HIC | Terms and Conditions

General terms and conditions for participation at the Humboldt International Campus ("HIC")

1. General provisions
1.1 With the Humboldt International Campus (“HIC”), the International Department of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin ("organiser") is offering a programme for international students comprising courses held over several days ("courses").
1.2 All HIC courses are only offered to participants aged 18 and older.

2. Scope of application
2.1 These general terms and conditions shall govern the contractual relationships between the course participants (hereinafter called "participants") and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, acting through its International Department (hereinafter called "organiser") within the context of the courses named in section 1. The terms and conditions of the participants shall have no effect.
2.2 Upon enrolment, these terms and conditions (T&Cs) can be viewed through the organiser's input mask. Acknowledgement of the T&Cs is confirmed by ticking the box. The T&Cs are thus effectively included in the contract.

3. Binding course enrolmentg
3.1 The registration and subsequent course enrolment can only be done online on the organiser's website. As soon as the registration is completed, the prospective participant shall receive a confirmation message and shall be prompted to upload his/her application documents (enrolment). Once the application documents and the availability of a place on the course have been checked, the organiser shall send a provisional confirmation of participation as well as a payment request via email if applicable. Should none of the chosen courses be free, the organiser shall contact the prospective participant and discuss alternative course options with him/her. The enrolment shall become legally binding if the participation fee is paid into the organiser's account within the time period specified on the payment request (usually within 7 days). Timely payment is determined by the time at which the money enters the organiser's account. In the event of untimely payment (or payment not made pursuant to the conditions outlined in section 7), the enrolment shall expire and the place on the course shall be allocated to somebody else. In this case, any delayed payments shall be reimbursed. In lieu of timely payment of the participation fee, the organiser shall accept a declaration from a third party assuming financial responsibility (i.e. a grant award letter, financing approval or similar confirmation). This declaration must be submitted to the organiser no later than four weeks before the relevant enrolment deadline.
3.2 The organiser charges a course fee (see website for a valid price list) for courses at HUWISU (Humboldt Winter and Summer University) and HPSA (Humboldt Perspectives Study Abroad). The course fee includes language and/or subject instruction, teaching materials (e.g. course books) as well as course-specific excursions, guided tours and entrance fees. Prospective participants combining courses within a single session of HUWISU shall receive a discount on the overall course fee (the current price and discount list are available on the website).
3.3 In addition, the organiser shall levy a one-off and non-refundable programme fee (the applicable price list is available on the website). The programme fee is levied at a flat-rate and covers the administrative tasks associated with the enrolment process and course management. Certain students nominated by or nominated in collaboration with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin may be exempt from the programme fee. HIC-alumni from the last 5 years also receive a discount on the programme fee (see website for current prices). Students enrolled at universities currently contractually partnered with Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin shall receive a discount on the programme fee.

4. Withdrawal
4.1 Should the participant be unable to attend the course, the following conditions shall apply:
Withdrawal from a course is possible up until four weeks prior to the course start date. The organiser must be notified of this either in writing or electronically via email.
4.2 If the participant withdraws before this deadline, he/she shall be refunded the course fee minus any bank charges. If optional services were booked and paid during enrolment, then this money shall also be reimbursed. The programme fee shall not be reimbursed in the event of withdrawal.
4.3 In the case of later withdrawal, i.e. less than four weeks before the course start date, it will not be possible to reimburse the course fee. Exceptions shall be made in the following cases: serious illness before the course start date (a medical certificate must be produced to this effect) and/or an unsuccessful visa application. In such a case, it is requested that the participant contact the organiser immediately. Reimbursement of payments for weekly or monthly passes for public transport is only possible up until four weeks before the course start date.
4.4 Should the participant not attend or drop out of the course, he/she shall not be entitled to reimbursement.
4.5 Change of course
It is possible to change language and specialised courses up until four weeks before the course start date, provided that the maximum number of participants on the new course has not been reached. It is not possible to change specialised courses once the course has already begun. Exemptions can be made for language courses if the teachers of both language courses (language levels) approve the change. Should the participant wish to change specialised courses within/after the four weeks before the course start date, he/she will have to pay a fee (change of course, see website for price list).

5. Cancellation or change of course by the organiser
The organiser may cancel a booked course up until four weeks before the course start date. In this case, the organiser shall present the participants with suitable replacement options. Should the participant not accept the provided replacement option, he/she shall be reimbursed the participation fee as well as any optional services booked without deduction of processing fees or bank charges. However, the participant will, in this case, not be entitled to reimbursement of the cost of travel tickets and/or hotel reservations etc. Should courses be cancelled by the organiser for organisational reasons (e.g. due to the minimum number of six participants not being met) leaving four or more weeks before the course start date or as a result of force majeure, the entire participation fee shall also be reimbursed. Further claims of liability or damages are hereby excluded.

6. Prices
The price list applicable at the time of enrolment constitutes an integral part of the contract. Each of the listed fees is to be understood as a per-person fee. The prices can be viewed at anytime on the HIC website without the need for enrolment.

7. Payment conditions

All fees (section 3) are to be paid in full as part of a single payment. Bank charges for credit card payments, transfers or other forms of payment shall be the responsibility of the course participant. All payments must be made in EUROS (€). The payment reference should be input as specified by the organiser, otherwise proper allocation of the payment will not be possible (or will not be possible before the payment deadline). The organiser should be contacted in the event of any payment-related questions.

The following payment options are available:

Bank transfer
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Deutsche Bank PFK AG
Referenz: 0280990005 + name of participant
SWIFT/BIC: DEUTDEDB110
IBAN: DE95 1007 0848 0512 6206 01

Adresse der Bank:
Deutsche Bank PFK AG
Hardenbergstrasse 32
10623 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 90

Credit card
The security of payments via credit card is guaranteed through the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which encrypts all submitted data. Your data are only ever transmitted and stored on servers in encrypted form. Please bear in mind that a 3% surcharge is levied for credit card payments.

