Erasmus

What Can I Apply for

The University of Bergen offers a large number of courses taught in English at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Each course is assigned a three-digit number, where the first digit is either 1 (100-level courses), 2 (200-level courses) or 3 (300-level courses). 100-level courses are beginner's courses. 200-level courses involve some specialisation, while 300-level courses involve a higher level of specialisation. Normally, 100-level courses may only be included at bachelor's level, while 200-level courses may be included at both bachelor's and master's level. 100-level courses and 200-level courses are listed as undergraduate courses. As a rule, 300-level courses may only be incorporated into master's programmes and are listed as postgraduate courses.

See course overview

Click on each course to check whether the courses you wish to apply for are taught during your study period in Bergen. You can also check number of ECTS credits, if the courses require any previous knowledge etc.

A full work load for one semester is 30 ECTS credits, but we recommend that you choose courses amounting to more than 30 ECTS credits in case some of your choices are not approved, or if some of the courses have overlapping time schedules etc. Further queries about courses may be directed to the faculty or department.

Applicants to the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Please note that the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences may offer additional courses that are not available for admission before semester start in August/January and several courses with field trips, lab work etc. which have limited capacity. For this reason we encourage all applicants to this faculty to apply as early as possible when the application form has opened. Please check if the courses require specific previous knowledge.

Applicants to the Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities offers a number of courses taught in other foreign languages, such as French, German, Italian and Spanish, and courses in Norwegian philology and literature (taught in Norwegian) that may be relevant for exchange students with a good command of Norwegian. Please note that there are specific admission requirements for all exchange students who wish to take English courses at the Department of Foreign Languages. The courses are theorectically demanding, and presuppose a strong command of English. We recommend a competence level in English of B2 or higher according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Two documents must be submitted with your application:

• Letter of Motivation

In the Letter of Motivation you should explain what your academic ambitions are and how they relate to your choice of English courses at our university. The Letter of Motivation should be about 1 page long.

• Letter of Recommendation  

The Letter of Recommendation needs to be written by a professor who knows you at your home university. The letter should assess your academic strengths and should give an evaluation of your proficiency in English. The Letter of Recommendation should be no more than 1 page long.

• Diagnostic test on site

Once you arrive at the University of Bergen you will be required to do a diagnostic test on site to assess your writing competency in English.

Applicants to the Grieg Academy must note that the deadline for sending audition tapes is 1 March. The tapes must be sent directly to the Grieg Academy.

How Do I Apply

Check with your home university if an exchange agreement exists between your university and the University of Bergen. First you must apply to your university and then after you have been nominated by your home university, you may apply for admission by submitting the online application form on our website.

Application deadlines:

• Autumn Semester: 15 May
• Spring Semester: 15 October

After submitting the application form, you will receive an application receipt by e-mail. Print out the application receipt and return it by post with the required documents:

• documentation of exchange status issued by your university (nomination)
• a transcript of records in English or a Scandinavian language (an official statement listing courses/subjects you have completed at your university, at least 60 ECTS credits)

within the deadline written on the application receipt. If your e-mail address is incorrect in the application form, you will not receive your application receipt and your application can therefore not be processed.

When selecting courses, please check that they are available during the period you have applied for. This information is available by clicking on the relevant course codes.

Application Form

The Erasmus programme application form is available on our website between

• 15 March - 15 May (for admission to the autumn semester or full academic year)
• 1 Sept - 15 Oct (for admission to the spring semester)

The application form for the autumn semester 2013 is not longer available. The next application period is for spring 2014 from 1 September-15 October.

Your admission process will not be concluded if we do not receive the following documents within the deadline specified on the application receipt:

• application receipt
• documentation of exchange status issued by your university (nomination)
• transcript of records in English or a Scandinavian language (an official statement listing courses/subjects you have completed at your university, at least 60 ECTS credits)

Admission Process

Application process:

Important! Please see our website about student accommodation for updated information regarding the application process for housing.

Learning Agreements and Arrival/Departure Forms

We prefer that you hand in your Learning Agreement to be signed at the Centre for Information and Student Services at the start of the semester.

Courses
Please be aware that we can only sign Learning Agreements which contain courses you have been granted admission to. You will find the courses listed in your Letter of Acceptance. If you want to add courses after your arrival in Bergen, you must ask the relevant department or faculty for permission and have them sign the Learning agreement before handing it in at the Centre for Information and Student Services.

This means that you should not send your Learning Agreement to our office until you have received your Letter of Acceptance, or in other ways have a confirmation from us that you are admitted to all the courses applied for. 

Dates
Please be aware that we can only sign Learning Agreements and arrival/departure forms with our official semester dates.

Erasmus Agreements

Erasmus agreements database

Language Requirements

In general incoming exchange students do not need to document English language proficiency through a recognised test such as IELTS or TOEFL. But, we strongly recommend that students have a good command of English in order to follow courses taught in English.

Please note that some departments may require documentation of English proficiency in order to follow specific courses. Applicants to English courses at the Department of Foreign Languages must read the application requirements under 'What Can I Apply for'.

Erasmus Placement/Leonardo da Vinci Placement Students

An Erasmus Placement/Leonardo da Vinci training placement at UiB should be arranged directly between your home institution and the faculty or department where you wish to be placed here at UiB. A Training Agreement must then be arranged between the institutions. We advise you therefore to start early.

Placement students must then apply for administrative admission within the same applications periods as regular exchange students: 15 March-15 May for admission to the Autumn semester and 1 September-15 October for admission to the Spring semester. The deadlines are final, and applications from students who do not meet the deadline will not be processed.

Training placement applicants must choose 'Erasmus' on the application form, which is available online during the application periods mentioned above.  A training placement must last between 3-12 months. Erasmus placement and Leonardo da Vinci placement applicants must follow the same application procedures as regular exchange students with one exception:

• Instead of submitting documentation of exchange status issued by your university, you must send a certified copy of the Training Agreement, which must be signed by your home institution as well as the department/faculty here at UiB where you wish to be placed.