Erasmus Report 01 2006 – 06 2006
Studying at University of Aberdeen, Scotland
Katharina Schieszl
3240 Mank, Anzenbach 9
h0340441@edv1.boku.ac.at
0340441
1. Scotland, Aberdeen and its inhabitants “The Aberdonians”
Scotland is an inexplicably beautiful country, in particular the cliffs, sandy beaches and dune
systems in the East and the mountains and lakes – “lochs” in the West are worth visiting. The
climate is very pleasant in winter as well as in summer. Aberdeen is situated in the Eastern
part of Scotland on the coast of the Northern Sea, which is supposed to be the driest region in
Scotland. Due to its location at the coast it is an important harbour city and that causes a lot of
heavy traffic in town. In addition it has been developing as “the city of oil” for the last 30
years. Oil rigs were built up in the Northern Sea close to the seashore of Aberdeen and
companies provide them with food and tools by helicopters which explains the noisy
helicopter traffic at day and night time. The City Centre of Aberdeen is entirely built of grey
granite. As a result it looks like a big graveyard particularly in winter. The city is divided by
two rivers the river Don and the river Dee, both have their estuaries in Aberdeen. The
riverbanks and enclosed parks offer the busy city a few green spells.
The inhabitants of Aberdeen are called Aberdonian and their dialect is called Aberdonian as
well. Aberdonians are hardly to understand but there dialect sounds very charming and they
are quite self confident about it. People in town are very friendly and helpful. Aberdonians
love football over all, but it seems the most they love are the pubs. People get very drunk at
weekends and as a result the city can be experienced as quite rough – slightly violent and
aggressive. That probably sounds exaggerated, but I have never experienced this sort of
special street night life in any Austrian town. So I think it is worth mentioning. And last but
not least, in case you love fast food, you should apply for Aberdeen, you absolutely wont be
disappointed by the wide range of fast food chains and fish and chips restaurants.
2. Accommodation
Hillhead Halls, the place where nearly all international students are accommodated, is located
next to the River Don and Seaton Park. University and the beach are a ten minute walk away,
unfortunately, the city centre is an hour walk away from Hillhead. The flats consist of 5 or 6
single bed rooms, shared kitchen and bathroom. Flats are cleaned every fortnight. There is no
Internet access in the flats, but there are computers available 24 hours in the central building.
There are a laundry, a gym, a pub and a shop located at the area. All in all, it was a quite
convenient place to stay but also the most expensive way of accommodation. The weekly rent
ranges from 52 to 72 pounds (75 –110 Euro). At Hillhead you can enjoy international flair and
social life, you will meet people from all over the world. Scottish students usually stay there
only for their first year. Thus it is very likely that you will have the chance to share your flat
with eighteen year old Scottish native speakers.
3. Costs of Living
Due to its importance for the oil industry costs of living are incredibly high in Aberdeen. It is
considered to be one of the most expensive places in Scotland. In average, prices for food and
things of daily need are up to 50 % higher compared to Vienna. Even at university fees for
print accounts and copy cards or for English classes are far more expensive than in Austria.
For Example, English classes held one and a half hour, twice a week, are charged with 160
pounds (EURO 240) per semester. On the other hand, university offers daily newspapers for
25 pence (35 cent) and sport facilities are comparably inexpensive.
4. Insurance, Visa
As a citizen of the European Union you don’t need a visa. In Scotland seeing the doctors and
staying at the hospital is for free for everyone. By contrast, dentists will charge you full price
because they don’t have contracts with the National Health Service.
5. University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen is situated in the ancient part of the city called “Old Aberdeen”
which is in 45 minute walking distance of the city centre. The buildings and streets have a
medieval look. Seaton Park is close and the river banks of the River Don. Buildings are
signed perfectly, thus orientation is very easy. Staff are very helpful and used to deal with
international students. The opening hours of the library are remarkably user-friendly from 9
a.m. to 10 p.m. even including weekends. There are a large number of computers in several
computer rooms available 24 hours a day. In addition, the help-desk for computer support is
very helpful and efficient. The Campus also consists of attached sport facilities like
swimming pool, fitness suite and tennis courts. All in all, it is really a nice place for studying.
