Global Information Management | Bachelor Arts (B.A.)

Studienvariante des Bachelorstudiengangs Internationales Informationsmanagement (B.A.)

Degree: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Normal programme length: 8 semesters

Start of the programme: winter semester (october 1st)

Mode: combination of part-time (semester 1-4) and full-time (semester 5-8)

 

Are you interested in modern information and communication technology that shapes our day-to-day life? Do you want to actively support the process of digitalisation and work in an international environment? Do you have an interest in language, culture and intercultural communication? With a unique combination of information science, language and intercultural communication, the degree programme Global Information Management prepares students to work in a variety of careers in the fields of digitalisation and internationalisation.

The programme is designed with international students in mind and features a programme-specific, 2 year German language course, a curriculum tailored to the students’ language skills and courses focusing on intercultural experiences and skills. At the end of the 4-year degree programme, the students will have acquired theoretical and practical knowledge in global information management confidence in their German language skills and understanding of the local culture.

Information Science is at the core of Global Information Management: students gain knowledge in areas such as information retrieval, online marketing, human-machine interaction and natural language processing. Courses in linguistics and intercultural communication add an international, intercultural and multi-language perspective. Best of all: Thanks to a number of electives, students can set their own focus within the GIM programme. A minor subject chosen from a range of different fields such as business administration, physics or psychology helps the students to define their individual profile.

Please note: The programme is reserved for international students.

Before your studies

Application and admission

Application for the first semester

The programme has open-ended admission and starts in the winter semester.

In order to apply for the programme, you need to submit your application to uni-assist. Your application will then be evaluated (please note: this can take up to 4-6 weeks) and if it meets the entry requirements, it will be forwarded directly to the university. Candidates will then receive their login-data for the university’s applications portal, where they can check the status of their application. For more information on the application process in uni-assist, please check the International Offices’s FAQ, the uni-assist checklists and the uni-assist country by country information.

Admission requirements

  • University entrance qualification

  • CV

  • B2 certificate in English

Please make sure that your school-leaving certificate or university degree qualifies you to study at a German university. You can check your university entrance qualification here. For further information please visit the German Academic Exchange Service’s website. While a B2 level of English is mandatory for the degree programme Global Information Management, prospective students need no prior knowledge of German.

Orientation and advice centre

International Office

The International Office (IO) is the first point of contact for prospective international students and for international students at all stages of their studies. The IO provides information, offers support regarding application, admission and other organisational matters and organises events for international students.

Contact Person for International Bachelor Students:

Anna-Maria Pulm

Foto

Kontakt: (Beratung internationaler Vollzeitstudierender (Incomings))

Telefon: +49 5121 883 92012
Fax: +49 52121 883 92013
E-Mail Kontaktformular
Raum: HC.N.2.52
Sprechzeit: Sprechstunde: Di und Do 10-12 Uhr (digital in BBB oder in Präsenz) - Nur nach Anmeldung in der Learnwebgruppe "Incomings"

Here you can find a list of the International Office’s members of staff and their roles. And here is the International Office’s list of frequently asked questions for international bachelor and master students.

Academic Advisors

The academic advisors are your contacts for questions related to the content and organisation of a specific degree programme. They provide advice both to current and prospective students.

apl. Professor Dr. Thomas Mandl

Foto Thomas Mandl

Kontakt: (Institut für Informationswissenschaft und Sprachtechnologie)

Telefon: +49 5121 883-30306
E-Mail Kontaktformular
Raum: L 106 - Altbau Bühler-Campus
Sprechzeit: https://www.uni-hildesheim.de/fb3/institute/iwist/mitglieder/mandl/
Homepage: https://www.uni-hildesheim.de/fb3/institute/iwist/mitglieder/mandl/ Homepage
Visa and arriving in Germany

Please note: The first semester is held online.

Only students who pass module 0 at the end of the first semester advance to the second semester, in which face-to-face classes begin.

Depending on your home country, you may need a visa to study in Germany. To apply for a visa, you need to visit the German embassy or consulate general in your home country. If you are an EU-citizen or come from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland you do not have to apply for a visa, but you should register with your local resident’s registration office. To find out more about the visa regulations check the IO’s FAQ section on the study start and take a look at Study-in-Germany and the German Academic Exchange Service.

Quiz: Is GIM the right programme for me?

The online quiz helps you find out if your expectations match the content, goals and requirements of the GIM degree programme. The quiz is anonymous and only for your personal information. The results will have no effect on your application and the quiz does not replace a consultation with the advisory service.

