Our mission is simple: to provide you with the best study abroad program possible—which includes the highest quality academic and cultural experiences. We offer unique courses that explore Environmental Studies and Sustainability, as well as other topics, through an in-depth and hands-on approach. Our world-class professors and course options at the IES Abroad Center and the prestigious Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg enhance your academic experience and provide you with new perspectives each day in class.

You take 15-19 credits per semester. Courses are taught in a modular format, meaning you take one course at a time, one after the other.

Academic Structure

The program begins with orientation and a three-week intensive German course for 3 credits. You can choose to continue your German study for 3 hours per week for 8-9 weeks once the regular university semester starts to earn an additional 1 credit hour of German.

After your intensive German course, you take the first Environmental Studies module - a required IES Abroad-taught course. In the Fall, the required course is ES300 Ecology and Management of Forest Landscapes in Southwest Germany and the Swiss Alps. In the Spring, the required course is ES310 Change of Ecosystems as a Result of Long-Term Human Activities in Southwest Germany and the Swiss Alps.

The required course is followed by a choice of modules taught at IES Abroad or in the MSc in Forest Sciences program in the Faculty of Forest and Environmental Science at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Modules at the University are taught at a first-year graduate level but are appropriate for IES Abroad students; tutorial support is available.

Program Extension Options
Optional Modules
After your program ends, you can spend three weeks furthering your academic experience in Freiburg by participating in an additional 3-credit course at the University. A separate fee applies.

Research Assistantships
You have the opportunity to apply for a Research Assistantship to enhance your educational experience by working with a faculty member from the University of Freiburg on a specific research topic. Research Assistantships take place after the conclusion of the semester (six weeks for Fall 2013; four weeks for Spring 2014). Students who participate in a Research Assistantship must remain in Freiburg through the end of the assistantship period. An additional fee applies.

Securing an assistantship is a competitive process and placements are not guaranteed. Placements depend on availability, on a student's background and skills, and on the quality of a student’s CV/résumé. Language requirements may apply. Final placements are determined by an on-site interview. 

Examples of assistantships in various departments at the University of Freiburg include:

• Department of Forest Biometry: Focusing on a Forest Resources Inventory, this placement introduces students to forest inventory methods, including the measurement of trees and forest stands. Students may survey with optical and laser instruments; measure Black Forest stands, tree diameters, tree heights, and tree volume; and conduct an analysis of the inventory data.
• Department of Vegetation Science: Students may participate in the current work of various projects such as an overview of the current work in vegetation science, including aims, methods and expected results; development of questionnaires, consultation with Ph.D. students on data analysis and English language, and writing of short reports and literature summaries on selected topics in vegetation science; and participation in excursions in and around Freiburg.
• Institute of Forest Growth: Students may choose a topic of research related to environmental effects on tree growth, including dendroecology, production ecology, and forest management. Students’ tasks may include field work such as the collection of material and field data, and laboratory work such as the measurement of tree-ring parameters, cross-dating, and statistical data analysis.
• Institute of Silviculture: Students may participate in year-ring analysis and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) with the overall aim to find out if thinning can help to increase drought tolerance of crop trees in stands of Norway spruce (Picea abies). Or students may participate in year-ring analysis of stem discs of spruce trees from a stem density trial in Southern Germany, including cross-dating and identifying drought events of existing year-ring scans using special software for dendrocecolgical analysis. Additionally, students may collect NIRS of wood samples, including both preparation and analysis of wood samples from spruce stem discs.
• Institute of Forest Zoology: Students may study the use of nitrogen in insect nutrition in a study that measures the digestive efficiency of herbivorous lepidopteran larvae.