Erasmus+, Swiss European Mobility Programme (SEMP), CIUTI & Joint Study
Student mobility: incomings
Welcome to the INTRAWI
Are you currently planning an Erasmus exchange or any other mobility at the INTRAWI? Or are you still looking for a destination that best meets your needs? In any case, you have found the right website. Below you can find a short summary of the most important information for future exchange students about the INTRAWI, the Department of Translation Studies at the University of Innsbruck. Please read the following pages carefully and in their entirety: Reading our website will not take long and will help you organise your stay at the INTRAWI.
Table of contents
- Why choose Innsbruck, why choose the INTRAWI?
- Learn how to speak German in Innsbruck?
- Who can help me organise the first steps of my stay at the University of Innsbruck?
- Where can I find information about student life in Innsbruck?
- Who can help me to coordinate my studies at the INTRAWI?
- Which courses does the INTRAWI offer? How should I select courses?
- What will my timetable look like? Will it not be too difficult for me?
- How are courses taught at the INTRAWI? What will the exams look like?
- When do the courses begin? When does the semester end? Do I have holidays?
- I still have so many questions…
Why choose Innsbruck, why choose the INTRAWI?
The INTRAWI can look back on a long tradition in the fields of translator and interpreter education. The department relies on a wealth of experience in teaching, but also on the latest findings in research and in the fields of technology. Furthermore, the courses and lectures at the INTRAWI are focused on providing students with the most important tools necessary to exercise their future professions. The INTRAWI is furthermore big enough to offer a dynamic and international atmosphere while, at the same time, ensuring the individual needs of students are met.
Thanks to its location in the middle of the lively, but small city of Innsbruck (approx. 130,000 inhabitants, of whom about 28,000 are students) and its extremely attractive surroundings, the INTRAWI is not only a popular destination from an academic point of view. The city convinces with its high quality of life and its central location at the heart of the Alps, making it extremely easy to travel to Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
Learn how to speak German in Innsbruck?
You are amongst others already studying German at your home university, which means you know about the varieties of the German language. In Austria, the Austrian standard variety of German is written and spoken; in addition to that, especially in oral language, numerous dialects are used all over the country. The dialects differ depending on the region and are mostly used by Austrians in their private lives. Will you be able to communicate in Tyrol with the German you have learned at school or at university? Yes, of course! In Austria, we understand you perfectly when you speak German, and the people living here will strive to linguistically accommodate you. The most obvious difference between the German and the Austrian standard variety is in lexis, which means staying in Innsbruck will help you to expand your vocabulary with typical Austrian words. Furthermore, you will be able to experience Austrian culture and the way of life first hand, which is only rarely part of academic studies abroad. In addition to this, you will learn the German language here as well as you would in any other German-speaking area. At the INTRAWI, we offer excellent German courses. You will be placed in German courses up to an amount of 10 ECTS after an individual assessment of your language level through personal interviews. If you feel that you need more practice in German, the Language Centre offers a broad range of German courses for exchange students.
Who can help me organise the first steps of my stay at the University of Innsbruck?
You can start organising the first steps of your stay in Austria with the help of your Departmental Coordinator at your home university. It is important that you always meet all requirements and provisions of your home university – before, during and after your mobility.
Starting with your official nomination in Innsbruck, you can – on an administrative level – additionally count on the help of our colleagues from the IRO, the International Relations Office of the University of Innsbruck. If you are coming with an Erasmus or CIUTI program, please correspond with the responsible department for these programs. However, if you are doing another type of mobility, you can contact the department that is responsible for all other mobilities. When you start organising your mobility program, please read – in any case – the whole section for incomings on the Innsbruck IRO website. By doing that, you get the most important information about the Erasmus program, the University of Innsbruck and special facts about the city including the living situation.
After arriving in Innsbruck, please make sure to visit the Erasmus Welcome event, which takes place on the first Monday of the semester at 5 pm and is organised by the IRO. You can find further information on the IRO website on following the path Organising your stay in Innsbruck - Preparing your stay - Orientation event and arrival day.
Where can I find information about student life in Innsbruck?
The Austrian National Union of Students (Österreichische Hochschülerschaft, ÖH) is the representative body of all students in Austria and therefore the ÖH of Innsbruck is always available to answer your questions. They have a department for International Affairs, a department for living in Innsbruck, a platform for finding jobs, and much more.
