Much Demand for International Exchange

Visiting foreign countries and gaining experiences through exchange programmes as part of one’s studies seems to be more popular than ever among the students of the St. Pölten UAS. Compared to pre-COVID times, the St. Pölten UAS had twice as many students either complete a stay abroad or come to study at our institution in the academic year 2023/24.

“While studying abroad, the students acquire not only specialist know-how, but important cultural and intercultural competencies as well”, says Daniela Lohner, Head of the International Office at the St. Pölten UAS.

Important Competencies for Our Modern World

UAS CEO Hannes Raffaseder also emphasises this significant aspect: “Mobility is a way of gaining key competencies that are essential for our times. After all, we are living in a globalised world – it’s the USA versus China versus Europe. This makes it all the more important for the European Higher Education Area to understand itself as an entity. And we have to become familiar with this entity. What better way to do this than through mobility?”

Off to New Shores

Students of the St. Pölten UAS can spend one semester each abroad in their bachelor and master degree programmes, respectively. They can do this within the framework of an exchange programme (Erasmus or Joint Study) at one of our approximately 160 partner institutions in 35 countries. They also have the possibility to study at a non-partner university as a so-called “Free Mover” provided that they organise and finance their stay abroad by themselves. Internships abroad are another available exchange format. The International Office of the St. Pölten UAS and the International Coordinators in the individual study programmes support the students in all organisational matters and in the search for suitable funding programmes.

A stay abroad with funding under Erasmus+ is possible in all EU member states as well as in Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Iceland, Serbia, and Turkey. In addition, Erasmus+ may also fund stays at certain institutions outside these countries provided that the UAS maintains a partnership agreement eligible for Erasmus+ funding with them.

Short-Term Mobilities on the Rise

For some years now, there have been additional and extensive possibilities for shorter mobilities abroad, which means that students do not leave the country for an entire semester. “For some, a whole semester is too long, especially if they work and study at the same time. Thanks to these short-term formats, the demand for mobilities has increased sharply in the past few years – as has the number of students going abroad”, emphasises Daniela Lohner.

Among these shorter-term mobility options are:

Blended Intensive Programmes

Programmes of the European University E³UDRES²

Internships Abroad

Window of Opportunity

In order to promote international exchange among its students, the St. Pölten UAS relies on the concept called “Window of Opportunity”. “This concept, abbreviated WoOp, refers to an elective subject with a scope of 5 ECTS credits embedded in the curriculum. It allows the students to expand their personal profile and acquire additional interdisciplinary competencies. The Window of Opportunity provides the formal framework for personalising one’s own study programme”, explains Lisa David, Head of the Service and Competence Center for Teaching/Learning Development and Educational Offers (LEARN) at the St. Pölten UAS.

“The Window of Opportunity at the UAS is a great opportunity for acquiring and expanding personal expertise by attending courses offered by E3UDRES2 partner institutions. It is a declared goal of the European Commission to have 50 percent of all students benefit from international knowledge transfer in the higher education sector by promoting European University Alliances such as E3UDRES2. The Window of Opportunity offers this very platform, thus making it possible for students to have an even stronger competitive advantage and more competence in preparation for the labour market”, states Irene Auffret, Project Manager for the European University.

“We pursue many activities with the goal of strategically establishing and expanding international cooperations for the St. Pölten UAS. E3UDRES2 is an extremely important means to this end“, says Gabriele Permoser, Head of the Center for Research and Cooperation at the St. Pölten UAS that also accommodates the E³UDRES² Head Office.

And the Figures?

In the academic year 2023/24, the St. Pölten UAS handled 777 incoming and outgoing mobilities for study purposes, internships, teaching staff exchange, and staff training.

Among these, 93 students of the St. Pölten UAS completed a study semester abroad, while 87 students made use of the short-term mobility options, and 42 completed an internship abroad.

St. Pölten UAS Hosts Incoming Students

In turn, the St. Pölten UAS has the pleasure to welcome students from other countries every year. In the academic year 2023/24, as many as 92 students spent a whole semester here, while 225 came within the framework of short-term mobility programmes. The students come from all over the globe: Apart from the European countries, we have guests from South America and Asia, among other parts of the world.

Good Grades for Exchange

In the annual Erasmus report, 96 percent of all incoming students stated that they were very satisfied with their time spent in St. Pölten. Student satisfaction was generally high at more than 90 percent across all mobility formats.

What It Takes for a Stay Abroad

Exchange is usually based on agreements between institutions which stipulate a certain number of study places that students can apply for within predefined deadlines.

Apart from this, there are a number of personal characteristics that are important, says Judith Dürnberger, International Mobility Coordinator at International Office of the St. Pölten UAS: “We generally recommend a stay abroad for students who are ready to be independent and have good self-organisation skills. It also takes an adventurous mindset, flexibility, a willingness to adapt, and curiosity. There is a lot of paperwork behind a study semester abroad, and it also means moving far from your personal comfort zone.” However, the experiences gained tend to make it all worthwhile.

Staff Mobility

The St. Pölten UAS offers international exchange options not only for students. Researchers, lecturers, and members of the administrative staff can all profit from numerous opportunities to spend time abroad and get to know other higher education institutions. These opportunities include further training, research and teaching spells in other countries, conference visits, or the organisation of international specialist symposia at the St. Pölten UAS.

International Week

The annual International Week at the St. Pölten UAS is a recurrent and central internationalisation event which is aimed at representatives from partner institutions, lecturers, researchers, university staff members, policy-makers, and stakeholders from the regional/national/international higher education and research & innovation contexts.

The topic of this year’s event in the last week of November is “Connecting Europe! How Education and Research Contribute to European Values”.

A “Go International! Day” and a Teaching Staff Week are important elements of the International Week.

• At the “Go International! Day”, students of the St. Pölten UAS obtain information about study and internship opportunities abroad, while employees learn more about staff mobility options. On this day, the partner institutions introduce themselves at the “Partner University Fair”.
• Within the framework of the Teaching Staff Week, lecturers from partner universities of the St. Pölten UAS teach here in various courses on a broad range of topics over the course of one week.

Further information:

• Read more about internationalisation at the St. Pölten UAS
• European University E³UDRES²
• International Week