I am Emanuele, enrolled in Nordic master program Aquatic Food Production: Safety and Quality. I started my education at NMBU in August 2020, during the pandemic year. The first semester of the master program was supposed to be given as e-learning eitherway, while the second semester and the second year were planned to be at the university. The study plan gives you the possibility to choose a different country for your second year of master where you will obtain a master degree. Among the 4 universities in the joint program (NMBU, NTNU, UOL, DTU) I chose DTU in Denmark and I started my exchange year in August 2021. Initially, it was not very clear how the dynamic of classes, lectures and courses worked. Mainly because of the different systems between universities and different platforms that needed to be used. After the initial struggle with settings all the student accounts platforms websites course registration and paperwork, the semester developed in a very interesting and fruitful time. I passed all the courses that I had to choose and also the elective ones, plus I reached an agreement regarding the master thesis, to be started in the following semester.
DTU university is located in Lyngby, a northern area of Copenhag en. I had been staying at the campus student accommodation for the very first week and I moved to the city at the beginning of September. I was commuting almost one hour to reach the campus, but luckily I was able to choose the courses to follow, in order to plan my weekly travels home-campus campus-home. If you like campus life, well, then DTU campus offers many possibilities for you. There are different kind of accommodation such as singular, few people, huge shared kitchen, different locations and remote quiet campus in green areas. Honestly, I wanted to experience Copenhagen as well and I was happy to live in the city centre, eventhough I had to commute. I was also working and the city offers better possibilities and many different positions for student jobs.
DTU Lyngby Campus and neighbourhood in North Copenhagen.
During my second semester I was working on my project thesis mainly from home, with planned meetings in the university with my supervisor. I was happy to have the option to work remotely and also meet physically, so I could choose the best solution for different situation during the duration of the thesis project. Also the second semester concluded successfully and I completed my studies.
City of Copenaghen and beach in Southern neighbourhood.
DTU has facilities also in other area of Denmark and I had the possibility to visit two of them. I went to Silkeborg for an intensive course of one week including lectures and laboratories. DTU payed for travel and accommodation expenses. At the end of my studies I had the opportunity to have a 3 week special course in Hirthsahls, at the North Sea research centre part of DTU. In this case I had to pay for travels expenses because it was an elective course. I found very interesting that significant part of the accommodation cost was supplied from the university in order to encourage student to visit also these remote facilities of DTU.
Silkeborg and Hirthsahls.
In conclusion, I was very satisfied of my exchange Erasmus experience and I am very grateful to NMBU for this opportunity and the consistent economic sustain along all the mobility. My personal advice to students who will go in exchange in DTU or in Denmark is to make sure to inform yourself about rules and stuff to do as a new international students: student card and student status, insurance number, digital identity, student loans, working abilitation and bank accounts and eccetera. You are going on exchange so it is your responsibility to get to know everything on time, not like me that I discovered everything once in Denmark. On the other hand, I would like to point out that communications between host and sending universities was not always easy, especially regarding course registration, different deadlines and credit transfer. These issues require a bit extra work from the student on exchange. Overall, the Erasmus exchange is totally worth and I suggest everybody to try it and challenge yourself with new experiences. I feel enriched as a student and as a person.
Post scriptum: I would like to dedicate the successful result of this experience to a very important person who had been helping me along all the mobility period. Her name is Tendai Chella Bengtsson and she is doing an amazing job in assisting NMBU students during international exchanges. Being a student is not always easy and sometimes it is very important to have somebody to rely on and to make things easier for you. I had some delays, some issues and some misunderstandings but, thankfully, I was always able to figure out everything with her help.
October 2022, Emanuele Vervelacis.
Reis ut i verden så tidlig som mulig! Krysskulturell kompetanse er viktigere enn noen gang. Internasjonal erfaring kombinert med spisskompetanse innenfor ulike fagretninger er mer og mer etterspurt på arbeidsmarkedet. NMBU gir deg mange muligheter til å ta deler av din grad i utlandet gjennom gode samarbeidsavtaler med universiteter over hele verden. "Vi lever i en global verden. Utveksling av personer og informasjon på tvers av landegrenser øker. Internasjonal erfaring vil bli enda viktigere for fremtidens arbeidsliv enn det er for dagens" Kristin Skogen Lund (NHO). Et utvekslingsopphold kan gi deg høyt faglig utbytte og ny og beriket faglig innsikt, men også muligheter til å knytte vennskap og nettverk på tvers av landegrenser. Å studere og leve i et annet land tilbyr en unik mulighet til å se verden fra et nytt perspektiv, samtidig som det er en gylden mulighet til å bli flytende i et fremmedspråk. Erasmus Impact Study viser at studenter...
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