For Foreign Visitors

Welcome to Experiment!

For more than 90 years, Experiment has been bringing people from around the world together and promoting intercultural understanding and mutual learning. Along with our international partners, we offer and organize international student exchanges, holiday programs, volunteering services, and work-and-explore experiences - always with a focus on the participants' intercultural learning experience. We believe that such learning experiences build important bridges across national borders, contributing to a more empathetic and peaceful world.

Every year, almost 2,000 people of all age groups participate in Experiment programs in Germany and around the world.

About Experiment

Our Mission for Understanding

Experiment is a non-profit organization based in Bonn, Germany, with a focus on the international exchange of people of all cultures, religions, and age groups. Our goals are to enhance mutual understanding between societies and to contribute to the peaceful coexistence of various cultures by making it possible for people of different origins to live together.

Our work has been developed on the basis of volunteerism and support from the non-profit community. Nationwide, around 800 former participants volunteer their time and energy to support us in carrying out our programs. They are, for example, active in conducting seminars for participants and in taking care of German host families and their international guests. In addition, around 1,000 association members contribute financially to help advance our mission.

Explore. Exchange. Experience.

What we offer

With over 90 years of experience, Experiment is the oldest non-profit exchange organization in Germany. We offer a broad variety of programs in Germany and around the world for all age groups and interests.

Outbound Programs

International High School Program

Academic Year Abroad Programs

Experiment organizes an Academic Year Abroad program in a variety of countries. We offer numerous scholarships, along with our partners, for a number of these countries. We currently offer the following destinations for German students: Africa (South Africa), Asia and the Pacific (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand), Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Irland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden), North and South America (Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, U.S.).

Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) offers German and American students a fully-funded academic year abroad.

Volunteer Service

Experiment organizes volunteering experiences abroad. Participants are welcomed by host families and get involved in social projects as volunteers. Depending on the assigned field, different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are addressed and worked towards.

European Solidarity Corps (ESC)

Experiment is an accredited volunteer exchange organization for this scholarship program funded by the European Union and has been sending volunteers abroad for the past 20 years. The European Solidarity Corps (ESC) provides full scholarships for young Europeans, who will gain cross-cultural experience, thereby helping to form a common European consciousness by volunteering abroad.

"weltwärts" Program

The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development uses "weltwärts" to support developmental voluntary services for participants between the ages of 18 and 28. Participants can volunteer for nine to twelve months. The projects have to be accredited by the ministry.

Flexible volunteer service programs

In addition to the funded volunteer service programs, Experiment organizes flexible volunteering experiences worldwide in the following destinations: Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North and South America and the Middle East.

Holiday Programs

To benefit from the positive effects of a stay abroad, you do not necessarily have to invest a whole year. At Experiment, students can choose from a wide range of holiday programs where they can gain valuable international and intercultural experience even within a few weeks.

Experiment offers programs including short-term school visits, language programs, summer camps and ranch- or farmstays. Depending on the program, participants live with a host family, stay on a University campus or at hostels.

Work & Explore

Work & Explore programs are aimed at young people over 18 who want to gain experience abroad and improve their language skills. Short-term programs are possible all year round. Another option is to spend an entire gap year abroad, for example as a demi pair.

Experiment offers internships abroad, host family stays, various working experiences on ranches or out in the wild, or Work & Travel packages. Participants who want a deeper integration with a host family can participate in demi-pair programs. Here, the participant works half-time with the host family and helps with household chores and childcare, while also receiving excellent language tutoring.

Customized Group Programs

Inbound Programs

High School Programs in Germany

Customized Group Programs

Germany provides many opportunities for groups from all over the world to experience the numerous aspects of this captivating country in a safe and engaging environment .

We can organize programs (from 1-6 weeks) in different areas of Germany including interesting and stimulating social and cultural activities. For 90 years Experiment has organized group programs in Germany for groups from around the globe. We organize various programs in big as well as small cities across every year. Feel free to contact us with your ideas and we will do our best to facilitate it and provide your participants with a positive and remarkable experience in our country.

More than just a holiday trip

Intercultural learning experiences

Any stay abroad offers a special opportunity to experience aspects of another culture, another language and everyday life. The integration of the participants into a family in the host country offers a unique opportunity to get to know the country and its people from a very special and personal perspective. In order for this exchange to be a success for both sides - participant and host family - the intensive preparation and personal reflection of our participants is very important to us. That is why all our programs include a preparatory seminar before and a follow-up seminar after the stay abroad, thus ensuring a real intercultural learning experience by building bridges across borders and cultures.

Quality and Cooperation

The Experiment in International Living

History

In 1932, Donald B. Watt founded The Experiment in International Living in the USA. Through his experiences with international summer camps for teenagers, he was convinced that true understanding between cultures is only possible by means of individual homestays. Experiment has been registered as a non-profit organization in Germany since 1952. The Federation The Experiment in International Living has more than 15 member organizations around the world.

Experiment is an original member of the umbrella organization AJA, a committee of non-profit youth exchange organizations in Germany, and also a member of the World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation. The goal of our membership in these committees is the establishment of quality standards for student exchange programs. Among those is an obligatory preparation seminar in Germany that lasts several days. In addition, we also cooperate with various public and private institutions such as the Federal Foreign Office, the German Parliament, the Goethe Institute and many others.

Get in touch!

Contact Info

If you need any more information on our programs or partners, or wish a free consultation with us, just give us a call or send us an e-mail.

The team at our head office in Bonn is always happy to help and advise you!

Matthias Lichan

he/him

lichan@experiment-ev.de 0228-95722-21

For Foreign Visitors