Record interest in exchange studies abroad

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More Uppsala students than ever have applied for international exchanges within the framework of their studies. The University is pleased to see this growing interest and hopes the trend will continue.
“In a future labour market, international experience is a key qualification as it boosts understanding of other countries’ culture, language and society. The number of international students keeps rising, and that’s gratifying. But for our Uppsala students, travelling and getting international experience are equally important. So this is highly positive,” says Erika Dabhilkar, head of a unit at the International Office.
Uppsala University has student exchanges with more than 400 other universities, spread across every continent. Students can apply through either their departments or the International Office, which is in charge of the University-wide exchange agreements. The application period for exchange studies starting in Autumn Semester 2018 has just ended, with highly favourable results. Compared with 2017, the number of applications rose by 24 per cent and that of exchange places granted by 18 per cent.
Of 667 students who applied for an exchange, 415 accepted the places they were offered. Several students have been offered exchange places with an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (ICM) scholarship in, for example, Uganda, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam. This is a direct result of Uppsala University being granted the largest ICM budget of all Swedish higher education institutions for the years 2017–2019.
“I’m delighted to say that we’ve never had so many applicants before, or been able to give so many students exchange places, in a single round of applications,” says Sara Hurtig, an international officer at the International Office. She hopes to see the same favourable results from the departments’ application rounds in spring 2018.
Anneli Waara