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Welcome to the Digital Media Lab at the University of Bremen
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Hi there and a warm welcome to the digital media research group at the University of Bremen. With this document, we hope to give you some guidance for an easy start at our lab. You will hopefully find answers to most of your questions and necessary information for our work environment.
This document is structured in three sections. In the first part, we will outline the important information you need before your arrival, whether you join us from Germany, other EU countries, or from countries not part of the EU. The second part concerns anything you need once you make it to Bremen and our lab, giving you an overview of our key structures and staff. Lastly, we will explain certain processes that you will most likely encounter during your stay with us - like organisational matters and how we conduct research or teaching activities.
You can use the table of contents for guidance through this document.
Arriving From Outside of Germany 5
Telephone provider (prepaid) 7
Sick Leave (“Krankmeldung”) 13
Living in Germany / Exploring Bremen 20
BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL
Before you arrive (after you got the main paper work done with the help of our administrative staff) it is recommended to apply for your ‘ZFN account’ which gives you access to your university mail, the university’s WIFI (eduroam) and many other useful things. You can find information on how to apply and what your need here:
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/zfn/your-university-account/apply-for-a-university-account
Here are just some quick facts about Bremen. Bremen is (together with it’s habour Bremerhaven) one of the 16 federal states of Germany. It has a population of 563.290 people. It is organised into 23 districts:
Bremen has a train station where regional (RE & RB) and interregional trains (IC & ICE) are stopping. To get the connections check out bahn.de for the Stopp ‘Bremen Hauptbahnhof’ (the ‘bahn’ or Deutsche Bahn (DB) is the main company running trains in Germany).
The public transport is the BSAG (https://www.bsag.de/) - we have busses and trams. The tram line 6 is going from the main station to the university (direction ‘Universität’) in roughly 15 minutes and the most important stopps at University are ‘Universität Zentralbereich’ and ‘Universität Süd’.
Bremen also has an airport (code BRE) and the airports of Hannover (code HAJ) and Hamburg (code HAM) are also just about 1.5 hours away and easily reachable by public transport.
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ZFN account
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Liste der Stadtteile
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Kurz Bremen
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Link zum öffentlichen Transport
Arriving From Outside of Germany
If you are coming from a country outside the European Union, you should consider the following when you arrive in Bremen during your first weeks. More information can be found at the following link.
https://www.bremen-research.de/en/welcome-center
Finding a place to stay
The welcome center offers a few tips on what to look for, e.g. furnished vs. non-furnished appartments/rooms and what abbreviations in rent advertisements mean. Also the government has a website that provides some tipps: https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/living-in-germany/housing-mobility/looking
It should be possible to find a place in Bremen but it might take a bit longer if your arrive in September/October (and maybe March/April) as the semester starts then and many new students also look for places.
We compiled a list of websites to use for your search:
- wg-gesucht.de
- ebay-kleinanzeigen.de
- immobilienscout24.de
- immowelt.de
- immonet.de
- vonovia.de
- gewoba.de
- home.company/welcomecenter-bremen
Based on experience of group members arriving we can say that 1. to 3. are better than others. The first one is more orderly and convenient for searching.
Number 2 is also good, with the difference that in addition to searching based on specifications, you can place an ad and specify that you are looking for a house with these specifications. You can put your number if you want. Landlords will call you.
Number 1 and number 2 were the most useful for our new group members, but be careful, the first one has a lot of scammer ads. No 7 - Gewoba is partially hold by the city and among the better companies owning flats, it makes sense there to look not just on their website but to contact them with your needs because many flats are rented out before even going online.
City registration
You have probably already rented an apartment and contacted the property owner to get the keys and the rental contract. In Germany, you must register your home address. The registration must be made within two weeks after moving into the (new) apartment at one of the BürgerService facilities of the Bürgeramt. Under the following link, you will find all the necessary information and documents in English.
Opening a bank account
After registration, you will be able to open a new bank account. There are some banks in Bremen, and each has its requirements that you should check on their websites. One of them is the Sparkasse Bremen, which has a branch at the university in front of the Mensa.
