Welcome to the information area for international exchange students in Transcultural Communication (BA) and Translation (MA) at the University of Vienna
On this website you will find information about your ERASMUS stay in our degree programmes Transcultural Communication and Translation at the University of Vienna. Please read the information carefully. If you have further questions, please turn to your country coordinator who has been indicated in your Letter of Acceptance.
Please make sure you also read the International Office's checklists which are relevant for your period of stay carefully as they provide important general information.
Incoming students are required to speak and write German at a level of B2/C1 with regard to the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR).
1. Contact persons
Country coordinators
The country coordinator (= the departmental coordinator at the Centre for Translation Studies for your country) is the person who helps you with questions concerning your degree programme at the Centre. He/She provides information regarding specific courses, course registration and exams, Learning Agreement, etc.
The name of the person responsible for you is stated in the first information e-mail (that also contains your Letter of Acceptance), which you received from the International Office after your nomination. If you have not received this e-mail, please contact the International Office directly.
In case you will be doing research in Vienna (for example for your master's thesis) and require additional supervision, please discuss this with your country coordinator at the University of Vienna as soon as possible.
If you have already arrived in Vienna and need advice or signatures for documents such as the Learning Agreement, we kindly ask you to consult the country coordinator during his/her office hours. This can be done without appointment, unless otherwise indicated.
International Office
For general information concerning your ERASMUS stay, please visit the website of the International Office. The International Office receives your nomination from your home university and sends you the Letter of Acceptance. They can answer questions regarding your admission and student ID card, accommodation, living in Vienna, etc.
2. Course offer and course choice
Course directory
The courses offered by the Centre for Translation Studies can be found in the course directory. Detailed course information, such as the language of instruction, date of the first course sessions, lessons per week and ECTS credits are stated in the respective course descriptions. Should you need even more detailed information about a certain course, please contact your country coordinator.
The course directory for the upcoming semester is published in August (for the winter semester) or January (for the summer semester). If you need an overview of the offered courses earlier – e.g. for the Learning Agreement –, please refer to the course directory of the relevant preceding semester. Please note, however, that not all courses are held each semester and changes to the course offer are possible.
Our courses are usually held in the building of the Centre for Translation Studies, Gymnasiumstrasse 50, 1190 Vienna.
Language requirements
In order to take up your studies in one of our fields of study you are required to speak and write German at a level of B2/C1 with regard to the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). ERASMUS students do not need to complete any official test to prove these language skills; however, your home university must confirm the required level during your online nomination.
ECTS and course types
Please note that the number of courses and, therefore, the amount of ECTS credits you need to obtain at the University of Vienna depends on your home university's requirements.
There are different course types at the University of Vienna: Lectures (Vorlesungen, VO) are so-called non-continuous assessment courses. Here, regular attendance is not mandatory. There usually is a written or an oral exam at the end of the semester in order to obtain a grade. Exercises (Übungen, UE), lectures with practical exercises (Vorlesungen mit Übungscharakter, VOUE), introductory seminars (Proseminare, PS) and seminars (SE) are courses with compulsory and regular attendance. Assessment criteria are active course participation (e.g. class contribution and the submitting of written exercises), presentations, mid-term tests, papers and written and/or oral end-term tests.
Grades are awarded within a five-digit grading system ranging from 1 (excellent) to 5 (insufficient).
If your university has a bilateral agreement with the Centre for Translation Studies, you can attend all courses offered at the Centre. Please note that the language requirement for beginners at the Centre is B2/C1 respectively for all languages. For interlingual courses German is always either the source or target language.
Your country coordinator will help you with the course selection. For details on course registration see below.
Advanced students who have been nominated for the bachelor's programme may also attend courses from the master's programme if they have sufficient knowledge on the subject. However, this must be cleared up with the country coordinator first.
Courses for external students in our degree programmes
Exchange students who have not been nominated for one of our degree programmes but who would still like to take courses at the Centre for Translation Studies can participate in lectures. You do not have to discuss your participation in lectures with your country coordinator first; if you want these lectures confirmed on your Learning Agreement, however, you need to contact him/her, as he/she is the person to do so.
Courses with compulsory attendance such as seminars, training courses etc are not available for BA exchange students who have not been nominated for our degree programmes; MA students may participate if the teacher grants permission at the beginning of the semester.
3. Learning Agreement / specific confirmations
Learning Agreement
On our part it is sufficient if you provide your Learning Agreement after your arrival in Vienna at the beginning of your ERASMUS stay.
Please see your country coordinator during office hours to discuss the details of your course choice, etc. in person. In case your home university wants us to sign your Learning Agreement before you come to Vienna, please send it by e-mail. Please note that your country coordinator may not be available at all times during the summer.
Changes to your learning agreement should be discussed with your country coordinator and must be approved by the coordinator at your home university. The last day your Vienna coordinator can approve changes is November 30 (winter semester) or April 30 (summer semester).
Confirmation of other courses
Please note that our country coordinators can only confirm courses from our fields of study. If you wish to attend courses outside our fields of study, you should use a separate Learning Agreement which lists these courses. Further information on this matter can be found here.
Other study-related confirmations
In case you need particular documents signed for your home university that include course-specific information such as language of instruction, etc., please see your country coordinator during office hours. For any documents that should just indicate the dates of your registration or de-registration at the International Office (certificate of stay), please contact the International Office.
4. Course registration
Registration deadlines
The International Office of the University of Vienna will send you an e-mail with your student ID number and instructions on how to activate your so-called u:account and how to register for courses. Make sure you know your student ID. Please note that course registration at the Centre for Translation Studies is organised differently from other departments at the University of Vienna and exchange students cannot register online for courses. Therefore, the instructions on course registration that you will get in the e-mail from the International Office and the registration periods indicated on the websites of the University of Vienna and the Centre for Translation Studies do not apply.
Registration process
The German-language teachers hold a course presentation at the beginning of each semester to help you with course selection. Your country coordinator will let you know when and where this will take place.
The registration is completed once your status in U:SPACE has changed to “angemeldet” (“registered”) (this should happen a few days after you hand in your list of signatures). If this is not the case, please turn to your country coordinator to discuss the situation.
Deregistration
Should you decide to not take part in a course after all, please deregister from the course via U:SPACE as soon as possible so that we can offer the place to another student. Deregistration is possible until 31 October (winter semester) or 31 March (summer semester). Please also tell your course teacher about your deregistration.
If you have not deregistered by 31 October (winter semester) or 31 March (summer semester), you might get a negative grade for the course in your transcript of records.
5. Exams and transcript of records
In order to sit exams for lectures (Vorlesungen, VO) it is necessary to register for the exams via U:SPACE. As a rule, exam registration is open the week (Monday to Sunday) before the examination week at the end of the semester. For more details see our website (change to the German version on this page).
The course/signature list you hand in to your country coordinator should also include lectures (Vorlesungen, VO) as registration for lectures will automatically give you access to the Moodle platforms. But please note that you still have to register for the exams.
Examination dates
The exam dates for lectures (Vorlesungen, VO) are usually announced during the first course session at the beginning of the semester. Exams are usually held during the last week of the semester.
Our other two exam periods (at the start and in the middle of each semester) are not relevant for exchange students and concern students of previous semesters only.
Transcript of records / confirmation of attendance
Grades and ECTS credits are usually registered in U:SPACE within one month after the exam. The system allows you to print your transcript of records with a digital signature at least until the end of April (stay in the preceding winter semester) or until the end of November (stay in the preceding summer semester).
In case you do not need a grade or ECTS credits but just a confirmation of attendance for a course, please mention this to the respective teacher right at the beginning of the semester.