How to apply for exchange studies at Tampere University of Applied Sciences

You are eligible to apply if you are studying as a degree student at a university which has a valid agreement on student exchange (such as Erasmus+, Nordplus, FIRST or bilateral student exchange) with TAMK. Our Erasmus+ code is SF TAMPERE06.

Once we have received nominations from our partner universities, we will send the link to the online application form by email to the nominated students. We will not publish the link to the online application on our website and cannot consider paper applications.

Requirements:

Students applying to TAMK as exchange students must have completed at least one year of study at their home university before the exchange at TAMK starts. Exceptionally, applicants to the Degree Programme in Physiotherapy must have completed at least two years of study, and at least one period of Practical Training in their home university.

Visiting or non-degree free-mover students:

You can participate in an exchange if there is an official agreement between your home university and TAMK. Unfortunately, TAMK does not accept students outside of these agreements (usually known as visiting or non-degree free-mover students). If your university does not have an agreement with TAMK please inquire your own international office about what other universities your university has agreements with, or about developing an agreement with TAMK.

Length of the exchange:

The length of a study exchange may be one or two semesters, depending on the terms of the bilateral agreement between TAMK and the partner university concerned:

• Autumn semester (August - December)
• Spring semester (January - May)

Exceptionally, in the following Nursing and Health Care programmes, the exchange period may be shorter than one semester, but must be at least 90 days. The exact exchange dates will be given separately.

• Degree Programme in Biomedical Laboratory Science
• Degree Programme in Nursing
• Degree Programme in Physiotherapy
• Degree Programme in Radiography and Radiotherapy

Students need to fill in the online application form and submit it with all the required enclosures before the deadline.

Please note that the application is complete and will be processed only after you have followed all the steps of the application system and entered all the required information.

An applicant must first be nominated for the exchange by the home university. The applicant will then receive instructions from TAMK on how to fill in and download the application documents online. The exchange is confirmed after both the home university and TAMK have officially approved the exchange.

Student exchange application periods:

• 15 March - 15 April health care students for autumn semester
• 1 - 30 April all other students for autumn semester and whole academic year
• 16 September - 15 October for spring semester only

The nomination deadline is two weeks before the application deadline. For detailed nomination instructions, please see the information provided below in the Nomination instructions section.

All required documents have to be submitted in English. When filling in your application after the nomination, you will need to download the following application documents:

• Passport-size photo
• Motivation letter (max. 1 page) Tell about your background, expectations for exchange etc. NB! Nursing/Physiotherapy students should also tell about their previous placements.
• CV (free format)
• Official transcript showing your course grades from your home university.
• Proof of knowledge of English if education in the home university is not given in English. You can also fill in the 
  TAMK English language skills form.pdf

• Preliminary learning agreement Please list the courses you are planning to take at TAMK. Your final acceptance to the courses will be confirmed after your arrival. Please note that you can choose courses from the degree programme you are applying to and from free-elective courses.
• For applicants to the Degree Programme in Music also AEC Application Form (.doc), AEC Learning agreement (.doc), and demo recording.

NOTE! Exchange students on the following TAMK degree programmes must also send certain health test results after they have been accepted as exchange students at TAMK:

Biomedical Laboratory Science, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Radiography and Radiotherapy, and Social Services (training):
Students must send max. 30 days old negative MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) test result at least 1 week before arrival by email. The test swabs must be taken from the nose AND throat (and possible other infected areas). The results should be clearly stated in English.

Biomedical Laboratory Science, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Radiography and Radiotherapy, and Social Services (training): Student who come from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam, must also send max. 6 months old doctor's statement on an X-Ray Thorax at least 1 week before arrival. The statement should be clearly stated in English.

Hospitality Management
Students taking culinary courses from the Hospitality Management degree programme must send max. 30 days old negative Salmonella test result at least 1 week before arrival by e-mail. The results should be clearly stated in English.