Take out insurance
In Germany, everyone is required by law to have health insurance, including international students. PhD students who are not employees of the university and are under 30 years of age can sign up for public health insurance. However, those over 30 years of age should seek private health insurance. The welcome center provides information on this, so please check out their website under Arrival > Insurances. Link einfügen?
Extend the visa via BSU ✈️
Depending on how many months you have already received a visa from the German consulate in your country, you will need to extend your visa and apply for a residence permit. How the procedure works and which documents you need, you can find out under the following link.
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/bsu/residence-permits
Telephone provider (prepaid)
Based on your needs in the first month of your stay in Germany, prepaid phone plans may be a better choice, as you are not tied to a long-term contract. The two primary ways to buy a prepaid SIM card are online or in physical stores such as grocery and cell phone stores, fuel stations, and supermarkets (Aldi, Lidl, Rewe, Edeka, Kaufland, Netto, Penny, Real).
UPON ARRIVING
First things first: We have a regular group meeting Wednesdays from 11-12 am. As it is often the only time that we all get to see each other, everyone is expected to attend these meetings. Of course, you may sometimes have urgent and unavoidable obligations, but in all other cases, please join us.
The PhDs and Postdocs have an additional weekly meeting every Monday from 11-12 am. This is mainly to keep each other updated and share ideas or struggles. It is further a great round for new members of the team to get to know their peers.
The lab also has its own website. We try to keep it updated with the latest news about things that we have done in the form of our research, projects, or topics related to our team. This includes you! Each member, regardless of their function in the team, has an individual page including contact details and a brief description about themselves. In order for you to get your own, please reach out to one of our technicians listed below.
Premises
Below, we collected the most central information about our lab to give you a good idea of where you are and who we are.
The Lab Itself
The DM Lab is located on the 6th floor of the MZH (“Mehrzweckhochhaus” = multi-purpose high rise), which is in the centre of the University Campus, near the tram stop Zentralbereich.
If you don’t know your way around the university campus, its website has a map of the entire campus here, as well as maps of the individual floors of the buildings here (this is useful if you don’t know where a certain room is. Unfortunately, the map for the 6th floor has not been updated yet after a recent renovation).
Here you can also find a map of our floor, which is labelled with who is in which office.
The Staff of the Lab
Here, we will briefly outline the administrative structure of our work environment.
Rainer Malaka
Rainer Malaka holds the professorship for the Digital Media study program, leads the lab, and is most likely your supervisor.
Mail contact: malaka@uni-bremen.de
Secretary's Office
The secretary’s office is currently run by three people. If you have any questions about administrative things, this is likely the right address; be it necessary documents, setting up your office, or needing material - later also travel plans, sick leave, or vacation. In the rare cases that you cannot be directly helped here, they will almost certainly know who can.
Mail Contact: dm-sekr@tzi.de
Technicians
This department is important if you need anything regarding hard- or software. Do you plan a study where you require a server running a special software? Do you need specific devices, smartphones to test apps or run experiments, or licences for software? Our technicians are very helpful and should be able to set you up. Also, login information for most of our lab’s online subscriptions is kept here.
Mail contact: dmadmin@tzi.de
Postdocs
Our postdocs are experienced researchers who have all gone through what new PhDs are currently undergoing. New PhDs will be assigned a PostDoc who will provide support throughout the next years. They should ensure to meet them regularly so they can help better with research-specific questions and problems. From PostDocs it is expected to support the PhD students with their expertise. On top of that, most PostDocs also will support the third-party research projects regarding project management or be more involved in teaching. Some PostDocs might also have the qualification to grade student theses (Bachelor & Master thesis) as a 2nd reviewer.
PhDs
If you joined us as a PhD student, you are now part of a diverse group of interested early career researchers. You will find that instead of one particular research focus, we look at a wide range of topics encapsulated within Digital Media.
You can (but dont have to?):
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Enroll as a student (cheap travel and food)
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https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/studies/orientation-application/enrollment-as-a-doctoral-student
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https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/fb3/the-faculty/organization/doctoral-studies
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Enrol as a phd (benefits ??)