7. Arrival, Enrolment and Welcome Events
Enrolment was simple and took less than ten minutes, everything seemed to be prepared and
well organised. It took me one week to get my Student ID Card and full access to all facilities.
There was no special welcome event at university for European Exchange Students starting in
January, whereas students from North America were guided the first weeks. I experienced it
as quite stressful to be without guidance at the beginning. But staff were very supportive and
took time. I only had to learn not to be too shy to ask staff and students for help.
8. Departments and Courses
I was enrolled in the departments of Plant Science and Agriculture. I attended “Biological
Control and Sustainable Crop Protection” and “Plant –Environment Interactions”. Both
courses consisted of lectures, a field-trip, a project and tutorials. They were held in 6 week
terms. The timetables varied from week to week and were available on the university intranet.
The university intranet is very well organised and easy to use. With a single password I got
access to all information and handouts necessary for all courses I had been enrolled by my
advisor at the beginning of the semester.
For my third course “Honours special topic”, which was not based on lectures, I had to write
an essay on an agricultural topic of my own choice. I was helped by an advisor, who I met
about 5 or 6 times during my working period from February to May. In May I had to do a 20
minute presentation of the topic.
In addition, I attended workshops to improve general studying skills, for example literature
research, quotation and plagiarism, essay writing style, presentation skills, revision
techniques. These facultative workshops organised by University were held in small groups of
ten students or less within lunch time and took an usually an hour. Furthermore, I attended
English classes twice a week. I personally found it quite helpful, but no doubt, you will
simply improve your English by only practising it all day long as well.
9. Credits Points and study workload, Essays, Exams and Marks
I did two six-week courses 7,5 ECTS each and I wrote an essay of 6000 words also for 7,5
ECTS. There is surprisingly a lot of writing to do during the courses. We had to write one or
even more essays and to do presentations and tutorial reports. It turned out to be very time
consuming. Submission dates are strict and taken very seriously. Due to an industrial action,
which means strike, lecturers refused to give feedback or to do any corrections on our essays.
That was a bit disappointing for the effort we made and time we spent on, in my opinion.
At the end of the term in June essay based exams had to be written. They wanted us not
simply to answer a question, they rather requested a well-structured answer with an
introduction, main part and conclusion consisting of quotations for evidence. I found that
pretty challenging.
10. Academic Advice
Course coordinators and lecturers are very helpful, in general. I got the impression, that they
are really concerned about group dynamics and individual student matters. Course
Coordinators tried to get in touch with all of the students, they invited us to come to their
office and then they really took time for us. Maybe it is not the rule in all departments and we
just had good luck, but in my case it was an extraordinary good experience.
11. Conclusion
It was simply fantastic, absolutely brilliant. I met many different people from different
cultures and made friends all over the world. At University I took the chance to work on my
essay writing skills, which I considered as very important for further studying in Austria. I
experienced in the courses how differently Sustainability and Organic Agriculture can be
defined and how differently attitudes towards these topics can be in Europe. I found it the
most challenging to reflect and discuss about these differences. I managed to improve my
English a little at least. I still make many mistakes but now I don’t care. I think, that’s the
biggest progress, I actually made.
12. 10 Points of very personal recommendation
1. Bring: a cap, it is windy at any time of the year
2. Try: Scottish Breakfast, Haggis and mature, smoked Cheddar Cheese.
3. Join: at least one of the countless traditional dancing events called “ceilidh”
and a pub quiz
4. Read: the very amusing Guardian G2 Magazine
5. Listen to: Radio 4 and Talk Sport
6. Be aware of: seagulls on the beach and ticks in the mountains
7. Best day trips: Stonehaven and Dunottar Castle, Cruden Bay
8. Best weekend trips: Edinburgh, Inverness, Banff
9. Best Street in Town: Belmont Street
10. Cheapest, roughest and most loveable Pub and Coffeeshop in town:
Archibald Simpson, Corner Union Street/King Street,