FAQ

To apply for ISWI 2027, you have to be at least 18 years old (on 13th June 2027), and you must be a student during the time of ISWI 2027 (summer semester 2027). This includes everyone with a student status, also PhD students. Unfortunately, we cannot consider other applications.

The applications start on the 2nd November 12:00 pm at https://apply.iswi.org/. They consist of two steps (1. Registration 2. Filling out the application form, writing essays, uploading a motivational audio message & submitting the application)

• Essay: Your personal interpretation of the topic of ISWI 2027 “Community” (max 750 characters)
• Audio: Your take on why you think the topic “Community” is particularly relevant at the present time (max 3 mins, mp3 format recommended, max 5 mb)
• Essay: Your motivation for joining your primary group work of choice (max 1000 characters)

The essays and the audio will serve as the basis for selecting the participants of ISWI 2027. They will be assessed by the Organising Committee of ISWI 2027. If it is not relevant to your answer, please do not mention your name, gender or origin in these questions, so as not to bias the selection process.

Tip: Use a text document to compose your essay before you apply. This way, you can take your time writing the essay. Furthermore, your essays won’t get lost if your Internet connection breaks down. Please be aware that the current application platform doesn’t automatically save your input. It will only save it once you submit the application.

The deadline for participant applications is 1st of December 2026, 12 pm (noon).

It is not possible to join with a friend just because they are a friend of yours. As stated above, we choose the participants on the basis of their essays and audio, so everybody has the same chances. That is why each of you has to apply individually. The better they are, the more likely they are to get invited.

Do not copy any text from the Internet, books, friends or other sources. Mark every quotation and state the source. Applications containing plagiarism and using AI will not be taken into consideration for ISWI 2027! Please be sure of this as we will read every essay and check for plagiarism and use of AI.

Please make sure you have received a confirmation email that we have received your application. Please also check your email’s spam folder. If you have not received a confirmation, please contact us at apply@iswi.org.
After the deadline, we begin reading, listening and assessing your applications. This can last for about two months. If we have chosen you to participate in ISWI 2027, we will send you an email and an official invitation letter. (We appreciate your patience while we review all applications and you receive your official invitation.)
After you receive the message confirming your invitation, please plan your journey and apply for a visa, if necessary. Please contact us if you are unable to attend so we can give others the chance to visit ISWI 2027.

As long as you have not been chosen to participate, you can cancel your application at any time by using the link you received in the confirmation email.
If circumstances prevent your participation after your application has been chosen, please contact us as soon as possible at apply@iswi.org.

ISWI 2027 will not include a dedicated online part, except for video streaming of some lecturers. However, there may be other ways to participate in ISWI 2027.

Yes, you will get an official invitation to ISWI 2027. We will send out the invitations in the middle of January 2027.

The official invitation confirms that you are invited to the 18th International Student Week in Ilmenau. It is signed by the board of the ISWI association as well as by the President of “Technische Universität Ilmenau”. The ISWI 2027 is officially supported by Technische Universität Ilmenau.
The invitation is important for obtaining a visa to enter Germany (that is if you require one – you can check here). You can also use it as a confirmation for your university that you are officially invited to ISWI 2027, in case you need a document in order to be released from your classes.

(Check here, if you need a visa, first.)

Please visit a German embassy or consulate in your country and apply for a visa. Please make sure that the visa is also valid for your traveling days (not only for the days of the conference). At the embassy, you will have to present your official invitation letter (and potentially some other documents the embassy in your country may require. These vary from country to country).
Please inform yourself at the website of the German Federal Foreign Office and the website of the respective embassy before visiting the embassy. It might be helpful to present a document from your university or from another official authority confirming your student status. The German Federal Foreign Office has promised us that the German Embassies will help you as much as they can in getting your visa upon presentation of your official invitation letter. But please be aware that the final decision on issuing visas for Germany is up to the embassy in your home country. Naturally we will do our best to inform the respective embassies and cooperate with them. If you have any problems or questions, please read the FAQ on our website first. You can also contact us via e-mail or phone and we will do our best to help you.

Unfortunately, the visa for ISWI 2025 participants is not free of charge in general. We have tried to establish such an agreement but the Federal Foreign Office has tightened the rules concerning the grant of free visas.
Nevertheless, we would like to inform you about some exceptions. Our advice: When applying for the visa, take this leaflet with you and ask the embassy if they can make an exemption from the visa fee in your case, because you are a student and visiting an international student conference.