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN), also known as ESN team, especially represents the interests of exchange students and organises numerous events. Moreover, it runs a buddy system: incoming students have the possibility to get a buddy who is happy to help with the academic, social and practical integration process in Innsbruck.
The StV, the student representatives of our department, are also happy to provide you with information. The StV represents the interests of the students at the INTRAWI and organises many events, e.g. language cafés, movie nights, a semester end party and much more. Information is sent out via posts or e-mail (newsletter for students). Important: the StV has a facebook group that you should join already before arriving in Innsbruck.
Who can help me to coordinate my studies at the INTRAWI?
Should you have any questions concerning your courses or your studies at the INTRAWI, please get in touch with the Departmental Coordinator who is responsible for the country of your home university or with our contact person for CEEPUS.
These academic coordinators help you to select your courses, review and approve your Learning Agreement by signing it– before and during your mobility – and to answer various questions concerning your studies. Before you arrive in Innsbruck, your coordinator will already send you information about the department and your course placement interviews. Furthermore, your coordinator will welcome you here upon your arrival and will explain everything you need to know about the department. Please always keep in mind that the Departmental Coordinators perform such tasks in addition to their regular duties at the INTRAWI. Therefore, please always come prepared when meeting with your coordinator, please take all your Erasmus documents and your University of Innsbruck Student Card with you to meetings at the beginning of your stay and – especially in emails before your arrival - please always provide all necessary information (name, home university, branch of study etc.) in order to simplify the whole process.
Which courses does the INTRAWI offer? How should I select courses?
The INTRAWI is a department specialized in the training of language mediators; that means that we offer numerous language courses, translation courses, interpretation courses and courses on cultural history and regional studies. In addition, courses about scientific work, career and industry, the current state of research etc. complete our study programme.
This wide-ranging offer is divided into two different study programmes: the Bachelor’s Programme Translation Studies as well as the Master’s Programme Translation Studies. In our Master’s Programme you have the possibility to choose between three specialisations: 'Specialised Translation', 'Conference Interpreting' or 'Literary and Audiovisual Translation'.
As an exchange student, you can freely combine your courses from all these specialisations according to availability and in consideration of the results of your language assessment. You can find a list of all courses online. First, click on 'Faculty of Language, Literature and Culture'. You will find the courses offered at our department when you click on 'Bachelor’s Programme Translation Studies' and 'Master’s Programme Translation Studies'. Please pay attention that you select the right semester in the drop-down menu. If the semester, in which you plan to come to Innsbruck, is not retrievable when you do your research, then please select – depending on if you are coming to Innsbruck in autumn or in spring – the winter semester or the summer semester of the current or the last academic year. The list of courses stated there is more or less the same as in other academic years and usually does not change profoundly.
Before you start with your mobility, choose courses for your Learning Agreement that are similar in terms of content to the courses you would attend at your home university. Please keep in mind that we are specialized in translation and interpretation. Therefore, we do not offer courses about business administration, political studies etc. These kind of courses are offered at other faculties in Innsbruck and therefore not available for exchange students of the INTRAWI. If you are mainly interested in or only need such courses, the Translation Department is not the perfect destination for you and we would recommend that you choose a different department for your exchange semester.
The basic rule is furthermore that you mainly choose your courses from the range of courses at our department. Courses at other departments of the Faculty of Language, Literature and Culture are available for you in the extent of two courses – if there are enough places available. However, keep in mind that you are personally responsible for the registration of courses that are offered outside of the INTRAWI.
If you want to attend additional language courses at the Language Centre – to practise the use of the German language even more or to learn an additional language – you have to know that every student has to pay course fees. These are however, not really high. As an exchange student you pay the same special rate as students of the University of Innsbruck. You can already enrol in Language Centre courses at home using your Innsbruck matriculation number. This is highly recommended because the courses are often already fully booked at the beginning of the semester. You are personally responsible for your registration; we are not able to guarantee a place in any of the courses.
What will my timetable look like? Will it not be too difficult for me?
