Before the exchange

Before your exchange period starts you need to submit the following documents

Online student exchange scholarship form

Fill in the online ARTS student exchange scholarship form in the ARTS Study Abroad -portal. 

The form is normally available in the portal from May/November onwards. Students who have been selected for student exchange abroad will be notified by email when the form is available. You can fill the online scholarship form only after you have received the official acceptance letter from the host institution.

Attach the official acceptance letter (e.g. email) which you have received from the host institution to the online scholarship form.  

Erasmus+ exchange students must also attach to the scholarship form signed Erasmus+ grant agreement.

In addition to this, Erasmus+ participants must also return the Erasmus+ Online Learning Agreement in the ARTS Study Abroad Portal. You will receive instructions by email after your Online Learning Agreement has been activated.

• Learning agreement has to be approved by your ARTS degree programme's Academic Advisor.
• The study plan should contain information on which ARTS courses will be replaced by the exchange courses.
• If your study plan has not been confirmed yet by the host institution, submit the online learning agreement as soon as your course plan has been confirmed.
• Note! Online Erasmus+ Learning agreement can not be replaced with other documents (i.e. pdf/word documents are not accepted)

Changes in the study plan

If your original study plan has changed, update it to the Erasmus+ orBilateral learning agreementand get it approved and signed by your ARTS Academic Advisor. Students who participate in Erasmus+ exchange, must make the changes on the Erasmus+ Online Learning Agreement.

• If your study plan is not confirmed until in the beginning of your exchange, you can get it approved and signed then.
• If your study plan's changes have not been approved in writing, there is no guarantee that the studies will be included in your degree at ARTS!
• From the application instructions page you can check which studies you can do on exchange and what to consider when planning studies.
• Make sure, that your study plan includes the required number of credits (BA: 30 ECTS/semester, MA: at least 24 ECTS/ semester, PhD: agreed case-by-case).

Erasmus+ OLS Placement test

• Erasmus+ participants can complete the OLS Placement test in the EU Academy platform in the language that is your main work language during your exchange, if you wish, but it's not compulsory.
   
  • You will get instructions about the test from your own school's exchange coordinator by e-mail.
  • The test will take 10-45 min. depending on the level of your language skills.
  • The results of the test are not forwarded to the host university and will not affect your exchange in any way.
  • After you've completed the test, you can access all the language learning materials in EU Academy and e.g. complete the placement tests in other languages as well.

Read also the Erasmus students rights and obligations document made by the European Commission.

Please note as well:

The student is committed to follow the requirements on the number of credits completed during the exchange. The student is obliged to find out about the course requirements, such as the attendance requirements in the exchange destination when the semester begins. If the student fails to meet the credit requirements despite their attempts (e.g. failing a course) or for reasons not dependent on them (e.g. a course is cancelled) must they be able to provide an written statement about occurred, such as a message from a teacher or school administrative if asked.

In case the student does not have a valid reason for failing to comply with the exchange requirements, or if the number of completed credits is considerably below the requirement, the second instalment of the exchange scholarship may not be paid in full or at all. In some cases the already paid scholarships might have to be returned as well.

You can find a guide for outgoing exchange students here: Guide for outgoing exchange students (EN, updated 4/2022) 

Erasmus+ exchange

Erasmus+ is a European Union student exchange programme offering financial support for university level exchanges between European countries.Before the exchange you must prepare the following obligatory Erasmus-programme documents:

1. Learning Agreement / study plan
   • Prepare a study plan before the exchange (Erasmus+ Learning Agreement) stating the courses you plan to take at the host university with course codes, names (with English translation when needed), level and number of credits.
   • Submit the study plan to Student Exchange Services for approval
   • Student Exchange Services sends approval of the study plan (= learning agreement) to the student by email.
   • Ask the document to be signed by the exchange coordinator of the host university.
   • If changes are made to the approved Learning Agreement either during host university course enrollment or later on during the semester, the student must notify Student Exchange Services immediately by email to [email protected]
   • Before returning to Finland, update the changes to the third page of the Learning Agreement document and get the original Learning Agreement together with the changes signed by the exchange coordinator of the host university.
   • Note! The final learning agreement must include signatures from each related party: 1) the student 2) home university and 3) exchange university
2. Signed Erasmus grant agreement (sent to students via email).
3. OLS Placement test. Complete the OLS Placement test in the EU Academy platform in the language that is your main work language during your exchange, if you wish. It is not compulsory at the moment (AY 2023/24) but a nice opportunity for all students going on Erasmus+ exchange.
   • You will get instructions about the test from your own School's exchange coordinator by e-mail
   • The test will take 10-45 min. depending on the level of your language skills
   • The results of the test are not forwarded to the host university and will not affect your exchange in any way
   • After you've completed the test, you can access all the language learning materials in EU Academy and e.g. complete the placement tests in other languages as well.

Read also the Erasmus students rights and obligations document made by the European Commission.

Bilateral exchange (Exchange studies outside the Erasmus-programme)

1. Online learning agreement
   • You will receive instructions for this by email from the Student Exchange Services before the exchange.
   • You will list the courses that you are planning to take.
   • The Student Exchange Services checks the study plan and sends approval or possibly a request for additional information to the student by email.
   • If there are changes to the approved learning agreement either during host university course enrollment or later on during the semester, you must notify the Student Exchange Services immediately by email at outgoing-biz@aalto.fi.

