University Duisburg-Essen consists of two main campuses: Duisburg and Essen; the shuttle bus between Essen and Duisburg can be used for free (but if you are joining us for the summer school, all your classes will be held on campus Duisburg). The university counts many students (approx. 40.000) and a variety of different faculties and research areas.

Escape rooms, paintball, swimming, climbing gyms, normal gyms, indoor skiing, movie theatres, musicals and shopping are only a few examples of free time activities that are possible in NRW. Due to its high density of inhabitants, NRW also has a lot of universities (about 60). In summer, some of them celebrate campus festivals or hosts concerts (e.g. Bochum, Duisburg, Essen…). But every-day-life in Duisburg can be exciting, too: one can find many cozy cafes, restaurants and bars. If you feel like experiencing night life, you can find some clubs in Duisburg and even more in its surrounding cities (e.g. Essen and Düsseldorf) that can be reached in about 15 minutes by train for free.

As a student at university Duisburg-Essen, renting bikes (‘nextbike’/’metropolrad ruhr’) is free of charge up to 30 minutes. Using bikes or tram/train, you should visit the Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg and Zollverein in Essen. They are huge parks with old industrial buildings from the mining era of the Ruhr area. Visiting the Gruga in Essen, the 6-Seen-Platte (six lakes are located just 15 minutes by bus or by bike; once you get to the lakes, you have a choice of multiple free-time activities to choose from; e.g. water skiing, hiking, having a picknick, swimming) and the Duisburg Stadtwald (big forest 5 minutes by walk from the campus Duisburg) is also a must-do during your stay in Duisburg if you enjoy spending time outside.

Since Duisburg is in the center of the Ruhr Area which is a metropolitan area, almost all the cities here are connected by multiple trains or busses and can be reached in less than an hour. Students who are enrolled in any university in NRW can take almost all trains free of charge (except for the high-speed inter-city-expresses ICE/IC). Duisburg is very close to the Netherlands. Therefore, a day-trip is possible to. One of the biggest airports in Germany is located only 15 minutes by train from Duisburg (DUS International). You might want to visit some more European Countries during your stay. If so, Duisburg is a great location to start at.

Compared to other university cities in NRW, living expenses are not that expensive in Duisburg. Most students live in shared appartements with friends and other students or young people. Usually, it is less common to stay in dorms (although most universities have some; but mostly not located on campus).

If you decide to be part of our university, feel free to read our FAQs or contact us for more information (soc-internat@uni-due.de). The course outline of this year's summer school can be found here and the application form can be found here. We are looking forward to meeting you!