After arriving in Innsbruck, your Erasmus coordinator will help you to create your final timetable. In the Bachelor’s Programme, you will prospectively attend three German courses (10 ECTS), two or three courses in your second or, respectively, in your third foreign language (6.5 to 10 ECTS each) and different courses about translation, on-sight translation, liaison interpreting, Austrian cultural history and civilisation as well as cultural studies and the cultural history of your second/third language (10 to 14 ECTS). At the beginning of your mobility, you will – all in all – prospectively have between 30 and 34 ECTS in your Learning Agreement that will then appear in your academic record at the end of your mobility after successfully having completed the courses.
You will be accepted in the language courses according to the results of your language placement interviews (so called “Einstufungsinterviews”). These interviews are organised especially for you as an incoming student. Therefore, under no circumstances should you take part in the general assessment for first semester students of the department. In any case and irrespective thereof, you have to take the online Language Assessment test of the Erasmus program. Taking this test is mandatorily required by the EU and serves other purposes. The assessment at the INTRAWI, however, is your guarantee to attend courses that are, based on your language level, neither too difficult nor too easy for you. Hence, it is very important that you arrive in Innsbruck punctually before the beginning of the semester and that you take part in the language placement interviews in the first week of the semester. Not taking part in the interviews means not being able to attend our language courses; that means that you consequently renounce getting ECTS credits in this field.
If one of the courses turns out to be too difficult for you, you can easily switch courses in the first or the second week of the semester as required. Immediately get in touch with the lecturer and your coordinator if you think that changing the course would be necessary.
How are courses taught at the INTRAWI? What will the exams look like?
After you have successfully managed to participate in the right courses, please keep in mind that in Austria attendance is compulsory in all courses except in lectures (type of course which is frequently abbreviated with “VO”). Depending on the course, you are allowed to be absent for a maximum of three times, but no more.
It is also important to know that you not only have to actively participate in courses but that you also have to do homework as well as reading or research assignments, if required.
You may take exams in each of the courses. The examination mode differs depending on the type of course: exams may be written or oral exams, presentations or academic papers. Your homework and participation in the course might also be taken into consideration when you are graded. During mid-term and final exams, all the other courses will take place as usual. Since there are no learning holidays or the like, it is very important that you independently review the contents of the courses on a regular basis.
Most of the exams take place during your weekly course hours; however, some of the exams are scheduled at different times outside of the usual course time. In the first session, the lecturers will usually tell you when the exams will take place and give you detailed information about the examination mode. After a written exam, the lecturers are given four weeks to correct and inform you of your grade; only in the case of oral exams, will you be informed of your grade immediately after the exam. Since the lecturers are aware of the fact that you might probably have to meet earlier deadlines to prove your grades at your home university (e.g. four weeks after leaving Innsbruck at the latest), you can of course ask the lecturers on site if it is possible to enter your grades into the system before the period of four weeks lapses.
You will receive your grade via the online student portal LFU:online. At the end of your stay, you have to print your academic record there. Choose to print it with an “official signature” (“mit Amtssignatur”), so the academic record is marked with a digital signature and is considered an official document in your home country.
When do the courses begin? When does the semester end? Do I have holidays?
Like all other universities, the University of Innsbruck has an academic calendar, which is binding for all students, thus also for exchange students. You can find this academic calendar on our website.
Please make note of the exact date of the beginning of the semester and please make sure to arrive in Innsbruck on time. Ideally, you should arrive a few days earlier and use your time to familiarize yourself with the new surroundings and the facilities of the university and the department. Another important date on the academic calendar is the end of semester. Please make sure that you plan your departure from Innsbruck only after the last day of the semester, because you might still have exams until the end of the semester. Additional early exams are not organised.
Of course, there are rest periods during the semester, i.e. lecture-free days, for the students: There are no lectures on Sundays and usually also not on Saturdays. Furthermore, there are public holidays and other holiday periods, which can be found under the link mentioned above. There are no courses during the holidays, but exams may possibly take place and it could also be possible that you have to do homework or prepare other assignments for a course during your holidays.
I still have so many questions…
Do you still have any questions? Then please consult the website of the IRO. If you cannot find a satisfactory answer to your question there, please do not hesitate to contact, - depending on the question - either
- the IRO (admission, general information),
- your Departmental Coordinator at the INTRAWI (courses, Learning Agreement, education and exams),
- ESN (living in Innsbruck as an Erasmus student) or
- the ÖH (jobs, apartments etc.).
We are already looking forward to welcoming you here in Innsbruck and we are happy to provide assistance at any time.
Text: © INTRAWI