96 applications for mobility in the Autumn Semester 20-21

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International Relations and Study abroad Service

20 April 2020

In February, the International Relations and Study Abroad Service has received 96 applications from students interested in spending an exchange period at a partner university during the next Autumn Semester 2020-2021. This obviously happened before the Covid-19 emergency started in Switzerland, and we were happy to see that the number of our outgoing students increases every year. This proves us that an exchange abroad is appreciated and considered an added value for the CV.

We are fully aware that some of our partner universities are currently considering cancelling mobility (both incoming and outgoing) for the Autumn Semester 2020-2021, and we believe that we will all soon be called to reflect on this matter and ask ourselves the question "can a mobility potentially carried out in distance mode from home still be an enriching, cultural and academic experience?". For the time being we operate as if things will be back to normal by September 2020, and we will adapt our decisions as news will be released by our Federal Government and as the situation evolves. We will treat every case with extreme attention and we will do our best to accommodate those who will be affected by these decisions. Our hope is that our students will be able to enjoy the time abroad as they deserve.

Who are our current candidates, after all? Out of these 96 students, 7 will spend the Autumn Semester at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, in the framework of the Bachelor specialization ICE (Intercultural Communication and Economics).

Let’s see more in details who they are:

Mobility by gender
51 female, 45 male

Mobility by Study level
30 bachelor students, 66 master students

Mobility by Faculty
14 students study at the Academy of Architecture
30 students study at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society
44 students study at the Faculty of Economics
8 students study at the Faculty of Informatics

Destinations
The choices of our students vary a lot from one year to the other, yet there are some firm points recurring every year. Switzerland is definitely one, with the University of St. Gallen and the University of Zurich as preferred destinations for students of the Lugano Campus, and the two Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich for students at the Academy of Architecture. Finland is also a favourite, thanks to the ICE specialization available for Bachelor students at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society and the Faculty of Economics. These destinations alone will host almost half of our outgoing students.

The rest will travel to Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, the US and the UK.

In addition to this group, seven students at the Academy of Architecture already decided to spend their mobility period abroad over the entire Academic Year.