The required level of knowledge of English at TAMK is B2 on Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

If education in the home university is not given in English, exchange students must submit certificates by the application deadline as follows:

• Certificate of knowledge of English (at least B2) written by university staff, preferably your English teacher or
• a score report of one of the following language tests:
  • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) - 80/Internet-based, 550/paper-based
  • IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System) - 6.5

Copies of the test scores are accepted. Please keep in mind that test results are valid only for two years.

If you have a diagnosed illness, learning difficulty or disability, we will do our very best to be able to provide you support for your studies at TAMK. Examples of such reasons are deafness, visual impairment or other sensory impairment, dyslexia, panic disorder or Asperger’s syndrome. Please include this information in your application form.

Students coming to TAMK through the Erasmus+ or Nordplus programme also have the opportunity to apply for an accessibility grant. Please contact your Erasmus+ or Nordplus coordinator of your home university for more information. If you come to TAMK through an agreement other than Erasmus+ or Nordplus, please inquire about the possibility of applying for an accessibility grant from your home university.

If you have special requests concerning student housing, please contact the Tampere Student Housing Foundation (TOAS).

All applicants must be officially nominated by their home university to incoming.tamk@tuni.fi. Our Erasmus+ code is SF TAMPERE06. The nomination must include the following information for each student:

• Erasmus code of the sending university:
• Last name:
• Given name(s):
• Date of birth (dd.mm.yyyy):
• Gender:
• Email:
• Duration of exchange (mm.yyyy - mm.yyyy):
• EU subject area at the sending university:
• EU subject area at TAMK:

The link to the online application form will be sent to the nominated students by email. We will not publish the link to the online application on our website and cannot consider paper applications.

Nomination deadlines:

• 30 September for spring semester

The decisions on acceptance of international exchange students are made by the host degree programme. The selection process takes approximately three weeks after the application period has ended.

Applicants will receive an acceptance or refusal message from TAMK. Accepted students will get an electronic Letter of acceptance which they are able to download and print from SoleMOVE application programme – we will not send hard copies unless requested.

The academic year at TAMK is divided into two semesters consisting of two periods each. All new international students are required to attend the Welcome Week programme.

Autumn semester 2019 (19 Aug - 20 Dec)

• Welcome Week: 19 Aug - 23 Aug
• Teaching period I:  26 Aug - 13 Oct
• Teaching period II: 21 Oct - 20 Dec

Spring semester 2020 (3 Jan - 31 May)

• Welcome Day: 3 Jan
• Teaching period III: 7 Jan - 23 Feb
• Teaching period IV: 2 Mar - 31 May

Tampere Summer School was organised in August 2019. The most up-to-date information is available on the web page Tampere Summer School. Summer school courses are free of charge for exchange students of TAMK.

You can choose courses from your field of study and from free-elective courses. The Learning agreement is preliminary until confirmed with your coordinator at TAMK after your arrival.

Bioproduct and Process Engineering

Construction Engineering and Construction Architecture

Electrical Engineering

Environmental Engineering

Free-elective courses

Forestry

Hospitality Management

International Business, Autumn

International Business, Spring

Laboratory Engineering

Media and Arts

Mechanical Engineering

Physiotherapy

Social Services

Software Engineering

Exchange students enroll to courses after they arrive at TAMK. The detailed timetables (with course days, times, names of teachers, classrooms, etc.) and all instructions will be given during the Welcome Week.

• Welcome Day on 3 January for the Spring semester 2020

Cross-Campus Studies:

As an exchange student at TAMK or Tampere University, you are entitled to seek studies at the study offerings of all campuses. The main principle is that you must take at least 60 % of your courses in the main host university. Contact the international coordinator at TAMK (Main campus room B1-53) for how to apply. Please note that applying the study right at the cross-campus study service does not guarantee that there are places left at the course. Courses available in the autumn 2019: https://www10.uta.fi/ristiinopiskelupalvelu/kvtarjonta?uiLang=en.