If you are asked to provide an official contact person from ISWI for your visa purposes please, use the details below. But remember to not call or email in the given contact information. You can only contact us via apply@iswi.org and the below mentioned details are strictly for the use of official purposes.

Niklas Loos
Email ID: vorstand@iswi.org
Phone: +49 3677 69 1946
Address:
Campus der Technischen Universität Ilmenau
Haus A (Max-Planck-Ring 7)
Room number: 017
98693 Ilmenau
Deutschland

In general, going by bus or train might be the most cost effective, environmental friendly and also convenient way to go to Germany – especially when you’re based in Europe. If you have a longer distance to travel you might need to take the plane. The nearest international airport to Ilmenau is Leipzig (LEJ – about 2:30 hours to Ilmenau by train). However, you can also fly to Berlin Brandenburg (BER – about 3:30), Munich (MUC – about 5:30), Frankfurt (FRA – about 4:00) or Hamburg (HAM – about 6:00). Some other smaller Airports are not directly connected to the German rail network. Shuttle buses will be available to take you to a train station. If are arriving from Europe, you may take the train. You can check for special prices on the German Railways website.

Another alternative would be taking a bus to Erfurt, Nürnberg, Dresden, Berlin or München, etc. There are several different bus lines to European countries, such as:

• Flixbus
• RegioJet

You can check thetrainline.com or omio.com to compare the train and bis routes to find a connection that fits your travel plans.

Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) is a big international airport in Frankfurt. Almost all international flights arrive at FRA. Frankfurt Hahn (HHN) is just a small airport, about 120km to the west of Frankfurt. Some cheap flights with Ryanair arrive there from European countries and Morocco. To get to Frankfurt, you will have to take a bus.

If your flight arrives at Frankfurt, Berlin, München, Leipzig or Hamburg airport, the best way to get to Ilmenau is by train or by long-distance bus (see question 1).

Look for the next German Railways (“Deutsche Bahn”) train station. You can buy a ticket to Ilmenau at German Railways offices (“Reisecenter”) or at any ticket machine. Note: some airlines offer a train ticket within Germany (Rail + Fly). This could be a cheaper way to get your ticket.

There are no direct trains from the aforementioned cities to Ilmenau, and you will at least have to change trains in Erfurt, which is the nearest larger city to Ilmenau. For more information about tickets and schedules, please check out: int.bahn.de/en.

You can also take a bus from Erfurt to Ilmenau. In this case, you buy the ticket on the bus.

Make sure that you don’t confuse the Ilmenau station, where you’ll get off, with the other two Ilmenau stations, which come before Ilmenau. The correct station is simply called ‘Ilmenau’ and is the final stop. On the 14th of June, there will be someone from the Organising Committee waiting to collect you at the train station. If you decide to take the bus, get off at the Ilmenau bus station “Busbahnhof” (you can ask the driver when you’re not sure if it’s the correct station). The Ilmenau train station and bus station are right next to each other.

Please don’t hesitate to ask the staff at information centres in the airport and/or at the train stations, if you need more information. Also, don’t hesitate to call us if you need help. If you get lost in Ilmenau, try following the signs to ‘Technische Universität Ilmenau’ and asking passengers.

Please check out the website of German Railways. You will find a lot of information about schedules, prices, special offers and more.

German Railways have different special offers. You can buy a “Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket” and travel with a group up to 5 persons. With this option you are not allowed to take the ICE and IC, but you pay just 55 € to 99 € depending on the group size for the whole group for one day.

For your fly back, you can easily buy the train ticket to the airport in advance and find cheaper prices in this way.

Some airlines offer tickets which include the train ticket within Germany (Rail & Fly), which could also be a good option.

We will be expecting you to arrive in Ilmenau on Monday, the 14th of June. The info point and check-in area can be found in the “Ernst-Abbe-Zentrum” building on the campus of Technische Universität Ilmenau. You can recognise the building by the large magnifying glass in front of it. On the above days, somebody from the Organising Committee will be waiting at the Ilmenau train station for every train or bus that arrives, to collect you. For the duration of ISWI 2025, you will be able to reach us by phone (+49 3677 – 69 1946) 24 hours a day. If you arrive before Monday, please contact us a few days in advance.

