Going on studies abroad on your own initiative

It is possible to go on studies or traineeship abroad without applying for a scholarship from the university. It can be, for example, an exchange semester at a university, traineeship carried out at an enterprise or an organisation, participating in a summer or winter school etc.

If you want to make sure that your studies or traineeship abroad are taken into account as part of completing the study programme, please arrange a meeting with your study counsellor before going abroad to confirm that the content of the studies or traineeship completed abroad is appropriate and to discuss the possibilities of transferring the credit points after the period of studies abroad.
 
For transferring the results obtained during studies or traineeship abroad students have to submit a study plan or traineeship plan to their home academic unit and collect necessary signatures. The document is signed by the traineeship supervisor at home university. NB! As enterprises abroad usually do not not have the possibility to sign the document digitally, all the signatures collected to the document should be scanned signatures.

The nominal duration of studies is extended in case the period of studies or traineeship abroad amounts to at least three months during one semester and the studies completed during that time are taken into account at the university as part of completing the study programme in the minimum amount of 15 ECTS credits per semester.
 
While the students are studying abroad they do not need to submit their study plan at their home university. If the students have informed their study counsellor of their wish to spend the entire semester studying or carrying out traineeship abroad, the home academic unit creates an Approval Concerning an Outgoing Visiting Student in ÕIS.

In case of short mobility during the semester, students do not register at home university for the course they wish to replace with the results obtained abroad.

After studies abroad, the student must submit to their home university the Transcript of Records issued by the university abroad which states the study results of the student. At the end of traineeship, students have to submit a document which describes the content, duration and results of the traineeship and has been signed by the traineeship supervisor in the enterprise. If the traineeship organisation does not have its own certificate, the university template can be used.

All ECTS obtained abroad must be transferred by using an application for RPL. The student fills in the RPL application in ÕIS.