Although most experience will be shared among PhDs, there are slight differences between their employment.
Grad School - Empowering Digital Media:
If you are enrolled as a stipendee, you are part of a specific PhD program with certain credentials to keep in mind. First and foremost, you are not employed by the university and thus are free of implied obligations such as official leave statements or limited vacation days. Under circumstances, it may be advisable to also enrol officially as a student at the University of Bremen. Benefits include lower fees for certain venues and a ticket for free regional public transportation.
Project
Landesstellen
There are two types of employment at the University of Bremen: Project Fundings or Landesstellen (Fundings from the federal state of Bremen). Projects are funded by the EU, DFG (German Research Community), or the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research). There are several minor other fundings, but EU, DFG, and BMBF are the most popular. Researchers who work on these projects have to follow a research plan, and most of the time, they try to make the Ph.D. fit into this project. All projects are limited for some years (2-6).
We only have a few Landesstellen, there, you have to do a lot of teaching, but you are free to pick your research topic. In both contracts, you have six years to finish your thesis. You are free from these obligations when you are on a stipend, but you only have three years to finish your thesis.
The University
Get a mensa card?
Digital Communication
Here, we will collect our communication tools. Most happens via Slack; other things are better said via mail.
Slack
For online communication, Slack has proven to be an important medium, especially during pandemic times. Multiple sub-channels focus on specific lab- and research-related issues. Since we have used the app’s ‘pro’ version, we have access to unlimited messages.
Here is a list of the most important Slack teams:
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Digital Media Lab
digitalmedialab.slack.com
This is the lab’s Slack. It has a #faq channel that collects a lot of stuff for everyday work in our lab. When you join the slack you will be automatically added to that channel. -
Grad School Empowering Digital Media
gradschool-edm.slack.com
Though this Slack was started to connect Stipendees (Scholarship) of the Graduate School EDM (Empowering Digital Media), it has grown to become a great place to connect people from multiple labs and universities. -
dmlab-students
dmlab-students.slack.com
For bachelor’s/master's students of the digital media lab, this Slack serves as a network to share experiences. If you supervise a student writing their bachelor's or master's thesis, invite them to this slack.
Mailing Lists
Additionally to the Slack teams, the lab has mailing lists which are used to reach specific people or for things important to all. If you want to make sure that all people get your news, use this channel. Also, some of the more senior staff check mail more reliably than their Slack.
- dm-sekr@tzi.de — all secretaries
- dmadmin@tzi.de — technical staff (Irmgard & Philipp)
- dmstaff@informatik.uni-bremen.de — all members of DM Lab
- aghci@informatik.uni-bremen.de — all members of the HCI group
- hcidm@informatik.uni-bremen.de — everyone from DM Lab & HCI group
Owncloud Calendar
There is a calendar “DM_Research” in the owncloud service of the FB3 (http://owncloud.informatik.uni-bremen.de/) listing recurrent and single time events relevant for the work group.
NOW THAT YOU ARE HERE
“Orga stuff”
If you are a Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in, you are employed by the University, which is part of the Öffentlicher Dienst. Germany’s Öffentlicher Dienst comes with some perks for its employees, but also with a lot of rules, regulations, and Anträge for everything.
If you have questions about “official” stuff (e.g. if you’re sick, want to take a vacation, need a certain form, etc.), you can always look through the Wiki or ask someone from our secretary's office for help.
It is also good to know the person in the Personaldezernat (HR) who is responsible for you - usually, that is whoever you were in contact with when signing your employment contract. This is the person who can help you if, for example, you want to move and let the university know your new address.
Links & Resources
On our lab Wiki, you can find information about or links to relevant information on practically everything you might need to know about - organisational matters, technical infrastructure, lab interna, helpful resources, links to all the necessary forms, accounts, storage spaces, etc. Take some time to look through it. Also, save the Wiki password in your password manager; you might need it in the future ;)
In this part of the university website which is only for employees, you can also find a ton of information on things like regulations and forms that you need (e.g. for travelling), as well as information about people who can help you in case of problems, consultations e.g. on how to align your job and family life, accommodations for medical problems, and so on.
