Application procedure

Exchange student for studies (courses and/or Master's Dissertation)

Deadlines

If you want to start in the 1st semester, the deadline for application is 15 May.
If you want to start in the 2nd semester, the deadline for application is 15 November.

There are more than 100 applications each year and any missing document will result in delays. Even in the best of circumstances expect between 4 to 6 weeks between your application and the receipt of your Letter of Invitation.

Procedure

Make sure you comply with the admission requirements.
Follow the two-step application procedure.
- Information about composing your study programme at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
- If your Learning Agreement includes thesis work, you need to fill out the Thesis Information Sheet. Please take into account that there are two ways to add the thesis to your Learning Agreement depending on the contents:
  
  1) You apply for (Erasmus+ for) studies and you add the Master’s Dissertation with the corresponding course code (e.g. E091103) to your Learning Agreement. By doing so, you accept the course specifications as stipulated in the study guide. To earn ECTS credits, both the local and the UGent promotor should be involved in the written report as well as the public defence. The master’s dissertation is evaluated on the basis of the written report as well as on the public defence and presentation of the dissertation. The number of ECTS credits that should be awarded to the thesis by UGent have to be mentioned on the Thesis Information Sheet. This is the number of ECTS credits that need to appear on your UGent Transcript of Records; this number should be the same as the number of ECTS that your home university will award the thesis upon return. The place of the thesis defence also has to be mentioned.
  
  2) You apply for (Erasmus+ for) studies and you add the UGent course ‘Research for incoming students’ with the corresponding course code E999999 to the Learning Agreement. By doing so, you indicate that only laboratory work/research will be executed under the supervision of the UGent promotor during your stay. The course will be assessed by PASS/FAIL on the Transcript Of Records. In case the home university wants the laboratory/research work to be graded, a letter/evaluation form can be provided by the promotor.
  The number of ECTS that the laboratory/research work is worth has to be filled in. It is generally assumed that each week that the student conducts research abroad equals 1 ECTS credit.
  
  Make sure you have both local and Ghent promoters identified before you add thesis work to your program.
  Upload the Thesis Information Sheet under "Documents".
Make sure your application is completely finished by the application deadline. Late applications will not be accepted!
The IRO and faculty will check your application for completeness and validity. Please respond swiftly to any inquiries you receive about your application.
When your application has been accepted, you will receive a formal Letter of Invitation and acceptance e-mail. Do not come to Ghent without the Letter of Invitation, you will be sent back home!
You have to apply yourself for housing in Ghent. Do this early, as housing is scarce in Ghent. Do not wait until you receive your Letter of Invitation.
Plan your trip to Ghent so you arrive at least 2 weeks before start of classes. Participation in both the UGent Welcome Day and the Faculty Welcome Day is obligatory! The start of the semesters can be found in the academic calender.

Exchange student for research/traineeship/PhD

Application deadline

Please note that the application should be submitted preferably at least 6 weeks before the start of your stay.

Types of Mobility

a. Research or Traineeship (BSc, MSc, PhD levels)

No credits are awarded by UGent (this implies that you can not take up regular course units as part of your exchange).
Requires completion of a Learning Agreement for Traineeship.
!Important for Erasmus+ Traineeship Funding! If the student receives Erasmus+ Traineeship funding (granted by the home university), the Erasmus+ Traineeship Learning Agreement and the procedure for traineeship/research must be used (also for PhD students).

b. PhD Exchange

PhD students may choose between:

the Traineeship/Research/Erasmus+ Traineeship option
the PhD Stay option, which uses a simpler Learning Agreement.

The only difference between both options is the type of Learning Agreement.
In both cases, no credits are awarded, the administrative procedure is identical, and a UGent professor must agree to host the student.

Finding a UGent Supervisor

To identify a suitable supervisor, students may consult:

Learning Agreement (LA)

Students must complete the appropriate Learning Agreement together with their UGent supervisor:

Learning Agreement for Traineeship, or
Learning Agreement for Erasmus+ Traineeship, or
Learning Agreement for PhD Stay (simpler version)

All templates can be found here:
https://www.ugent.be/prospect/en/administration/application/application-exchange/overview.htm/la.htm

Once the Learning Agreement is signed by:

the student
the home university supervisor
the UGent supervisor

it must be uploaded in Oasis.