Policy Statement
Internationalisation and Exchange programme
at the Graduate School,
School of Business, Economics, and Law
University of Gothenburg
1. Aim and Definition
Internationalisation is a dynamic and holistic process which implicitly informs and
influences all the activities and faculty in the School of Business, Economics and
Law, in terms of teaching, research, executive education and governance. The 2009
Equis report outlines the overall strategies and outcomes for internationalisation.
At the undergraduate level, all students in the Bachelor Programmes are offered the
opportunity to study abroad for at least one term. One aim is to provide all students
with international experience.
At the Masters level, the Masters Programmes are inherently international, as they are
taught in English with a higher percentage of students with foreign degrees.
Internationalisation in the classroom also takes place through the Visiting Professors
Programme (VPP), which brings more than 25 leading professors from around the
world to Gothenburg. The aim of student exchange at Graduate School (GS) is thus to
provide specific value added of courses and experience, which are of direct relevance
to the Masters Programme being studied.
Hence, Masters students can study approved courses and receive credits, usually in
complementary and specialised areas as electives and sometimes as core courses.
Students who participate in the exchange programme must have a clear purpose and
goal.
Graduate School can

Develop, gain access and contribute to new research

Stimulate education and learning experiences

Exchange teachers and thereby develop new course content and pedagogical
techniques

Share academic competences across fields and organisations

Help prepare students to become international citizens with the knowledge and
skills necessary in a globalised world

Help develop our programmes according to international benchmarking and
standards
Our stakeholders such as multinational businesses, entrepreneurial firms and public
policy decision-makers are usually global, as well as locally-rooted. Hence, promoting
a cross-cultural environment will make our graduates more attractive and relevant to
future employers.
2. Relevant Universities
The School of Business, Economics and Law currently has more than 150 formal
agreements for international student exchange, with universities and business schools
in nearly 40 countries. International exchanges related to research and teaching are
often not formalized, and more closely tied to a research group or individual
researcher.
The future strategy for partner universities is fewer but better partners as well as
quality upgrading. The intention of the School as a whole is to identify and work with
a number of partners with whom we shall cooperate strategically, more broadly and
deeply, on a long term basis. Preference will be given to the Masters and PhD levels.
The focus upon upgrading also has implications for our internationalisation strategy,
including international benchmarking exercises and new exchanges.
3. Set-up and Selection Criteria for Student Exchange Programmes
Masters students are selected in a competitive process, on the basis of English
proficiency, high grades, and a clear academic purpose for the exchange.
Masters students only do exchanges which directly benefit their area of study, and this
means that only some Masters students will go abroad. This differs from the policy at
the undergraduate level, where the ambition is that all students should study abroad.
Selected Masters students will study at relevant partner universities. Given the criteria
for selecting Masters students, probably no more than 10-25% of Masters students
will do a foreign exchange.
GS has two sets of lists. One list is the GS list of partner universities, which are of
high quality and have Masters courses relevant to many of our Programmes. The
second list is specified by GS Masters Programme, with a limited number of
universities of direct relevance to that Programme.
Exchanges at both types of partner universities are possible. In both cases, however,
the studies have to be directly relevant to the Masters Programme Syllabus. Decisions
are taken by the Masters Programme Coordinators, in interaction with the GS
administrative coordinators and the International Office coordinators.
The current list of universities relevant to most Masters Programmes includes:
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark,
Aarhus School of Business School, Denmark
Helsinki School of Economics (HSE), Finland,
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki Finland,
Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Bergen Norway
Norwegian School of Management, Oslo Norway (BI)
Innsbruck University, Austria
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
University of Mannheim, Germany
WHU, Germany
ESC Troyes, Champagne School of Management, France
ESSEC, France
University of Montpellier, France
Reims Management School, France
Grenoble Ecole de Management, France
EDHEC Business School, Lille-Nice, France
Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Bocconi University, Italy
Univeristy of Perugia, Italy
University Nova Lissabon, Portugal
Universidad de Alicante, Spain
University Complutense Madrid, Spain
The University of St.Gallen, Switzerland
Middlesex University, United Kingdom (1 year)
University of Victoria, BC, Canada
University of North Florida, Coggin College of Business, USA
Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), China
UKM, Malaysia
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India
Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
Doshisha University, Japan
EBC-Escuela Bancaria y Comercial, México
CIDE-Centro de Investigación y Docencias Económicas, México
Monash University, Australia
Specific exchange programmes for each MS can be obtained from your GS
administrative coordinator or from the International Office.
Students will usually have the opportunity to study 15 ECTS or 30 ECTS at a partner
university. This enables students to gain an international experience, specialised
knowledge and a greater perspective to their degree.
Simultaneously, exchange students from these partner universities will be accepted
into the program. We will strive for balance in our student exchanges - this does not
mean that student exchange will be 1-1 basis, but we will aim achieve a balance
within a 5 year period.
4. Administrative Routines
The development, administration and coordination of the GS exchange programme
will be operated by the International Programmes Office. The current proposal is that
an International Coordinator will also be a support person to the programme
coordinators and students in matters of internationalisation. A member of the
administrative staff at GS will work closely with the International Coordinator.
Application process. Applications will be made on a separate application to the
International Coordinator at the GS office. It is anticipated that students who wish to
study abroad in the spring (second semester) will need to submit application no later
than 31st October and those who wish to study in the autumn (third semester) will
need to submit application no later than 1st February.
Students will specify two universities (in preference order). The students must
examine the courses offered and identified the courses that would be relevant for their
education, at each university.
The application will consist of the following:
 Application form
 Study results
 Personal motivation letter in English (max 1 page)
 Study plan
 Language proficiency (if studies are undertaken in another language than
Swedish or English)
Selection process. Only students with very good results and a clear purpose for their
exchange period will be permitted to go on exchange to our partner universities.
Students must state how the international exchange will provide benefits to their
Masters studies, in detail.
Exchange places to our partners will be allocated based on the student’s grades, the
GS English proficiency test, as well as the personal motivation letter written in
English by the student. Only studies undertaken at the GS at the School of Business,
Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg will be taken into consideration.
Incoming Exchange Students. Names and details of the incoming exchange students
will be sent to the International Coordinator, who will then approve the exchange. It is
presumed that the partner university will monitor that the students will have the
course pre-requites and the English language proficiency. The programme
coordinators may need to be involved in determining whether the students meet the
pre-requisites as well as course choices, as needed.
Websites:
Graduate School: http://www.handels.gu.se/gs/
International Office: http://www.hgu.gu.se/international/
Gothenburg University Internationalisation Policy:
http://www.styrdokument.adm.gu.se/Policy%2C+rules+and+plans+/Internationalisati
on/