Europe has Erasmus. Germany has nothing. More than three decades after reunification, invisible lines between East and West, city and countryside, still shape how and where students learn. Sixteen different state higher education laws make even a single semester at another German university surprisingly difficult. DExchange is our answer: a low-threshold, standardized domestic exchange program that makes inner-German mobility as easy as going abroad.
Institutional inertia
Sixteen federal states, sixteen higher education laws. Existing structures favor international paths and leave domestic mobility uncharted.
High transaction costs
Information gaps, complex learning agreements, and the fear that credits won't transfer create friction at every step.
Unequal access
Without the visibility or prestige of international programs, domestic mobility disproportionately excludes students from non-academic or lower-income backgrounds.
What we're researching?
Our research sits at the intersection of student demand and institutional supply. We ask:
How do perceived barriers to domestic student mobility differ between students and institutions and how can a standardized program bridge this gap?
Our approach: dual interviews
Because barriers exist on both sides of the equation, we interview two groups in parallel:
| Demand side — Students | Supply side — Institutions |
| Decision-making, perceived costs, expectations. Diverse sample across socioeconomic backgrounds, gender, and prior mobility experience. | Institutional logic, structural hurdles, cost-benefit perspectives. University admin, policymakers, and existing exchange coordinators. |
Semi-structured qualitative interviews, AI-assisted transcription, and comparative analysis let us pinpoint where student needs and institutional realities diverge.
Where we are
We are currently in the data collection phase, conducting interviews with university administrators, exchange coordinators, and students at German universities. Key milestones ahead:
- Institutional interviews — Conversations with universities, politics and exchange programs
- Student interviews — Diverse qualitative sample across backgrounds
If you are interested or you are working in the area, please reach out to us via dexchange@ja.tum.de.
Marlene Hackmann (B.Sc. Informatics), Laura Kälberer (M.Sc. Biology), Jean-Pasqual Sindermann (M.Sc. Informatics), Justus Pansch (B.Sc. Informatics)
Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Daniel Pittich
Professur für Technikdidaktik
Tutor
Marius Prock
B. Sc. Mathematics