Unfortunately, most of it is in German - if you need help with this, don’t hesitate to ask any of your German speaking colleagues.
If you are enrolled as a student - the MOIN portal provides you with the certificate of enrollment.
The online tools group a lot of functionality provided by the ZfN (Zentrum für Netze - center for networks, basically the people in charge of mail addresses etc). You can change your WiFi password, set up an automatic reply for your mail, create an email alias and many more things.
other documents/anträge?
- WiMi info e.g. how to get added e.g. to Wimi-Verteiler? what about regular wimi etc meetings?
- BYRD?
Absence
There are different reasons to be absent from the office: being on sick leave, being on vacation, being on a business trip and mobile office.
Sick Leave (“Krankmeldung”)
When you notice that you are sick, e.g. have a cold, migraine or worse, please inform the secretary’s office (-> Secretary's Office) as early as possible. Additionally, put Rainer in CC and maybe colleagues you have appointments with that day. You do not need to disclose what makes you take a sick leave.
In Germany there are certain rules regarding an official doctor’s note for a sick leave. You will need an “Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung” (incapacity certificate), short “AU”, when being absent more than three consecutive days (this includes weekends, see Fig. XX). So if you already know that you will be absent for more than a day, e.g., when you have a cold, call your doctor (general practitioner) for an official sick leave. This is important as they cannot put a past date on the incapacity certificate. After three days the university needs the copy which is meant for the employer (ask the secretaries if a scan is sufficient at first, but for longer absences you will need to send the employer copy to the university). If you are not able to work for more than 6 consecutive weeks because of the same reason, there are some special rules regarding your payment – please ask a colleague or our administration staff. If you have a stipend – this does not apply to you, but please inform our administrative staff that you are absent.
Once you are recovered, do not forget to also inform the secretaries that you are back at work!
If you work on a stipend: congratulations – the following rules do not apply to you, but the 30 days should be a rough guideline. You just need to ask Rainer whether it is okay that you are gone during the planned period of time and inform the secretary’s office (-> Secretary's Office).
If you are employed by the university on a 100 % work time contract you get 30 days per whole year of vacation days (if you have a reduced contract - you get a part of the 30 days). You can request an overview of how many vacation days you have (left) via email (urlaub@vw.uni-bremen.de). To take your vacation days you need to follow a few steps. First, talk to Rainer if he has any objections to you going on vacation for your planned period of time. Then fill out an “Urlaubsantrag”. The official rules say – or more strongly recommend – to apply for your vacation at least 4 weeks before you will be gone. The form can be found
- here (last checked 21st Oct. 22),
- on the university website in the “intern” area: top right corner (login with your zfn account) > Beschäftigten Portal > Menu “Direkt zu” > Urlaubsantrag (under “Formulare”) > Menu “Formulare” > C.34 “Erholungsurlaub” (path last checked: 21st Oct. 22)
- or ask our secretaries or your lovely colleagues.
This document needs your and Rainer’s signature, so either hand it to him directly or give it to the secretaries. After a while you will get an email that your vacation days were officially approved (or not). If you get sick during your vacation you can get the days officially back, but only if you provide an official incapacity certificate and timely report to the university. If you did not find the time to take all vacation days within the same year, you can still take them the next year until the 30th September. Afterwards, they are gone.
Business Trip
Going on a business trip is exciting, but comes with a bit of paperwork to fill out in advance, some precautions with booking means of transportation and places to sleep, and the reimbursement of your costs. For all travels there are two important documents for you to fill out to get your money back and be properly insured during your travel:
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Reiseantrag (travel application) - this needs to be sent in at least 14 days prior the day you leave! If you travel outside of Germany, you additionally need to submit a Gefahrenbeurteilung (danger assessment) as outlined below.
