International Exchange Students

Fact Sheet 2021-2022

In order to qualify for our exchange programme, the following requirements must be fulfilled:

• Your home university must have an agreement with the University of Iceland in your field of study.
• Students must have completed 60 ECTS credits (or equivalent) at their home university prior to their exchange studies.
• Applicants from countries outside the EU/EEA whose native language is not English must submit proof of English proficiency by providing TOEFL or IELTS results.  A self-assessment of English proficiency is included in the student application.

• Autumn semester or full academic year: 1 April (EEA citizens: 1 May).
• Spring semester: 1 September (EEA citizens: 1 October).

Single courses for exchange students

All students wishing to apply for exchange studies at the University of Iceland must begin the process by applying to their home university. We request information about selected students from the international coordinator at the home university via our online nomination database. After the coordinator has filled in the nomination form and if the nomination is accepted, we will email respective students with detailed application instructions.

For further information on the nomination process, please ask your international coordinator to contact the International Division: incoming@hi.is.

Search in Partner Universities database.

1. Apply for exchange studies at your home university. Contact the International Office or your international coordinator at your home university to learn more about their application process.
    
2. Ask the international coordinator at your home university to nominate you for exchange studies at the University of Iceland by contacting incoming@hi.is and request access to the online nomination form. The deadline to nominate students is two weeks prior to the application deadline (see below).
    
3. After we receive your nomination, and if it is accepted, we will email you with detailed information on the application process and give you access to the online application form. Please ensure the following email address will not go to your junk mail filter: incoming@hi.is.
    
4. After receiving the email about the application process, you should fill in the application online.
   The application is online only but you must also attach:
   •   Your transcript of records (Certified transcripts attached to the online application require original signatures and stamp marks). This must be an original copy of your transcript of records in English, French, Spanish, or a Nordic language (DK, NO, SE, IS).
   •   A passport size photo.
   •   Erasmus+ exchange students coming to the University of Iceland must use the Online Learning Agreement (OLA). If you are not an Erasmus+ student we ask that you attach to your application your Learning agreement if you have one (signed and stamped by your home university).
     Applications without a transcript and a passport size photo are not valid.
5. As part of your application you need to select courses. These can be subject to change later on, but it is important that you look at our course catalogue before applying.
    
6. Application deadlines are
   •   Autumn semester and full academic year: 1 April (EEA citizens: 1 May)
   •   Spring semester: 1 September (EEA citizens: 1 October)
7. Applications are evaluated by the School/Faculty for which you apply. You can expect an informal response to your application by email no later than 15 June (spring semester: 15 November). A formal acceptance letter will be sent soon after.

Erasmus+ exchange students coming to University of Iceland must use the Online Learning Agreement (OLA).

The learning agreement is an agreement between the student, the home university and the University of Iceland during the exchange. Students should list the courses they wish to take at the UI and how those courses will be transferred back to their home universities.

The learning agreement is done through the website learning-agreement.eu. Students make an account.

Students should be full time students while studying at the UI, doing 30 ECTS per semester – 60 ECTS per academic year. 

How to prepare and approve your OLA
1.    Prepare your OLA when applying as an exchange student at UI. Your OLA will be signed by UI once you have been accepted.
2.    You fill out your OLA and sign it online.
3.    Your home university will automatically receive a notification by e-mail to sign your OLA once you have signed it.
4.    We (UI) will automatically receive a notification by e-mail to sign your OLA once your home university has signed it.
5.    Once UI has signed it, your OLA is complete.
6.    Download the Erasmus+ App to track your OLA and other useful information.

Instructions for the OLA 

Step 1: Student
•    Relevant Academic Year

Step 2: Sending institution
•    Make sure the email address of your contact person is correct.

Step 3: Receiving institution
•    Receiving institution name: UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND (IS REYKJAV01)
•    Faculty/department: the faculty/department where you will attend most of your courses
•    Contact person: same as responsible person under step 5

Step 4: Proposed Mobility Programme
•    Table A: Study programme at the receiving institution: list the courses you will take at the host institution
o    Course codes and course names at UI: Courses for exchange students
•    Table B: Recognition at the sending institution: list the courses at your home university that will be substituted
•    Planned period of the mobility:
o    Autumn semester: August - December
o    Full academic year: August - May
o    Spring semester: January – May
See Academic Calendar

Step 5: Responsible Person
•    Responsible person at UI: Aníta Hannesdóttir, incoming coordinator – incoming@hi.is

Step 6: Commitment
•    Make sure that you sign your OLA. It is only when you have signed it that the coordinator at your home university will be able to sign it. The signature field works best on touch screen, but you can also sign your OLA using a regular computer and pointer/mouse. Your home university will then receive your OLA by email from the Erasmus Dashboard.

Exchange students who have applied for the autumn semester only and wish to extend their stay to the spring can apply for an extension. Students should first contact the International Division at the University of Iceland to see if it this is possible and then contact their home university for their permission. A link to the application form will be sent to those who are accepted for an extension.The deadline to apply is 15 November.

Please note that an exchange student who has applied for the spring semester only cannot extend their stay to the autumn semester. 

The response to your application will only appear digitally in the Communication Portal, under the “Applications – overview” tab. You can access the Portal using your email address and password you created when you applied for study at thee University of Iceland. 

Please note that your application is evaluated by one School/Faculty only. If you have chosen courses in other fields of study, their answer is not valid for those courses. You, therefore, may have to reselect those courses even if the status says "selected courses OK".

Course selection can be revised upon arrival if needed.

To help exchange students get a good start, the University of Iceland has a well-organised mentor system. The main task of the mentor is to provide the exchange student with practical information about the University of Iceland and Icelandic society, as well as to introduce them to other students and student life in general.

The mentors will be assigned when the semester starts at the latest. The extent of the relationship beyond this depends on how well the students get along. We try our best to provide all exchange students with a mentor; if a student does not wish to get a mentor, they are given the chance to reject the offer in the application for exchange studies.