Erasmus Exchange Opportunities

The Psychology Academic Unit has student exchange agreements with several Universities across Europe under the Erasmus scheme. These agreements allow a limited number of students to spend SEMESTER ONE of YEAR THREE studying abroad. The obvious benefit of this scheme for outgoing students is the unique opportunity to study in a different academic environment whist living in a different culture. Time spent in another country makes a highly positive addition to your CV. In addition, you will make many new friends and the experience will certainly broaden your horizon and may even open up new opportunities.

In cases where Psychology students go abroad on the ERASMUS programme in Semester One of Year Three, they complete, in addition to their PSYC3003 Empirical Project: Literature Review (worth 15 CATS points), other courses abroad. The courses taken abroad have to add up to a minimum of 45 CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) points. European universities will often list how much a module is worth in ECTS points (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)). Luckily, credits in the CATS  system and in the ETCS system can be converted into each another. One ECTS point is worth two CATS points. Should a student be forced to take more than 45 CATS points (or 22.5 ECTS points), the lowest mark of the modules taken abroad will be dropped.

 

Psychology’s Links with Partner Institutions

Currently, the AU has Erasmus links with the following Universities:

• University of Copenhagen in Denmark
• Universite Paris Descartes in France
• University of Bielefeld, University of Heidelberg, Universitat Hamberg and University of Potsdam in Germany
• University of Limerick in Ireland
• Universiteit van Amsterdam, Universiteit Utrecht and University of Groningen in The Netherlands
• University of Wroclaw in Poland
• Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain

 

We have also links to universities outside of the Erasmus scheme, which are located outside of Europe. If you are interested in going to Canada, Hong Kong or Australia, please contact the International tutor, Denis Drieghe (Email: D.Drieghe@soton.ac.uk) for more information.

Partner universities have a programme structure similar to our own. The modules that you take during your semester abroad will be marked by local teaching staff.

 

Language Requirements

It is important to note that while it may be possible to take courses taught in English at some of our partner institutions (currently Copenhagen, Turku, Madrid, Limerick, Amsterdam and Utrecht), other courses are taught in the language of the host country. It is important to consider this point early in your degree, as the language requirements for study abroad may influence your choice of option units. We strongly encourage students who have sufficient language skills to apply for an exchange with one of the partner universities that do not offer English language courses.

There are also many ways to improve your language skills before you go out. For example, the Centre for Language Studies at the University of Southampton offers courses.

 

Further Information

More information on the Erasmus Exchange programme can be found on the University of Southampton’s Study Overseas website.

Lots of information for students who are thinking about going abroad for a Semester. is available here.

 

I am interested…what do I do now?

If you are interested in the Erasmus Exchange programme, or would like to discuss it further, you need to contact our Erasmus Coordinator, Dr Denis Drieghe (Email: D.Drieghe@soton.ac.uk), to discuss details of where you would like to go and what you want to learn there.

 

There is quite a lot to organise, so do not leave it too late!