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Reisekostenabrechnung (travel expense report) - this needs to be done at the latest 6 months after your trip
Both can be found here:
- on the university website in the “intern” area: top right corner (login with your zfn account) > Beschäftigten Portal > Menu “Direkt zu” > Einrichtungen > Reisekostenstelle > side bar contains box “Formulare” (path last checked: 21st Oct. 22)
- or ask our secretaries or your lovely colleagues
In general, the university will pay for your accommodation (a single room in a hotel - you do not have to share a room) and your travel (e.g. train or plane depending on the distance). You also get a per diem allowance (“Tagespauschale”) to cover your meals. The amount for this depends on the country and city you are travelling to. The university will not reimburse expenses for individual meals, you have to pay all your meals from your allowance or pay for more expensive dinners yourself. The allowance is not meant to cover all expenses but only the added costs of living compared to when you’re at home. You can however get reimbursed for additional expenses such as public transport tickets in your destination city. Make sure to keep the original receipts of everything you pay for, like the hotel or additional tickets! You will have to hand those in afterwards.
It can happen that you have to advance quite some part of your travel expenses. There is the possibility to get an advance on the travel costs for an already approved travel. On the website of the Reisekostenstelle there is a form for “Vorschussantrag (Version 01.17)”.
The university currently (as of Oct. 2022) has a contract with the DERPART travel agency with the online portal Atlatos for online booking. You are required to book all your trips using their system. If not, there is a high chance you will not be reimbursed!! To be able to book via DERPART/Atlatos you need an account for the platform. You can find the “DERPART-Anmeldung (Version 06.21)” listed on the website of the Reisekostenstelle with the other forms. Tipp: It might make sense to give a “Buchungsberechtigung” to the secretaries.
The university (and this is enforced by the Reisekostenstelle) asks you to book the cheapest option available within a certain limit. But your safety and some common sense (such as distance to the work location) is also important here. For all countries there is a defined amount of how much they expect a hotel to cost (ask your colleagues or the Reisekostenstelle about the list/numbers) - if you are below that you are normally on the safe side. If you are above you need to prove that this is the (only) valid option, e.g., if everything else is even more expensive, if it’s the only one available, if it is the only one in a reasonable distance to the venue, or similar. Please document this by making screenshots. When booking a hotel and you are a breakfast person - we recommend to book a room with breakfast included, otherwise the hotel breakfast will be subtracted from the “Tagespauschale” (per diem allowance), which is supposed to reimburse you for additional food costs during your travel.
Going by plane or car needs an extra explanation of the necessity of these means of travel. For overseas trips, this can be simply “not reacheable by train”; and in Europe you can book a plane ticket if the train ride would be more than 15 hours. Within or close to Germany you need a better reason. Travelling by your own car is (based on experience) accepted if you have heavy or large hardware to transport, but you will just get reimbursed with 15ct to 30ct/km. If you need a rental car, we would recommend talking to the Reisekostenstelle if they can approve that based on your circumstances or read their FAQ.
The following sections go into detail of travelling within Germany, within the EU or to somewhere outside the EU. Depending on where your passport is from and where you are travelling to please be aware that you need to check if any visa regulations apply to you (for German passport holders this means for example applying for ESTA before travelling to the United States of America). Generally, you can get reimbursed for the visa costs in your Reisekostenabrechnung.
Travel within Germany
For traveling within Germany you only need the two forms mentioned in the beginning. Depending on the city, the limit for hotel prices can differ (again, ask your colleagues if they know or the Reisekostenstelle). But generally, if you are below 70 €/night you should be on the safe side (source: https://www.transparenz.bremen.de/metainformationen/allgemeine-verwaltungsvorschrift-zum-bremischen-reisekostengesetz-bremrkgvwv-170328?asl=bremen203_tpgesetz.c.55340.de&template=20_gp_ifg_meta_detail_d#gesivz10 > 7.1.3).
