A Blog about Education Abroad

Tag: Summer School

  • Leuven is Lekker!

    Leuven is Lekker!

    Johannes Rabie’s memoir of KU Leuven’s Summer Camp on Entrepreneurship and Innovation

    Pre-Departure:

    The summer camp is held in the European summer, which is a busy tourism time for the region. Accommodation is therefore probably the first thing that needs to be booked, in order to secure those bargains! To me, accommodation is a no-brainer – Hostels. One, they are the cheapest form of accommodation. Two – they offer everything you need as a traveller, and more! A bed, bedding and towels, breakfast, free Wi-Fi, lockers and laundry services (mostly at extra cost) are amongst the basic services that all hostels offer. But probably the most valuable is the experience. You get to socialise with people from around the world who, like you, are keen on travelling and experiencing different people from interesting places which they have only ever heard of.

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  • Anouk at the University of Oslo

    Anouk at the University of Oslo

    Pre-departure:

    The University of Oslo (Uio) offers an annual summer school in comparative social sciences for PhD students (www.sv.uio.no). The summer school was recommended to me by two PhD psychology students (Lorenza and Rizwana). My PhD research utilises mixed methods to address career adaptability processes, and I had encountered challenges I wanted to gain clarity about. Furthermore, I was keen to connect with PhD candidates and to gain research skills in an international learning environment. Therefore, when I heard about the mixed methods course by Prof. Gobo at the summer school

    Picture with Royal Guard
    Picture with Royal Guard

    in Oslo, I immediately applied. Receiving the PGIO travel bursary allowed me to purchase my ticket. My course fees were waivered because of the partnership that Stellenbosch University (SU) and Uio have. In addition, the NRF awarded me a travel grant which allowed me to afford the extra costs, such as accommodation and food. SU has many international partnerships, so a lot of time is involved in planning a trip.

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  • Ferdinand at the Amsterdam Summer School

    Ferdinand at the Amsterdam Summer School

    I decided to go to Amsterdam for two reasons. Firstly, the course I attended, International Criminal Justice, appealed to me. Secondly, Amsterdam is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world,
    with people from around 125 different nationalities living there. Attending the summer school also gave me the chance to travel alone through Germany for another two weeks at my own expense (something I’ve wanted to do for a long time).

    Preparation:

    I decided in January this year that I wanted to go to a summer school in July. I spent many hours scouting the different options on the International Office (PGIO) website. I also finalised most of my application before the academic year started. I highly recommend trying to finish your application in the holidays, because it gives you more time for other things during the term. The video took much longer than I expected. Start working on it early to avoid a sleepless night.

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