Information about ERASMUS

This post is for all those who are interested in going to Finland/Tampere for their term abroad. Just to warn you guys: This is a long post with lots of information!

Some information before I start talking about everything: The University of Tampere offers an orientation week, which takes place 1 week before any lectures/classes start. So if you want to know some things about the program like when, where and what, you should definitely check out this link here. 

To get some more information about the University of Tampere you have to check out this link.

How to apply for ERASMUS & University of Tampere:

At first you have to get some things done at your home-university. I don’t know if it’s the same at every university. I study at University of Vienna – so if you study in Vienna I guess it’s the same process.

• Fill out the “nomination paper” and get it signed! (You have to keep the original one in a save place. A copy will be sent to the ERASMUS office)
• After that, you have to wait for an E-Mail, which notifies you either you’re nominated or not.
• Then you have to fill out all the papers you got, and of course sign them. When all of this is done, you have to bring those papers to some office (they tell you where to bring them!).
• When bringing the papers, the people in the ERASMUS office will tell you everything you still have to do.

Once these things are done, you’re closer to your ERASMUS time, than you’ve been before!
It is very important to stick to the due dates! So always look for due dates, so you won’t fail because you didn’t notice/know that you had to get something done by whatever date they tell you.

Now you can take a deep breath and focus on the next steps:

•  Don’t forget to apply at the University, which you desire! You have to send them some papers (You find the information at the University’s website)
• After applying, you can lean back and wait for your letter of acceptance – this comes to you via snail mail

After you got your letter of acceptance, you should immediately start to look for accommodation! (You can start looking before, but it makes less sense to apply before knowing if you’re accepted.) – This is really important, so start to look for a place to stay ASAP!!

On this website you find some links to look for accommodations, if you want to stay in Tampere.

After all of this is done, you only have to prepare yourself for your stay abroad. This means that there’s not too much left to do in your home country. Maybe you want to tell everyone that you’re going to stay abroad, book your flight …

Don’t forget to take a long a picture of you, for your student card!

After you arrived in Finland, you need to do following things:

• Go to the international office at the University to get your info package & (more) papers! (My info package included student information, which needs to be filled out and an application form for the student card, and some more information…)
• You’ll also have to pay the TAMY-membership fee (€47/term or €94/year)
• After filling out all the papers, you have to bring them to the registrar’s office.
• In that office you’ll get your student number and some information about your user account for the university’s network. (You need that account to enroll for lectures, class, and so on…)
• You have to wait for 2-3 weeks until you can pick up your student card at TAMY, on their homepage you can check if your card is ready.
• Now I guess that you’ve done everything you needed to do before you can start your studies abroad!

If you don’t get an accommodation in the city center of Tampere, you probably need a bus card. You can get it at Frenckellinaukio 2B. (If you’re under 24 you can simply by the youth card for 30 days. – Else you should buy the students bus card. You can find more information on that topic here.)

If you need to open a bank account (for your ERASMUS money, or maybe you want to work a little bit …), you only have to find the bank for your needs. (Maybe Nordea, or Osuuspankki, S-pankki (when you get an account at S-pankki, you should definitely try to get the so-called “S-Etukortti”. This is a special card which you can use in supermarkets, where you get some special offers e.g. cheaper prices…)

If you're EU-citizen, you’re allowed to stay in Finland for 3 month without registering. If you stay longer you need to go to the police station and register.

Now I guess, you got all the information you needed, and I wish you all the best for your term abroad! – I really hope that this was helpful for you!