Our exchange students follow courses and projects together with local students and international students from around the world, taught fully in English. Many projects are also in collaboration with companies. You can design you own personal study path from courses offered below and also find answers of most common questions.
Exchange semester at Faculty of Engineering
Spring semester: 1 February to 30 June with exams from last week of May throughout June.
Autumn semester: 1 September to 31 January with exams in January.
No TOFL or IELTS is required for students from partner universities.
General prerequisites from home university:
Bachelor courses: 2 years of previous study (120 ECTS) by the time you start the semester at SDU.
Master courses: 3 years of previous study (180 ECTS) by the time you start the semester at SDU.
You can design you own study path and pick from all courses in the course list as long as you fulfil the general prerequisites and the course is not from Robotics. Expect possible course changes if courses conflict in final timetable. For courses within Robotics your specific academic qualifications will have to be approved. For Robotic at master level a limited number of study places are available.
As an exchange student you will have to find the courses requested from your home university by yourself. But in the course list there is direct links to course descriptions making this process easier for you. At the Faculty of Engineering we unfortunately cannot offer to do course mapping for you.
You will be able to change courses until two weeks after the semester starts. This will leave you time to solve issues such as timetable conflicts and also attend the first lesson to get an idea of level and subjects. For course changes contact SDU International.
It might be possible to follow a course at one of the other faculties. It will have to be approved by the faculty offering the course. Timetable conflicts might occur.
It will only be possible to follow courses at one campus during a semester.
Workload of a semester is limited to:
Overseas students: exactly 30 ECTS credits
EU students: Minimum 20 ECTS and Maximum 30 ECTS (35 ECTS if English language course is selected)
Timetables will be available just before the start of the semester and typically once the student arrive at SDU.
It is possible to do a master or bachelor thesis at the Faculty of Engineering as long as the relevant program can offer a supervisor within the subject. A thesis must be at least 20 ECTS and equal 2/3 of a semester workload. There is no guarantee to be accepted but the majority has been accepted so far. Writing a thesis at the Faculty of Engineering do not entitle the student to get a degree from SDU. Most students will also have to defend their thesis at their home university.
When you apply as exchange student and want to do a thesis, please submit the following information:
- subject area and program name of your study
- period for writing thesis
- level (bachelor or master)
- number of ECTS (min. 20 ECTS)
- need of evaluation (grade or approved/not approved)
- 5 to 10 lines describing the proposed subject and content
Yes, it is possible to stay as exchange student for two semesters. Many of our “one semester”, exchange students decide to prolong their stay with an additional semester if their home university allows it.
It is not recommended to arrive late for introduction and semester start. All important information will be given during introduction days in the beginning of the semester. If you for some reason cannot attend the introduction days we would like you to inform us before arrival.
Most exams at the Faculty of Engineering are oral. Typically, students will draw a question or a case to present and defend at the exam. Sometimes with a short preparation and sometimes directly after the draw. The exam can also be based on a written portfolio made by the student during the semester. Exams typically last 20 minutes and evaluate the understanding of a subject more than the ability to memorize. Please note that exam dates cannot be changed based on requests of individual students. Please, do not book your tickets to go home before the examination plans have been announced.
All exchange students will be allowed to register for reexams within the same exam period. However, the actual date of the reexam might be in the beginning of the following semester.
Classes at the Faculty of Engineering normally lasts 3,5 hours. This makes it possible to activate and engage students in learning. Students are urged to speak freely and take part in discussions as well as to ask questions for a better understanding. At the faculty we practice applied science and put a lot of emphasis in making students capable of using their knowledge in practice. So expect more than just to sit and listen to the professor.
A project at the Faculty of Engineering reflects how it is to work with other people in a company. Through teamwork students use their theoretical framework in a “real life” project and very often work with real company cases. There is frequent supervision by professors but there is a high level of freedom to plan activities and meetings in the group. All projects ends with an individual oral exam.