Berkeley

The City of Berkeley is located 15 km east of San Francisco, next to Oakland on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. Its own population is about 100.000, but its location within the Bay Area on the US-American west coast – which has a population of few million – makes it part of a metropolitan area. The city of Berkeley was founded when the University was established in the second half of the 19th century. Due to its location between the pacific ocean (about 20 km west) and the Sierra Nevada (about 250 km east), Berkeley has a very moderate and enjoyable climate, which means that temperatures usually do not exceed 28°C in the summer and it does not freeze in the winter. In the 1960's and 1970's Berkeley has been one of the roots of the anti-war and civil rights movement in the United States and still keeps this image. The city is much more European than an average city in America. Due to San Francisco in the vicinity and lots of foreign students on the campus in Berkeley, there is a very international atmosphere. Another advantage is the is rather dense public transportation network that allow connections within the city and the Bay area, a fact that is rather seldom in the United States and allows students to survive without a car. The northern part of California offers a huge variety of activities starting with the beaches of the ocean, continuing with world-class national parks within day-trip-range like Yosemite, Sequoia or Redwood and excellent skiing field around Lake Tahoe in the winter. The flight time from Germany to San Francisco is about 11 hours westbound and one hour less eastbound.

Webpage of the University of California at Berkeley

Program

The exchange program is organized between our group and the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Berkeley. Each year, three to four students from TU Darmstadt can study for one academic year (two semesters) in California. Usually, this includes a scholarship granted by the DAAD to cover the significantly higher cost of living, travel and insurance. However, as we have to apply for the scholarships every year anew, there is no certainty until we receive the final decision in late January.

In the past, classes that had been successfully passed in the Berkeley have been accepted in Darmstadt to be equivalent for the German curriculum. However there is no guarantee and usually the acceptance needs to be negotiated with the German departments in advance, especially if you want to attend to classes that have not been taken yet. In general almost all classes have been accepted in Germany, which means that the academic year in Berkeley did not increase the total time of studies in Germany. Furthermore, it is possible to apply for a study leave in Darmstadt for the time the students spend in California. The semester in Berkeley starts in August and lasts until the week before Christmas. After one month of winter break, the spring semester begins in mid January and lasts until the last week of May. There is one week of spring break in March.

The minimum workload in Berkeley in order to satisfy the requirements of the program are three graduate classes (course number 200 and above) per semester.

Eligibility

In order to apply for the Darmstadt-Berkeley program, you have to be full student in Darmstadt with a major in mechanical engineering or in the applied mechanics degree program. Students of computational and industrial engineering are also eligible.

It is absolutely necessary to complete the entire undergraduate curriculum before you leave for Berkeley. Students need to show in their application that they will be able to achieve this goal until the time of departure.

The fifth semester is from our point of view the best time to apply, then you leave after the sixth semester and stay in the USA during the seventh and eighth semester. However, if you are done earlier or later with your Bachelor degree, this is no reason not to apply for our program.

Application (for the exchange year 2012/13)

Program presentation

31.10.2011 Room S103/104 16:15h

Deadline and prodedure to hand in your application

• 10.11.2011 12:00h
• Please send your application documents as one pdf file by email to E-Mail(maximum file size 5 MB).

Documents necessary for your application

• Signed Application form (available in the IRO office)
• Cover letter with reasons for the application
• CV with picture
• Copy of Bachelor transcript with detailled grades in all subjects and currently expected or actual overall average Bachelor grade rounded off up to one decimal digit
• Copy of Master transcript if available
• Copy of high school degree certificate
• List of classes you want to take in Berkeley

Information

If you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Peter Hagedorn (E-Mail) or Andreas Wagner (E-Mail).

Further information about the application process and the program management can be obtained from the webpage of the International Academic Relations Office of the university. They also provide a special page dealing with the Berkeley program. Contact person is Ms. Cunningham-Wandel (E-Mail).

Final reports (in german only)