Student exchange with partner universities
The University of Tartu has more than 60 partner universities in more than 20 different countries and the bilateral academic cooperation agreements with these universities provide opportunities for the exchange of students and faculty staff. These university-wide cooperation agreements include all of the faculties and institutions at the university. However, not all partner universities participate in student exchanges - to date UT has active student exchange agreements with almost 30 universities in 14 countries.
Here you can find the list of partner universities participating in the student exchange.
All of the partner universities of the University of Tartu (including those not involved in student exchanges) are listed here.
Target group
In principle, students of all specialties and levels of study can apply for student exchanges under university-wide cooperation agreements. But it should be taken into account that partner universities can set their own limitations e.g. several universities do not admit exchange students to medical studies. Further information on these limitations can be found in specific competition notices. Exchange students can study at a partner university for one or two semesters. It is important to bear in mind that while studying abroad under the exchange programme, students must be enrolled at the University of Tartu for the whole period of the studies.
Language of instruction
In many cases, a command of English is enough to cope at a foreign university: as a rule, universities in non-English speaking countries also offer courses in English, although their range may be quite narrow. Alternately, when applying to Russian universities (primarily to the University of St. Petersburg), it is important to speak Russian, or German when going to German universities; as far as Japanese universities are concerned, the grant committee prefers applicants who have already learned some Japanese.
Applicants are always required to submit a language certificate. As far as English is concerned, partner universities may request the results of an international language test (e.g. TOEFL or IELTS), particularly universities outside of Europe, and in applying to Master's and Doctoral studies, but often a test taken at the University of Tartu Language Centre will suffice.- Rules vary significantly between universities.
Stipends and expenses
Exchange students from the University of Tartu are always guaranteed free tuition at the partner university (i.e. they do not have to pay any tuition fees). In many cases, universities also offer free accommodation in student residence halls and a monthly allowance or free meals (the latter is very common at US universities: students can choose a meal plan which normally includes 19 to 21 free meals per week at university cafeterias). Further information on grant rules at partner universities can be found in specific competition notices. As a rule, students have to cover their travel, visa and health insurance expenses themselves (an exception here being Nebraska Wesleyan University, which also provides travel allowance). Information on the cost of living in the host country can be found on university websites. When applying to US universities, it should be taken into account that students need to buy the necessary textbooks themselves, and this may cost a couple of hundred euros.
Application process
Students should apply to partner universities via the International Student Service and submit their applications to the International Student Service by the deadline stated in the notice. Application deadlines vary and depend on partner universities. Main competitions are held in the spring semester (from January to May) and students can apply for admission for the next academic year (for one or both semesters). If not all student places are filled during the spring competition, an additional competition may be announced in autumn (September or October) for the spring semester of the current academic year. However, the options in autumn competitions are definitely more limited and competition itself may be stronger. Thus students should apply for exchanges in spring semester of the academic year preceding the exchange; if they intend to go for the spring semester only, they may also have the chance to apply in the autumn semester of the same academic year, if they are lucky.
Grant committee
The primary decision on selecting students for partner universities is made by the University of Tartu grant committee. The student exchange coordinator forwards the documents of the selected students to the host universities, who then make final decisions on admitting the students.
Members of UT grant committee:
Ülle Tensing, Senior Specialist for International Studies;
Virve-Anneli Vihman, Strategic Advisor on Internationalisation;
Jaanika Haljasmäe, Erasmus Institutional Coordinator;
Piret Must, Student Exchange Coordinator;
Kristina Kongi, Student Advisor;
Kadri Raav, Senior Research Project Specialist;
Mari Lust, Representative of Student Council.
The committee has the right to invite other people who are not regular members to its meetings. These people have advisory voting rights.
As a rule, students who obtain grants are contacted by e-mail. Students receiving grants should bear in mind that if they decide to give up their place at a foreign university, they must immediately notify the International Student Service. If they delay in doing so, someone else might miss the opportunity to study abroad. If a student has repeatedly given up his or her grant/free student place and applies again, previous waivers will be taken into account in ranking applicants.