German Courses

All courses are a cooperation of the PHGS with IMPRS-UFAST, CUI and EMBL.

Photograph: Marta Mayer/DESY

The courses are for PhD students who are member of the PIER Helmholtz Graduate School or our cooperation partners CUI, IMPRS-UFAST, EMBL.

Please register here for the German courses and/or the placement test. If you are uncertain about your language level, the teachers may arrange a placement test for you. The test is designed to give students and teachers a quick way of assessing the approximate level of a student's knowledge of German grammar and usage. The test should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete.

German A1.1 crash course (3 sessions per week):
When: from 21 October 2019 (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays), 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Where: CFEL, building 99, SR V (exception on 3 Dec 2019: CFEL, SR O2.068)
Teacher: Dorothea Geyken

German A2.1 crash course (3 sessions per week):
When: from 21 October 2019 (Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays), 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Where: CFEL, building 99, room: O1. 060 (from 12 December: O2.068)
Teacher: Gisa Günther

German A1.2:
When: Mondays, 5:30 - 7 p.m. (winter break: 13- 30 January 2019)
Where: PETRA III experimental hall, building 47c, room L110.
Teacher: Cornelia Johannsen

German A1.2:
When: Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m. (winter break: 13- 30 January 2019)
Where: PETRA III experimental hall, building 47c, room L110
Teacher: Cornelia Johannsen

German A2.2:
When: Wednesdays, 6 - 7:30 p.m. (winter break: 13- 30 January 2019)
Where: PETRA III experimental hall, building 47c, room L110.
Teacher: Cornelia Johannsen

German B1.2:
When: Wednesdays, 5:30 - 7 pm
Where: Bahrenfeld campus, building 61, room 116 (first floor)
Teacher: Gisa Günther

German B2.2:
When: Fridays, 3:50 - 5:20 pm
Where: Bahrenfeld campus, building 61, room 116 (first floor).
Teacher: Gisa Günther

German at DESY Education

There are other German classes on the Bahrenfeld campus, which are organised by DESY Education. Target group are DESY staff, but doctoral students or visting scientists are also welcome. You can join the classes at any time. The fee is 30 €. The course overview is accessible for all users with a DESY account. If you do not have a DESY account, check the pdf below.

German for newcomers:
This is a course for everyone who arrive at DESY during a regular language trimester and have no knowledge of German yet. Objectives: First steps in German vocabulary, phrases, basic grammar. You can attend this course until a new regular course beginns.The course is free of charge. For more information please contact Sabine Hinz: education@desy.de,  phone: +49 40 89 98 33 35.

Deutsch DESY Education (22KB)

German at Hamburg University

Hamburg University offers German classes at all levels from A1.1 to C2. Costs for PhD students are between 42-82 € per course, depending on the number of lessons. Online registration starts usually a few weeks before a new semester course begins.There are also intensive classes during the semester holidays in February/March and August/September.

DESY Language Café

Do you need to strengthen your languages skills in e.g. German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (e.g. Mandarin or Cantonese), Swedish, Norwegian or any other language in the world or you just simply miss speaking your own mother tongue? Then please join us every two weeks at the DESY Language Café!

The key idea of this Language Café is: "Learn a language well for free while helping others learn another language well for free." UPDATE: So far we have had 8 very successful Language Café meetings with around 25-30 participants each time, who participated at either the German, French, Italian, English, Mandarin, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian or Spanish speaking table. The Language Café will be held every two weeks, on Fridays around lunch hour.

More information: DESY Language Cafè

Contact and queries
Mirko Siemssen
Phone: +49-40-8998-5506
E-mail: mirko.siemssen@pier-hamburg.de