The student is committed to follow the requirements on the number of credits completed during the exchange. The student is obliged to find out about the course requirements, such as the attendance requirements in the exchange destination when the semester begins. If the student has failed to meet the credit requirements despite their attempts (e.g. failing a course) or for reasons not dependent on them (e.g. a course is cancelled) must they be able to provide a written statement about occurred, such as a message from a teacher or school administrative is asked.

In case the student does not have a valid reason for failing to comply with the exchange requirements, or if the number of completed credits is considerably below the requirement, the second instalment of the exchange scholarship may not be paid in full or at all. In some cases the already paid scholarships might have to be returned as well.

1. Your banking information and other relevant information will be collected with an online form. You can find the form from the student exchange application portal (the form is called Student Exchange 2nd phase form). You will receive more instructions from your own Aalto school. 
2. Return the admission letter from your destination university to your Aalto school.

Erasmus+ students also return:

1. Signed Erasmus- grant agreement (your own school will send it to you)
2. OLS- language test (Placement test).Complete the test onEU Academy platform in the language you will primarily use during your exchange, if you wish. It is not compulsory at the moment (AY 2023/24) but a nice opportunity for all students going on Erasmus+ exchange.
   • You will recieve instructions for the test by email from your own Aalto school.
   • Taking the test will take about 10-45 minutes depending on your language skills.
   • The results of the placement test will not be sent to the destination university.
   • After you have completed the language test, you may use EU Academy's teaching materials during your exchange, and take the language test in other langueages as well.

Please also read the European Commission document on Erasmus students rights and obligations.

• If your exchange is cancelled or there are changes to the lenght of the exchange, you need to contact you Aalto school.
• When you applied for exchange, you committed to follow the requirements for studies completed during the exchange. If you cannot fulfill the requirements due to unforseen reasons (such as cancelled course, illness), you will need to provide a proof of the reasons (from host university teacher or administration, or from a doctor).
• If you fail to transfer the credits completed during the exchange, or you do not reach the required amount of credits, the second part of the exchange scholarship may not be paid, and in some cases, you may be required to reimburse part of the whole scholarship already paid to you. 

We recommend that every student makes a travel notification, either to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland or to a similar agency in your home country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can contact you if in case of emergency or crisis if you have done the travel notification.

In addition, please find out where the closest consulate /Embassy of your country is situated. Finnish citizens can also contact consulates /embassies of other Nordic Countries, if there is no Finnish Embassy / consulate in the country.

Add phone numer(s) to your phone with ICE (In Case of Emergency) prefix. Setting an ICE number to show in your phone's lock screen is advicable.

Students themselves are responsible for arranging and paying their flights and accommodation. Receiving universities usually help students to arrange accommodation: in some of the universities accommodation is guaranteed for everyone whereas some universities only assist in finding accommodation. More information concerning the procedures of each university is found on travel reports and websites of each university.

Arranging the insurances is the student's own responsibility. A travel insurance is recommended for every destination. It is recommended to take a travel insurance which covers not only journeys, living in the exchange country and visits to other countries, but also medical transportation and escort to your home country. Also expenses that might occur if the exchange period is interrupted or cancelled should be covered. Aalto University does not support the student in additional costs related to travelling (returning home), accommodation or one’s properties. Note! In some destinations (e.g. North America) the exchange university might require a local insurance.

Finland has made social security agreements with many countries. These agreements also cover the level of general practitioner treatment. KELA offers more information concerning these arrangements. In the Nordic countries a Finnish passport or a KELA card and a certification of residency in Finland is sufficient for the right for medical treatment.

European health insurance card

With the European Health Insurance Card students can get necessary medical treatment during a temporary residence in another EU/EEA country or in Switzerland. Each country is providing health care according to their regulations. The card holder is eligible to receive health care with the same prices as the citizens of the specific country. It is possible to have access to health care in acute health concerns or if a chronic disease requires immediate care. The European health insurance carddoes not cover situations where the reason for the stay is to receive health care.If the visited health practitioner is not a part of the country’s health insurance system, you have to pay all the expenses yourself.

Familiarize yourself with the procedures of your host country already before the exchange. You may receive more information from the country’s health care insurance institute.

The European health insurance card does not cover transportation back to Finland (outside the Nordic countries) even in medical emergencies. Therefore, Aalto University recommends students to acquire a private health insurance in addition to the European health insurance. In addition, in some countries the health care provided is quite limited.

For more information see Kela’s website.

If the student needs a visa or a residence permit to the exchange country, he/she will apply for it independently. Visas can be applied for after receiving the official acceptance letter from the exchange university. The best source of information is the embassy of the exchange country. The visa application process might be slow; therefore, enough time should be reserved for this stage. Some exchange universities also provide help for the visa application process. If the country does not have an embassy in Finland, it’s visa applications are handled in another counry. You will find more information from the website of the ministry of foreign affairs of Finland.

Students going to EU-countries may have to acquire a permit of residence. This permit is acquired from the local authorities usually after arriving to the destination country, in case the stay is more than 3 months.

Remember to make a notification of change of address in Finland! You can do this in the post office or electronically. 

If you live in AYY or HOAS housing, you can sublet your apartment. More information on their webpages.

You can contact one of our Global Alumni Agents in over 20 countries, who are Aalto University graduates with international experience. These alumni are volunteeringtheir time and know-how to support Aalto students. Check the Global Alumni Agents here and contact them.