Erasmus Lectures and Courses
The students' own interests are the starting point for their individual specialisation:
An individual learning agreement will be drawn up at the beginning of the programme. The ERASMUS coordinator of the Law Faculty can provide professional advice on this.
Among others, you can select courses from the following areas of law and specialisation:
- European law
- International law
- Comparative law
- Civil law
- Private International law
- Public law
- Environmental law
- Tax law
- Criminal law
- Criminology
This list is only an example, numerous other subjects are offered. For further information please refer to the heading “course catalogue” below. In addition, teams from the faculty take part in various moot courts and competitions. Courses at the Faculty of Law are generally held in German (B1 level). There are also numerous courses in English and in other foreign languages. For further information please see the information on “Courses in foreign language courses” further down this page.
In general, it is possible to attend lectures at other faculties of the University of Heidelberg and include those lectures in the Learning Agreement. Please make sure to take note of possible participation requirements, deadlines, the number of ECTS credits and examinations in advance. Please consult the responsible ERASMUS coordinator and the individual professors/lecturers at the beginning of the respective course.
Course catalogue
The range of courses offered by Heidelberg University and the Faculty of Law can be found in the online course catalogue in heiCO from summer semester 2024. To see the courses offered by the Faculty of Law, click on ‘Courses’ at the bottom right of the heiCO website. To access the courses of the Faculty of Law, select “Faculty of Law” under “Organisation”. Under “Filter” you can select the language of instruction, for example English.
You can find a short instructions on how to search for courses in heiCo from the ERASMUS subject coordinator here:
Instructions on how to find a course in heiCO
See also the detailed instructions for heiCo on the university website.
The courses are generally held in German (B1 level). The final course catalogue for the winter semester is usually not available until around 1st October and for the summer semester from around 1st April. Please refer to the courses offered in the previous winter and summer semesters!
The current annotated course catalogue of the Faculty of Law in with explanations of the professors/lecturers in printed form is available towards the end of the semester break at the entrance to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Law in the “Juristisches Seminar”.
Please also see the further information on choosing courses on the website ECTS and Taking Exams.
Types of courses
Lecture (VORLESUNG)
Most courses at the Faculty of Law are lectures. Typically, a systematic overview of an area of law is given. Students can participate with questions and short contributions. An open discussion is less common.
Seminar (Seminar)
In seminars an in-depth discussion of a specific subject will be discussed with a small group of students based on presentations. Every participant will have to prepare a research paper largely on their own and give a presentation on the topic of their paper. The number of participants is limited. There are usually registration deadlines.
To participate in a seminar, you will have to contact the chair directly. It is at the discretion of the respective professor/lecturer whether you can participate in a seminar without submitting a written paper.
Colloquium (Kolloquium)
In a colloquium, an open academic discussion on a range of topics takes place under the direction of the professor/lecturer. In order to enable an exchange of opinions, the participants need to be prepared. Written work is generally not required.
Moot Court
A moot court is a fictitious procedure before an ordinary court or an international moot court. These regularly occupy students for an entire semester and involves the preparation of written statements.
Practical preparation course (übung)
Practical preparation courses are usually only attended by domestic students in order to receive all necessary examination certificates to be admitted to the first bar exam ("Erste juristische Prüfung"). One course paper and at least one written exam have to be passed successfully.
Due to the high level of difficulty of the courses, a participation of ERASMUS students is normally not possible. There will be no additional exams for ERASMUS students meaning you will not earn any ECTS credits.
Study group (arbeitsgemeinschaft)
Study Groups allow students to learn case solving techniques and to apply the knowledge from a lecture at the same time.
The participation of ERASMUS students in study groups is optional, but strongly recommended. Registration for study groups takes place in a separate procedure. There are no examinations for foreign students in study groups, ECTS credits are therefore not awarded.
Language course
Please refer to the detailed information on the various language courses on offer, as well as the information brochure on legal and foreign language courses at the Faculty of Law published by the ERASMUS Coordination of the Law Faculty:
4EU+ Shared Online Courses
The 4EU+ European University Alliance is a transnational strategic association of Charles University in Prague, Heidelberg University, Paris-Panthéon-Assas University, Sorbonne University in Paris, the University of Copenhagen, the University of Geneva, the University of Milan, and the University of Warsaw. The alliance aims to create a new quality of cooperation in education, teaching, research, transfer and administration. Students from Heidelberg can also attend the shared lectures and courses of the 4EU+ European University Alliance to experience a European style of study at Heidelberg University. Please use the 4EU+ Learning Agreement for these courses.
Overview: Choice of courses and enrolment function
You can create your own study plan according to the requirements of your home university. This is to be approved in your Learning Agreement. We recommend that you attend all the courses you might wish to take during the first two weeks of lectures before making your final selection. Once you have compiled your timetable, please register for your chosen courses using the enrolment function.
A short instruction on how to enrol in a course on heiCO can be found here:
Instruction on how to enrol in a course in heiCO
For some courses, there are registration deadlines that must be met. The deadlines will be announced in the course, on Moodle or in the annotated course catalogue.
Registration in the course is a prerequisite for taking exams and thus for acquiring ECTS credits!
Moodle
Moodle is the central e-learning platform of Heidelberg University. It provides text, audio and video files for the individual courses. It can also be used to communicate with the participants of a course. For access you need your Uni-ID. Firstly, you must register for the relevant courses using the enrolment function in heiCO. Then you can register for the relevant course on Moodle.