EXPERIENCE REPORT – University of Limerick, Ireland
E-mail: d.h.m.franken@tilburguniversity.edu
Study Program: Human Resource Studies (Personeelswetenschappen)
Exchange semester: Autumn
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: University of Limerick
Country: Ireland
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
University of Limerick is located in County Limerick, just outside of the city of Limerick in
Castletroy. The University has a very big and green campus, surrounded by 5 student
villages. Campus is very big in comparison to Tilburg University; a lot of attention is paid to
scenery and student facilities. The Campus is 137.5 hectares big and is located alongside the
river Shannon; the living bridge over the Shannon River connects the two sides on campus.
UL has lots of sports facilities, big sporting fields, a massive gym, Olympic swimming pool etc.
The campus has multiple food/drinking places like Stables, Scholars, and Paddocks. Stables
is also the campus bar where multiple parties, such as international night, are organized.
Furthermore, the campus has it’s own bank, church, bookstore, supermarket. In Limerick all
students live in on or off campus accommodations near on or near campus. None of the
students live in the city centre. Private housing as we know it in Tilburg is rare in Ireland.
The easiest way to go to the City Centre is by bus, which takes about 20 minutes and depart
from the campus and some of the student villages. The city is not that spectacular and not
that big, but it has some nice shops and it’s a good city to party (nice clubs and Irish bars). If
you don’t feel like going to the city that often, campus provides almost everything you need,
shops, restaurants, bars and awesome house parties.
Before I left for my semester abroad, I read online that Limerick was long known as stab city
of Ireland. However I haven’t seen anything sketchy when I was there. Irish people are very
friendly, open, interested and willing to help. The city itself doesn’t have that many interesting
places to see. The Hunts Museum, John’s Castle and Thomondpark (home arena of Munster
Rugby) are nice places to go see, there are also a few nice walking routes. Don’t worry about
the city not being that exciting, because University offers multiple weekends trips to other
cities and natural parks in Ireland, which are amazing to see.
The University of Limerick has four faculties: Kemmy Business School; Faculty of Education &
Health Sciences; Faculty of Science & Engineering; and the Faculty of Arts, Humanities &
Social Sciences. The total amount of student in 2014 was 14600; during my semester at UL
they had the largest cohort of International Students in history with 2,500 students from over
100 countries. Which is more than 1/6 of all students studying at UL. In the last couple of
years UL has received some prestigious prices. They have the highest employment rates for
their students in Ireland, they received the maximum 5 stars for sports facilities, which makes
UL the sports university of Ireland and they are already named university of the year for 2015
In Ireland. Erasmus students all over Europe also rank their Erasmus program number 1.
UL’s study structure is different than in Tilburg, they have much more individual assignments
and more obligated classes. In some courses they even give you marks for attendance. But
they have fewer exams and overall the courses are easier than in Tilburg.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
I received the first information and emails from UL in May, which gave me more than enough
time to arrange everything needed. During the summer holiday I received the rest of the prearrival information. UL provides you with lots of information to prepare and organize
everything before arrival and they are very fast with answering questions. Therefore, I did not
have any difficulties communicating with UL.
Visa procedure and arrival
When you go to Ireland you do not need a visa. With regard to arrival in Ireland, UL organizes
buddy pick-ups from Shannon airport; a few Irish students come with busses and pick you up.
Unfortunately from the Netherlands it is much cheaper and easier to fly to Dublin (about € 40),
for which there is no pick up service. Nevertheless it’s very easy to get to Limerick by bus, the
bus takes 2,5 hours, but it brings you straight to the University. Because I live on campus I
had to go straight to Plassey village reception. They gave me my key and information and
showed me the directions to the house. I didn’t really discover campus until orientation.
During orientation we got a bag full of information, documents etc. The administration and
faculty were well prepared for the arrival of international students and everything went
smooth.
