Name: Lisa van Leeuwen
E-mail: l.vanleeuwen_1@tilburguniversity.edu
Study Program: Organization Studies in the Netherlands, Strategic Management in Innsbruck
Exchange semester: Summer
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: University of Innsbruck
Country: Austria
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Well, where to start? Innsbruck is the capitol of Tyrol, located in the Austrian Alps. Everywhere you
stand in the city you see the mountains surrounding the city. There is a small ‘Altstadt’ which
represents the old city streets with the alpine architecture and the famous Golden Roof. This is the
main tourist spot in Innsbruck. Also, you will find the river Inn all the way through Innsbruck which is
easy for the sense of direction. Compared to Tilburg, Innsbruck is quite similar based on inhabitants
and student population. Of the approximately 120.000 inhabitants, over 30.000 are students. This
gives the city a very vibrant and lively atmosphere. Next to that, sports are important to
Innsbruckers. In the winter season of course skiing, snowboarding and every other winter sport and
in the summer more hiking and mountain biking. A cable directly from the city to the mountains
facilitates that.
The university is divided in different locations. For the Social and Behavioural sciences, the campus is
called SoWi (Sozial Wissenschaft) and is located a bit in the north of the city. However, it is very close
to the city centre – as is actually everything because Innsbruck is not that big. You can almost walk
everywhere. SoWi is a pretty small building but has a fine library and also sometimes parties are
organized in or in front of the building. The main University building is located on a 20 minute footwalk from the SOWI building. This building originates from the University’s founding year 1669 and
hosted the biggest library in the city. The Sports centre of the University is located near the airport
and can be reached by a nice bicycle ride or a short bus trip from the city centre.
In general, the atmosphere is very laidback amongst students. Innsbruck offers quite some nice
places for food (try L’Osteria for huge pizzas, Himal Nepali Kitchen for the best Nepalese food and the
Pianobar for traditional Austrian food) and plenty of places for drinking and going out. If you want to
go cheap: Go Segabar, if you want to go fancy: Go to 360 bar or the rooftop of Adlers Hotel, if you
want to go until ten o’clock the next morning: Go to Tante Emma. Also Weekender, Aftershave and
Hofgarten are worth checking out. Keep an eye out for events organized during the semester
because of the high student population a lot of other markets, events and parties are organized. For
example, at the end of March Ugly Skiing Day is organized each year at Axamer Lizum (a skiing area
near to Innsbruck). This day is so much fun, you have to go there!
The university consists of 16 faculties but I’m not sure how many exchange students were present
during my exchange. At least 150 I would say. It is known though that during the winter semester
Innsbruck attracts more exchange students than in the summer semester when I did my exchange.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
Something went wrong with my application at the university therefore I received all the information
quite late. However, this was not the fault of Innsbruck but of Tilburg. I do recommend paying
attention to your application because for me it resulted in taking courses that were not preferred. I
will come back to this later. The person I had contact with from the University of Innsbruck was very
friendly and always open for questions. It was quite funny because he basically started every email
with: PLEASE DO NOT FREAK OUT BY ALL THE INFORMATION AND READ IT CAREFULLY. After a while,
you will get used to this.
Visa procedure and arrival
No specific arrival was organized at the airport. It’s also not necessary because by bus you’re in the
city centre within 20 minutes. After arriving, a collective welcome was organized for exchange
students in which all the steps to take where explained. It was about how you had to register at the
university, the municipality and so on. This was all very easy. Though keep in mind the
‘Deutsche/Österreichse Pünktlichkeit’. This means that the Austrians value arriving on time for an
appointment. If you run late, you might experience being sent away to come back another day where
you can make it on time.
Orientation/Introduction activities
One big Erasmus welcome was organized with free drinks and food at which you could get to know
other exchange students but also some Austrian students. During this welcome also the buddy
system was introduced but I decided not to make use of this because I already made some friends
therefore it did not seem necessary. However, if you really want to get to know Austrian students it
might be a good idea to arrange a buddy because if you try to approach the Austrian students by
yourself, you might be disappointed because it takes quite a while for them to open up to you.
Housing
The university has their own website through which you can arrange your room. Always book a room
upfront because otherwise you have the risk of not fining anything anymore.
I got the advice from a friend who had already been to Innsbruck to stay at Canisianum, which is an
old monastery right next to the mountains. This is a large student residence (± 170 students) with a
big garden, own gym facility, bar in which you can organize parties, a barbecue (which is used almost
every day during spring/summer) and decent rooms. This is the website I used for this.
http://www.akademikerhilfe.at/heime/innsbruck/canisianum/. The location of the building is close
to SoWi which is perfect. Private accommodation is also available in Innsbruck which might be a good
idea if you want to live with Austrian students. It is more expensive though than big student
residences.
Living Costs
I saved a lot before my exchange period so I did not need to work abroad. I don’t know if it easy to
get a job there for a few months and of course you need to speak German fluently.
Innsbruck might be slightly more expensive than the Netherlands for groceries. This is because the
Austrians value biological, fair and without GMO food. No ‘plofkip’ available there! Nevertheless, if
you do your shopping smart, it does not need to be that expensive at shops like Hofer (Aldi) or Lidl. I
spend most of my money on skiing, making trips (roadtrip and daytrips) and going out with friends. I
would recommend you to do the same. For skiing I do have to give the advice to buy a Freizeitticket
which gives you access to 20 skiing areas around Innsbruck and also to some swimmingpools in
Innsbruck. Also Baggersee (a lake) can be accessed with that card. The card costs around € 420 but if
you arrive in the summer semester you might be able to get some discount if you search on
Facebook. My budget kind of looked like this:
 Housing
€ 290
 Food
€ 250



Transport
€ 20 (50 for a bike in total and ± € 10 for public transport per month)
Books
Miscellaneous € 400
Academic Calendar
I arrived the 23rd of February and the introduction was around the 26th of February. It was only a day
and not that big of a deal. My classes started at the 10th of March which means a lot of time for
skiing! The last day of classes was on the 25th of June which means it was quite a short semester.
