How to Apply for Exchange

Welcome! It’s great to know that you are interested in an exchange to our university. Have a good look at the study programmes and/or traineeships we offer for exchange students. Please write down the programme and courses to which you intend to apply. You will need the information for consulting staff at your home university as well as for your application to Oamk.

We usually receive students only during our academic terms and mobility periods. You are required to stay for the whole term or mobility period, as long as learning activities last.

The application and enrolment of exchange students is governed by bilateral agreements between institutions participating in the student exchange schemes, or within frameworks of mobility programmes such as Erasmus+, north2north etc. Please contact the international office of your home university first. They will be able to offer details about your study abroad possibilities.

Exchange studies based on established agreements are exempt from tuition fees. 

If you are studying at an officially accredited higher education institution that does not have a bilateral agreement with Oamk and you would like to complete part of your degree through an exchange period at Oamk, you may apply as a visiting/free mover student.

Please note that admission for visiting/free mover students depends on the resources of Oamk’s school or department running the studies in question. In general, students nominated within the framework of exchange programmes and university agreements are preferred to visiting/free mover students. Visiting/free mover students must be enrolled at their home university for the entire exchange at Oamk and ensure that exchange studies are recognised in their degree studies. Please provide an enrolment certificate from your home university in your application to Oamk.

Our schools and departments may also charge for such studies according to the Open University Studies fees. If any of Oamk’s schools or departments charged for visiting/free mover students’ exchange studies, the price of one credit is 15 EUR currently. Studying for an unlimited number of credits is currently possible for an annual fee of 300 EUR during one academic year (1 August to 31July). If applicable, we will notify you about charges along with the admission decision. 

As a basic principle, you should have such a proficiency in English language that will allow you to succeed in your studies or traineeship. You must be able to follow lectures, read literature, write essays, take actively part in discussions and complete group or individual assignments in English.

Unless otherwise specified in the bilateral agreement between Oamk and your home university, Oamk trusts partner universities’ assessment of their own students’ language skills. Therefore official test reports are not required to be provided, but the following skill levels can be used as indicators of sufficient proficiency in English language. If applicable, please indicate the CEFR language level (min. B2 level) in your learning agreement (before the mobility) and upload it to your MoveON application:

• Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level B2 (see also the self-assessment grid for B2-level)
• Cambridge ESOL’s Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)
• Cambridge ESOL’s Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) level C
• Pearson test of English (General test level 4 and Academic 51)
• IELTS Academic level 6.0
• TOEFL PBT 550
• TOEFL iBT 79

If you are applying as a visiting/free mover student, please ask e.g. your English language teacher to give an assessment about your English language proficiency to be equivalent to the skill levels described above. Please upload this assessment together with your other application documents to your MoveON application. 

Students are required to have a suitable study background and a minimum of approx. 1 year of studies at their home university before embarking on an exchange to our university. Please note that some of our exchange study programmes may have specific admission and eligibility requirements. These are defined under each programme or courses offered. If you are a student in health and social care (apart from optometry) and intend to pursue practical training, then you must make sure that you have certain vaccinations and tests, see http://u.oamk.fi/healthcare > Vaccination. In any case, please contact your home university whether your exchange studies or a traineeship at Oamk will be recognised and accredited towards your degree. You must also devise a learning agreement for studies or traineeship before your mobility regulating the accreditation or recognition of your exchange at your home university. All students coming for an exchange must be enrolled at their home university for the entire exchange at Oamk. Exceptions apply only for Erasmus+ trainees who have recently graduated.

In case you have needs that require special attention and/or services in order you to be able to take part in the exchange, please contact us already in the application period at incoming.students@oamk.fi to get further information. We will do our best to ensure adequate services to be available to support your participation in student exchange. However, many of such services are provided by organisations outside our institution and thus the availability of these have to be confirmed separately.

You must submit your exchange application via MoveON within the deadlines mentioned below. For housing concerns, please search and apply separately for accommodation in addition to your exchange application.

Kindly note that exchange applications cannot be processed after the deadlines given and will be automatically rejected or shifted to the next term/academic year.

Autumn (1st semester) and Academic Year:

• Nomination: 15 April
• Application: 15 March – 30 April

Spring (2nd semester):

• Nomination: 1 October
• Application: 1 September – 15 October N.B. If you are applying to the Visual Design Factory, please apply as early as possible and reserve an interview time as well. See more at Step 4:
  

 Prepare documents and information > Interview

Please ask your home university to nominate you for an exchange at Oamk well before the end of our application deadlines via the form below. Do not nominate yourself – your home university staff is in charge of nominations via the form below.

• Autumn (1st semester) and Academic Year: 15 April
• Spring (2nd semester): 1 October

After your home university has nominated you, feel free to proceed with your online application to Oamk via MoveON.

A staff member from your home university should provide your nomination via this form:

The MoveON system will require you first to register and then apply via MoveON [linkki > Step 5]. You must submit the following information and documents in English – please obtain and prepare these in advance:

In your MoveON application, please provide the information required on your own part. We will ask you to provide your name, email, phone number, country of birth, nationality and emergency contacts. Your information will be processed according to general data protection regulation standards and privacy policy in Finland and Oamk.

In your MoveON application, please provide necessary information about your educational background at your home university. Also, mention whether you are applying for studies or a traineeship, and choose the status as either an exchange student from a partner university or as a visiting/free mover exchange student. If you are a visiting/free mover student, also attach a recent enrolment certificate from your home university indicating that you are enrolled for the entire intended exchange at Oamk!

