Mentoring Program for Senior Citizen Students and International Students

The mentoring program is a cooperation project between TU Dortmund University and the FH Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, in which senior students take over mentoring tasks to support the settling and integration of interested international students.

In sum, almost 50,000 students are enrolled at TU Dortmund University and the FH Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts - not only from Germany, but from more than 100 countries. For international students, studying in Germany often means settling into a new and foreign culture. To facilitate the integration of foreign students, the mentoring program was devised by committed senior students in 2008.

For this program we are constantly looking for new mentors who are willing to take care of one or more foreign students, help them to settle in our city and get more familiar with the German way of life.

For the mentors, the program offers the chance to establish exciting contacts with young people, learn more about other cultures and thus gain a different perspective on their own German way of life. Helping the students with written university assignments or letters of application is frequently very welcome as well. With the help of this mentoring program, the international students should gain further insight into German everyday life and improve their language skills through the vivid contact with native speakers.

The fun of getting to know each other and the common experience are in the focus of interest! As a mentor, you have no pre-determined duties, but can individually arrange activities and shape the time pattern of the partnership according to your wishes. You do not need to have any foreign language skills, since one of the main goals is to give international students additional opportunity to communicate in German. As the students do not only stay in Germany for one or two semesters, but most often for their entire studies, we hope for long-term commitment with regular contact.

If you have time and motivation to become part of a mentoring relationship, please do not hesitate to contact us – e.g. via e-mail or by telephone (see below), or feel free to meet us online:

When: during the lecture period, meetings will resume in October 2024

Where:  IBZ, Seminarraum 1, Emil-Figge-str. 59

After you have filled out the registration form, we will consult closely with you before putting you in touch with one or two foreign students - e.g. during joint activities.

We appreciate your interest!

You are an international student and would like to get more in touch with Germans or German families - even outside the campus? Would you like to speak more with native speakers to improve your language skills?

The mentoring program was initiated by senior citizen students of TU Dortmund University. It offers the opportunity to get to know a mentor from Dortmund and the region and thus learn more about German culture and everyday life. As a student you will not live together with your mentor, but you will get to know the social life in Germany better through joint activities. You will regularly meet on a weekly basis at our joint meetings, take part in various activities and can also meet individually with your mentor to exchange ideas and get to know each other's culture. Support in written university assignments or with letters of application is also possible.

Please do not hesitate to contact us – e.g. via e-mail or by telephone or just come directly to our online meetings:

When: Wednesdays, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Where: IBZ, Seminarraum 1, Emil-Figge-str. 59

After you have filled out the registration form, we will consult closely with you before putting you in touch with a potential mentor - e.g. during joint activities.

We appreciate your interest!