STUDENT REPORT FROM UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA PORTUGUESA – SPRING 2010
Name of the University: Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP)
Names of the students: Anette Jacobsen and Mari Hetland
Exchange semester: Spring 2010
1.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The university is located approximately 10 minutes by metro from the city center. You can easily
arrive at school with buss or metro. The university consists of four buildings that house classrooms,
auditoriums, completely new IT rooms, the Library, the Rector's Office, the administrative and
academic services department, a Conference Center, bar, canteens and a restaurant, seating and
function spaces, the bookshop/stationer and copy shop, and a bank branch. The semester we spent at
the university there were about 70 exchange students at the university, but we were informed that
there are usually closer to 100 exchange students per semester. We spent our time with both
undergraduate and master students, and we didn’t notice any separation between these two groups
of students.
2.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
The university informed us per e-mail the whole summer before we left, both information about the
school, accommodation, the courses and the daily Portuguese life. We were asked to choose courses
1 month before we arrived based on the information found about the courses online. You should
choose your courses carefully, as it is stressful to change the courses you already selected. We were
also assigned to a buddy, a student at Católica; that would help us the first couple of days in Lisbon.
The International Office
The international office where Erasmus students can go for advice and support was helpful, but it
usually took time to get things done. It might be hard to reach them by e-mail because they will not
always answer, but everything works out in the end. When you have received your courses and
schedules it can seem difficult to make it work out, but as far as we know, everyone got what they
wanted in the end. To get the application form for your metro card signed, you should deliver it as
soon as possible. Can be smart to do it before the school starts, because the international office has a
lot of work to do these days and will not have time to sign all papers at that time.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
You do not need a visa to go to Portugal. TAP(Transportes Aéreos Portugueses) has direct flights from
Oslo to Lisbon which takes approximately 4 hours.
Academic Calendar
We arrived in Lisboa the 25th of January, so that we had a couple of weeks to find housing before the
classes and lectures started at school the 8th of February. The 1st trimester lasted from 8th of February
to the 26th of March, but because of the carnival, there was a couple of days off from school the 15th
and 16th of February. The 1st exam period lasted from the 6th to the 17th of April. The 2nd trimester
was from 19th of April to the 28th of May, and the 2nd exam period from 29th of May to the 18th of
June. In the undergraduate courses you usually have one midterm, one end term and one selective
final that you take if you fail, or if you want to improve your grade. Be careful to pay attention to what
the professors are saying concerning this, because they all have different exam rules in the different
courses!
Reception
The first couple of days we had good help from Anette’s tutor, who showed us around the city and
helped us with practical tasks, like getting a metro card. He also showed us the school, and we got to
meet the staff at the international office. We quickly found out that Mari’s tutor was not going to be
around the first weeks we were in Lisbon, and therefore not helpful at all, but our impression was
that most of the tutors were helpful. We went to Erasmus Lisboa, an Erasmus organization, to get our
welcome packs, that contained a Portuguese sim-cards(you pay 5€ every month, and can call
everyone with this type of sim-card for free!) and other practical things we needed. We also joined
their organization by buying a member card, which gave us discounts and free entrance at Erasmus
arrangements and parties. There is one more Erasmus organization, ESN-Lisboa, but we did not join
many of their arrangements. There was a welcome week with arrangements the week before our
classes started, and we got to know all the other exchange students which was very pleasant.
Housing
Housing is not provided, and to find an apartment in Lisbon is not as easy as it sounds. We searched
the internet for apartments, and if something looks to good to be true, it probably is! We recommend
you to wait with the decision until you are able to actually see the place here in Lisbon. Just
remember there are a lot of students looking for housing in the beginning of the semester, so start
the search right away. We were lucky and found an apartment in the city center by Baixa-Chiado,
which is a great area to live as it’s about 10 minutes with subway to the university and right by Bairro
Alto, the bar streets. You should expect to pay around 300- 400€ a month for a room in a shared
apartment, and remember that the standard might be different from what you are used to from
home. Most students we know lived in our area, but it is also possible to live closer to the university.
The international office will provide you with a list of rooms for rent in different parts of Lisbon. We
would recommend to not live north of the university since this is further away from the city center.
Costs
The living expenses in Lisbon are low compared to Oslo. Going out to eat, with good food and wine,
will be around 12€- 15€ in many of the restaurants in Bairro Alto, but there are also cheaper
alternatives like sushi buffet for 7€ and buying a bottle of wine for 2€ at the grocery store! We had a
metro card for 14€ per month, and chose not to join a gym as this is the only expense that actually is
at the level of the gyms in Norway.
