Open Lecture Hall

The project Open Lecture Hall was successfully launched in the autumn semester of 2016. The project is aimed at refugees and students at the University of Bern. With this project, the SUB would like to offer refugees access to education and society and the opportunity to get an insight into students life at the University of Bern. Similar projects can be found at the universities of Basel, Zurich and Geneva. 

Open Lecture Hall
Open Lecture Hall

How does the project work?

With a valid Open Lecture Hall pass from the University of Bern, participants can attend up to 5 courses at the University of Bern in one semester. Participants receive their own campus account and thus access to all necessary documents, libraries, and the university's sport programme - the costs for the Open Lecture Hall passes are covered by the SUB.

Furthermore, the participants are accompanied throughout the project by student volunteers in a mentoring programme.

Important notice on what the project can not offer 

Project participants cannot take exams, the courses cannot be credited to a degree programme and no degree can be obtained. Medical lectures, language courses and PhD or PostDoc courses cannot be taken.

Participate in the project

Would you like to get an insight into the University of Bern? As a participant in the Open Lecture Hall project, you can attend courses at the university for a semester, gain an insight into everyday life at the University of Bern and meet new people. 

Participation is open to refugees with an F, N, B or S identity card.

With a Open Lecture Hall pass, you can attend up to 5 courses at the University of Bern for one semester. The costs are covered by the Student Union of the University of Bern (SUB). You will receive a campus account to manage your documents online and have access to the libraries and the university sports programme.A student will support you and answer any questions you may have.

Lectures from the medical faculty, language courses, and PhD or PostDoc courses cannot be attended. You cannot take exams, you cannot obtain a degree, and you cannot have the lectures credited to a degree programme. The number of participants is limited, participation in our programme cannot be guaranteed.

Registration
The time for applications for participating in the spring semester 2023 has already passed. From June 2023 we will be accepting registrations for the project round in the next fall semester. You will then find the application form here. If you have any questions, please contact us at any time:

Become a mentor

Are you a student at the University of Bern or are you interested in our project in general? Would you like to join us and accompany a refugee for a semester in their everyday life at university and help them with their questions? Then you've come to the right place! Register now for the spring semester 2023.

As a mentor, you will help a refugee with questions about everyday life at university. This includes, for example:

  • Selecting lecture
  • Creating a timetable
  • Finding public transport connections
  • Showing the lecture hall, library or cafeteria
  • Help to fill in documents etc.


Every semester, a workshop is held at the beginning of the project round to prepare you for your task as a mentor. 

Registration:
From June 2023 we will be accepting registrations for the project round in the next fall semester. You will then find the registration form here. If you have any questions, please contact us at any time: .

Support the project

Help us to continue the project and enable interested refugees to attend courses at the University of Bern and thus gain uncomplicated access to education and society. Your donation will be used to finance Open Lecture Hall passes for participants.

The cost of a Open Lecture Hall pass is CHF 150 per semester plus a one-time registration fee of CHF 100.

Donate now  
Raiffeisen account IBAN CH33 8148 8000 0030 9764 0 

The donation will fully benefit the project. All administrative expenses will be borne by the SUB. Thank you very much for your contribution! 

Contact
Tel. +41 (0)316315411
E-mail:

Many thanks to all who have generously supported us so far: 

  • Stiftung Mercator Schweiz, funding programme "Engagier dich!"
  • aki Bern
  • Social Democratic Forum (SF) University of Bern  
  • Swiss Workers' Relief Agency SAH-Bern
  • Institute for Psychology Uni Bern
  • Student Association Zähringia Bernensis
  • Project Neptun
  • Professors and lecturers from the following institutes (private donations):
    Organisation and Personnel
    Criminal Law
    Sports Sciences
    Computer Sciences
    Classical Philology
    Public Law
    Banking Law
    Geography/OCCR
    Philosophy
    Marketing and Corporate Management Intensive Care Medicine
    Physics and Astronomy
    Education
    History Political Sciences

Media

"Studieren nach der Flucht"

«Prüfungen würde ich gerne schreiben»

"Wie wird hier eigentlich internationalisiert?"

"Alles was wir brauchen, haben wir schon"

Contact

Tel. +41 (0)31 684 54 11
E-Mail: 

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