Tor Vergata University, Rome
Fall 2011
Jeanette Øynes
Krisztina Horvath
Liv-Ane Engelsen
Master in Business and Economics (siviløkonom)
 Major in finance (Jeanette & Krisztina)
 Major in logistics (Liv-Ane)
I.
General information about the school
The University of Rome “Tor Vergata” is one of the three big universities of Rome and has
several different faculties. We were studying at the faculty of Economics, which consists of
about 4,000 students, both graduate and undergraduate. The university campus is located
outside the center of Rome but is reachable by taking the metro line A (Anagnina) to the end
station and then bus number 20, which stops right outside the “Facoltá di Economia”.
The faculty building is relatively new and contains all the necessary facilities, including
library, two cafeterias, computer rooms, open study rooms, copy/print center, bookshop and
wi-fi. There is also a larger canteen about 5 - 10 minutes from the faculty.
II.
Academic information: The teaching situation
The university has both Masters and Bachelors courses, but only Masters courses are
available in English. There are four Master of Science programs (Business Administration,
Economics, European Economy and Business Law and Finance and Banking), which all offer
courses in English and you are allowed to choose as many and from any of them. As it is only
the specific exams that require registration, you can attend as many courses as you want and
then decide which you want to attend for the final exam (read details under exams under).
The semester is divided into two modules; the first from the first week of October and the
second from the beginning/middle of November. The semester ends in the 3rd week of
December, with the official exam period in January and February. However, most professors
arrange pre-exams for the first module courses during the semester. For the courses in the
second module, most professors are flexible to arrange exams before Christmas as Susanna
Petrini in the Erasmus office have informed them about BIs semester start in January. It is
recommended to talk and e-mail the professors as soon as the courses start to confirm this
arrangement before the deadline of the Learning Agreement in the end of October.
Our experience is that the workload during the semester is lower than at BI, with less
theoretical reading and more casework. The teaching is both theoretical with lectures and
practical in form of cases/group works but this depends on the specific course, which will be
described in the course description below. The classes were generally smaller than at BI with
lectures in classrooms. The professors are open and are easy to talk to if you have any
questions or problems, however they have a tendency to be late.
III.
Academic information: Required Literature
All of the required literature is in English, both textbooks and articles. The literature is
generally international business literature similar to what BI uses. The textbooks are available
in the library and in the bookstore. However, most students buy copies of relevant chapters at
copy shop near school (ask the Italian students). Most professors provided slides posted
online on the course web page with an extensive amount of information, i.e. that textbooks are
mainly used as supplementary information. The exams are usually based on the lectures and
the materials given in class.
IV.
Academic information: Exams
All our courses required a written exam between 1 and 3 hours, in addition to case write-ups
or presentations in class. The maximum score on a written exam is 30 and 18 is the minimum
grade to pass. If the exam is taken during the official exam period in January/February, you
can choose to take an oral exam after the written exam, which gives the opportunity to
gain/loose 1 - 3 points. However, since we did most of our exams before Christmas we did not
do an oral exam in addition. In general, it is not hard to pass the exam and it is not too
difficult to get a good grade if you attend lectures and do some effort before the exam.
The official exam period is in January/February. The professors and the faculty are very
flexible to Erasmus students that have to go back before Christmas and generally allow doing
exams before Christmas. The exams that the professors set up during the semester are not
official exams but pre-exams from which the results will be the result of the final exam.
During the official exam period in January/February there are three dates from each exam you
can choose between and that will require an online registration minimum five days before the
exam. These dates will be published in the beginning of December. If you have done a preexam before Christmas, you only need to sign the official exam papers as required by law on
the date you have registered for. For this you need to return to Rome in January/February. As
there are three dates for each exam, there is flexibility for when you want to return to Rome.
However, it is recommended to clarify the situation with both the Erasmus office and the
professors in the beginning of the semester to make sure you can do the pre-exams before
Christmas or if you have to do the exam during the official exam period.
V. Academic information: Courses
Course name:
Prereq.
Exam
Approved as
Procurement, sourcing
& supply chain strategies
None
Written + case write-up
Free elective
Advanced Management
None
Written + presentation
Free elective
Managerial Control
None
Written
Free elective
Organisational dynamics
& behavior
None
Written
Free elective
Games, information and
Contract theory &
Industrial Organization
and Competition
Policy
None
Written
Free elective
You will find extensive information about the courses by visiting the homepage of Tor Vergata:
http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/master-science/msc.asp?a=656
VI.
Practical Information and the Exchange Experience
Information before we left
We got information by e-mail in the beginning of April just after we were accepted to Tor
Vergata. Shortly after, we received an information package with a brochure and our
acceptance letters. Most of the information sent initially covered everything we needed to
know and Susana Petrini, the exchange coordinator at Tor Vergata, was fast in replying emails and answering any questions we had.
Visa Procedure and travel experiences
No need for Visa to travel to Italy. However, what you need for registering at Tor Vergata is a
“Codice Fiscale” (an identity number), which can be obtained from any Codice Fiscale office
in Rome, not just the one mentioned in the information package. It is recommended to be at
the office before opening to avoid big lines. You need your passport and acceptance letter
from the university.