Social Activities
The welcome week had many different
arrangements that made it easy to get to
know the other exchange students. We got
plenty of new friends to spend our time with,
and there are always a lot of things to do in
Lisbon. There are wonderful beaches
surrounding the city, where there are possible
to take surf courses or to rent the gear. There
is not more than a 3 hour drive to Porto,
Algarve, Cascais and other nice places, which
we recommend you to visit. The Erasmus
association
plan
several
trips
and
arrangements throughout the semester, along
with parties several times a week. The
Portuguese are very into their soccer teams, and there are arranged bull fights which we surprisingly
found very exciting. The nightlife in Lisbon has a lot to offer, everything from the bar streets of Bairro
Alto that are always packed of people, to the clubs Lux and Urban Beach.
Culture and Language
In the beginning of the semester we were offered to take an intensive course in Portuguese, which we
did. It was interesting to learn daily phrases and basic glossary, but since Portuguese is a Latinlanguage it is very different from Norwegian, and hard to become fluent during one semester. There
was also an extensive language course offered at the university, which we chose not to attend as we
felt we had enough workload with our other courses. Even though we did not speak a lot of
Portuguese we had no problem communicating with people, and most people in Lisbon are very
friendly and helpful. Something that took us some time to adjust to is the Portuguese and their
attitude to time. Be prepared to wait in lines at the supermarket/ stores and don’t expect the
Portuguese students in your workgroup to arrive on time. Both of us agree that Lisbon is a great city
with the warm weather and charming streets. In addition to having beautiful beaches close by, the
social life here is a lot of fun. The Portuguese culture is very relaxed, and we enjoyed standing in the
streets of Bairro Alto just as much as going to one of the big clubs around Lisbon.
Cultural and Social Effects from the Exchange Experience
Lisbon is a wonderful city, and we are very happy that we got the opportunity to have this experience.
The exchange has made us more open to new people, and we have met new people from all over the
world that we hopefully will keep in touch with. The Portuguese that are always very friendly, and this
exchange semester has made the wish of working abroad more appealing and realistic.
3.
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
The Teaching situation
All the courses at Católica are taught in both English and Portuguese, but there were some nonPortuguese professors. The quality of the professors English varied, and so did the quality of courses.
As a differentiation to BI, the courses at Católica are more evenly distributed over the whole
semester. The grade is not based on only the exam, but usually also group work and homework
depending on the class and professor. Because of these assignments and presentations in addition to
the exams it feels like the workload is heavier than at BI. The professors are usually helpful, and
because a class can consist of 10-50 interacting students one develops a personal relationship to the
professor. The time schedule is very different from BI by always consisting of 90 minute lectures, and
in the end of the class they give you 5 minutes to walk to your next class. Lectures are usually a
mixture of practical and theoretical information, but in some courses they are separated. We
recommend you to attend all of the practical classes, as these are the most important. That is because
the theory usually will be uploaded on the internet, while the solutions to exercises will not. In case of
doubt or problems in the course, the professors were usually helpful answering questions and emails.
Required Literature
There were no required books in any of the classes. The professors would give handouts and Power
Point presentations. It was somewhat difficult to get an overview of the course without books, but we
found it useful to attend the practical classes. As the number of students in each class, in most of our
courses, were smaller than they are at BI it is easier to set up an appointment with the professor to
discuss problems or the subject.
In some of the courses there are also exercise books which we found very helpful, they can be bought
in the Copy Center in the library building.
Exams
The exams are different from class to class, and some classes have one mid- term and one end- exam
while others only have the end exam. The grades is given on a scale from 0- 20, where 9,5 is the
lowest grade you need to pass the class. The final grade is usually a mix of the exams, participation,
assignments and presentations.
Other
To access the library the student card is required. The library is quite old and does not have a lot of
plugs to charge the battery of your computer. Moreover, it was often a problem to find available
seats for studying at the university. The access to the computers is the same procedure as at BI with a
login number and password.
Description of Courses
Decision making
In this class our grade was based on class participation, one group presentation and an end exam. It is
a pretty easy class, and as it was an open- book exam there were not too difficult to pass. The most
time consuming were the preparation for the presentation, and reading the required scientific
articles.
Operations Management
This course had both practical and theoretical classes, with the same professor. There is an exercise
book that is very helpful, and the lecture slides provide enough information to pass the course.
Telecommunications Economics
In this course we were graded based on homework and one midterm and one end exam. We found
the theory quite uninteresting and would not recommend this course unless you have a specific
interest in the telecommunication industry. A positive side of this course is that the calculations
required in the exams are pretty easy.
International Economics
We found this class very difficult as the two professors, one practical and one theoretical, teaching
skills were very disappointing and confusing when presenting new material in class. The course
consisted of one midterm and one end exam.
Project Management
In this course we had group work, assignments and a presentation. In addition to this we also had a
midterm and an end- exam. This course was easy, and the workload was manageable.
We had a great time in Lisbon, and can strongly recommend you to choose FCEE as your exchange
destination
If you have any questions, feel free to ask us!
Best regards,
Anette Jacobsen
anette_jacobsen@hotmail.com
Mari Hetland
mari_hetland@hotmail.com