Lydia Fernández Pereda
KU Leuven
structure
• Further study in Spain: why would I?
• What different postgraduate programs do exist in Spain?
• Entrance requirements: timing, Spanish language requirements,
practical tips & tricks
• Funding: scholarships, assistantships, mobility programs, EU
• What are the possibilities of student housing in Spanish towns,
how to look for housing?
Why should a Flemish student (who has
already an academic bachelor- or
master degree from KU Leuven) do a
(postgraduate) study in Spain?
What are the benefits of studying in
Spain?
Why studying in Spain
• Spain is much more than
just paella, siesta, fiesta
and sangría…
…Spain is not only known for
its “Tomatina”…
• …there are almost 50 public universities in Spain (that’s
almost 10 times more offer than in Belgium) + more than
30 private ones
http://www.u-ranking.es/analisis.php
• … big country, with a wide variety of differences between
regions: multicultural, multilingual, open society
• …openness, kindness, sympathy, joy and charisma of its
people
• Spanish is the 3rd language in the world (after Chinese
and English), probably the 2nd in importance (after
English)
What different type of
postgraduate programs exist in
Spain?
Types of postgraduates
In Spain “posgrado” (postgraduate) are the university studies
after “grado” (this is, a university career, 3 or 4 years). The
best known ones are the masters. There are different
types:
1. Official Master (Master Oficial): for some careers, they
are compulsory to be able to work
• 1 year (60 ECTS) or 2 years (120 ECTS), usually full time
• 2 types:
o a) Official Professional Master (Master oficial
profesional)
o b) Official Research Master (Master oficial de
investigación)> both allow to conduct a doctorate, but
the 2nd is specifically orientated in this direction
2. Master Erasmus Mundus: some official masters coorganized by 3 European universities
3. Master Propio: non-official postgraduate offered by
universities or other high education centers.They usually
require a previous university degree/ + 500 teaching hours
4. University Expert/Specialist Course (Curso de Experto
o Especialista Universitario): postgraduate courses with
less than 500 teaching hours, usually 200-400
5. University Postgraduate Diploma (Diploma
Universitario de Postgrado): highly specialized
postgraduate studies, usually no more than 200 hours
Requirements
requirements: general
• Check out the website of your destination university for
specific requirements, dates, etc.
• Academic year usually starts at the end of September –
end of June
• August usually holidays month: most offices are closed!
• For more information, check out this website:
http://universidad.es/en/spain/living-spain
language requirements
• Where to learn Spanish before leaving:
o
o
KU Leuven: CLT/ILT
Instituto Cervantes (Brussels):
http://bruselas.cervantes.es/es/default.shtm
• Qualified official institution that will provide you with a DELE
(Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera)
• Some degrees (especially postgraduate) are taught in
English (but this is not so frequent!)
• In some bilingual regions (Galicia, Cataluña, País Vasco,
Baleares, Valencia) you might receive lessons in the other
official regional language (Galician, Catalan, Basque)
language requirements
• Once you are in Spain…
o
Thousands of private language schools where you can
learn Spanish …
+
o
University language schools
+
o
Instituto Cervantes (in Madrid)
Funding
• Scholarships at the EU (Lifelong Learning Programme)
http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learningprogramme/doc78_en.htm)
o Leonardo (internships in companies)
o Comenius, Grundtvig, eTwinning: mostly for teachers &
mobility within the EU
o Erasmus
o Erasmus Placements: enables students at higher
education institutions to spend a placement
(traineeship/internship) period in an enterprise or
organization in another participating country of the LLP
program
• Interesting website in Flanders: EPOS-Vlaanderen
http://www.epos-vlaanderen.be/?CategoryID=552
• Some universities offer funding for highly qualified
international students: contact with your destination
university!
Housing
¿piso compartido, residencia, familia?
• No “kots”, but shared apartments (usually with other
students, local or international)
http://www.pisocompartido.com/
• University residences & services
• Private search: facebook groups (former students who
have been in Spain, Spanish students in Leuven
contact them!), websites, “little papers” system in situ,
etc…
• More information provided in the website
http://www.studyinspain.info/
• ‘Infomarkt’, here, today, until 15.00 + more information
about where to study Spanish at the KU Leuven at the CLT
(Centrum voor Levende Talen)/ ILT (Interfacultair Instituut
voor Levende Talen) infostand