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Exchange student (French and English versions)

sc | Louvain-la-Neuve

English below

Vous pouvez venir en tant qu’étudiant·e d’échange pour un quadrimestre ou une année académique, tout en restant inscrit·e dans votre université d’origine. Dans ce cas, un accord d’échange entre votre institution et l’UCLouvain doit être préalablement en vigueur.


You can come as an exchange student for one semester or a full academic year while remaining enrolled at your home university. In this case, an exchange agreement between your home institution and UCLouvain must already be in place.

As a general rule, the Faculty of Science only accepts students coming under a pre-existing bilateral exchange agreement between UCLouvain and their home institution. These agreements are essential to ensure that each exchange student receives appropriate academic and administrative support.

Exchange student status applies exclusively to students studying at UCLouvain under a mobility agreement and who have been admitted by the host faculty on the basis of a proposed ECTS Learning Agreement.

Exchange students are exempt from paying tuition fees at UCLouvain. At the end of their stay, an ECTS Transcript of Records is issued so that the credits obtained at UCLouvain can be transferred and recognised by their home university.

The partner institution must nominate the selected student by email to the Faculty Mobility Coordinator, Ms Aloysia Stephenne, providing the following information: first name, surname, field of study, semester of mobility and email address.

Once informed of the student’s nomination, Ms Aloysia Stephenne will contact the student by email and provide the necessary information and forms for admission and accommodation.

Procedure

1. Admission

Exchange students are admitted through the Faculty. Once the student has been officially nominated by the partner institution, the Faculty Mobility Coordinator, Ms Aloysia Stephenne, sends the student information about accommodation together with the documents required to complete the admission and enrolment process:

  • the application form for admission and enrolment;
  • the “Privacy Policy” document to be signed;
  • the access card application form.

The student must return the following documents by email to the Faculty (Ms Aloysia Stephenne), no later than 31 May for a first-semester or full academic-year mobility, or 30 November for a second-semester mobility:

  • the completed and signed application form for admission and enrolment;
  • transcripts of records from previous academic years;
  • the Learning Agreement;
  • a copy of their identity card or passport;
  • the signed “Privacy Policy” document.

Ms Aloysia Stephenne then forwards the complete application to the UCLouvain Enrolment Office.

2. Enrolment

For nationals of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland, and students with an equivalent status (i.e. students who do not require a visa):

Once the application has been processed by the UCLouvain Enrolment Office, the student receives an email at their personal email address explaining how to activate their UCLouvain global account. This gives them access to their virtual student account and to the other online services available to registered students.

For non-EU nationals – excluding Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland – and students without an equivalent status (i.e. students who require a visa):

Once the application has been processed by the UCLouvain Enrolment Office, the student receives an email at their personal email address explaining how to activate their UCLouvain global account. This gives them access to their virtual student account and, in particular, to the authorisation to enrol letter required for their visa application, as well as to the other online services available to registered students.

For all exchange students:

At the beginning of the academic term, access cards and student cards are distributed by the Faculty upon presentation of a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or proof of appropriate health insurance.

D’après le système ECTS, une charge de travail normale pour une année académique est de 60 crédits ECTS et pour un semestre de 30 crédits ECTS. Bien que ce soit du ressort de l’université d’origine de déterminer le nombre exact de crédits à obtenir, la faculté s’attend à ce que l’étudiant d’échange ait une charge de travail équivalente à celle qu’il aurait dû prendre dans son université d’origine.

Dans ce cas, vous choisissez non pas un programme mais une liste de cours.  Pour ce faire, vous pouvez utiliser le moteur de recherche.

Suivant les exigences spécifiques de l’institution d’origine et moyennant une autorisation explicite du coordinateur académique, les étudiants peuvent être autorisés à suivre un nombre limité de cours en dehors de la faculté. Lors de l’élaboration de sa liste de cours, l’étudiant doit veiller à prendre en compte le semestre au cours duquel le cours est donné. 

Au moment de déposer sa candidature, l'étudiant doit envoyer une convention d’études selon le modèle ERASMUS, reprenant le programme de cours que compte suivre,  ce contrat doit être signé par l’étudiant et le coordonnateur académique de l’université d’origine. Ce document sera normalement fourni par le coordinateur académique de votre institution qui doit marquer son accord par la signature du document. La Faculté des sciences vérifiera la disponibilité des cours durant la période souhaitée et renverra le document signé.

Si, une fois sur place, l'étudiant doit modifier le programme initialement prévu, un avenant au contrat d'études devra être signé.

According to the ECTS system, a normal academic workload corresponds to 60 ECTS credits for a full academic year and 30 ECTS credits for one semester. Although it is the responsibility of the home university to determine the exact number of credits to be obtained, the Faculty expects exchange students to undertake a workload equivalent to that which they would normally complete at their home university.

In this case, you do not choose a specific programme, but rather a list of courses. To select your courses, you can use the UCLouvain course search engine.

Depending on the specific requirements of the home institution and subject to the explicit approval of the academic coordinator, students may be allowed to take a limited number of courses outside the Faculty of Science. When drawing up their course list, students should make sure to check the semester in which each course is offered.

When submitting their application, students must provide a Learning Agreement based on the Erasmus model, listing the courses they intend to take. The Learning Agreement must be signed by both the student and the academic coordinator at the home university. This document will normally be provided by the academic coordinator at the home institution, who must approve the proposed course selection by signing it. The Faculty of Science will check that the selected courses are available during the intended study period and will return the signed document.

If changes to the initial course selection are required after arrival at UCLouvain, an amendment to the Learning Agreement must be completed and signed.