Jan de Veij Mestdagh
S2025728

General report
1.1: Host institution and the exact dates
1.2: Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey
1.3: Residence abroad:
- Arrangements visa/residence permit
- Arrival and departure dates
- Accommodation
- Reception and introduction
- Student life, culture and leisure
- Language
1.4: Grant
– amount
- Information on the adequacy of the grant
- Expenses abroad (living, food, travelling, vaccinations etc.)
1.5: Study (general)
- Introduction, general advice
- Dates of beginning and end of lecture series and examination period
- Remarks on the organization of the study program
- Study facilities/ International office abroad
- Summary of subjects taken
1.6: Summary impression of the study period abroad and any advice/suggestions/tips for students or academic staff who will be involved with the host institution in the future.
Specific report
- Host institution and study period
- Courses
- Overview of the lecture program

1.1: Host institution and the exact dates
Adress:
Bilkent University, 68000 Ankara
Turkey
Date: September 5 th until January 12 th (fall semester)
1.2: Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey
Contact with the home faculty went through miss Venhuizen from the exchange office. A sufficient amount of information about studying abroad is available on the
Nestor page of outgoing students. And besides that, more information was given during the presentations of miss Venhuizen in the previous academic year. Therefore the overall preparation phase was not very difficult, due to the easy access to information sources. The journey was good, I booked a flight with another student from the RUG and from the airport we took a taxi to the campus.
1.3: Residence abroad:
Students from the Netherlands that would like to study in Turkey, need a visa to entry the country. This visa can be bought online and can be arranged in 5 minutes.
However, for studying in Turkey students also need a residence permit, this has to be bought within the first month of you stay. The ESN members of the Bilkent University will help you with arranging this residence permit.
Before the semester starts, ESN Bilkent arranges an introduction week for all the international students. This will be during the second week of September, therefore I took the plane on the 5 th of September and the introduction week started on the 8 th of
September. During this week, you will get the opportunity to choose your courses, learn more about the Turkish culture, get to know all the Erasmus students and explore the city of Ankara. 5 days after my last exam I went back to the Netherlands,
I arrived on the 12 th of January. In Turkey there are no Christmas Holidays, therefore the exam period is already during the first week of January.
During the first week in Ankara I booked a temporary room on the campus, because I wanted to live in the city center of Ankara instead of on the campus. Therefore, during this first week I went with some other students looking for apartments.
However, many international students stayed and lived on the campus during the whole semester. The prices for this option to stay on the campus varied from 200usd to 600usd and it is even for free when you live with a roommate. But, I would recommend living in the city center, on campus there are many rules to obey with and this is not the case in the city center. Besides that, there is a free bus line between the part of Ankara where most of the students life and campus (20min) and prices of apartments in the city center are half the prices we are used to in
Groningen.
Student life is in general the same as in the Netherlands, there are a lot of sport facilities on the campus, many nice restaurants and bars in the city center. There are

many things to see during the weekends and also good clubs to have a nice evening out. Turkey is a beautiful country and therefore, there are many opportunities to make nice trips with other students during the semester.
The language spoken in Turkey is Turkish of course and citizens of Turkey are not very capable of speaking English, so communicating is pretty hard sometimes.
However the main language that is spoken within the University is English. Almost every student is capable of speaking English, nevertheless the level of English is lower compared with Groningen.
1.4: Grant – amount
I obtained a Erasmus scholarship of 220 euro per month, with this grant it was not possible to cover the living costs in Turkey. However, all prices were lower compared to the Netherlands. The supermarkets are cheaper, traveling was also quite affordable, but only alcohol prices were higher in Turkey compared to the
Netherlands. The overall costs of living in Turkey is around 60/70% of the Dutch standards.
1.5: Study (general)
When I arrived at the Bilkent University during the introduction week it was possible for the international students to select courses. The system is different compared with that of the Netherlands. Each course is given a whole semester and stands for
6ECTS. Therefore five courses are enough for an exchange minor and the courses that are selected will be finished at the end of the semester. All the courses are taught in perfect English and also by many non-Turkish professors. Only the way of teaching is different compared to the way on the University of Groningen. Most of the courses have compulsory hours every week and many little assignments have to be done for every course. At the end of October/beginning of November, the mid-term exam period starts. After this period, you just continue with the same courses you had chosen in September. And as already mentioned before, the final exams will be held during the first week of January. The overall level of education is lower compared to the University of Groningen and therefore it was not hard to pass all the courses. At the campus, there is also an international office located and at the beginning of the semester, contact information is distributed to all the international students. These people can help you with all your problems you might face.
Overview of the subjects taken:
1. Global marketing and Emerging markets:
Application of marketing concepts and methods to the international marketplace.
Problems and decisions involved in marketing across national boundaries are discussed. While focusing on the export marketing, some of the other topics covered include the international environment, export market selection, export market entry strategies, export marketing mix decisions, financing and methods of payment, and the export order and physical distribution
2. Turkish and world economy during the 20 th century:

