register with the public health department.
If you come from a pandemic risk area, you must enter a 14-day quarantine immediately after arrival in Potsdam/Berlin and inform the responsible public health department about your entry (info from September 2020). On the homepage of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) you will always find the current international risk areas.
Contacts to the Potsdam public health department (Gesundheitsamt), Mrs. Bettina Gottschalk and Mrs. Nina Ulatowski: reiserueckkehrerrathaus.potsdamde
Contact to the public health department of Berlin under this link.
Under certain circumstances the public health department can release you from quarantine although you come from a pandemic risk area, e.g. if you can prove to the public health department a current negative test for the corona virus and a German medical certificate of freedom from symptoms (info from September 2020). The current regulations can be found in the Ordinance on Quarantine Measures for Entry and Return Travelers to Combat the SARS-CoV-2 Virus and COVID-19 in Brandenburg (Potsdam) or the SARS-CoV-2 Infection Protection Ordinance (Berlin).
Please note: the medical certificate of freedom from symptoms can only be issued within 48 hours after entry to Germany. Therefore, please make sure to make an appointment with the doctor in time!
If you need help, e.g. with grocery shopping, because you are not allowed to leave your home or receive visitors during the quarantine, please contact your buddy, the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) or the International Office of the University of Potsdam.
Contact to the ESN: infoesn-potsdamde / ESN WhatsAPP group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JIKt8EPvncl9rGrJWyumLI
On the homepage of the Robert Koch Institute you will find extensive information.
Only for the beginner course you do not need a placement test. Otherwise you have to take a placement test online and can then register for a course within the enrollment period. Detailed information can be found in this info sheet.
The German courses at the Zessko are not for students of German Philology.
There are special courses for exchange students of German Philology. Detailed information about the courses and registration can be found in this info sheet.
You can find detailed information about the language tandem on the Zessko website.