📄Paper work needed:
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Reiseantrag
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Invitation
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Reiseabrechnung
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approved Reiseantrag
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receipts from your travel
Travel within the EU
When travelling within the EU you need two additional forms: the “Gefahrenbeurteilung” (danger assessment) of your destination and a short form of the “Entsendung” - A1 (last checked: 21st Oct 22). The “Entsendung” (sending) form is relevant in case something happens to you (hopefully not). The form and more information on “Entsendungen” can be found on the university website in the “intern” area (top right corner (login with your zfn account) > Beschäftigten Portal > Direkt zu > Dezernate/Dezernat 2 - Personaldezernat > Service A - Z > Entsendung ins Ausland). It proves that you have an insurance during your stay abroad. You will get a document back that you have to carry with you while travelling. Please ask the secretaries or your colleague for these forms.
The data needs to be entered by you and Rainer needs to sign the Gefährdungsbeurteilung in addition to the Reiseantrag. If you do not hand it in with your Reiseantrag, it will not get approved.
📄Paper work needed:
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Reiseantrag
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Invitation
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Gefahrenbeurteilung
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A1 form
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Reiseabrechnung
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approved Reiseantrag
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receipts from your travel
Travel outside the EU
When travelling outside the EU you need the Reiseantrag and the Gefährdungsbeurteilung and also the long variant of the “Entsendung” form, which is relevant in case something happens to you (hopefully not). The forms can be found here: https://www.dvka.de/de/arbeitgeber_arbeitnehmer/antraege_finden/entsendung_ausland/entsendung/entsendung_ins_ausland.html (last checked: 21st Oct. 22). You will get a document back that you have to carry with you while travelling.
📄Paper work needed:
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Reiseantrag
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Invitation
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Gefahrenbeurteilung
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“Entsendung” form for the respective country
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Reiseabrechnung
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approved Reiseantrag
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receipts from your travel
Research at the DM Lab
In this section, we will describe how we conduct research at our lab. We will outline the current research culture including how we work together to realise our research ideas. We then continue to provide some important detail for PhD candidates and will lastly include roles taken by Postdocs of our labs.
Lab Culture
Overall, our lab is defined by the freedom given for doing our research. Depending on your contract, this may be limited by obligations that stem from, for example, but are not limited to, project or teaching requirements. This freedom extends to the way that we conduct our research. Currently (as of October 2022), you are mostly free to choose to work from your office or your home. However, the University of Bremen asks its employees to be in office at least 60% of their hours, meaning you should come in at least 3 days a week. Regardless, there are many benefits for working in the lab, as communication and acclimatation is much easier, especially if you just arrived.
Another key element of our element is independence. Although some labs and universities have a curriculum for their PhD students to complete, such as coure-work or stage-transfers, this is not the case here. Instead, you are expected to conduct your research individually. This does not mean that you have to work all by yourself. It simply means that if you encounter obstacles during your work, you should reach out yourself first. Especially in the beginning, you may need to do things that you have not yet gained the skills or know-how for, like certain statistical analysis or more general methodologies. Fortunately, the team includes many experienced researchers that will likely be able to help you out or point towards the right direction.
You will notice that our team is as broad as its name ‘Digital Media’ suggests. We work with all kinds of user interfaces - VR, AR, CUIs, GUIs... you name it. Some research is about digital health, others focus on usable security. We have people interested in linguistic narratives, while others focus on game related research. This further allows all possible permutations between foci. The reason behind this diversity is partially due to the projects our team is involved in, partially due to the interest brought up by each individual.
This diversity is also mirrored by the range of equipment that we have immediate access to. The lab comprises three labs – a VR lab with a range of hardware devices including fitness tracking equipment for related research, a FabLab including 3D printing, and a film and photography lab with a greenwall. All this is usually free for usage – with certain limitations in case an official introduction is required or the lab is currently used by someone.
You will likely have agreed to a topic with Rainer before you started. But if you have a spontaneous idea that you wish to work on, there are opportunities to pursue it (maybe limited by funding, in which case see below). Not rarely, great project ideas are developed during breaks and then realised by finding allies. To start off, you could bring it up in the weekly PhD round to get early feedback.
Structure of the PhD
- Promotionsordnung link
- Promotionstypen - cumulative vs mono
- No courses required
- funding?
- what are the expectations for new PhD students (e.g. on publishing papers)
- can you go to a conference?
- where do we store our publications?
