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International Office
Studierende laufen über den Campus. Es ist eine große rote Skulptur in Form von großen Zahnrädern zu erkennen. © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund

StartSmart - the game for international first-year students

Mastering the start of your studies with ease!

New at TU Dortmund University? Then play our "StartSmart" game on your cell phone and get lots of useful information about starting your studies! Together with your avatar, you solve tasks and questions about starting your studies and receive a variety of links and videos about everyday life at TU Dortmund University.

It continues in the winter semester 2024/2025!

StartSmart continues in the summer semester 2025!

Right now, StartSmart is taking a break - the game will be activated again in February 2025 for new students starting their studies in the summer semester 2025.

How does StartSmart help me start my studies?

Every day, your avatar has questions about studying at TU Dortmund University. Together, the videos of many contact persons at the university will help you: Experienced international students, student advisors, employees of faculties, the Foreign Language Center, the AStA, the International Office or the Foreigners Office Dortmund.

This will give you 25 days to get to know the university a little better.

A treasure hunt is also included - for those who have already arrived in Dortmund and want to explore the campus.

Logo of the game "StartSmart"

How do I play along?

All international first-year students receive access to the StartSmart game via a QR code. You log in with your university account, select English or German as your language and choose one of three avatars that you can help from now on.

An archive function makes it easy to look up content again after the game or simply in between.

 

What info do I get?

25 days, 25 topics - after all, there's a lot that's new when you start studying. These include questions such as:

  • What do I have to do again after enrollment?
  • Where can I get information about languages, e.g. learning German during my studies?
  • What would experienced students at the TU Dortmund advise me?
  • What should I know about insurance, financing my studies, or re-registration after the first semester?
  • Which portals and platforms are important for studying at the TU Dortmund? What is the difference between moodle, BOSS and LSF?
  • What do university facilities such as university sports offer me, why is the TU app useful and what does AStA actually do? And what were the student councils again...?

and some more - a total of 25 topics with short, informative videos, links and tips.

 

Check out this video to get a first-hand impression of one of our students who played StartSmart:

When does it start?

In February 2025! Then, you can join in at any time and play the game at your own pace.


So have fun playing!

Who developed the game?

StartSmart was developed and implemented jointly by the International Office (team "Degree Seeking Students") and the ITMC of TU Dortmund University (team "CC Development" and team "Media Services") and will be launched for the first time in the winter semester 2022/2023.

Start Smart is part of the sub-project "Digitization of existing services for international students" of the International Office's Pharus project. This is funded from 2020 to 2022 by the DAAD program "NRWege Leuchttürme - Projekte zur nachhaltigen Internationalisierung der Hochschulen in Nordrhein-Westfalen" with funds from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

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