Rome is easily reached through flying SAS or Norwegian to Fiumicino airport or by Ryanair
to Ciampino. There is an airport express train from Fiumicino to Termini or a regular train to
Trastevere station (cheaper). From Ciampino there is a bus to Termini. Travelling around
Rome and in Italy is recommended and easy, either by train or by renting a car.
Academic Calendar
For the fall semester most classes begin in the first week of October and the first module
ended in the beginning of November. There was a week without classes before the second
module began in the 2nd week of November. The last classes were around 15th of December.
There is a two-week language course offered by Tor Vergata in the end of Septemeber,
however we chose to attend a four-week language course at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci in the
center of Rome, which was very effective and useful, however costs more compared to the
language course offered by Tor Vergata.
The official exam period is from the middle of January to the end of February, however as
earlier mentioned some of the professors set up pre-exams or you can agree with the professor
to do your exams before Christmas. Even though you have done your exams during the
semester you need to register for and return to sign the exams during the official exam period.
However, you can choose between three dates during the period.
Reception
Before the semester started there was an introduction day for Erasmus students at the
university followed by drinks in Trastevere. During the semester there was an international
dinner arranged by the Erasmus office at Tor Vergata. The earlier Italian Erasmus students
were very friendly and helpful during the semester and you are assigned a tutor by Susanna
Petrini when you register with her.
To register at Tor Vergata you need to have all your acceptance letters/Erasmus papers, the
Codice Fiscale, EU Public Health Card, passport and passport photos (all of this was
explained in the information received). First, you need to go to Erasmus Office in the
administration building of Tor Vergata (Faculty of Law) to register and receive a student ID
card. Then you can go to the Erasmus office in the Faculty of Economics to register with
Susanna Petrini. She was friendly and prepared for our arrival.
Housing
The Erasmus office can help finding housing but as we were three we decided to rent our own
apartment in the center of Rome. We decided to rent a hotel room/holiday apartment and start
searching when we got there and through the website www.kijiji.it we found an apartment in
Trastevere. It is very recommended to stay in this area as it is in the middle of the city with
walking distance to everything.
The most important advice when it comes to housing is that you try to find a central apartment
and not one close to the school. We only had classes 2 or 3 days per week, which made it
worth travelling one hour to university on these days and not be dependent on public
transportation otherwise. If you live close to the “metro A” it is easy to get both to the center
and the school. In our opinion, the most important thing is to find an apartment near the city
center, preferably not too far away from metro line A.
Costs
Things are in general less expensive than in Norway but the level of cost in Rome are a little
higher compared to the rest of Italy. We paid 2000 Euros for our apartment (split in three),
which included two big bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and a terrace. The monthly travel card
for students (“Metrobus”) is 18 Euros and is valid for metro, buses and tram.
International office
The Faculty of Economies has its own Erasmus office. However, it has restricted opening
hours: a couple hours a day, three times a week. Susana Petrini is the exchange coordinator,
and is in charge of incoming students. Susanna and the Erasmus office was only visited when
we registered and handed in the Learning Agreement. If we had any questions, Susanna was
quick and helpful in answering by e-mail.
Exchange promotion
There were no specific exchange promotion activities at the university. But Italians and other
Erasmus students were curious about Norway and BI.
Social activities
In our spare time we were mainly with the other Erasmus students and people we meet at
language school prior to the semester and we did a lot of different activities on our spare time.
The Italians in our classes were very friendly and we spent time with them outside school.
In addition, there are two different Erasmus organizations that arrange parties, trips and other
social activities weekly and a lot of Erasmus students go to these events; Erasmus in Campus
and ESN. They have both groups on Facebook and are very popular among Erasmus students.
We will strongly recommend you to attend a language course, either the one offered by Tor
Vergata or Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci, because it is an excellent opportunity to get to know
other people. Everybody you meet is in the same situation and all are ready to meet new
friends from all over the world.
Culture and language
The Italian culture is amazing to experience, especially in Rome. Through learning some
Italian in the language course and spending much time with Italians you get to experience the
culture closely; both in terms of food, gelato, drink and the Italian friendliness and
leisureliness.
Rome is also a beautiful city with new things to be discovered every day. You will never get
tired of walking those streets and piazzas and if you do, the beach is 30 minutes away and the
rest of Italy can be easily discovered by train or car.
Cultural and Social Effects from the Exchange Experience:
Spending a semester abroad is an unique opportunity in terms of expanding your international
network of friends, learning a new language and getting Italian friends that can always be
visited when returning to Rome and getting to know new cultures. Having lived as a Roman
for four months has gained experiences and language skills that will definitely be an
advantage in the future, no matter in work, social settings or travelling. We would absolute
recommend going on exchange in Rome; it is a fantastic opportunity to live the Italian life and
explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world and at the same time be a student!
If you have any further questions feel free to contact us on:
laengelsen@gmail.com
kristina_horvath@hotmail.com
Jeanette_o_@hotmail.com