Keep in mind that this only accounts for master students; the semester for bachelor students is
longer. Also, in the beginning of April a two weeks Eastern break applies. This is perfect for skiing and
making trips.
The structure of the courses in Innsbruck might differ per course. One course was a block course
which means it is intensive and only for one month. So, you have about 4 classes of minimum of 3
hours for that subject and you finish it after that month. Other subjects start at the beginning of
March and end at the end of June which makes it less intensive.
The International Office
An international office is present (IWW) and the contact person is Christoph Kornberger. It functions
all very strict but well.
Exchange promotion
I did not do any specific promotion for Tilburg University I guess.
Social Activities
ESN organizes some events for exchange students but the events for my semester were not really
interesting. Do not rely too much on this organization; you’re responsible for your own fun. As I said
before, the Austrian students can be quite difficult to be approached. I only got two or three Austrian
friends and they admitted themselves that Austrians are closed towards new people. This does not
mean that everyone is unfriendly! Everyone is very friendly and helpful but to really bond with an
Austrian is difficult. Most of my friends were also exchange students and that was perfect because
everyone is in the same position: You don’t know anyone but want to get to know everyone.
Together with my friends I did a roadtrip to Prague, Budapest and Vienna which was awesome. I also
visited a friend of mine studying in Rome at that time. Because Innsbruck is in the middle of Europe it
was the perfect starting point for travelling.
Culture and Language
I did not experience a culture shock but it did surprise me that the Austrians were so closed. I did not
take that into account upfront. However, after a while the Austrian students warmed up and were
also really nice and fun to hang out with. As I mentioned earlier, take the ‘Deutsche Pünktlichkeit’
into account. It is considered rude if you turn up late for an appointment. Next to that, be a bit more
careful with the Dutch directness in Austria. It is not per definition rude or anything but you should
be careful with direct comments or feedback which can be experienced as insulting. If you happen to
insult an Austrian, switch the subject to either Red Bull or Arnold Schwarzenegger. You’ll get to see
the pride the Austrians have about their Austrian origin and the insult will be forgotten within a
second!
The language spoken in Austria is German but in Innsbruck they talk with a heavy southern Tyrolean
accent which cannot be understood at all. Most people also speak English very well so that has never
been a problem for me. I did do a German Erasmus language course (B1+) which was useful because
you have the opportunity to practice your German again (I already had German at high school). Next
to that, Austrians really appreciate it if you try to talk in their language.
Personal Development
I learned a lot during my exchange. I think I underestimated the cultural differences between for
example the Netherlands and Canada. The Canadians were kind of insulted by the hard jokes Dutch
people make and their sarcasm. I learned how to deal with this. Also, I met some great new people
from all around the world who I will keep in touch with.
For the future I do not know exactly what will be the benefit of the exchange but it always looks good
on your CV. Next to that, I will never forget that I learned how to ski during my exchange period. It is
kind of difficult to tell about good and bad experiences. Of course, the good ones include all the
people you’ve met over there and the maybe lifelong friendships that have been created.
Nevertheless, what makes something a bad experience? I think you can learn something from every
experience therefore it is almost impossible to have a bad experience. Maybe this is the most
valuable thing I learned during the exchange semester: Even though sometimes you think, how am I
going to deal with this? In the end, everything will be alright and you’ll look back at it with some new
self-knowledge.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
Courses in Innsbruck are offered in both German and English; it depends on which program you
choose. I chose to only take English subjects. As I mentioned earlier, something went wrong with my
application due to which I ended up with subjects not fully of my interest. I had two marketing
courses and one business ethics course. I really liked the business ethics course because you are
challenged to think about organizations in a different way. The level of the courses is OK, it is not
extremely difficult but they do require some work from you throughout the whole semester. A lot of
it is group work and papers. I only had one exam of 60 minutes (which was way too short for me!).
The marketing courses were really practical based with a lot of guest speakers from companies like
Google and Swarovski. The business ethics course was more theoretical based but also with hints of
practice in it. With all my subjects there wasn’t a strict division between lecture and seminar.
Everywhere were strict presence requirements. The teachers were friendly and open for any
question. Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with my academic achievements in Innsbruck even though I did
not take the subjects I preferred.
Exams
I only had one exam of 60 minutes. Next to that I had four group papers, two individual papers, an
oral exam, plenty of small individual assignments and a lot of presentations.
Other
The library in Innsbruck kind of sucks compared to Tïlburg. I think we’re spoiled in Tilburg with the
two big screens at every computer and also plenty of computers.
Description of Courses
Course
433045/433046
Ethics in Organizations
Prerequisites
None
436232/436233
Brand-related behavior
None
436234/436235
Online marketing
None
124077
Erasmus - Deutsch als
Fremdsprache IV (B1+)
None
Exam
Written exam
Group paper/presentation,
Individual paper,
Small assignments
Oral exam, group paper 2x,
presentations, small
assigments
Group paper, presentations,
google online marketing
challenge, small assignments
Oral, writin and listening
ECTS
10
Comments
10
10
5
Tips for the future students:
Just go and figure it out yourself! You can read hundreds of reports from other students but these do
not come near to the actual experience.