About Jena

You can find Jena in the middle of Europe and Germany. The city is situated in the federal state Thuringia which is often called the "Green Heart" of Germany.

Jena is a small but lively city with approx. 100,000 inhabitants and 25,000 students among them. It has a nice mixture of tradition and modernism. Since the foundation of the university in 1558, it has been one of the most famous places to study in Germany. Great academics like Goethe and Schiller left their marks here. Thanks to Carl Zeiss, Otto Schott and Ernst Abbe, Jena has developed into a location for high-tech enterprises with effective collaboration between research institutes and economy. The success of Zeiss Microscopes is one example of excellence. Beside the Friedrich Schiller University and the University of Applied Science, there are several non-university research institutions covering many different research fields and attracting scientists from all over the world. Jena was elected Germany's "Science City 2008".

Jena is located at the middle reaches of the river Saale, surrounded with limestone hills up to 400 m in height. Besides its numerous tourist attractions, it offers great opportunities for mountain hiking, cycling and other activities.

In Jena distances don't matter and the quality of life is high. Jena's central location makes it ideal for excursions to Weimar, the city of the German literary classics, Erfurt, the capital of the federal state, or the metropolitan cities Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin or Munich.

Beside the specific information you will get from our relocation office, you can check the general information from the Jena university on Studying in Jena.

Discover Jena. Let’s see what Jena has in store for you.

The public transport in Jena and Thuringia is well developed and trams or buses will take you home almost 24 hours a day.

Once you are enrolled at the university of Jena, you can use the public transportation within Jena (buses and trams) free of charge with your student identification card (Thoska Card).

In addition, your student identification card (Thosca card) is valid for trains of regional transportation (RE, RB) on all routes of the DB Regio up to the last train stop in Thuringia and all routes of transportation companies of the VMT (Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen). However, there are some exceptions.

If you are not enrolled at Jena University you have to buy tickets according to the price list. Tickets are available in buses and trams, at ticket machines throughout the city as well as at the JeNah service point in the city center. Please note that in buses and trams only coins are accepted.

In order to save money you can use special offers like a 4in1 ticket (4-Fahrkarte), a day pass (Tageskarte), a week pass (Wochenkarte) or monthly ticket (Monatskarte).

Beside tickets with a defined validity, all tickets must be validated immediately after entering the bus or tram.

The Jenaer Nahverkehr provides some general English information.

Accommodation for the short stay during the recruitment session will be organised by the coordination office.

Once you are accepted and you have made the decision to join us, looking for an apartment early is an important matter. Finding a place to live is not an easy task in Jena. Please start your search for accommodation as early as possible. Our Euraxes Point can support you.

We have the possibility to apply for a place in one of the three guesthouses of theuniversity for you. There, you may live for a month and up to two years. Many students start in the Guest House "Am Herrenberg 11". Please contact our relocation office for the room reservation and further information about accommodation.

The average cost of living in Jena is around 900 EURO per month for PhD candidates. Between 300 and 500 will be taken up by rent.

Claudia Müller

Euraxess Point
+49 3641 65-6340
claudia.mueller@leibniz-fli.de

Jena is much more than a working place and its university. One quarter of the inhabitants are students. Therefore, Jena is a very young and lively city. Cafés and student clubs allow you to meet friends, to see and to be seen. The Jena Tourism website gives you many information what to do after working time.

Famous Museums and Sights you should not miss and that sometimes even fit to your research topics are:

the Phyletisches Museum, founded by Ernst Haeckel, exhibits the whole animal kingdom and all aspects of evolution including humanization
the Optical Museum with the largest collection of spectacles in Europe and the historic Zeiss workshop shows you how Zeiss manufactured microscopes in the middle of the 19^th century
the Botanical Garden started off by the poet and minister Goethe and harbours plants from all of the world’s climatic zones
the Zeiss Planetarium Jena, the oldest operating planetarium in the world, now equipped with the latest technology, facilitates a full-dome projection
the JenTower with a height of 159 metres and with an observation platform provides a fantastic view of the city and its surroundings

Apart from that, there is also an attractive cultural scene in Jena. Annual events like the Kulturarena - an open-air grand festival of theater, film, and music, the Irish Music festival or the Jazz festival as well as plenty regular events from the Jena Theater or the Philharmonic Orchestra will help you to enjoy your stay.

Jena is a sport-enthusiastic city. There are many annual events and everybody can participate either active or passive. Some examples are:

· Horizontale (35 km/ 100 km around Jena)

· Jenaer Kernberglauf (5 km/ 15 km/ 27 km for adults; 1km / 2,5 km for children)

· Firmenlauf (team event with colleagues)

· Triathlon (individual or as a team)

· Turmlauf (run to the top of the JenTower)

· Jenziglauf (run to the top of the mountain "Jenzig")

· Hanfried-Turnier (several sports activities; organized by the University)

· Drachenbootrennen (team boat race with 20 paddlers and a drummer)

After enrollment at university you are entitled to participate in all sport activities offered by the Hochschulsport Jena.

At FLI several sport events take place as well (e.g. soccer or beach volleyball). Please ask your colleagues about current sport groups, times etc. Information about life at the FLI can be found here.