Please inform us of the exact date and time of your arrival. We will try our very best to find a place for you to stay until the beginning of ISWI 2027. However, we cannot guarantee that it will be free of charge, as the accommodation costs are only covered for the duration of the conference.

Usually, it is no problem if you can’t make it on the 14th of June, but you should arrive no later than the 15th of June, because the group work starts on Wednesday 16th.

If you can’t find a flight back home on the 23rd of June, please be aware that, after the conference, you will have to take care of your food and accommodation on your own. Naturally, we will help you find a place to stay until you fly back home. Please be aware that your flight back home must be before the expiration date of your visa, so please consider this during your planning.

Please inform us if you know that you will be unable to come on 14th June or leave on 23rd June.

There is a 50 € deposit that all participants will have to submit, which will be returned on Monday, 21st June.
Additionally you will have to pay for your travel and visa expenses, as well as any additional expenses like club entrance fees and drinks.

There is no participation fee, the accommodation during the conference and basic meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) will be provided by us. In addition, you will have free entry to all ISWI 2025 cultural events.

Important Note: Please note that the deposit will not be returned if you do not attend all group workshops or if you can’t show us a valid certificate of enrollment. Any exceptional cases will be dealt on a case by case basis. If you can’t attend in case of sickness or other reasons, you will get back the deposit as well after showing the proof. 

Please be aware, that we reserve the right to take a participation fee of maximum 100 Euro in case we don’t get approved enough funding for the conference. The final information about amount and payment modalities will be given during further procedure after acceptance. For your application we do not charge any money.

As we know that the costs for traveling to ISWI 2027 are already a huge burden for many participants we want to avoid taking participation fees.

However, in order to enable as many people as possible to take part, and to be able to plan things a bit better without ending up with far fewer participants than planned, we have decided this time to charge a deposit of 50 €, which you will get back at the end if you take part in all the group sessions.

Please be aware, that we reserve the right to take a participation fee of maximum 100 Euro in case we don’t get approved enough funding for the conference. The final information about amount and payment modalities will be given during further procedure after acceptance. For your application we do not charge any money.

That depends on what you would like to buy. Accommodation, meals and festival events are free of charge for you, but you might want to buy some souvenirs or beer, juice and coffee at the student clubs while hanging out with friends. If so, we would like to stress that the standard of living in Germany is high.

Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to give any financial support for your travel expenses. We are only a student organisation that tries to do its best in organising this conference. Thus, we depend on public funding from the German State and from private sponsors and foundations. It is hard work to get all the money to realise the conference. We hope that you can understand our situation, and that you kindly refrain from asking for such support. However, we can assist you by writing a letter of support if you plan to ask your university or local companies for a scholarship or sponsorship. Please contact us and tell us the details if you would like such support.

You can exchange your money in any bank in Ilmenau (banking hours are from Mo-Fr, 9 am – 4 pm), but, due to the schedule of the festival’s events, you probably won’t have much time to do this. We would also like to warn you that some banks do not accept some currencies. The US dollar is probably the most advisable and convenient foreign currency to carry and exchange if you do not carry any Euros. Be aware that you won’t get the full value back because banks charge about 5 Euro commission each time you exchange foreign currency, so it would be better to exchange all of the foreign currency you think you’ll need for your stay in just one transaction. We should also warn you that exchange centres in airports and train stations charge a higher commission than regular banks. ATMs (automatic teller machines) are available all over Ilmenau as well. In general, the best option is to withdraw money from a local ATM directly in Euros using a credit card or similar.

If you plan to use traveller’s cheques instead of cash to exchange into Euros, we should warn you that the exchange rate for a traveller’s cheque is lower than that for cash, and that the “commission” system applies to traveller’s cheques too (see preceding question). You can avoid these commissions by using your bank card or credit card to withdraw money (if you withdraw money in Germany, the ATM will give it to you in Euros no matter the account currency). Master Card and Visa are widely accepted in Germany, and you can also use them (and your Euro Cheque bank card, if you have one) to withdraw money from the automatic teller machines 24 hours a day.

The final selection of your working group will be made after your arrival in Ilmenau at the check-in. We will try to give you your first choice, but due to capacity reasons it is possible that we can only offer you your second or third choice topic.

You will participate in only one of the three working groups you selected during the application process (see the preceding question).