Growth and developments in Turkey and the World from World War I to present. The application of economic analysis to historical issues. Topics: Great Depression, the interwar period, the developments in Soviet type economies since 1917, the Bretton
Woods System, the collapse of the Bretton Woods System, the collapse of communism, Turkish economy during the Great Depression and thereafter.
3. Health Economics:
This course is designed to introduce upper level undergraduate students in economics to the field of Health Economics. The provision and production of health care have different characteristics and incentives from other consumer goods making health related markets a unique topic for study. This course will cover a number of topics including basic economic concepts important for the study in health economics, why health is different from other good, aspects of the health care market in Turkey, health care in other countries, as well as discussing the importance of health for development and some basic economic evaluation techniques.
4. International Business:
International Business differs in important ways from business conducted within national borders. It presents additional critical challenges for managers interested in trade or investments in foreign countries, but it also offers new opportunities in foreign markets. This course emphasizes the use of analytical tools and develops a framework for analyzing the decisions that must be made by organizations interested in doing business internationally. In turn, this framework provides the basis for formulating strategies, structures, and processes that will enable such organizations to succeed in the international business environment. Concepts and knowledge from strategy, international finance, international trade and investment, cross-cultural issues, international politics and law, marketing, human resource management, and other related areas will be combined and focused on how to succeed international business.
5. EU and Turkey: Trade and Policies:
This is an interdisciplinary course introducing the students to the European Union and Turkey-EU relations. After a review of EU history and institutional and legal framework, emphases will be on external and internal trade law and implementation of the Customs Union Decision between Turkey and the EU. Full membership criteria are also discussed.
1.6: Summary impression
This exchange abroad gave me more insight in the Islamic culture and that was an interesting experience. Turkey lies between the Western world and the Middle-east, from both sides you can see influences on the Turkish people and culture. Everything was well organized at the University and the people of ESN took good care of the international society. At the end of my Erasmus period, Turkey felt a little bit like home, people were very warm and polite. However Turkish people are shy to speak to Western people because of their incapably of speaking English, if you make an

effort to speak to them you will find out what a beautiful country Turkey is. I highly recommend Ankara for an exchange period abroad!
Host institution and the exact dates
Adress:
Bilkent University, 68000 Ankara
Turkey
Date: September 5 th until January 12 th (fall semester)
Courses:
The next five courses I followed during my stay in Ankara.
Global marketing and Emerging markets MAN 433:
Summary:
Application of marketing concepts and methods to the international marketplace.
Problems and decisions involved in marketing across national boundaries are discussed. While focusing on the export marketing, some of the other topics covered include the international environment, export market selection, export market entry strategies, export marketing mix decisions, financing and methods of payment, and the export order and physical distribution
Period: 14 weeks
Lecturer : Barış Erman Depecik
Contact hours/a week : 3 hours
Literature:
International Marketing” by Ghauri and Cateora, 4th Edition, McGraw Hill.
The book is not relevant, the teacher will provide slides to the class, these slides are enough to have a good understanding of the course.
Lecture-related activities:
Prepare five times two discussion points about distributed articles and write a report about a market entry of a Turkish firm in to another country.
Relevance to Groningen study program:
The information of this course can be add to the Marketing courses that are given at the RUG and is similar to Marketing 2.
Study load:
Lectures:42 hours, 14 weeks x 3 hours
Exam preparation: 40 hours
Report preparation: 8 hours
Discussion write ups preparation: 6 hours
Discussions preparation: 6 hours
Class preparation: 14 hours.
ECTS : 6
Exams : 2, one mid-term and one final exam