Orientation/Introduction activities
I arrived two days before the official introduction started, nevertheless there were already
some welcome events organized. Examples of organized activities during these two days are
Irish music session, campus treasure hunt and coffee mornings. The official orientation was a
three-day orientation with a lot of information and guided tours of the big campus. In the first
weekend there were already trips organized by the international office, one of the most
exciting trips was the trip to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The second week was the first
week of lectures; a nice thing about UL is that during the first two weeks, exchange students
can follow as many courses as they want. After those weeks you have to decide which
courses suit you best. During the first week of lectures is was fresher’s week, the introduction
week for first year students, so a lot of parties were organized. UL students participated in the
reception of exchange students, they did the guided tours e.g., and furthermore in the first 7
week there was extra help for exchange and first year students. UL student in yellow shirts
(called international student guides) walked around and you could ask them for help when
needed and they would help you figuring our what courses you wanted to follow. There were
also students in orange shirts in every building to help new students to find their lecture
rooms. For international students there was also a buddy program. You had to sign up for it in
advance of your arrival. The first contact with my buddy was made about a month before
arrival. During my time in Ireland I think I met my buddy 3 of 4 times. I experienced having a
buddy as very pleasant, it is very helpful to know that there is already someone at UL you
know and where you can go to when you feel alone or need some help.
Housing
I decided to live on campus because you it’s organized by the university so it should be good,
furthermore living on campus is easy because campus and all its facilities are so close. At the
end it also turned out to be cheaper than off campus accommodation. Unfortunately on
campus accommodation is booked very fast, so you have to be lucky and fast. As soon as I
got my acceptance letter I applied and luckily there were stills rooms available. I had to pay
the entire fee in advance before my arrival. At arrival I went to the reception and they gave me
the key, so it was all organized very well and it went smooth. I lived in Plassey Village, the
cheapest on campus accommodation they have. They have 4 and 8 person houses. I was in
an 8 person house, the house has 8 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen/living room. I
shared the house with 8 girls and I would definitely recommend living in Plassey. Plassey
village also has a common area for all residence and a washing/drying room. It’s a 5-10
minutes walk to the centre of campus and it’s a 2-minute walk to a Spar, ATM, butcheries,
pharmacy and Chinese restaurant. It is also the Village with most international students and
first year students. You could also choose for one of the other four student villages on
campus. They are a bit more expensive, but they have an en suite bathroom and a double
bed. The Erasmus coordinator of UL will gives you all the information about housing, but I
would already looked into it before you get this information, otherwise you have to hurry
because of the limited amount of places available. The only downside of living in Plassey was
that they don’t have Wi-Fi but work with Ethernet cables, but that’s the case in most UL on
and off campus accommodation. I bought a router so I could have Wi-Fi in the house and we
shared it with a few roommates. It is also pretty expensive I paid 1800 euro for the entire
semester. However it is the cheapest on or off campus accommodation. Only private housing
is cheaper but it has a lot of downsides, like buying own furniture and not knowing if it’s good.
Living Costs
I financed my exchange by my student grant (StuFie), Erasmus grant, OV compensation (OV
vergoeding), personal savings and personal loan (DUO). For me the living expenses abroad
were higher compared to my costs Tilburg. The rent for the room was already twice as much
as in Tilburg. Furthermore you need to buy food for the entire week, while in Tilburg I only buy
groceries for 4 days. However prices for food are almost the same; it might be a bit more
expensive but not that much. Public transport in Ireland is more expensive than in Tilburg, but
because of living of on Campus I didn’t use public transport that often. Alcoholic drinks are
about the same price, it usually looks more expensive, but the glasses you get are twice as
big as in Tilburg. I spend most of my money on traveling around Ireland, going to different
cities and stay in Hostels.
My approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange:
 Housing: 450 euro
 Food and drinks: 200 euro
 Transport: 25-30 euro
 Books: 0 euro, maybe 5 for printing
 Miscellaneous: 300 euro (of which 200 for traveling)
Academic Calendar
I arrived September 1st, the official introduction for students was September 4th – 7th. The first
day of the semester started the 8th of September. The last day of classes was on November
28th. There was a mid-term week at the end off October, I didn’t have any midterms so I didn’t
have that many classes that week. During the semester we had a few bank holidays in
October and 3 days off during open days. The examination period was December 6th till
December 19th. In the week before exams started there were no lectures.
The International Office
UL has a very helpful international office, where you can go with questions when you need
some help and they keep you updates on upcoming events. The international office is
situated in the main building and there is always someone sitting in the front desk who can
help you and make appointments with your coordinator. Furthermore they try to help you as
much as possible through e-mail.
Exchange promotion
During my semester about I didn’t to that much exchange promotion for Tilburg University. I
was supposed to help at the exchange information fair for Irish students but unfortunately I
had lectures all day. I did come in contact with two Irish students who where thinking about
going to do a semester in the Netherlands so I gave them some more information about
Tilburg University. I also compared UL and Tilburg university to other exchange friends and
they told their friends who where still deciding.
