School of Social and Political Science

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Details on studying abroad

Where can I go? 

There are no less than THREE Study Abroad routes for SD students! They are:
1. University-wide Study Abroad route
The university runs exchanges at universities in North, Central and South America, China, Singapore, Korea, Australia New Zealand, as well as Europe. 
Student Exchange information on Edinburgh Global
The competition for these places is high. The call usually opens early November and closes mid-November.
2. SD Study Abroad route
We have our own exchange arrangements with the Global Environmental and Sustainability studies Bachelor at the University of Leuphana, in Lueneburg, Germany, which has amongst the best environmental sustainability degrees in Europe. The closing date for this scheme is also in November (same deadline as University-wide route). Unfortunately, given the lack of students going there over the last few years, we have had to reduce the number of places on the exchange to just 1. 
The exchange is open to everyone on the degree, but is most clearly suited for students on the Politics or Geography pathways, and also offers very relevant courses for students on the Sociology or STIS pathways. It is less suited for students on the Social Anthropology pathway.

Please note, in cases where a student changes their degree, they will no longer be eligible to take part in a SD subject specific exchange even if they have already received their offer.

3. The pathway route
Our pathway subject areas have agreed to open their own subject-specific agreements to SD students.
This means that you can apply to their agreements as well. Social Anthropology do not have many specific agreements, and they therefore understandably tend to reserve them for their direct students. If you are on the Social Anthropology pathway, your best route is definitely the University route. 

All three routes have their applications submitted through the same Mobility online website (see below, How do I apply?). It is possible for SD students to submit 3 different applications, one through the University-wide competition, one to the SD exchange, and one to the pathway exchanges. However, when a university is accessible both through the University and through the subject area (SD/pathway), you should apply through the subject area.

What languages do I need?

The University of Leuphana has a very large number of relevant courses in English. They offer a three week crash course in German before the start of term, so if you want to familiarise yourself with German, or brush it up if you have some knowledge already, that is handy for everyday life and contacts with other students. However it is not a requirement for attending Leuphana.

On the University-wide and other subject agreements, English is often the language of tuition or many courses will be taught in English. This is not the case in Europe and Central/Latin America, and you will need proficiency in other languages to study there. Language requirements for year abroad are explained on the Student Exchange webpages coordinated by the Study and Work Abroad (SWAY) team, here.

How will I be assessed?

Your year abroad marks will be converted to pass/fail, and your Honours degree will be classified solely on the basis of your performance in your fourth and final year. However, the year abroad performance is still important. You need to achieve satisfactory completion of the approved programme of study abroad before being permitted to proceed to 4th year. (This is why it is important to keep your exchange coordinator(s) informed of any change on your programme of study during your year abroad, and have these recorded through updates on your learning agreement, as transcripts from your studies at your host university will then be compared with your learning agreement).

The College Progression Board takes place usually at the beginning of September. This is why your progression into 4th year appears as conditional during the summer between 3rd and 4th year.

How do I apply?

Applications for both the University-wide agreements exchanges, for the SD places and for the Pathway subject places are through the same Mobility portal, which usually opens at the beginning of November. You may apply both through the University-wide route and through the subject-area (SD/Pathway) route. You can apply to up to 5 universities through the University-wide route (ranking them by order of preference), and you may apply for up to 3 universities through the pathway route (we on SD only have one option anyway!).

The process is similar, in that in both cases selection depends on your academic record in first year and on your personal statement. You write your personal statement for your first choice university, whether in the University-wide competition, or for the application to the subject-area (SD and/or pathway) places.

More preliminary information here. It is especially important that you read the Application guides when they become available on the student exchanges page (see HERE). Both the Study and Work Away Service (SWAY) and the exchange coordinator for SD will hold information sessions explaining things in more detail in October.

Eligibility

You cannot go on an exchange unless you have gained entry to Honours (passed all your courses). As a general rule, no re-sits are allowed. However, if you have special circumstances and need to take a resit (counting as first sit) in the summer, it may be possible for you to go on exchange if you pass the resit, but this is likely to be very difficult and may not be possible, depending on the date of the resit and the starting date of your exchange, due to visa and insurance considerations in particular.