Quiz Global Information Management

Living and studying in Hildesheim

There are many reasons to study in Hildesheim and here are three of them:

  • University of Hildesheim, situated in the heart of Lower Saxony, has 8.000 students, which makes it one of the smaller universities in Germany. This creates a very personal atmosphere and promotes close connections among the students.

  • University of Hildesheim offers a range of innovative study programmes that are unique in Germany. Graduates will start their professional careers with one-of-a-kind skills set and expertise.

  • University of Hildesheim supports its students throughout their studies. Students can benefit from various information and advisory services, such as the CampusCenter as the first contact point for students and prospective students, the central advisory service Zentrale Studienberatung and its student advisory service Anker Peers. The International Office supports international and exchange students before and during their stay in Hildesheim.

You can find further information about living and studying in Hildesheim here.

Campus picture gallery

Our campus picture gallery has been designed to give you an idea of the university’s different campus sites. Most of the courses in Global Information Management will take place on the Bühler campus. The main university canteen, the student’s library and the main lecture theatre, the Audiomax, are located on the main campus and just a few minutes’ walk from Bühler Campus.

Further information

Here you can download a flyer about GIM.

The chart gives an overview of the subjects in the GIM degree programme. The wider the circle the more courses you will attend in this subject. Courses are taught in English or German, depending on the semester.

During your studies

Course structure

GIM has a unique structure designed to guide international students towards a German bachelor’s degree. The first semester is held online to help international students embark on their studies. The students will come to Hildesheim for the second semester having completed Module 0.

GIM students start with a 2-year period of part-time studies (ca. 15 ETCS per semester) in which classes are held only in English. The reduced number of classes compared to other degree programmes allows students to attend a specifically designed four-semester German language course to prepare for their B2 German language exam in the 5th semester.

From the 5th semester (3rd year) onwards, German will be the main study language and students will attend their courses on a full-time basis. The 3rd year starts with a one-semester internship in a German company, followed by three semesters of lectures in German and English. The 8th and last semester (year 4) contains the final module, which includes the bachelor thesis.

Course contents

Main Subject

In the introductory courses in information science, GIM students learn about the discipline’s basic concepts and methods: What is knowledge? What is information? How are information processes structured? What are information systems and where are they used?

Students will also get an overview of the sub-disciplines and neighbouring disciplines of information science. Moreover, students will become familiar with methods for analysing, designing and evaluating information systems as well as get insights into linguistic analysis and the basics of natural language processing.

Students will then focus on different topics within information science. Natural language processing addresses the challenges of as well as methods and tools for the automatic treatment of language: How can we automatically clarify words, sentences or texts? Which resons and which processes are needed? How can such tools be evaluated? Information Retrieval is concerned with retrieving and representing information from different sources. You will answer questions such as ’How does a spam filter work?’, ’How do programs recognise plagiarisms, genres and opinions in text?’ and ’How are digital libraries built?’. In Online Marketing, students learn about internet-based technologies for marketing activities, instruments and processes in online marketing and  the evaluation of marketing measures.

In addition, students will attend courses in Applied Linguistics, where they will become familiar with linguistic analysis, communication processes and intercultural communication as well as topics within cultural studies.

This main subject area contains compulsory courses (51 CP) with a focus on information science (41 CP). The remaining 55 to 73 credit points can be distributed freely in the areas mentioned above: you can either choose new topics or deepen your knowledge in specific areas.

Examples of elective courses within your main subject are:

Information Science

  • Introduction into software development

  • Human-machine interaction

  • Introduction into information management

  • Natural language processing (additional courses)

  • Online marketing (additional courses)

Language, culture and intercultural communication

  • Methods in applied linguistics

  • Language, culture, institutions and the media

  • Comparative linguistics and cultural analysis of communication

  • Communication in digital media

  • Multilingualism in institutions

Minor Subject

Students choose a minor subject from business administration, history, information technology, literary studies, media studies, musicology, philosophy, physics, political sciences, psychology, sociology, engineering, and translation.

PIKE (Practical Intercultural Experience)

In the PIKE module, students engage in intercultural interactions and become  familiar with German and other cultures: Students participate in intercultural training, excursions, cultural events or reflect on their experience during the internship. German language exam B2 is part of the module and certifies the students’ language skills.

Final module and bachelor thesis

In the final module, students carry out their own research projects about a topic of their choice from (applied) linguistics, cultural studies, information sciences or language technology. At the end of the project, students are able to plan, implement and document scientific projects. The project is followed by the bachelor’s thesis.

