Student Abroad: Outgoings and Incomings of the Summer Semester

During the summer semester of 2026, students from the Merz Akademie were guests at our partner universities in Europe and beyond. In Stuttgart, the Merz Akademie welcomed students from China, South Korea, and Taiwan. They were supported by scholarships from the Erasmus+ program and the Baden-Württemberg Scholarship.

At the International Day, which the International Office organizes once a semester, the incoming students presented their universities, which are also open to Merz Akademie students for a semester abroad: Taipei National University of the Arts (Taiwan), Hongik University (South Korea); Yuxi Xie from the Shanghai Theatre Academy (China) received a Baden-Württemberg scholarship.

Bachelor’s student Lars Weber, who is also receiving a Baden-Württemberg scholarship, is spending a semester at Hongik University in Seoul. “집 나가면 개고생이다,” a Korean proverb that means it can be difficult to leave one’s comfort zone, best describes his current situation, says Lars.

Florentine Fritz (master’s student) and Daria Wagner (bachelor’s student) are both spending a semester at the University of Portsmouth, supported by an Erasmus+ scholarship.

Florentine is enthusiastic not only about the courses: “The University of Portsmouth has great media theory courses and professors, especially if you’re interested in comic studies and fan cultures. Southern England is really beautiful, but I had to learn how to enjoy sightseeing even in the rain.”

Daria is also impressed by the region, the culture, and her studies: “Living by the sea while still being within easy reach of London is the perfect mix for me, which is why it was definitely the right decision to pursue my interest in film journalism in Portsmouth.”

If you’d like to see more of Daria’s everyday life in Portsmouth, check out her Instagram account: @lenisgalaxies

Also on an Erasmus+ scholarship, our master’s student Henriette Fritz is spending a semester at one of our partner universities in Austria, the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.

By the way: It’s also possible to spend the mandatory internship semester required for the Bachelor’s program abroad and receive funding for it. In summer semester 2026, Davide Ebner completed his internship in Riga, Latvia, with an Erasmus+ scholarship.

We look forward to hearing our students’ detailed stories about their experiences at the next International Day!