Applications Applications

The myHAW application and student portal at HAW Hamburg manages the university's application process, degree course organisation, and examinations. In order to apply successfully, you need to register with myHAW and then activate your account.

Depending on the degree course, you may need to take additional steps before registering. You can check whether this is the case on the Bachelor's and Master's application pages or on the degree course page.

In addition to those enrolled as students at HAW Hamburg, other individuals can also attend courses at the university. 

Additional information

Please be sure to obtain proof that you have health insurance coverage well ahead of time. Please read our information about health insurance and about sending us proof of coverage.

What if you've realised that you don't like the subject you're studying, or that it isn't what you expected?

• Are you enrolled at another university and want to switch to HAW Hamburg?
• Do you want to switch degree courses within HAW Hamburg?

In both cases you have to apply again!

Changing degree courses after the first two semesters or for the second time
If you change degree programmes within HAW Hamburg after the start of the third semester or for the second time, you must outline your personal reasons for wanting to change in a separate document in the event that you are admitted.

You didn't pass the exams at your university?
If you are a university student and have failed an exam prescribed by the examination regulations, you cannot continue your studies at a Hamburg university in the same degree course. Nor can you continue your studies in another degree course if the subject matter of the failed exam is also prescribed by the examination regulations for this degree course.

Recognition of previous study credits, placement in a higher semester
If you want to apply for a higher semester when changing degree courses you need a placement certificate, which needs to be submitted with your application. The individual departments are exclusively responsible for assigning credit for previously completed studies or exams. Please contact the chair of the Examinations Committee or the degree course advisor for your degree course (under 'Contact department') well in advance of submitting your application. When planning the timing of your application, please also remember that these individuals will probably not be available during the lecture-free periods.

International students with a study visa
If you are an international student with a study visa and you want to switch degree courses (or possibly universities), you can only do this in the first three semesters without getting into difficulty with the agency responsible for immigration. A change after the third semester is only possible if your previous studies and exams are recognised by the new degree course at the new university and you are placed in a higher semester.

Once you have changed to the new degree course you need to go immediately to your local immigration office to have your 'purpose of stay' changed. The new degree course needs to be entered in your passport, even when your visa is still valid.

If you want to apply for a higher semester, you will need a placement certificate from the degree course you are applying to. This is a confirmation that you can be placed in a higher semester and which semester this should be. This is based on the number of credit points that apply towards the desired degree course. You can find more details on the degree course pages. Please submit the placement certificate to the Student Admissions and Registration Office following completion of your online application and before the application deadline.

As an international applicant you need to fulfil additional requirements in order to apply to HAW Hamburg. These include providing proof of your German or English skills on the one hand, and having your school leaving certificate or university degree recognised.

For international students, the allocation of study places also takes place according to particular selection criteria. Up to 10 per cent of the available study places for Bachelor's degrees are reserved for applicants from non-EU states. Applicants from EU states, on the other hand, are treated in the same way as German applicants in the application process.

Additional information

• Prospective students with a disability or chronic illness who are required to take an artistic aptitude test or an entrance examination as stipulated in section 38 of the Hamburg Higher Education Act may be eligible to request that their disability be accommodated in the testing process.
• Applicants with significant health issues can increase their chances of being admitted by submitting a hardship application in accordance with HAW Hamburg's Hardship Policy. This also applies to applicants who are limited to studying in Hamburg for social or financial reasons.

You can find additional information on the Studying with a disability or chronic illness page.

If you require an officially certified copy and are in Hamburg, please contact only:

• The school that issued the transcript
• The customer service centres at the Hamburg District Offices or the Hamburg Ministry of the Interior
• A notary public

If you are in another German state, please contact only:

• The school that issued the transcript
• The municipal or district administrative offices
• A notary public

If you are in another country, please contact only:

• The issuing school/university or the Ministry of Education
• A German embassy or consulate
• The agencies and notary publics authorised to provide officially certified copies  in the country

German federal agencies with an official seal are also permitted to provide officially certified copies.
 
 

An officially certified copy must include the following:

• A statement declaring that the copy is the same as the original (certification declaration)
• The original signature of the certifying person
• An embossed seal, which usually contains an emblem. A simple stamp will not suffice.

 
Please note:

Copies certified by health insurance companies or churches will not be accepted. We expressly note that church seals and stamps from lawyers, credit unions, health insurance companies and banks are not officially certified copies in the sense of Section 33 paragraphs 1 and 4 of the Hamburg Administrative Procedures Law or the stipulations of the Federal Administrative Procedures Law.
 
Binding requirements for an officially certified copy

If the copy consists of several individual pages, it must be proven that each page comes from the same certificate. It is sufficient to include the certification declaration and signature on one page only, provided that all of the pages are stacked, stapled and overlapped in such a way that part of the seal appears on each page. Of course, each page can also be certified. If this is the case, please ensure that your name is listed on each page of the original. If it is not listed on each page it needs to be included in the certification declaration, together with a note about what kind of certificate the document is.

If both the front and the back of a page contain copied material and the content of both sides is relevant, the certification declaration must refer to both sides of the page (e.g. 'This is to certify that both the front and back sides of the copy are identical to the original.') If this is not the case, each side must be certified separately.

If the officially certified copy does not fulfil the above requirements, your higher education entrance qualification, your first university degree or your vocational training/apprenticeship cannot be recognised.