Oxford Street vs. Hauptstraße

Lectures and seminars are based on the combination of the Anglo-Saxon academic model and the model that is applied in the continental Europe. On the one hand, teaching is based on small groups focused on discussion. Students spend generally more time in an active engagement with the topic supervised by a professor during a lesson than at UCL, where the teaching method con-sists more of a self-study. On the other hand, exam questions refer not only to the application of acquired skills and knowledge, but are also focused on theory. This is in contrast to the examination at UCL as students are not asked what they have studied, but rather how they critically think about it and how the theory is applicable in their own thinking. Even though the Heidelberg University was established 633 years ago, it posses up-to-the-minute facilities. In comparison with UCL and Sor-bonne, the Main Library in Heidelberg is a clear favourite. Spacious rooms equipped with a desk for everyone, armchairs for a relaxed reading and with air-conditioning. What else can a student wish for? 

Career Service in Heidelberg offers multiple seminars for a further development. The offer ranges from classic topics such as self-marketing, choice of further study or academic writing to innovative themes that are invaluable in todays ever changing work life. Intercultural competency and diversity management, design thinking or establishing a Startup are transferable skills required by many companies. These seminars are led by academic staff as well as by experts who work in this field. To illustrate, the workshop Intercultural Competency and Diversity Management was led by Nina Frauenfeld, a business development manager and a founder of company active in this ar-ea. 

How can Heidelberg satisfy the needs of entertainment and activity during free time of 30 900 students? On the one hand, the university holds various lectures beyond the academic curricu-lum for wide public. The covered topics are renewable energy sources, apocalypse or language and gender. Students can take part in sport classes from many of them are free of charge. On the other hand, the Studierendenwerk Heidelberg is the answer to the search for entertainment. This provider of accommodation and catering for students offers regular possibilities to meet new people and spend time in a meaningful and low-cost way. You can dance tango, salsa or swing, do yoga, learn how to knit or write poetry. Moreover, they regularly screen films for the entrance fee € 1. For international students are especially interesting langue cafe meetings. Participants are divided to table according to the language they want to practice. 

Comparison between London and Heidelberg goes clearly beyond mere shopping possibili-ties at Oxford Street and Hauptstraße. However, it is a telling example of offering students in Hei-delberg comparable possibilities on a smaller scale than in London.

Please be advised that not all of the links lead to a webpage in the Englisch language, but to a German website. The author apologises for the inconvenience that may have cost you.