Mobility exchange at the Faculty of Science and Technology

You have made a good choice!

You can find general information about exchange (internal link) on the central websites of UiB.

We recommend that students who plan to go on exchange contact their student advisor early in the process. Your student advisor can help you determine when an exchange stay will fit into your specific study plan and provide information about where students from your study program have previously gone on exchange.

If you need a consultation with the study consultant for your program, you can book an appointment directly via the booking calendar (internal link).

Where can you go?

Exchange agreements at the Faculty of Science and Technology can be found under Exchange Agreements at UiB (internal link).

As a student at the faculty, you can apply for exchange agreements under the faculty or central agreements under the University of Bergen. Note that exchange agreements under the Faculty of Science and Technology belong to different departments. You must check whether you can go on agreements that belong to departments other than your own.

You can travel under various agreements during an exchange stay. This applies to the following agreements/programs:

• Exchange in the Nordic countries: Nordplus and Nordlys (internal link)

• Exchange in Europe: Erasmus program (internal link)

• Exchange outside Europe: bilateral agreements (with a few exceptions)

• Network agreements (other than Nordplus and Nordlys): Australian-European Network and Mid-America Universities International

Once you have found the university you wish to travel to for an exchange, you must gather information about which courses you can take at the host university.

Always consider:

• Are the courses I plan to take taught in English?

• Will I take elective courses or replace compulsory courses in my study program?

• Are the courses available in the semester I plan to go abroad?

• Are the courses I plan to take, accepted as University courses? (See the tab "pre-approval"/Forhåndsgodkjenning")

These are important points to keep in mind when researching which courses you can take on a mobility exchange at the host university.

It can often be difficult to find an overview of the courses a host university offers to exchange students. Therefore, feel free to contact the university directly and request information about courses and other relevant topics you are curious about regarding the mobility exchange. These could be questions about:

• Course offerings in English

• Level of courses - bachelor's or master's?

• Tuition fees (not applicable for Erasmus+)

• Housing

You apply for exchange through Søknadsweb at UiB (internal link). In the application, you can list up to 5 partner universities you want to go to. The spots are ranked by priority, so you list the place you want to go to the most at the top and rank down to the 5th place.

In the comment field in the application, you should write about:

• The courses you plan to take - electives or replacing compulsory courses? Studyfield in Science or other fields?

• Language skills and course language (if you are going to a non-English speaking country)

• Free place or paid place (bilateral agreements)? If only a free place is applicable for you, write this in the comments field.

The places in the selection process will be allocated based on the GPA of the applicants. The GPA is calculated from grades of all the courses you have taken at UiB.

Application deadlines are:

• February 1

• August 25

Important!

UiB does not have a "leftover" admission for mobility exchange applications. Therefore, do not apply for a mobility exchange to "test" if you can get a place for a later occasion. Places that are declined when the application answers are published, are lost. No other students get the place you "tested" for in the application.

When you have accepted the mobility exchange offer you received from the application, UiB will nominate you to the host university you are going to. Once you have been nominated to the host university, you should apply for pre-approval from UiB.

Applying for admission to the host university

When you have been nominated and the host university has approved the nomination, the host university will usually send you information on how to apply for admission to the mobility exchange at their university. In the application to the host university, you will be asked to provide various documentation. This can, for example, include:

• Copy of passport or ID

• Transcript of records (in English)

• Learning agreement (Erasmus+)

• Proof of language skills

• Insurance

It is therefore important that you read all the information provided by the host university carefully and contact the host university before their deadline if you have problems obtaining the required documents.

The exchange stay is part of your degree. If you are going on an mobility exchange, you must apply for pre-approval of the courses you will take at the host university (part of your studies) before the mobility exchange semester starts. After the mobility exchange, you must apply for final approval when you have received the transcript of records from the host university.

Pre-approval

The pre-approval guarantees that what you study abroad can be included in your degree at UiB. It is especially important that you apply for pre-approval as early as possible if you are going to replace compulsory courses in your degree.

A pre-approval provides you with an assessment of how many ECTS credits the courses you have chosen at the host university correspond to - optimally 30 ECTS for a full-time semester.

The pre-approval is sent to your department for processing before you travel abroad. This is to ensure the academic content of the subjects at the host university can be included in your degree at UiB, as well as funding through the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) for the exchange stay.

Note: The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund requires that you have pre-approval approved at UiB before they grant loans and scholarships for your mobility exchange.

• Application for pre-approval - all agreements (internal link)
• Learning Agreement (internal link) All those going on an Erasmus+ agreement must fill out an Online Learning Agreement in addition to the pre-approval.

Attached to the application for pre-approval, the following is required:

• Course descriptions for each course, detailing the academic content and how many ECTS credits it provides.

• Information showing that the study corresponds to a full-time study at university level, or how large a part of a full-time study it corresponds to.

You are responsible for finding the necessary information that the department/faculty needs to process the application.

NOTE:

The faculty adheres to NOKUT's assessment of foreign education for GSU(external link). In some countries, the first year of university education is considered equivalent to upper secondary education in Norway. If you apply for pre-approval of courses from countries where this is the case, the department will assess whether the courses you are applying for are at a high enough level for approval into a university degree in Norway, or if they are at a too low level and equivalent to Norwegian upper secondary education.

