For students wishing to improve their English skills, the WiSo Faculty offers subject-specific language courses in Business English and English for the Social Sciences in cooperation with the Englisches Institut Köln.

Taking part in the Buddy Programme (which encourages contact with international students in Cologne), renting out your flat to incoming students or getting involved in one of the international student associations are other good ways to be "international at home".

Table of contents

• Business English

• The WiSo Faculty Buddy Programme

• Renting out your flat

• Engaging in student organisations

Looking to improve your English skills? The WiSo Faculty offers Business English language courses designed to help you communicate in a business environment. Our highly interactive classes include discussions, presentations and written assignments, with a focus on essential workplace language skills for job applications, meetings and other professional situations. Benefit from small group activities, constant individual feedback and highly experienced native English-speaking instructors from our cooperation partner, the School of English (Englisches Institut Köln).

You can register for the winter semester 2024/25 on ILIAS.
For a detailed explanation on the registration process, you may watch the video tutorials below.

Video tutorials on the registration process

If you have any questions, you will probably find an answer in our FAQs. If this is not the case, you can contact us via email at wirtschaftsenglisch(at)wiso.uni-koeln.de

Each term, the International Relations Center at the WiSo Faculty (ZIB WiSo) and the PIM and CEMS Student and Alumni Club Cologne e.V. organise a Buddy Programme for guest students from the WiSo Faculty's partner universities. At the beginning of each term, ZIB WiSo looks for students and doctoral candidates interested in mentoring guest students for that term.

This fall we expect the majority of our incomings to arrive in mid/late September or early-October depending on their lodging stiuation.

Benefits of the Buddy Programme:

• Meet students from all over the world
• Participate in the "Welcome Days"
• Participate in a number of exciting, international social events
• Develop your language skills
• Demonstrate social commitment during your studies
• Receive first-hand information about partner universities as optimal preparation for an exchange term

Responsibilities of a buddy:

• Contacting and bonding with your buddy
• Contacting the guest student's landlord prior to their arrival (if needed)
• Collecting the keys to the flat or organising the hand-over of keys (if needed and possible)
• Collecting the guest student from the station/airport (Cologne/Bonn) and accompanying them to their accommodation
• Providing support in dealing with public authorities
• Where necessary, supporting guest students in other areas at the beginning of their exchange term
• Additional involvement is highly appreciated and welcome

Upon request, we will happy to issue a letter of acknowledgement covering your support and social commitment.

The registration for the Buddy Programme in the fall term 24/25 is open!

Are you going abroad to study or for an internship and looking to rent out your flat while you're away? The ZIB WiSo Incomings Team would be very happy to forward your room offer to guest students spending their term abroad at the WiSo Faculty. For more information, please contact the ZIB WiSo Incomings Team: incomingswiso.uni-koeln.de or complete the accommodation form available under "Downloads" on this page.

Furthermore, feel free to list your room on the Internation Housing Portal, organised by the University of Cologne.

Cologne has a wide range of student organisations that provide opportunities for students to experience an international environment and develop their leadership potential. They include the Organisationsforum Wirtschaftskongress (OFW) (which organises the annual World Business Dialogue), AIESEC and the PIM & CEMS Student and Alumni Club Cologne.

The PIM & CEMS Student and Alumni Club Cologne e.V. is an independent association of students and alumni of the WiSo Faculty at the University of Cologne.

Its main intention is to establish a network between its members through a variety of activities and to support incoming international students in their first weeks and throughout their term at the University of Cologne. 

The PIM & CEMS Club also aims to provide its members with insights into the working environment. With a variety of workshops throughout the year, members get the chance to gain first-hand experience and to establish important contacts for their future career.

The PIM & CEMS Club Cologne offers you the opportunity to

• gain practical experience through corporate events
• improve your language skills
• take part in international study trips
• be part of a network of more than 1,500 students and alumni
• glean tips and advice from our alumni based on their professional experience.

With over 1,500 members, the PIM & CEMS Club is one of the largest international networks of its kind in Germany!

For more information, please visit the PIM & CEMS Club's website.

The World Business Dialogue brings together the leaders of today and tomorrow to enhance a meaningful exchange – nowadays also in the digital world. The organization behind the World Business Dialogue is the Organisationsforum Wirtschaftskongress (OFW). 

The World Business Dialogue hosts the podcast "The Dialogue" (available on every podcast platform), a video series, a series of blog articles, and many more digital formats where students from all over the world participate and raise their voices. Be it a young founder from Canada, a student from South Africa, or a member of the German Bundestag – the World Business Dialogue is a network, a community, and a platform for bright minds and pressing topics on the global agenda.

The organization enables students and young professionals from all around the world to share their opinions and shape their own future by discussing topics that matter with top executives and notable influencers in business, science, and politics and most importantly to discuss among themselves to gain new perspectives. 

For more information on the World Business Dialogue, please visit their website.

AIESEC is a global platform for young people that aims to explore and develop their leadership potential. It is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Its members are interested in world issues, leadership development, cultural understanding and experiential learning.

Founded in 1948, the organisation today spans 126 countries and territories and has supported over 1,000,000 young people. Alumni work in business enterprises and NGOs and include world leaders such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Atisaari of Finland.

Every year, AIESEC facilitates tens of thousands of life-changing experiences for students and recent graduates. Be it professional internships, volunteering experiences or being a member of AIESEC on campus, AIESEC offers young people a chance to discover their leadership potential. Through its extensive partnerships, ranging from multinationals to social enterprises, AIESEC gives young people the opportunity to develop valuable skills and networks for their future success.

For more information on AIESEC, please visit their website.