Student mobility

Contact person

Erasmus+ coordinator: Ivan Papić (ipapic@mathos.hr)

Basic information

Erasmus+ is a European funding programme established in 1987 offering university students a possibility of studying or doing an internship abroad in another country for a period of at least 2 months and maximum 12 months per cycle of studies.

Studying abroad is a central part of Erasmus+ and has been shown to have a positive effect on later job prospects. It is also an opportunity to improve language skills, gain self-confidence and independence and immerse yourself in a new culture. Erasmus+ also offers the chance to combine studying abroad with a traineeship. More information about the programme can be found in the Programme Guide.

Universities that participate in this programme have a number of partner providers across Europe that offer student exchange placements. Eligible countries are divided into two groups, Programme countries and Partners countries. Although Programme countries are eligible for all actions of Erasmus+, Partner countries can only take part in some, and are subject to specific conditions. The prerequisite for this is that there has to be an Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) with the partner university assigned to the relevant field of study and the student must be nominated for an Erasmus+ stay at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek (UNIOS) by the partner university. The list of UNIOS Erasmus+ Interinstitutional Agreements is available here.

Erasmus+ Incoming Exchange Students

The School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics strongly supports student exchange and welcomes foreign students. One can find our study programme on this website. Moreover, the list of available courses with all necessary details offered in English for Erasmus+ individual incoming students can be found here.

It is important to say that Erasmus exchange students do not have to pay fees for their overseas studies, and there are some grants available to help with living costs, as well as funding support for students with physical, mental, or health-related conditions. You will need to apply for this programme through your home university Erasmus or international office. Once your home university has nominated you to participate in Erasmus+ mobility at UNIOS, you should contact the UNIOS International Relations Office to get all information concerning the aplication form (see this website). We encourage you to consider the possibility of studying at the School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics , University of Osijek. Below you can find some experiences and impressions by Erasmus+ exchange students so far.

Erasmus+ Outgoing Exchange Students

You will need to apply for this programme through the university’s Erasmus or international office (see this website). Studying abroad usually takes place in the second or third year of studies. The period of study must be relevant for your degree and your personal development needs, and be part of the study programme you are enrolled in. After being selected in a competition conducted by the higher education institution (in our case, the University of Osijek), students are awarded the following documents within the Erasmus+ programme, before going on mobility:

– an agreement on the award of financial support covering the period of approved mobility, signed by the student and the sending institution. In our case, that is the University of Osijek, i.e., the  university’s Erasmus international office from the website from above.  

– an agreement on mobility for the purpose of study/professional practice, which establishes a specific program of study/professional practice, and is signed by the student, the home higher education institution and the receiving institution. This document is called the Learning Agreement and in case of study abroad is consisted of the following: courses involved in the Study Programme at the receiving institution, equivalent cources from the sending institution, the list of changed courses and their equivalents (if needed), Transcript of Records at the receiving institution  and  Transcript of Records and Recognition at the sending institution. Concerning this step, one can see the following example of the Learning Agreement for studies. Moreover, here we indicate the example of the Learning Agreement for traineeships filled in some points.

At the end of the period spent abroad, the following steps are taken:

– the receiving institution must provide the student and the sending institution with a Transcript of Records confirming that the student completed the contracted program and achieved the agreed results.

– the sending institution must, at the academic level, fully recognize successfully completed activities during the mobility period, and make a decision on recognition of achieved grades and ECTS as agreed in the Learning Agreement. If the student attended some of the courses that are not provided in the study program of the sending institution, such courses should be recorded in the Supplement to the diploma. In view of this step, one can consider the following example.

The School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics has great cooperation with a couple of European universities and internationally renowned departments. In what follows, we will describe some student experiences from their studying abroad. All photos below were taken from sh.wikipedia.org and from private collections.

Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. It is situated on the Vltava river. Prague is the 13th largest city in the European Union and it is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 2.7 million. It is a political, cultural and economic centre of central Europe with rich history.

Charles University is also known as Charles University in Prague, or historically as the University of Prague. It is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic with about 52,000 participants. Charles University belongs to top three universities in Central and Eastern Europe and it is ranked around 200-300 in the world.