The working group will be assigned by the organising committee on arrival. You will receive one of your three choices as selected in the application process. Due to the organisational effort involved and for capacity reasons, changing working groups is only possible in exceptional circumstances.

Yes, to receive a certificate at the end of the conference and to get your deposit back, you must attend all group workshops in-person.

You can find the currently planned programme and the timetable here.

However, currently we are still working on an exciting and varied program. We’ll announce more about it once the conference gets closer.

There is no formal dress code for the conference sessions, but please dress comfortably.

During the whole course of ISWI 2027 you are insured. The Organising Committee will provide you with free health-, accident-, and third party- liability as well as legal protection. That fact also will be stated in your official invitation letter.

We have a host programmee, where Ilmenau students and citizens voluntarily host the participants of our conference at their house/apartment. In previous conferences we had good experiences with this, because both sides can meet each other and get to know each other throughout the week. Often, the hosts and the participants become close friends. You will meet your host at the check-in. Breakfast will be provided at the host’s place.

This time, some participants will also be staying at the youth hostel in Ilmenau. For these participants, we will be providing a centrally organised breakfast.

The accommodation will be assigned by the organising committee on arrival. Due to the organisational effort involved and the limited number of places in both accommodation options, it is only possible to change accommodation in exceptional circumstances.

If you do not wish to be part of this programme and would not live with one of our hosts during the conference, you are free to book a hotel or hostel in Ilmenau yourself – e.g. https://ilm-hotel.de/en. Please keep in mind that in this case you will be responsible for paying for your room/bed and breakfast.

Lunch and dinner will be provided by us. There will be several dishes available each day, including at least one vegan option.

Upon arrival in Ilmenau the Organising Committee will assist every participant in finding a host.

Ilmenau weather can be very capricious. One minute, the sun may be shining and five minutes later, it may start to rain. So when you pack, bring both – clothes for warm and sunny as well as for cold and rainy weather. (If you want to pack light, remember you can always wear clothes in layers when it’s cold.) Bring a pair of comfortable walking shoes, too, if you plan to go hiking in the forests around Ilmenau or participate in the sports event.
The other important things you need, are listed below:

Required

• passport (Make sure you have the necessary visa!)
• copy of all personal documents (passport, visa, …)
• your student ID or enrollment certificate
• ticket (flight and return flight)
• money for your personal expenses
• medication you might need
• toiletries
• a sleeping bag (if you have one)
• sense of humour and an open mind

Optional

• outdoor clothes for hikes and other outdoor events
• national costume and traditional music (for the World Food Festival on Saturday)
• traditional food of your country (please only bring originally packed food because of hygiene rules, for the World Food Festival on Saturday)
• a reusable water bottle
• comfortable and sturdy hiking shoes (if you plan to go hiking during Thuringian Experience Day)
• musical instrument (if you like to play some own music, especially in the music group)
• camera for taking photos

Ilmenau is a small town (approx. 38,000 inhabitants), so most of the destinations can be easily reached on foot. There are also various bus connections which you can easily navigate using the DB app or Google Maps. Furthermore the majority of working groups will take place on campus of the TU Ilmenau.

After quite a long time without them, we’re planning to sell conference T-shirts for participants again this time. That way, you’ll have something to remind you of your time in Ilmenau for years to come. They’re probably going to cost around 20 €, but if you’d like to support us, you can also choose to donate more. You’ll be able to order them once your application has been accepted. You’ll then also receive more information about the design.

As always, participants will also receive a conference bag containing useful materials for the conference.

To contact other participants (e.g. from your country) we’ll provide a communication platform. You’ll get more information about the platforms after the invitation letters are sent out.

For data privacy reasons we cannot give you the contact of other participants. So, the only way is to use the commu to contact others. We will also provide different sub-channels where you will be able to ask questions, discuss topics and find out more about various things relating to the festival, events, travel, visas, and so on.

Please send us an email to apply@iswi.org with your detailed request (What do you need the reference for? What information should the letter contain?). Within a few days we will send you a reference letter.

We try our best to answer all your requests as soon as possible. But since we are all volunteers and organise the conference in our free time after our studies, it could take a few days up to a week until we are able to answer your request. We try our best to answer urgent questions immediately. Thank you for your understanding. Please don’t send your email more than once! It doesn’t make us answer faster.