Please note, in cases where a student changes their degree, they will no longer be eligible to take part in the subject specific exchanges even if they have already received their offer.

What should I do once I am accepted?

Make sure you contact the SD Exchange Co-ordinator (Isabelle) to let her know of your plans. Check the next administrative steps here.

There are several things you can begin to do early, some of them by simply perusing your host university website.

SWAY organises pre-departure concerning the more logistical aspects of your exchanges – usually in April/May. These sessions are compulsory, and they are extremely useful to plan your pre-departure period, know what you have to do with regard to visas, accommodation, and other logistical aspects.

What can I study?

One of the most important things you need to do is choose the right courses on your year abroad. There are several things to keep in mind when making your selection, including the level at which the courses are taught, the credits you receive, and the exact subject of the courses. We expect you to take roughly 1/3 of courses in SD, sustainability studies or equivalent (often found in human geography departments); 1/3 of courses in your pathway; and 1/3 of option courses. Courses should normally be on a level equivalent to 3rd year courses in Edinburgh. Language courses are accepted (indeed this might be a good idea) but ideally they should not represent more than 1/6 of your total courses/credits. Courses need to be graded - pass/fail is no longer accepted.

If you are on the Sociology pathway, you should try and find rough equivalents for 2 among Social Theory, Designing and doing social research, and Doing survey research (= sociology core courses in 3rd year at Edinburgh). If you can't, you will be expected to take one of these in 4th year.

With European universities, the equivalent volume of credits is 60 ECTS. For other universities, please check the international exchange credit requirements on the Student Exchange webpage.

The point is of course not to replicate the year in Edinburgh at your host University – this would totally miss what exchanges are for, and there is some flexibility to allow you to make the most of the strengths and specialisms that attract you at your host university. 
Do not hesitate to discuss your ideas of courses with the exchange coordinator as they will have to sign your programme of study for your year abroad – this is called the learning agreement – before you leave. The learning agreement will also need to be signed by the host institution.
Please take time to familiarise yourself with the course catalogues of your host universities, check that the courses you choose are going to be offered on your year of exchange, and that you fulfill the prerequisites. 

Your course choices will need to be validated by both the host institution and the SD exchange coordinator. Make sure you are aware of the processes at your host institution and plan for validation with enough time, as confirmation of your programme of study can be required for applying for a visa. 

Exchange at the University of Leuphana

The Sustainable Development MA has an exchange agreement with the University of Leuphana, located in Lueneburg, North Germany. Leuphana has one of the most reputed Schools in Sustainability, and their approach to interdisciplinarity is stimulatingly different, and complementary, to ours here (interdisciplinarity is taken as an approach as such, whereas we work on it through having a community of students from different pathways take core courses together). 

The semesters run differently in Germany, from October to end February, and from April to end July. Leuphana also have a Language and orientation programme in September, where you can start learning German, or freshen up your language skills. 

The University have put together a helpful guide for the things to think about, prepare, and pay for - especially as the UK is not part of Europe anymore ; the guide also explains how courses work (through modules) and how to choose them. See here.

It is important to feel supported on exchange - studying and living in a foreign country is exhilarating, but can also feel lonely or daunting. Leuphana University does offer support for students. Claudia Wolk, coordinator for international students, also offers regular meetings to students who need it. The psychological counselling centre is native-speaking but provides counselling in English to some extent.

Learning agreement

Once the course selection is validated, you can key your courses in on Mobility online, making sure to indicate the semester in which they take place. Then download a pdf and send it for signing to the SD exchange coordinator, your joint subject area coordinator if need be, and then to your host institution. Once all of this is done, you can upload the completed document on Mobility online. It needs to be uploaded at least one month before the start of the academic year at your host institution. 
The LA needs to be updated on the changes you might need/want to make to your learning agreement at the beginning of each semester – the SD exchange coordinator needs to sign a revised learning agreement if need be. This is very important, as having the right number of credits for the right type of courses will be looked into by the Study Away Progression Board before you start your 4th year.