The department will also academically assess language courses. Some language courses will not be approved if they are at too low an academic level. This may apply, for example, if you apply to take English language courses at lower levels A1-A2, B1-B2.

Language Courses

Many host universities offer language courses for international students, and it can be useful to know a bit of the local language, even if you will be studying courses in English. Many countries speak little English in daily life, and being able to communicate in the local store or neighborhood is always an advantage. Check with the host university to see if they offer language courses, if you wish. The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) offers a separate language grant for language courses in some cases (external link).

There are also various language apps that you can use to learn a bit of the local language.

Language Tandem

UiB offers language tandem (internal link) each semester, where Norwegian and international students are paired to learn languages from each other. The best way to learn a language is to speak it with a native speaker.

Information Meeting about Exchange

UiB holds its own information meetings for students who have been admitted to exchange. You will receive information about when and where the information meeting will be held via email.

Apply for Housing

In many countries, it can be difficult to find housing, so it is advisable to apply as early as possible. The host university you are going to will have information on how to apply for housing. In many cases, there will be student housing on campus to apply for, and then you must be careful to apply within the deadline given by the host university. In other cases, you will apply for housing privately, but the host university will usually have information on how to find housing in these cases.

Apply for a Visa

If you are traveling outside the Schengen area, you usually need to apply for a visa. The host university will usually provide information on how to apply for a visa in the country you are going to. Visa applications can take time to process, so apply as early as possible. Remember that a visa fee often has to be paid before you receive loans and grants for your mobility exchange from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund! In most cases when you apply for a visa, your passport must be valid for 6 months after returning home. Therefore, check the expiration date on your passport to see if it needs to be renewed before applying for a visa.

Apply to the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen)

When your pre-approval is approved at UiB, you can apply for loans and grants (and tuition fees for those who have to pay this) from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund.

Book Travel

Travel costs can often be cheaper if booked early, so research transport as early as possible. We encourage our students to travel green as much as possible.

Vaccinations

Some countries require or recommend specific vaccinations before entry. Therefore, check this in advance of departure. You can find information on travel vaccinations at helsenorge.no (external link).

Insurance

You must have insurance before you travel. You are not insured through UiB. All students must have their own travel insurance in addition to a European Health Insurance Card from HELFO.

Note: Some countries, including the USA, require students to have insurance from the host university. These are often much more expensive than insurance you get in Norway but do not necessarily cover more than what Norwegian insurance covers. Therefore, check with the host university if you can get a so-called "waiver" for their insurance. To get a waiver, you must document that the insurance in Norway covers everything the insurance in the host country covers. The host university usually has information that you can take to the Norwegian insurance company to cover all requirements.

Semester Registration

When you go on exchange, you must register for the semester at UiB and pay the semester fee.

In StudentWeb, there should be an "mobility exchange course" in your study plan that you can register for. If you do not find this course, you can leave the course registration empty and "skip" this step in your semester registration.

Feel free to contact us at info.nt@uib.no if the course is not in your study plan, so that we can correct this.

Safety

Always remember your own and others' safety. Check out UiB's sikresiden.no(internal link) for good advice and what measures you can take as preventive work and what to do if an accident or other incidents where to happen. Also, register your next of kin in StudentWeb before departure.

Student Report

When you return home from your mobility exchange, you will receive an e-mail from UiB requesting you to fill out a student report about your stay. In the report, we would like you to write about how your mobility exchange has been, and feel free to cover topics such as:

• Courses

• Housing

• Teaching

• Exams

• Student life

The student report is important for you to fill out as it is used by us at UiB to evaluate whether the exchange agreement is beneficial for our students and it is very helpful for students who want to go on the same exchange agreement you were on.

Final Approval of Courses

After the mobility exchange, you must apply for final approval of your stay at the host university (part of your studies) to get the courses you have taken on the mobility exchange included in your study plan.

For the application to be processed, the following documents must be attached:

• Transcript of records from the external institution

• Course descriptions if you have taken courses that have not been pre-approved

• Form for application for final approval of stay abroad (internal link).

Note: If you are on mobility exchange in the last semester of your degree, you should be aware that you will not achieve the degree and receive the diploma for your degree until the application for final approval is completed.

In this case, you should send in the application for final approval as soon as possible after you have received the transcript of records from the host university. We process applications continuously, but in some cases, the deadline for admission to a master's program, July 1, may come before we have processed your application. In this case:

• Contact the university you are applying for a master's program at, explain the situation, and ask if they offer conditional admission to the master's program.

• Contact us at info.nt@uib.no and request confirmation of delayed processing and expected graduation.

For specific questions about exchange in your study program, contact your study advisor or book a guidance appointment via the Booking Calendar (internal link).

General questions related to the exchange stay can be directed to the Information Center for Science Students, info.nt@uib.no

Questions about application procedures and Søknadsweb or exchange agreements affiliated with the University of Bergen can be directed to the International Center, utveksling@uib.no.