Social Activities
For exchange students various activities are organized. Especially weekend trip and parties;
every Friday night is international night and an international party is thrown in the campus bar.
Student live at UL is very much about being in a society or club. For every possible hobby,
sport or other activities there is a club. In these clubs or societies is where most people make
their friends. I joined the international society and the outdoor pursuits club. However there
were lots of other interesting clubs such as skydiving club, rowing society, gymnastics,
dancing, radio club, photo society etc. The international society is especially for international
students, they organize weekend and daytrip and they are also the once organizing the
parties on Friday. When you want to come in contact with local students joining one of the
societies/clubs is a good approach. I mostly met other exchange students because I could go
traveling and sightseeing with them. Limerick is very small so we went to lots of other cities in
Ireland during the weekends; I have been in Dublin 4 weekends during my semester. Most of
my friends came from the USA or Australia, so they travelled to lots of different cities in
Europa. I once went to Budapest with them on a 5-day trip.
Culture and Language
I didn’t really experience a culture shock while on exchange. Ireland doesn’t have that many
big cultural differences. The Irish culture is quite similar to the Dutch culture; off course there
are some small differences though. The Irish culture is more relaxed, laid back, very friendly,
indirect and hospitable. On the other hand there are lots of other exchange students from
countries that have more cultural differences. Therefore sometimes people have different
ideas or opinions, which could be conflicting. I didn’t really have a problem with this though; I
think it was only a good thing. I also think it wasn’t a problem for me because I was pretty
good prepared for cultural differences. I read into it and I was aware of them, which made it
easier to deal with the differences. I would say that Ireland and The Netherlands are not that
different. Irish people are more open to others, they are more spontaneous and you should be
surprised that they talk to you when you pass them in the streets. Furthermore Irish people
are still more religious than Dutch people, but on the other hand when you go partying, the
clothing girls where is much more scarce than we are used to. I also think Irish people are a
bit more polite, they say sorry for everything and ask you over and over again how you are.
They are also better drinkers than we are, and it is very normal to have a glass of bier during
lunchtime. Drinking is a correct stereotype about Ireland and drinking is socially accepted.
Meeting with friends usually includes drinking in a pub.
Because English is the first language in Ireland I didn’t expect any language problems. Even
though a lot of Irish also speak Gallic and at first the Irish accent in their English seems
incomprehensible, it’s not that bad. It’s comparable to the Dutch accent people from Limburg
have. I already followed an English course in Tilburg, so I didn’t follow a course in Ireland. I
live with 7 girls from Australia, USA and Ireland so I really improved my English by just being
in the house with them.
Personal Development
I think this exchange experience has affected me from a cultural and social point of view. You
become much more open minded for differences and different cultures and you think more
international rather than national. You learn to look at things from different cultures and it
becomes clear that when people have a different point of view you sometimes talk about
different things when you talk about the same topic. I have friends from all over the world
now, which I can visit if I go travel one day. If I had the chance to do it again I think I wouldn’t
chance anything. Maybe I would enjoy it more, the semester past so fast, so take every
opportunity to make the best of it.
The best experience was by far meeting all these awesome people from all over the world. It’s
so special how people from different culture create friendships like these so fast. Everyone is
experiencing the same thing and has the same kind of interests. Nearly all students who go
study abroad are open minded, and most international students come alone. That is why
everyone really looks to make friends and meet new people. At first I was a bit scared to go
alone, but I think I met my first friends within 15 minutes and at the end of the first day I
already met a group of awesome people. When I look back I’m happy I went by myself, it
forces you make new friends and go out there instead of staying with the people you know.
I also learned to judge people a lot less and appreciate them as they are; sometimes also the
first impression is not right if you give them the change to show you who they really are. I
would give the advice to just be yourself and have fun, then everything will turn out just fine.
In the beginning not knowing what is expected of you was hard for me in the beginning. As all
universities abroad UL sometimes wanted different things for assignments or exams than we
are used to in Tilburg. I like to have control over things so for me it was hard to cope with the
unknown in the beginning. But at the end I learned so much because of it. I learned to accept
the situation and to deal with the things as they come along. My exchange period was one of
the best experiences in my life so far. I will never forget all the people I have met from all over
the world and the different cultures I was able to get to know. Saying goodbye to all these
awesome people was my worst experience abroad, but that’s something your are unable to
avoid.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
All courses at the UL are in English, the courses I took where form the following faculties:
Kemmy Business School and Humanities & Social Sciences. I followed 5 courses during the
semester, these will be further explained below. I choose these courses because I think they
add something to the courses I followed in Tilburg. The academic level at UL is lower than the
academic level at Tilburg University. They expect more attendance and individual
assignments during the semester, but it’s all much easier than in Tilburg. They don’t expect
statistical evidence in assignments for instance and they are less strict with referencing. As
could be expected the level of English is higher than in Tilburg, but I didn’t experience any
problems with this.