8. Duties
The course participant must see to it that his/her stay in Germany is legal. The organiser shall assume that all participants have an entry/residence permit.

9. Copyright
9.1 The organiser shall always endeavour to observe the copyrights and rights of use of third parties on its website, and to make use of its own works or works within the public domain.
9.2 The contents and works on these sites created by the organiser are all subject to German copyright law.
9.3 Lecturers' abstracts, timetables, etc. shall be classified as such. The duplication, editing, distribution and any kind of use beyond the limits of free use and copyright require written consent from the lecturer in question.
9.4 Downloads and copies of this site are only permitted for private use and not for commercial use.
9.5 The written course materials are protected by copyright and may not be duplicated or distributed without the written consent of the organiser or copyright holder.

10. Data protection
10.1 The department responsible for the HIC programme is the International Department of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. This department is run by Dr. Yoan Vilain aia.leitung@hu-berlin.de, +49 (0)30 2093 20080) and HIC is run by Mr Pierre Steuer international.campus@hu-berlin.de, +49 (0)30 2093 46730).
10.2 For each visit to the HIC website by a data subject or an automated system, the website collects a series of general data and information. These general data and information are stored on the log files of the server. The following are collected: (1) the type and version of the browser used, (2) the operating system used by the accessing system, (3) the website from which an accessing system reaches our website (HTTP referer), (4) the subsites that are accessed on our website via an accessing system, (5) the date and time of access to our website, (6) the Internet Protocol address (IP-address) with the final digits removed to make it anonymous and (7) other similar data and information that facilitate an emergency response in case of attacks on our information technology systems.
In using these general data and information, HIC makes no inferences about the data subject. This information is necessary in order (1) to correctly provide the contents of our website, (2) to optimize the contents of our website, (3) to ensure the continuous functionality of our IT system and the technology of our website and (4) to provide law enforcement authorities with the information necessary for criminal prosecution in the case of a cyber attack. These anonymously recorded data and information are evaluated by HIC statistically as well as with the goal of increasing data protection and data security at our institution in order to ensure an optimal level of protection for the personal data we process. The anonymous data of the server log files are stored separately from all personal data provided by a data subject.
If a data subject contacts the data controller via email or contact form, the personal data of that data subject are automatically stored. These personal data, provided voluntarily by a data subject, are stored for the purpose of processing or of contacting the data subject. These personal data are not shared with a third party.
10.3 The following information is classed as personal data: full name, date of birth, place of birth, address, telephone number, home university, nationality, sex, language skills, payment details, information regarding the participants' use of our website.
10.4 The data collected from prospective participants for the purposes of participation in the HIC courses on offer (e.g. during course enrolment) shall only be stored, modified and transmitted by the organiser in order to fulfil its own business purposes. This is required for the implementation of the contract. The data shall only be processed at the organiser's place of business.
10.5 Only the staff of the organiser HIC shall acquire knowledge of the personal data. And only the staff of the Finance Division of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin shall acquire knowledge of the payment arrangements. The personal data shall not be passed on to third parties.
10.6 The personal data collected by us will be processed and saved only for as long as is necessary to achieve the storage purposes or as laws and regulations require.
10.7 The participant is entitled to information from the responsible body (the organiser HIC) regarding the personal data in question as well as to the revision or deletion of this information. He/she also has a right to limit or object to the processing of this information as well as a right to data portability.
10.8 By agreeing to these T&Cs, the participant also agrees that personal data will be saved by the organiser in machine-readable form within the framework of the Berlin Data Protection Act (BlnDSG) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and may, for the purposes of carrying out the event, be collected, used and processed and displayed on the event's list of participants.
10.9 Contact details of the official Data Protection Officer: Ansgar Heitkamp, datenschutz@uv.hu-berlin.de. The participant has a right to appeal to the Data Protection Officer and/or to data protection supervisory authorities.
10.10 Agreement to the data protection guidelines is done voluntarily and confirmed upon acceptance of these T&Cs. The participant has the right to revoke his/her agreement at any point in the future. This can also be done by sending an email to the organiser. The legality of the processing undertaken on the basis of the agreement that existed up until its revocation shall not be affected by this. Revocation of the data protection guidelines shall have no effect on the confirmation and effectiveness of the T&Cs.

11. Liability
11.1 The organiser, its legal representatives as well as its agents and subcontractors shall not be liable for any damages incurred by the participants during their attendance of courses. This exclusion of liability shall only not apply
  • in the event of damages resulting from death or injury to body/health that is due to a deliberate of negligent breach of duty on the part of the organiser, its legal representatives, agents or contractors,
  • in the event of other damages resulting from a deliberate of grossly negligent breach of duty on the part of the organiser, its legal representatives, agents or contractors, and
  • in the event of other damages resulting from a slightly negligent breach of material obligations on the part of the organiser, its legal representatives, agents or contractors, in which case the liability shall be limited to foreseeable damages.
11.2 Para. 1 applies to all damages, also particularly to the loss or damage of items brought by the participants, particularly those kept in storage facilities, e.g. money and valuables.

12. Final provisions
12.1 Should one of the provisions of these T&Cs be/become partially or completely ineffective, this shall have no effect on the effectiveness of the other provisions.
12.2 The place of fulfilment shall be Berlin.
12.3 For the purposes of these T&Cs and any legal relationships between the organiser and the participant, the law of the Federal Republic of German shall apply. The legal venue shall be Berlin.

Last modified: October 2020