CORONAVIRUS – FAQs from the International Office

No face-to-face consultations shall be provided whilst public access to the campus is heavily restricted. Please send your queries to the members of staff at the International Office via email at any time.

The International Office is available over the phone as follows:
Tuesdays: 9.30 a.m. - 12.00 p.m. and 2.00 - 4.00 p.m.
Thursdays: 9.30 a.m. - 12.00 p.m. and 2.00 - 4.00 p.m.

As a general rule of principle, travel to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (from other federal states or abroad) is prohibited unless one of the exceptions named in § 5(2-11) of the State’s coronavirus ordinance applies.

Exceptions to the ban on entry include

• Persons who have a registered primary or secondary residence in M-V;
• Students enrolled at the University of Greifswald;
• Travel that is required for fulfilling work tasks;
• Travel for private visits to family relatives (immediate family), who have their primary residence in M-V.

Persons who have been in an international risk area at any point during the 10 daysprior to entry

• must self-isolate for 10 days after entry as defined in the 2nd SARS-CoV-2 quarantine regulations for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern [de]
• must inform the competent authority that they will comply with the self-isolation regulations using a digital registration on entry form. Please also take note of the District of Vorpommern-Greifswald’s travel information [de].

Exemptions from compulsory self-isolation can be granted under certain circumstances (no signs of illness, tests) to persons, who live abroad and, for example,

• travel to M-V for urgent professional reasons and regularly return to their home;
• are enrolled at the University of Greifswald as long as entry is urgent and for study purposes.

Further information can be obtained from the helpline at the Gesundheitsamt (Public Health Office) of the District of Vorpommern-Greifswald (Tel.: +49 3834 8760 2300 or corona@kreis-vg.de).

Members of the university community and visiting academics, who have travelled to Greifswald from an international risk area or have been to one of these areas during the 10 days prior to entry must please inform the University’s Coronavirus Crisis Team by sending an email to corona@uni-greifswald.de indicating the date of arrival.

Students abroad on an exchange programme organised by the University of Greifswald and who terminate their stay abroad, are not required to pay back the full funding amount. How this situation is dealt with depends on the exchange programme and length of the period of stay abroad. Please contact the International Office and keep an eye on the current information provided by the DAAD.

Students have been and will be nominated at partner universities for spring semester 2021. However, this is subject to

• the feasibility of periods of stay abroad on the part of the partner universities,

• travel possibilities at the planned time of departure and

• the guidelines issued by authorised bodies (Federal Foreign Office, Robert Koch Institute, etc.).

In view of the current circumstances, it cannot therefore be guaranteed that you will be able to start your period of stay abroad.

If required or it is sensible due to the current situation, nominated students for winter semester 2020/21 can be nominated for summer semester 2021 as long as it is possible for them and the partner university agrees.

Please contact the respective member of staff at the International Office by writing to erasmusuni-greifswaldde for a period of stay abroad with the Erasmus+ programme or hsauni-greifswaldde for a period of stay abroad at a partner university.

Postponing your stay for a whole year to winter semester 2021/22 is generally NOT possible – if students would like to do this, they will have to re-apply.

When preparing your period of stay abroad, please make sure you will not be faced with expensive cancellation fees if you have to cancel your flight etc.

Students can apply for funding for their internship via Erasmus+ and the PROMOS programme. We currently recommend you continue with your regular plans. Hopefully, the situation will change in the coming months and you will have a smooth start to your internship. If students, contrary to expectations, are unable to start their internship, we will try to provide the funding at a later date. When preparing your internship, make sure that you will not be faced with high cancellation fees, e.g. for flights, if things do turn out differently.

The winter semester has started on  01/10/2020, with the lecture period starting on 12/10/2020.

Teaching at the University of Greifswald takes place on site. Therefore, as a general rule of principle, face-to-face teaching remains the form of teaching we would like to provide. It is supplemented and enhanced by digital formats that enable the innovative realisation of teaching and learning goals. Digital teaching does not constitute an end in itself. If the pandemic-related contact and distancing regulations are still in place in winter semester 2020/21, it will be necessary to provide large amounts of digital teaching, but this is only due to reasons related to the protection of health. The most important information regarding the planning of teaching for winter semester has been summarised in a concept that has been agreed with the faculties.

Please visit our website regularly to keep up to date with current information. We will also publish all of the information regarding current developments at the University on our social media profiles.

Persons who have been in an international risk area at any point during the 10 daysprior to entry

• must self-isolate for 10 days after entry as defined in the 2nd SARS-CoV-2 quarantine regulations for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern [de]
• must inform the competent authority that they will comply with the self-isolation regulations using a digital registration on entry form. Please also take note of the District of Vorpommern-Greifswald’s travel information [de].

Exemptions from compulsory self-isolation can be granted under certain circumstances (no signs of illness, tests) to persons, who live abroad and, for example,

• travel to M-V for urgent professional reasons and regularly return to their home;
• are enrolled at the University of Greifswald as long as entry is urgent and for study purposes.

Further information can be obtained from the helpline at the Gesundheitsamt (Public Health Office) of the District of Vorpommern-Greifswald (Tel.: +49 3834 8760 2300 or corona@kreis-vg.de).

Members of the university community and visiting academics, who have travelled to Greifswald from an international risk area or have been to one of these areas during the 10 days prior to entry must please inform the University’s Coronavirus Crisis Team by sending an email to corona@uni-greifswald.de indicating the date of arrival.

Please contact your internship supervisor with regard to your arrival and stay in Greifswald. If you have reserved a room in a hall of residence, please inform the Studierendenwerk (Student Services) of your planned day of arrival by writing to wohnenstw-greifswaldde. Please also inform the University of Greifswald’s International Office by writing to incominguni-greifswaldde.

If you would like to cancel your exchange, please contact incominguni-greifswaldde.
We can reimburse 78 euros. This corresponds to the amount of the enrolment fee. The missing amount is the cost of the processing fees. If you would like to cancel your exchange, we will send you the paperwork for the deregistration and reimbursement of the semester fee.

• Inform the Office of the Rectorate immediately (coronauni-greifswaldde, or over the phone via 420 1104, Ms. Hosemann)
• Please inform the International Office (incominguni-greifswaldde).
•  The existing obligation to inform the Gesundheitsamt (Public Health Office) remains unaffected.
• You must observe the quarantine measures issued by the respective Public Health Office.

• Immediately contact the Gesundheitsamt (Public Health Office) that is responsible for your home address to clarify the next steps (for Greifswald and the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald: by writing to corona@kreis-vg.de or calling +49 3834 8760 2300).
• The university premises may only be accessed prior to the end of a 14-day period since you had contact if the Public Health Office has deemed this possible, i.e. has not ordered the person to remain in quarantine.
• If the Public Health Office has ordered you enter quarantine, please inform the University’s Coronavirus Crisis Team (corona@uni-greifswald.de) about the length of the quarantine period. Please indicate whether you are an employee or student.
• Employees must also contact their line manager/superior to clarify the next steps.