If you have questions about this kind of stuff, you should ask… your postdoc?
Researching as a Postdoc
When you finish your PhD you are a postdoc. Often you are experienced in one particular field and still interested in research. But the time in academia is limited; after your Phd it is only possible to stay at the University for six years (additional time if you have kids). Except you are a lecturer (e.g., Robert), a manager (e.g., Gerald), or a professor (Rainer). Otherwise, the time a postdoc is very often an orientation phase, whether they want to be a professor, a lecturer, or work outside of the University. Therefore, every contract is bound to a goal, e.g., writing more publications to become a professor. Postdocs often have permission to supervise students and courses independently if they have enough Teaching Experience.
Furthermore, they should help the Phd Students write papers or manage projects. We link each Phd student to one postdoc for a regular, in-depth discussion of your topic. If you have no postdoc assigned, ask the boss.
Teaching at the DM Lab
For questions about this kind of stuff, ask… you buddy? your post doc?
Then, we should have here some general info on what is expected of you as a phd student.
Supervising Students
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how does student supervision work?
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Student theses club
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what do you do if you want to supervise students for specific topics?
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list of students/student slack
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official procedure for students (photo, mailing list, presentation in the group meetings)
Courses
- what are our regular courses? (students from other unis might want to look at the material too?)
- what about being tutor for courses?
- what if you have ideas for new courses?
Living in Germany / Exploring Bremen
Here we will provide some insights or tipps for you. We do not claim to be complete in any kind, so please feel free ask your colleagues if you do not understand something, if you want to know something or if you want insider tips ;).
Germany is kinda ‘old-fashioned’ - we use still use cash quite often and especially credit cards are often not accepted in small stores. So it can be handy to have some cash with you. But all big stores like the supermarkets REWE, ALDI, NETTO, LIDL and Co accept basically all cards.
As you might have heard - in Germany all shops are closed on Sunday. If you urgently need some stuff on a Sunday, you might get lucky at a gas station or Rossmann in the main station.
Bremen is a very ‘bikable’ city - so going around by bike, especially in the center, is often much faster than public transport. So if you stay for a longer time and can ride a bike - get one. If you hesitant to buy one (e.g. off ebay-kleinanzeigen.de) - you could rent one at this company: https://swapfiets.de/en-DE (roughly 19-23 €/month) or you can take one of the bike-sharing bikes, e.g. labeled by the Weser Kurier (local newspaper): https://www.bremen.eu/wk-bike
Germany has different public holidays for each federal state. On a public holiday all shops are closed and the university generally as well. Bremen is one of the 16 federal states and please use the link below to inform yourself about public holidays in Bremen (or other federal states if you plan to travel) - or google ‘public holidays bremen’
⚠️the 31. October is also public holiday in Bremen for a few years now - that one is missing above
⚠️On the 24th and 31st of December shops close earlier (as it is Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve) and university might be closed as well
Check out the website of our tourist information to explore Bremen:
We collected some food recommendations from our members - check them out here:
When eating out in Germany, the fees for the personal are included in the price, but tipping is of course welcome. The rule of thumb is 10 % (you can depend that on how good your experience is) and people tend to round up to full euros.
We collected some recommendations where to dive into the night life:
And we collected some sightseeing things you should not miss:
Bremen has two big fairs throughout the year - the “Osterwiese” (Easter Fair) around Eastern and the “Freimarkt” in Autumn/October. Both happen on the <span data-rich-links="{"fple-t":"Bürgerweide, Bremen","fple-u":"https://www.google.com/maps/place/B%C3%BCrgerweide,+Bremen/data=!4m2!3m1!19sChIJXQO751wpsUcRD1wKwXIMdeo","fple-mt":null,"type":"first-party-link"}" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bürgerweide, Bremen (the area behind the main station in front of the exhibition halls). They are filled with nice food, merry-go-rounds, hunted houses etc. (typical fair stuff). Additionally there is the Christmas market every year in the city center, normally starting on the Monday after “Totensonntag” (this is last Sunday before Advent commemorating the dead) and goes till the day before Christmas Eve (23rd December).