Language course

During the first two years of your degree, you have the opportunity to take German language classes. Even though it is not mandatory, GIM students are highly encouraged to attend the course since they have to reach a B2/C1 level of German (according to the CEFR) by time they take their German language exam in the 5th semester. The course is offered in cooperation with the adult education centre Volkshochschule Hildesheim and is designed especially for GIM students: The course starts from the beginner level (A0) and teaches both everyday language as well as the language of information science. After the course, students are prepared to follow classes in German and do their internship in a German company. You can find out more about the course here.

Internship

The internship is a key element of the degree programme and it puts particular emphasis on practical training. In the 5th semester, GIM students will do a full-time internship in a German company in a job area relating to the content of the degree programme. The internship is designed to give students of Global Information Management an impression of the German culture and organisation of companies as well  as some insights into a specific field of work within Information management or Information sciences.

About the faculty

Global Information Management is a degree programme house in Faculty 3, the Faculty for Linguistics and Information Sciences. The faculty is made up of five departments:

The faculty’s main scientific interests are information and communication processes analysed from an applied linguistic perspective. Within this thematic framework, each of the faculty’s departments has its own research focus, for example communication between different languages (translation), between different cultures (intercultural communication), between humans and machines (human-machine interaction or computer-mediated communication); communication in the media and in literature or language teaching and foreign language learning. Example project is the virtual language learning program Hololingo.

Currently, Faculty 3 is active in various research projects from virtual reality to artificial intelligence. You can read more about the research projects of the Faculty for Linguistics and Information Sciences here (in German). 

Examination regulations

You can find the programme regulations for Global Information Management (B.A.) here [Link fehlt noch]. The examination regulations can be downloaded here [Link fehlt noch]. A summary with the most important information in English can be found here [Link fehlt noch].

After your studies

Job perspectives

Digitalisation and internationalisation processes have created an interconnected world in which information flows quickly and across national and cultural borders. This in turn creates a need for experts who are both competent in managing information and working at the confluence between different cultures and societies. With their practicality-oriented, interdisciplinary and intercultural training, graduates of Global Information Management are the ideal candidates to assume this role and apply their skills in various fields and workplaces: from information management to corporate communication, from research institutions to international companies, from the healthcare to the automotive sector.

Occupational fields

  • Communication: IT, marketing, development and sales departments in (international) companies

  • Corporate communication, online marketing and social media marketing

  • Software and web development

  • Design, implementation and evaluation of information systems

  • E-commerce and e-learning

  • Information management and knowledge management

  • User experience manager and usability engineer

  • International project management and IT project management

  • Consulting

Employers

  • Institutions and organisations: information centres and libraries, international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), political organisations and parties, cultural institutions, research centres, federal offices and institutions

  • Companies: international companies, national companies with international clients or branches in other countries, software companies, e-businesses, IT and telecommunication companies, start-ups from different sectors such as web development and web design, (digital) marketing and PR agencies, business consultancies, online editorial offices, publishers

  • Free-lancing and self-employment

The Career Service, provided by the university’s advisory service Zentrale Studienberatung, supports you with starting your career. Here you can find the employment website, where job opportunities for students and graduates are posted (in German).

The Competence Centre for Entrepreneurship (KET) supports students and alumni who are interested in starting their own businesses.

Master's and doctoral degree

Master’s degree

Graduates of Global Information Management can either start their professional careers or continue their studies with a consecutive master’s degree: Students can choose between International Information Management – Information Science (IIM-IW) and the joint degree programme Global Studies on Management and Information Science IIM-GLOMIS) at the University of Hildesheim or start a master’s degree in the areas of information science and international communication at another university in Germany or in an English-speaking country.

While a bachelor’s degree qualifies graduates to work in their profession, leadership roles usually require a master’s degree. A master’s degree is mandatory for a university career and a doctoral degree.

Doctoral degree

The University of Hildesheim offers an ideal environment to master’s graduates who are interested in pursuing a doctoral degree.

Information for international doctoral candidates.

FAQ

Is the degree programme open to international students who are already living in Germany?

The degree programme is open to all international students, regardless of their current place of residence. Please note, however, that the first semester will be an online semester for all students of Global International Management and that the language classes are designed for students without prior knowledge of German.

Where do I find relevant dates and deadlines?

Here (in German) you can find information regarding semester dates (beginning and end of semester). General application deadlines can be found here (in German). You can also visit the Institute’s website for Global Information Management where relevant dates and deadlines will be posted.

What are the costs of studying on the Global Information Management programme?

In general, students in Hildesheim need approximately 600 euros per month for their living expenses. Once per semester there is a semester fee. The fee includes a season ticket for public transport in Lower Saxony and a discount to a range of cultural activities in Hildesheim.

