The University of Potsdam, established in 1991 is a public higher education university in Potsdam, Brandenburg. The university has collaborated with faculties, research institutes, and cultural institutes within the region. The university offers research in disciplines like natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences. As per the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the University of Potsdam ranks #201–250 in the world

Programs offered at the University of Potsdam are organized into 7 faculties namely the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences, Law Faculty and Digital Engineering Faculty. The faculty of arts and faculty of science have the highest enrollments. In the winter of 2021-2022, the university enrolled 4,573 first-year students. The international student presence at the University of Potsdam is around 22% (as of Winter 2022)

University of Potsdam Student Enrollments
@University of Potsdam website

University of Potsdam Ranking

The University of Potsdam is 2023 rankings:

  • #601-650 in QS World University Rankings 2023
  • #201–250 in Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023
  • 401 in Academic Ranking of World Universities by 2022 Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Highlights

Type Public
Campus setting Urban
Academic Calendar Semester
Semester Winter/Summer
Annual Budget 128.8 Million EUR
Cost of Attendance 767 EUR per month
Academic staff 655
International students 2,911
Admission helpdesk Fax: +49 (331) - 977 - 1065

University of Potsdam Programs

  • University of Potsdam offers UG and PG programs. It offers single-subject as well as double-subject Bachelor’s degree courses.
  • Students can pursue Master’s degrees in various disciplines including Business Administration, Bioinformatics, Nutritional Science, History, and Psychology.
  • The Department of Linguistics offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computational linguistics.

Student enrollments by University of Potsdam faculty:

Faculty Number of Students
Faculty of Arts 5,306
Faculty of Science 5,063
Faculty of Human Sciences 3,885
Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences 3,531
Law Faculty 2,782
Digital Engineering Faculty 919
Faculty of Health Sciences set-up phase

University of Potsdam Campus & Accommodation

  • The University of Potsdam has three campuses:
    • Sanssouci park
    • Golm
    • Griebnitzsee
  • The Faculty of Philosophy is located on the New Palace on the edge of Sanssouci Park.
  • The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities is situated at Potsdam Golm Campus.
  • The Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Law faculty, and Digital engineering faculty can be found on Griebnitzsee, located near the film city of Babelsberg.
  • Golm Campus located in Brandenburg is an ideal landscape for combining modern technology, quality of work life, and study life.
  • Golm campus offers a wide variety of disciplines like life sciences, chemistry, geosciences, physics, mathematics, pedagogy, psychology, and music.

Residence

  • Studentenwerk Potsdam (Potsdam’s Association for Student Affairs) provides dormitories to students residing on the University campus.
  • The monthly rent of dormitories ranges from 140 EUR-435 EUR including heating, electricity, and water.
  • Students can reside in Schlachtensee with a single-room apartment or a WG room at a rent of around 250 EUR.
  • Students can rent private dormitories with an average minimum of 488 EUR per month.
  • Other than these, many other options are available for accommodation while studying in Germany.

University of Potsdam Application Process

If considering taking admission to the University of Potsdam, applicants must keep the following requirements in mind:

Particulars Details
Application Portal Online portal
Application Fee 75 EUR while applying online
Application Deadline
  • Bachelor’s degree – July 15
  • Master’s degree – Course-specific
Admission Documents
  • Application form
  • Secondary–level school leaving certificates
  • Transcript
  • Language certificate for English – IELTS, TOEFL
  • University entrance certificate
  • Studienkolleg and preparatory course Brandenburg (SVB)
  • Passport
  • ID photograph
  • Proof of financial support
  • Germany study visa
Language Proficiency Requirements
  • Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (GER) at Level C1
  • German language university entrance examination – DSH at Level 2
  • Certificate test German as a foreign language –TestDaF
  • Certificates issued by the Goethe-Institut
  • DSD German language diploma
Optional Documents
  • Resume
  • internship certificate
  • letter of recommendation

University of Potsdam Cost of Attendance

While there is no tuition fee, students have to submit a semester fee of 304 EUR (24,691 INR) to the University of Potsdam. The semester fee also includes a semester ticket for free public transport for the Berlin-Brandenburg transportation region, VBB. Expenses for learning material may vary depending on the subjects of study.

Expense Type Monthly Cost
Housing fee 314 EUR
Food 168 EUR
Learning material 20 EUR
Health insurance 80 EUR
Semester fee 51 EUR
Personal expenses 134 EUR
Total expenses 767 EUR

University of Potsdam Scholarships

  • There are many sources for prospective international students to fund education in Germany
  • Erasmus+ program provides total funding of 4 Billion EUR.
  • This program offers financial aid for one year to Bachelor’s and Master’s students with low-interest loans.
  • Students with good academic records and potential are provided with financial support in the form of a scholarship.
    • Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
    • Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
    • Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
  • KfW loan provides the students with a grant of 650 EUR per month.
  • The FH Wedel program offers a scholarship of 350 EUR every month to students in need of financial support.

University of Potsdam Alumni

  • Alumni network helps in connecting former students, current students, and University teachers.
  • The network also helps to provide upcoming job opportunities to alumni via the job portal.
  • Alumni are a part of group discussions and surveys conducted by the University.
  • Alumni programs help in benefiting the members throughout life.
  • Notable alumni of the University of Potsdam
    • Hubertus Heil – Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel
    • Svenja Jung – German actress
    • Franziska Weber –German sprint canoer
    • Abraham Taherivand – German computer scientist and board member of Wikimedia Germany

University of Potsdam Placements

  • University of Potsdam as an Entrepreneurial University offers sponsorships to start ups with innovative ideology.
  • The Founding and Transfer Centre of University of Potsdam combines offers for start-ups, contract and research.
  • EXIST start-up grant provides funding to graduates and academics from the university for their business plan.
  • Erasmus + is the program launched by European Union with the aim of improving skills of the prospective graduates and postgraduates hence providing them with better employment.