The teaching style of the courses I had were both practical and theoretical. Most were a little
bit of both but in some of my classes there was definitely more practical parts than in Tilburg.
UL gives lots of examples, which makes it all clearer. Most on my assignments were
individual; nevertheless I heard that UL is known for group assignments, I didn’t see much of
it. For me that was a nice aspect, because in Tilburg we do a lot of group assignments so I
thought it was a good experience to do individual assignments, especially as a preparation for
the bachelor thesis in the second semester. The most used teaching method practiced by UL
is lectures, during tutorials case studies and discussions are used. Furthermore there are a lot
of individual papers, essays and reports during the semester.
The relationship between students and the teaching staff is much more personal and informal
than in Tilburg. Most of my teachers knew me by name; I think this is because most of my
classes there were only 20-30 people. Teachers are very informal and personal and there is a
lot of interaction in the class.
Exams
UL is known for having not that many exams. Students usually have lots of essays and other
assignments and only for 1 or 2 of their 5 subjects exams. Unfortunately I had exams for 4 out
of 5 courses. All my exams were essay exams. So you came into the exam and they gave
you’re a few essay questions and you had to choose 1 or 2 questions you wanted to answer.
For some of the courses the lecturer told us the topics of the questions beforehand. Other
students also had short answer questions, multiple choice questions or calculation questions.
At UL the week before exams there are no lectures, during ‘reading week’ you can focus on
preparing for exams. Then there are 2 weeks of exams. So you usually have longer time
between exams than in Tilburg.
Other
UL Library is in the centre of campus and was easy to access. With the use of your student ID
card you could get into the building. Inside there were multiple computer and study desks.
Nevertheless it is nothing much compared to Tilburg University. The computers are very old
and slow. And there are no group computers, nevertheless they have rooms you can book
with a group, but you have to bring your own laptop. For the laptops there are also multiple
individual work places and most of them had an Ethernet cable available, because wifi in the
university is sometimes slow. The books are everywhere and multiple, and therefore easy to
access. During exam period it was very hectic in the Library, people lined up in the morning to
get in, which is sometimes the same in Tilburg though. I haven’t seen it that much for myself
because during exam week I decided to study in my room. In other building there were also
computer rooms, which you could use when there was no class given in the room. Also
individual and group study places were available in all buildings.
Description of Courses
Course
Prerequisites
Exam
EC
TS
6
Comments
PM 4035 – psychology
of work
None
No exam
PM 4045 – theoretical
perspective in
industrial relations
None
3 essay
questions
6
1 essay (individual) and 4
workshops + grade for
attendance during semester
PM 4067 –
contemporary issues
in organizational
behaviour
None
1 essay
question
6
1 essay (individual) and 1
presentation (group) during
semester
PS 4022 – psychology
of personality
None
2 essay
questions
6
1 essay, peer review
assignments and 4 multiple
choice tests during semester
(only lectures) during semester
One report and one essay
(individual) + grade for
attendance during semester
SO 4067 – sociology
of work
None
2 essay
questions
6
100% end exam
Tips for the future students:
I would definitely recommend an exchange period it were definitely the best four months of
my life as a student. I already miss it like crazy and I would mind going back. I also learned
lots; especially my English has improved so much! Furthermore I learned a lot about different
cultures and myself.
I would also recommend the university of Limerick; It’s a very open, welcoming and good
university. They were very helpful and they receive lots of other international and Erasmus
students each year. I think for preparation it is really important to look of information about
your destination and the culture, know what to expect. Also know the prejudices/stereotypes
people from other countries might have about us. It makes it easier to relate and understand
each other and it prevents a cultural shock.
As the Irish would say: DO IT FOR THE CRAIC!!
A picture is worth a thousand words
Blog
I only did two blogs, one the beginning and one halfway the semester, you can read them
here: http://daphnefranken.waarbenjij.nu/reisverslagen/479971/study-abroad-limerickierland/1