Future Plans for Student Exchanges
University policy for student exchange
"In partnership with approximately 200 institutions worldwide, we also participate in
exchange and mobility schemes that offer students and teachers a challenging and
exciting international experience, providing them with new perspectives and an
understanding of different cultures." (UoE Internationalisation Strategy 2008-2012)
2013: "Go abroad" programme, see website of UoE International Office.
There is the impression at Informatics that we have much more incoming than outgoing
students. European exchanges are balanced in the sense that places for exchange are the
same in both directions and capped to this level. There are more and less popular
destinations which depends on the schools and degrees. Therefore, imbalances can occur
"locally" as places can be move to other schools on either side. We do get more
European students because they stay often for half a term while our students usually leave
for a full year. For obvious reasons, we do not have a cap on the number of independent
international applicants. However, we do not accept independent EU students.
Outgoing students
Many students are not considering going abroad because of the following obstacles
 Language problems (many universities offer courses in English)
 No independent prior experience in foreign countries (graduate attributes)
 Required level of proactivity is higher elsewhere (graduate attributes)
 Rigid course structure (also in many other European universities)
 Specialisation in 3rd year
 Sometimes limited access to practical courses, but 3rd year students should
acquire experiences comparable to SDP or large practicals.
 Exams schedules
 Studying elsewhere for free would be wasting the fees paid here (a known
psychological effect)
 Early deadlines (from this year; Friday 29/11 for all exchanges in 2014/15)
 Health and safety
In addition there are problems in the compatibility of courses and administration
 Course structure at Informatics is incompatible to almost all US universities
 Term times are different, e.g. Edinburgh students cannot attend only the first
semester in most European Universities, less problems at international universities
that run trimesters.
 Deadlines for applications are different
Incoming students
Based on the discussions at the PT group meeting, VUG students appreciate many
aspects of studying at the University of Edinburgh
 Course organisation is often better
 Course and in particular programming classes are taught at a very reasonable level
of difficulty
 Independent study organised such that work becomes more efficient
 Drop-in classes (art, sports, languages)
 Giant screens and workspace at the main library
 Shorter lectures
 Assignments are not harder than elsewhere
VUG students have sometimes problems to understand our customs and regulations.
 Why are exams so important? (Often there are no mock exams, no mid-term tests)
 Courses give less directions for self-study, fewer study groups
 When students apply: Almost all Informatics course descriptors state "None" as a
prerequisite for visiting students, while most lecturers turn students away if they do
not have the precise prerequisites. This will be changed after VUG applications for
second term of 13/14 are finished. (Some course descriptors do not give specific
preconditions for home students either, some contain information from several
previous years on top level)
 SDP is not available for visiting students, although access seems to be no problem
in special cases
 Course names sometimes not clear to visiting students, e.g. that INF-2C CS and
INF-2C SE are actually different courses
 Exams for full-year visiting students are in May rather than in December as for their
fellow-visiting students that visit for first term only.
 Compared to some universities, student life, clubs, associations are less rich, thus
fewer opportunities to meet people
 Most of the information can be found on some website, but not very easily
Options for improvements of the current situation
1. Informatics 3rd year students who have applied to leave as exchange students
during second term can be enrolled into VUG courses during first term such that
they can take their exams already in December (together with the incoming VUGs).
2. Defining a course where VUG students can do research in cooperation with a
member of staff (at least in robotics or systems biology, places for exceptional
students have been available or will be available soon). The description of this
course could be similar to an Honours project, but the course would not be available
for home students
3. Student exchanges in combination with existing research co-operations
(independently on previous item)
4. More specifically addressing typical experiences of visiting student in foreign
countries into the graduate attributes we want to provide (independence, language
skills, organisational skills etc.)
5. Consider student exchange as such already comparable with some of the SDP
learning goals
6. PTs to encourage participation in a student exchange from year one
7. Credits for practicals in (certain) companies
8. Removal of sources of frustration for incoming VUGs (gradual)
9. Modularisation of courses
10. Changes of fees schemes for visitors in either direction (long term)
M. Herrmann, 23/10/2013