GIM students are strongly encouraged to attend the German language course during the first four semesters; the costs for the course can be found here [Link fehlt noch].

You can find out more about the financial requirements in the International Office’s FAQunder “Student Financing and Bank Account”. You can also check the information about funding and financial requirements provided by Study in Germany.

Are there scholarships for international students?

The university offers scholarships that are open for all students, including international students. Scholarships available are the Deutschlandstipendium, the Minerva-Kolleg and the Lore-Auerbach-Stipendium. More information can be found here (in German).

The university’s International Office offers scholarships for particularly committed international students as well as graduation grants for international students. For more information please visit the International Office’s FAQ for international bachelor and master students.

Information on scholarships outside the university is provided by the German Academic Exchange Service.

What if my university entrance qualification is not valid for German universities?

If your school leaving certificate or university degree does not qualify you to study at a German university (you can check your certificate here) you can obtain the university entrance qualification by completing a preparatory year at the Niedersächsisches Studienkolleg, a college of further education situated in the nearby city of Hanover. The Studienkolleg offers subject-specific preparatory courses which prepare you for taking the university entrance exam for a specific subject at the end of your preparatory year.

Please note that the Studienkolleg in Lower Saxony does not offer courses in English. If you want to attend the preparatory courses, you need to have one of the following German language certificates: Telc B1, Goethe B2, ÖSD B1, DSH 1, DSD 1, TestDaF 4x3.

For further information on the Studienkolleg you can visit the International Office’s FAQ or make an appointment with the International Office’s contact persons for international students.

Which English language certificates are accepted?

The following English B2 certificates are accepted:

  • IELTS min. 5,5

  • TOEFL iBT min. 78

  • TOEFL CBT min. 207

  • TOEFL PBT min. 543

  • Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE)

  • Cambridge Business Vantage (BCE Vantage)

  • Cambridge English: Legal (IELC)

  • Cambridge English: Financial (ICFE)

  • IGCSE 1st/2nd language average B2

  • TOEIC Listening and Reading Test min. 785

  • TOEIC Speaking Test min. 160

  • TOEIC Writing Test min. 150

  • Telc B2 certificate

  • UNIcert II

Are there specific regulations regarding the language course for students with some knowledge of German?

If you already know some German and a beginners course is not optimal for you, we will try to find another course for you with our cooperation partner, the VHS Hildesheim.

How can I get a visa?

If you need a visa, you must apply for it in advance at the German diplomatic missions in your home country (embassies or consulates general). Please visit the website of the Federal Foreign Office to find the addresses of the German diplomatic missions in your county. To find out which visa you need for studying in Germany and which documents are required for your visa, please visit the Federal Foreign Office’s website. You can also take a look at the information provided by Study in Germany and the German Academic Exchange Service.

Do I need health insurance?

All students at the University of Hildesheim need to have a health insurance and must hand in a proof of it upon their arrival at the latest. Students who have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) can use this. Please note, however, that the EHIC can be used only for studying purposes. If you want to work (which includes paid internships), you need to change to a German health insurance.

Since January 2022, there is a new regulation regarding health insurance for students in Germany.
All students are obliged to contact a German statutory health insurance company (AOK,TK, Barmer, DAK...) in order to receive a so-called M10 certificate.

EU-Students:
When contacting the German statutory health insurance company you should add a scan of your EHIC certificate. With this certificate you can be exempt from compulsory insurance.

Non-EU-Students:
You have the option to contact a German statutory health insurance company of your own choice in order to get insured there.

The insurance company will check the insurance status and can send the M10 form electronically to the University of Hildesheim. This is necessary for your matriculation.

For further information, visit the International Office’s section on Health Insurance "Your start of study". Information on health insurance in Germany can also be found with the German Academic Exchange Service and on this information sheet. Here you can compare health insurance offers (in German).

Does the university offer events for international students?

The international office organises various events for international students and exchange students – from welcome events to guided tours and consultation hours. An overview of the IO’s events can be found here. International students can also participate in the Buddy Program (in German) or find a partner for tandem language learning.

In addition, international students are welcome to participate in all of the university’s campus events - in activities such as sports courses or cultural events like the midsummer night or the campus festival you can connect with other students from the university. Find out more about life on campus here.

Bildnachweis: Daniel Kunzfeld (Titelbild); privat (Testimonials); Luzie J. Almenräder (Abbildungen, Grafiken und Tabellen: Studiengang); christianchan / stock.adobe.com (FAQ); ra2 studio / Fotolia (Is GIM the right programme for me?); Grafiken/Tabellen: Luzie J. ); Daniel Kunzfeld, Jana Schütze, Clemens Heidrich (Campus Galerie)