Glossary

Important terms used in Wissenschaft weltoffen can be looked up here. If you do not find a term you are looking for, please feel free to send us a message. We will then try to include it in the glossary as soon as possible.

Term	Definition
Academic and artistic university staff	According to higher education statistics, academic and artistic staff at universities include professors (including guest, honorary and non- scheduled professorships), lecturers and assistants, academic and artistic staff, specialised teaching staff, emeriti, lecturers, assistant lecturers, student research assistants (with degree) and tutors.
Academics and researchers	In the context of Wissenschaft weltoffen, academics and researchers are defined as persons who are professionally involved in the conception and publication of new findings and who develop or improve concepts, theories, models, instruments, computer programmes or methods within the framework of their publicly financed or funded research.
Academic year	Used here as a reference value for determining the number of students or first-year students. For students, the number of students in a winter semester is taken as the number for the academic year. In Wissenschaft weltoffen, students in the winter semester 2019/20 are defined as students in the academic year 2020. For first-year students, it is specified that the total number of first-year students of a summer semester and the following winter semester is the number of first-year students of an academic year. The first-year students of the academic year 2019 are the first-year students of the summer semester 2019 and the winter semester 2019/20.
Bildungsauslaender	Students with foreign citizenship or stateless persons who have obtained their university entrance certificate at a school abroad. In the context of Wissenschaft weltoffen, the term “international students” has been used instead since the 2020 edition, in line with common international terminology.
Bildungsinlaender	Students with foreign citizenship or stateless persons who have obtained their university entrance certificate at a German school.
Bridge mobility	Study-related visits abroad between completing a domestic bachelor’s programme and commencing a master’s programme.
Credit mobility	see Temporary study-related visits abroad
Degree mobility	see Degree-related international mobility
Degree-related international mobility	Study at a foreign university with the intention of gaining a degree there.
First-year students	Foreign first-year students in Germany are students in their first semester at a German higher education institution. In most countries, German first-year students abroad are students who, regardless of the semester in which they are enrolled, appear in the student statistics for the first time at the time of the survey. In some cases, these are also students in higher semesters.
Foreign students	All students with foreign citizenship, including stateless students and students with dual citizenship, i.e. both international students and foreign students who have obtained their university entrance certificate at a German school (referred to as “Bildungsinlaender”).
Funded groups	Here, the funded groups include: • Postgraduates \| persons with a university degree who are funded to work on a dissertation as foreigners in Germany or as Germans abroad, as well as persons who receive a mobility grant after completing their studies, even if they do not intend to study for a doctorate. • Postdocs \| persons who have completed a doctorate and whose stay in Germany or abroad is funded in order to gain further qualifications through research. This also includes university lecturers and experienced academic staff from universities and research institutes.
Graduation year	A graduation year comprises the graduates of a winter semester and the following summer semester. The number of graduates in 2019 is the sum of the number of graduates of the winter semester 2018/19 and the summer semester 2019.
International students/internationally mobile students	Students who become internationally mobile for their studies, i.e. cross national borders to travel from their country of origin to their host country. In the context of Wissenschaft weltoffen, this term – in line with the internationally common terminology – has been used instead of the term Bildungsausländer/innen since the 2020 edition.
Students in later semesters	Different definitions exist depending on the survey study. In the DSW Social Survey, all university students in the 9th to 14th semester of higher education and all university of applied sciences students in the 7th to 11th semester are considered to be students in later semesters.
Temporary study-related visits abroad	Study-related visits abroad as part of a domestic study programme during which credit points are earned with the aim of having them recognised by the home university (e.g. semester abroad, placement abroad, summer school, language course).
Transnational Education Projects (TNE)	Transnational education projects are study programmes for which a university from abroad bears the main academic responsibility. Here, this refers only to TNE study programmes, TNE faculties, branch campuses – i.e. spin-offs or branches of universities abroad – and binational universities, i.e. no double degree programmes or distance learning programmes.
Types of study	The types of study include: • First degree programmes \| programmes leading to a first university degree. • Postgraduate degree programmes \| studies after completing a first degree programme; postgraduate degree programmes include second degree programmes, postgraduate studies, supplementary, extended and additional studies, contact/continuing education programmes, non-consecutive and consecutive master’s programmes. • Doctoral studies \| studies or academic work aimed at obtaining a doctorate.