Today, the University consists of 17 faculties located in Prague, Hradec Králové and Pilsen. The most interesting institution to our students might be the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. One can notice that there are lots of courses similar to the study programme offered by the School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, University of Osijek. Our student Valentina Prološčić was an incoming student there within the Erasmus+ mobility programme for studying. We are very glad about this mobility and recognised the exams passed with all grades and ECTS credits achieved. Valentina shared her experiences and impressions, which we quote below.

“I was particularly excited about taking the courses that I was interested in, but which were not available at our institution in Osijek. One of these courses inspired me for my master’s thesis, which was later co-mentored by professor Lukáš Krump from Charles University. Even though the majority of courses that I chose were taught in Czech, I did not have difficulties following the lessons since mathematical terminology is universal across the languages.

Considering my major, studying abroad was also an opportunity to learn more about the Czech educational system and curriculum. Practical knowledge in this field was obtained through an internship at a bilingual high school “EDUCAnet Prague”. This was not the only experience of being in front of the class, as I also participated in the volunteering project “Europe Meets School”, in which Erasmus students spent a day in a local school promoting their country through a variety of creative and fun activities.”

“An inseparable aspect of the exchange programme is socialisation. Since Prague is an extremely popular destination for Erasmus+ participants, apart from meeting the locals and getting an insight into Czech society, through interactions with young people from all over Europe, I was able to explore other cultures and embrace diversity. Beside social gatherings such as pub quizzes, movie nights and plays in the impressive national theatre, we also enjoyed travelling within and outside the Czech borders. My favourite trips were hiking through the national park Bohemian Switzerland and wandering around the Wieliczka salt mine next to Krakow.”

“Spending a semester abroad was an amazing experience through which I have grown a lot. I developed numerous skills as I was required to step out of my comfort zone on a daily basis and think outside the box in a problem-solving way. Do I have any regrets? No, not a single one. The only advice I would like to give to those students who are still indecisive is to send that application and prepare for a major turnaround chapter of their lives.”

The University of Trento, Trento, Italy

The city of Trento is an educational, scientific, financial and political centre in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Tyrol and Northern Italy in general. It has about 117,417 inhabitants.

The University of Trento was founded in 1962. It belongs to the category of “medium-sized” universities with more than 16,000 students, about 600 professors and researchers and the same number of technical and administrative staff.

On the University of Trento website it can be seen that the University consists of departments and centres. Here we will mention the School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, which might be interesting for students since it is suitable for student exchange.

In this sense, we have had very nice experiences from the exchange so far. Namely, our student Aleksandra Bijelić (Graduate university study programme in Mathematics (Master level) – Financial Mathematics and Statistics) was an incoming student there. The School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, University of Osijek recognised the exams passed at the aforementioned foreign higher education institution (within the Erasmus+ mobility programme) with the appropriate grades and ECTS credits achieved. Here we give some of Aleksandra’s experiences and adventures:

“The Erasmus experience changed my life forever. I still carry the people I met in my heart, friendships that can’t break even borders, trips that can’t be satiated. At the end, no matter how small the city you go to is, you will spend your time like never before.”

Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland

Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital and the centre of  Lublin Province with a population of about 339,784.

Lublin University of Technology was established in 1953 on the initiative of Lublin’s community of engineers and technicians. It has about 8,000 students, about 600 academic staff and approximately the same number of administrative staff.

At present, the organisational structure of Lublin University of Technology is comprised of six faculties. We will single out the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In the undergraduate university study programme in mathematics (Bachelor level), through the Erasmus+ mobility, our student Aleksandra Bijelić was an exchange student there via the Erasmus+ mobility scheme. Throughout her stay we had a very nice collaboration, since the selected courses were similat to our study programme. The School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, University of Osijek, recognised all exams passed with the appropriate  grades and ECTS credits achieved.  Now we have some of her experiences and adventures:

“The Erasmus student exchange programme has been conducted among students and young people for more than 30 years. Why is Erasmus so interesting? Every Erasmus is your new beginning. A new state, a new beautiful city, the city that will become your home in the next few months. In the city you can explore all the parks, castles, pubs, you can try everything you want. Even if you go on a new adventure alone, be sure you will never be alone, the people you meet there are like you, eager to explore something new, learn about other cultures and people, travel together or just hang out. If you feel uneasy because you can’t speak the language of the country of your choice, don’t worry; isn’t life surrounded by mostly English-speaking students ideal for improving your knowledge of English? All these things make every Erasmus unique.“

“When I went to my first Erasmus, I didn’t know much about Erasmus and I didn’t know what to expect. When you go on Erasmus in your undergraduate studies, there is a problem course matching and classes taught in English. Lectures in English start mostly in the master’s years. The city of Lublin in Poland was my choice for the first Erasmus in 2016, precisely because they offered lectures in English and our study programme was somehow similar. When you go on Erasmus, you cannot expect your courses to be exactly the same, but what you can expect is that all courses you pass will be recognised in your native country. From my experience, when you  go  to a foreign university, there is a chance that some courses have to be replaced or cancelled due to an insufficient number of students or fot some other reason. Such changes are normal but you will quickly find another course to attend. As the only student at the School of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science in Lublin, I took some courses  individually, i.e., the professors would give me literature and scheduled the time when we met. This way of studying is great because you can plan your own time for studying. Some courses were attended by a lot of international students and I liked it because professors were doing their best to explain lectures in English. You meet students you can hang out with, travel and spend some time together.”

“In the exam, you can show everyone your knowledge of maths and English. Some of the exercises were in Polish. I have to admit that no matter how similar Polish was to Croatian. I didn’t understand much, but with google translate everything is easier. For those six months I lived in the dormitory. The university campus was my choice because I knew I would quickly meet other students and even though I go there alone, I will always have company to study and spend free time socialising and having fun.”

“Erasmus teaches you to resourcefulness and to become independent. You learn how to stand up for yourself. As you can see above, in addition to studying, I had time for fun and to travel to Europe, see so many new places and cities so looking for the cheapest flights became my speciality.”

Erasmus+ Student Traineeship

Through the Erasmus+ student traineeship programme students also have an opportunity to choose their placement and get work experience in a foreign institution before graduation. This can be achieved through traineeship (relevant to a students’ study programme) in any programme country and with Erasmus+ financial support. For all details you have to contact your university Erasmus or international office (see the website). Here we describe the Erasmus+ traineeship experience of our former student Petra Stehlik.

“I believe that  at some point every student starts to think more seriously about the future. For me, that thinking happened when I started the graduate study programme in Financial Mathematics and Statistics and I remember having that strong desire to live abroad. Year after, I decided to apply for the ERSMUS+ programme and eventually get the opportunity to do so. With ongoing studies, it was a little bit risky to leave in the middle of a semester and put myself in the position where I couldn’t finish my degree on time. So, I prolonged my studies for one additional year in order to leave Croatia for 6 months.”

“I got the internship in Belfast (Northern Ireland) in a company that provides mobile operators and merchants with carrier billing solutions through their digital services platform. I worked independently at Data Analyst reporting directly to the CFO. Some of the main tasks were to develop various (financial) reports, analyse customer data and maintain and improve the existing data analysis tools, dashboards, reports and data analytics workflows. My experience was really positive, both for me and my company, and it was a great preparation for future job opportunities, in Croatia or internationally.

The only negative thing that happened is the COVID19 crisis and lockdown. The company managed remote working pretty well. Luckily, I lived in a shared house with 5 other students so we shared the same situation and everyday life struggles.

Generally, my life there was amazing, I have met so many people from different parts of the world! Taking a walk, jogging, having a pint or traveling on weekends – none of it I did alone!”

“Considering climate there, you can’t afford yourself to stay in the house if it is raining outside, because you might wait forever. With that thought in mind, we took every opportunity to leave the house and explore.”

“Northern Ireland has truly amazing countryside and if you are fine with driving in the left lane of the road, with your vehicle having the steering wheel on the right, then I recommend organising a road trip. Stunning coast and many nature parks make life there really rich and peaceful, mostly because wherever you look it is full of green! Numerous beaches are amazing but the weather there is cold, without proper summer like here in Croatia, so if you visit any of beaches there, you can only watch and admire the endless ocean, without swimming therein.”