You can find all the information on completing your Stay Abroad here.
Stay Abroad Dossier
After the completion of your Stay Abroad requirement, you need to submit a Stay Abroad dossier. Use this checklist to prepare your dossier.
Your complete dossier should contain:
- The Stay Abroad Submission Sheet: this is the cover sheet of your dossier. It summarises all you have done on one page.
- The original Stay Abroad Agreement Sheets (see Planning Your Stay Abroad section), one for each part of your stay.
- Flight or train tickets on either side of the stay.
- If you studied abroad: a university transcript, or other certificate, if applicable; or
- If you worked abroad: a letter from the your employer/manager, if applicable. You can use this template for the confirmation letter.
Submit documents for your dossier in one file, with your Stay Abroad report as a separate file, to your Study Counsellor so that it can be processed and entered into KSL.
Stay Abroad Report
In addition to your dossier, you need to provide either a 750-word report or a 10-minute podcast outlining the positive and/or negative aspects of your stay. This will help future students planning your Stay Abroad. Your Study Counsellor will upload these onto ILIAS.
Your report should include:
- Organisational details of your stay abroad
- Whether you self-organised your study/work abroad experiences or if you opted for a programme
- Whether or not you needed a visa, and how you approached this
- Helpful contacts
- Approximate costs – especially when self-organised
- Your academic and personal experience
- Tips and tricks
- A personal email address so other students can contact you even after you finish your studies (optional).
Please make sure to name the file according to the following format: Place_Work/Uni_Student_Name.
Submit your dossier as soon as you have completed your requirement.
Deadline: The latest possible date to submit your dossier is 1 September / 1 February before the semester you write your BA thesis.
KSL and Recognition of Courses from Abroad
Every student will receive a set amount of ECTS for completing their Stay Abroad. The amount depends on the duration of your stay and will be entered in KSL once your dossier is processed.
If you have studied at a recognized institution, you can have up to 30 additional ECTS credited towards your study plan. This must be signed off by your Study Counsellor in your initial Agreement Sheet.
Please note that students do not have to enter any ECTS points themselves.
Your courses are usually credited as:
- Wahlbereich: graded, can be any discipline including English.
- Wahlleistungen: ungraded, must be related to English language, literature or linguistics (i.e., a course you might find in our course-booklet).
- Freiwillige Zusatzleistungen: courses are not counted towards your BA but recognized on your final transcripts.
On the Stay Abroad Submission Sheet, indicate in which category you would like your courses credited. Be aware that many universities use a different credit and grading system to the University of Bern. You are expected to convert the credits and grades accordingly—check to see if your host instutition has a conversion grid.