Dissertation and related courses

You will follow the same process as all students on their pathway degree (e.g. Social Anthropology pathway students will be the same as those on the MA in Social Anthropology). For each pathway, this breaks down as follows:

• Sociology pathway: You are enrolled on the Sociology project preparation course and will have access to the LEARN page for it. Students will be expected to familiarise themselves with this material to help them plan for their dissertation. This is a 0-credit course, which runs through the year (on both semesters).
• PIR pathway: Please see the PIR guidance here.
• Geography pathway: we will enrol you on a Geog Methods course and on a Research design course, as Geography are doing for all their students. The courses differ according to whether you choose to do a diss in Human geog or in Physical geog, so Sahara, the SD student adviser, will write to you at the beginning of your year abroad to ask you what you wish. And Geography will also be in touch with you later in the year about dissertations in view of allocating you a supervisor. They know about you and everything should be smooth!
• Social Anthropology pathway: JYA students must take Imagining Anthropological Research in Year 3 as an audit to access course materials and prepare a proposal to submit to be assigned a dissertation supervisor.
• Science and Technology Studies pathway: JYA students must take Research Design for Science, Technology and Innovation Studies in Year 3 as an audit to access course materials and prepare a proposal to submit to be assigned a dissertation supervisor. 

For Geography, Social Anthropology and STIS pathways, you receive feedback on your proposals and you are allocated a supervisor on this basis.

For Sociology and PIR the submission of the research proposal is not linked to the research design courses.

In Sociology you are encouraged to think about a potential topic during semester 1 and contact a potential supervisor to discuss your idea. You are then asked to register your project idea and supervisor name usually by the middle of December. In semester 2 you will have to prepare a research proposal, which is to be sent to your agreed supervisor normally by the end of March.

In Politics and International Relations you are required to submit a title and short abstract by the end of April, so as to allow for early allocation of supervisors at the very start of the 4th year.

On all pathways, you will also have to submit an ethics form.

Deadlines for submission of the dissertation in 4th year are accordingly different:

-          Sociology: December

-          Geog, Soc Anth, and STIS: mid February

-          Politics and IR: end April

All of this is explained in the Dissertation handbooks of your respective pathways.

Communication with Edinburgh during time away

As counter-intuitive as it may sound, you will need to confirm your attendance with Edinburgh for your third year as you are still a University of Edinburgh student. You will receive the link to do this like any other student in September, and you need to do this.

Your student adviser (Sahara), your student adviser (usually Claire) and/or your exchange coordinator (usually Isabelle) will be in touch with you at least twice during each semester to check everything is OK. This is also for official ‘attendance’ recording purposes so it is essential you respond to these emails promptly.

You will be maintained on the 3rd year email list for SD and your pathways so that you are aware of requests that might concern you as well (e.g. regarding dissertations) and of opportunities.

Please check your Edinburgh university email at least once a week whilst away, including in-between and after teaching terms.

As said (under Learning Agreement tab), your Learning Agreement needs to be updated on the changes you might need/want to make to your learning agreement at the beginning of each semester – the SD Exchange coordinator needs to sign a revised learning agreement if need be. This is very important, as having the right number of credits for the right type of courses will be looked into by the Study Away Progression Board before you start your 4th year.

Courses in 4th year

You will need to submit your course choices like your Edinburgh based peers, by the same deadline, usually the end of June.

It is usually difficult to find straight equivalents to the 2 SD core 3rd year courses (Cases in Sustainable Development SSPS10014 and Sustainability challenges: critical debates SCIL10099) at host universities. If you feel you would like to take these courses when you are back in 4th year, this might be possible but will depend on numbers and your participation cannot be guaranteed. You should let the conveners of the courses know about your intention to apply to enrol to their courses during semester 2 of your time abroad.