Turkish and world economy during the 20 th century ECON 432:
Summary:
Growth and developments in Turkey and the World from World War I to present. The application of economic analysis to historical issues. Topics: Great Depression, the interwar period, the developments in Soviet type economies since 1917, the Bretton
Woods System, the collapse of the Bretton Woods System, the collapse of communism, Turkish economy during the Great Depression and thereafter.
Period: 14 weeks
Lecturer: Ferhat Emil
Contact hours/a week: 4 hours
Literature:
No book, teacher provided the students with slides.
Lecture-related activities:
Writing a report with two students together (25%).
Relevance to Groningen study program:
No relevance to the Groningen study program.
Study load:
Lectures: 52 hours, 14 weeks x 4 hours
Exam preparation: 50 hours
Report preparation: 25 hours
ECTS: 6
Exams: 2 exams, 1 mid-term (35%) and 1 final exam (40%)
Health Economics ECON 459:
Summary:
This course is designed to introduce upper level undergraduate students in economics to the field of Health Economics. The provision and production of health care have different characteristics and incentives from other consumer goods making health related markets a unique topic for study. This course will cover a number of topics including basic economic concepts important for the study in health economics, why health is different from other good, aspects of the health care market in Turkey, health care in other countries, as well as discussing the importance of health for development and some basic economic evaluation techniques.
Period: 14 weeks
Lecturer: Volkan Çetinkaya
Contact hours/a week: 3 hours
Literature:
No book, Teacher handed out slides every lecture.
Lecture-related activities:

Relevance to Groningen study program: This course discusses basic micro economic topics with a touch of Health industries. There is a relation between the micro economic information and the courses Micro economic 1 and 2 at the RUG.
Study load:
Lectures: 42 hours, 14 weeks x 3 hours
Exam preparation: 50 hours
Report preparation: 15 hours
ECTS: 6
Exams: 3 exams, 2 mid-terms (24%) and 1 final exam (34%).
International Business MAN 403:
Summary:
International Business differs in important ways from business conducted within national borders. It presents additional critical challenges for managers interested in trade or investments in foreign countries, but it also offers new opportunities in foreign markets. This course emphasizes the use of analytical tools and develops a framework for analyzing the decisions that must be made by organizations interested in doing business internationally. In turn, this framework provides the basis for formulating strategies, structures, and processes that will enable such organizations to succeed in the international business environment. Concepts and knowledge from strategy, international finance, international trade and investment, cross-cultural issues, international politics and law, marketing, human resource management, and other related areas will be combined and focused on how to succeed international business.
Period: 14 weeks
Lecturer : Lale Gümüşlüoğlu
Contact hours/a week : 3 hours
Literature:
International Business; the new realities
– S. Tamer Gavusgil , Gary Knight and John.
R Riesenberger, third edition.
Lecture-related activities:
An individual presentation and a group presentation had to be done. Five unannounced quizzes were taken, each 1% and one last group project has to be done.
Relevance to Groningen study program :
This course explained most of the aspects of international business, therefore a basic for many courses in Groningen.
Study load:
Lectures: 42 hours, 14 weeks x 3 hours
Presentation: 5 hours
Group assignment: 20 hours
Class preparation: 14 hours
Exam preparation: 40 hours
ECTS: 6
Exams: 2, one mid-term (20%) and one final exam (20%)
EU and Turkey: Trade and Policies MAN 474:

Summary:
This is an interdisciplinary course introducing the students to the European Union and Turkey-EU relations. After a review of EU history and institutional and legal framework, emphases will be on external and internal trade law and implementation of the Customs Union Decision between Turkey and the EU. Full membership criteria are also discussed.
Period :10 weeks
Lecturer : Jacques Couvas
Contact hours/a week: 4 hours
Literature:
No book, several up to date articles and events throughout the last decade considering the relationship between the EU and Turkey.
Lecture-related activities:
Several small assignments and presentations, at the end a large group project has to be made per group.
Relevance to Groningen study program :
This course had no overlapping with one of the previous courses I took in Groningen.
Study load :
Lectures: 40 hours, 10 weeks x 4 hours of lecture
Individual assignments: 30 hours
Group assignments: 25
Exam preparation: 15 hours
ECTS : 6
Exams: 2, one mid-term (20%) and one final exam (30%).