The campus stands out for its many green spaces, which invite for short breaks between lectures or for studying outside.
Due to the central campus almost all departments and lecture halls are within walking distance or can be easily reached by bicycle.
The university campus borders directly on the Schlosspark, where the KIT W-Lan is available in many areas. From there, it is only a jump into the Hardtwald forest - ideal for sports enthusiasts, joggers, skaters or cyclists who can make an excursion from there to the Rhine.

For those who prefer to stroll or shop: in the west, the pedestrian zone and Karlsruhe's shopping mile adjoin the campus.

Every beginning is hard and so first-year students are faced with many new processes and challenges.
In order to nip any initial difficulties in the bud, the KIT offers a number of different options for an easy start into the new phase of study.

eezi goIN' - Study Start Program

Since the winter semester 2016, the Department of Informatics has been working intensively on improving the introductory phase so that you can start your studies easily. One of the new offers is the eezi goIn' study start programme.

The eezi goIn' Study Start Program has the following objectives:

• Networking among students
• Support for the development of learning groups
• Provision of various mentoring and orientation services
• Provision of detailed information on KIT services and offers
• Professional and personal support for a successful start to your studies

O-Phase

The O-Phase - Orientation Phase - is an event organized by the individual KIT student councils. First-year students get the necessary overview of their studies, the university, and the city and also get to know many people.

The O-Phase always takes place about one week before lectures start in the winter semester.

Further information: Student Council Mathematics/Computer Science or O-Phase

resp. Wirtschaftsinformatik

During the course of studies, various costs are incurred which should be considered before beginning studies. These include the administrative fees of the university as well as traditional costs such as rent or maintenance costs. But there are also numerous possibilities to finance your studies yourself. Between student side jobs, Bafög, scholarships and much more, students can find the right financing options for themselves.

A list of the possibilities can be found here.

The KIT library offers students and staff access to more than two million media units every day, around the clock. These can be viewed physically on site or partly online via the KIT network.

In addition, the library offers a media centre for lending technical equipment.

For students of Informatics, there is also a separate department library of informatics with subject-specific media as well as well-equipped learning places and group learning rooms.

In the canteen on the Adenauerring, up to 9,000 meals are freshly prepared every day during the lecture period and served on eight different lines.
With its spacious inner courtyard and the adjacent cafeteria, the cafeteria is a popular meeting place for students, especially in summer.

The Studentenwerk Karlsruhe presents a daily updated food overview.

Of course, the KIT has a large number of pool rooms in which computers are available to students. In addition, the Technical Infrastructure Section (ATIS) of the Department of Informatics provides special pool rooms with computers and software especially for computer science students.

But when the weather is fine, working in the Schlosspark or on one of the many beautiful squares in Karlsruhe is much more fun. Therefore, KIT offers a campus-wide WLAN free of charge. This is available not only on the entire campus but also in large parts of the adjacent Schlosspark and, in cooperation with the WLAN network of the city of Karlsruhe (KA-WLAN), at many public places throughout Karlsruhe.

As Karlsruhe is a very popular city for studying, it is worthwhile to start looking for an apartment early. Thus, despite the popular housing market, you have a good chance of finding the right place for you, especially at the beginning of the semester.
More than 300 000 people live in Karlsruhe. Whether in a small apartment or in a shared flat, in the surrounding area or centrally in the city centre. The square metre prices in Karlsruhe are around 8-9 euros per square metre, dormitory rooms are considerably cheaper.

Information and displays under:

Studierendenwerk Karlsruhe | Student Residence of KIT e.V

Further possibilities:

• Online portals (e.g. wg-gesucht.de, studenten-wg.de, ebay-kleinanzeigen.de, etc.)
• Facebook Groups for Apartment Ads
• Advertisements of the Studierendenwerk at KIT
• KIT classifieds market
• Websites of the student residences in Karlsruhe
• Classified ads in (local) newspapers (e.g. "Der Kurier" and "Focus")
• "Housing for help" as an initiative for intergenerational living together
• Emergency accommodation of the AStA (if you have found absolutely nothing or are very late)
• on bulletin boards throughout the campus and in buildings

When you commute, remember:

• Takes a lot of time and nerves (in the first semester there are still some courses that start at 8 am)
• Makes the connection more difficult, since you are bound to the driving times
• Flexibility that you actually have during your studies (e.g. for meetings with study groups) is mostly lost

Not only the proximity to other renowned research institutions such as the FZI Research Center for Information Technology or the Frauonhofer IOSB offers exciting perspectives and practical experience for prospective computer scientists. Karlsruhe is also the centre of the TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe, where a variety of IT companies from SMEs to large IT groups are located and networked. In addition, the high-tech entrepreneur network Cyberforum in the direct vicinity of KIT offers an optimal breeding ground for technology start-ups and a lively tech scene.

If you want to inform yourself about job opportunities, you will find some offers in the KIT JobPortal or in our job descriptions.

Not only the city of Karlsruhe but also the KIT offers its students a wide range of cultural life and sports activities. The diverse university groups, facilities, and student institutions provide various opportunities for participation.

An overview can be found here: Culture and Sports at KIT

Being a father or mother (of a mostly still small child) as a student is a deterrent for many young parents. Often they do not even begin their studies.
But this does not have to be the case. There are special regulations for students with children. Those who already have children will find various childcare options at the university and in the city of Karlsruhe.

More information on the KIT family portal.

Karlsruhe is ideal for cyclists with its location on the Rhine plain, its moderate climate and its compact, easily accessible city centre. Karlsruhe is also one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in Germany. If you don't have your own bike or are visiting Karlsruhe, you can rent a bike or e-bike from Nextbike. For your own bike, there are also various bicycle repair stations on the KIT campus.

Campus South can be reached via the S-Bahn stops Durlacher Tor and Kronenplatz/KIT Campus South. Trams, suburban trains and buses run all night. The Middle Upper Rhine and the Southern Palatinate are combined into a complete network and even offer ski buses in winter.

The surrounding cities (e.g. Baden-Baden, Rastatt, Bruchsal, Freudenstadt, Pforzheim, Bretten etc.) are directly connected to Karlsruhe via the Karlsruhe public transport system. The search for accommodation is therefore not limited to the city of Karlsruhe.

For students there is an inexpensive semester ticket.

The proximity to France, the Black Forest, Kraichgau and the Palatinate makes it possible to make excursions to regions where others spend their holidays. Excursions into the surrounding area can be made thanks to the good connections of the German Railways via Karlsruhe Central Station or e.g. via the motorways A5 and A8 with one of the many available rental vehicles of the Karlsruhe car sharing service Stadtmobil.

Here you can find further offers for living and studying in Karlsruhe:

www.kit.edu/studieren/leben-und-lernen-in-karlsruhe.php