In case you need Oamk’s information for your application (e.g. the learning agreement), please use the following information:

General information:

• Name: Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk), Oulun ammattikorkeakoulu
• Erasmus code: SF OULU11
• Fact sheet
• Campus: normally not required, depends on field or exchange study programme 
• Department: depends on field or exchange study programme 
• International Mobility Services & Oamk Servicesincoming.students@oamk.fiOamk Services: Yliopistokatu 9, wing 7C, 90570 Oulu (main service point at Linnanmaa campus)

Contact information:

We are working in a team and learning agreements for studies are signed centrally. Please refer to the two contact persons mentioned below. We both can sign learning agreements, as responsible persons as well as receiving administrative persons. The main roles and responsibilities concerning learning agreements for studies are given hereafter:

• Responsible person:
  • Bastian Fähnrich, incoming.students@oamk.fi, +358 50 31 749 31, Education Designer, Oamk Services – normally signs LAs and OLAs in certain fields!
  • Minna Moilanen, incoming.students@oamk.fi, +358 50 301 3837, Education Designer, Oamk Services – normally signs LAs and OLAs in certain fields!
• Administrative persons:
  • Marianne Isola, incoming.students@oamk.fi, +358 50 4087 990, Development Manager, International Mobility Services
  • Satu Lohiniva,  incoming.students@oamk.fi, +358 50 342 2648, Solution Designer, International Mobility Services

Further contact persons (complementary, if applicable and required), see http://u.oamk.fi/coordinators  

Please obtain and attach your photo to your MoveON application as a JPG file. You can take it with your mobile phone or camera. It should be in a similar format as a passport photo, but it does not have to be an official passport photo.

Please obtain and attach a scanned copy of your passport or national ID card as a PDF file to your MoveON application. Make sure that it is valid as a travel document for the entire duration of your exchange.

Please devise and attach your CV as a PDF file to your MoveON application. A CV is a document by which you should briefly mention (1 A 4 page):

• your personal and contact information
• educational, work and traineeship qualifications
• academic/professional skills
• language skills
• hobbies and interests

For example, a skill profile (like Java: basic/good/fluent/excellent) may be of value for our staff reviewing your CV and MoveOn application. 

Please devise and attach your motivation letter as a PDF file to your MoveON application. A motivation letter is a document by which you should briefly mention (1/2 A 4 page):

• your personal motivation and reasons
• academic/professional interests towards an exchange at Oamk.

Kindly mention relevant interests and skills you are already maintaining or wish to pursue during your exchange.

If you are applying to a project work or practical training, mention also your relevant work or traineeship experience, as well as your interests in relevant educational/professional fields or project work and traineeship topics offered by or through Oamk.

If you are applying to a health and social care practical training course/traineeship, please mention your educational/professional field as well as possible special interests (e.g. maternity ward, emergency unit, therapy places, optometric measurement units etc.). This will make it easier for our academic staff to assess your application and find a suitable placement at Oamk or a third party. Please consult our list of nursing fields in Oulu and Oulainen at the end of the exchange studies website.

Please attach the most recent transcript of records (in English) from your home university as a PDF file to your MoveON application. A transcript of records is an official and certified copy of your previous studies, including (ECTS) credits and grades, if possible.

Please devise your learning agreement (before the mobility) well before or along with your MoveON application. A learning agreement is a document including your studies, course choice or traineeship information at Oamk, and it has to be approved by you, a representative of your home university and Oamk. See the different case-specific types of learning agreements below.

If possible, get your learning agreement approved by your home university, and – in all cases – upload it as a PDF to your MoveON application by the application deadline. If you cannot get it approved before our exchange application deadline, it is sufficient to upload the prefilled and most recent version as a PDF file to your MoveON application. We will check and approve your learning agreement on the part of Oamk only after admission approx. within one month after the end of the application deadline.

•  Erasmus+ applicants from European partner universities

You must prefill and upload a separate Erasmus+ learning agreement for studies/traineeship (before the mobility) to your MoveON application. Please turn to your home university to obtain the template and signatures, if your home university is still using a paper-based or traditional

Learning Agreement (LA)

. As of 2022 and depending on your home university, you should/may use an Online Learning Agreement (OLA) in the frame of the Erasmus without Paper (EWP). We at Oamk would prefer OLA but a traditional LA is also accepted. N.B.! For the time being, an OLA can be only devised for Erasmus+ student mobilities for studies (not yet for traineeships!). Please turn to your home university for advice which system you should use to devise an OLA at your home university. There may be technical problems with OLAs, so please notify your home university and us, if you experience any of these. OLAs will be first devised and handled in the system you are using at your home university, and you can download your approved version from Oamk some time after admission. We will return traditional LAs after admission in a separate email following up your admission.

•  Erasmus+ applicants from Erasmus+ global partner universities

You must prefill and upload the Erasmus+ learning agreement for studies (before the mobility) on Oamk’s template to your MoveON application. Depending on your home university, you may also use an Online Learning Agreement (OLA) in the frame of the Erasmus without Paper project. N.B.! When using OLA, please read beforehand and follow Oamk’s guidelines for OLAs for studies or OLA for traineeships (to be published later, once OLAs will be available for this mobility type).

• Applicants from partner universities with a bilateral agreement or visiting/free mover students

You must prefill and upload the bilateral learning agreement (before the mobility) on Oamk’s template to your MoveON application. It is sufficient to proved the first page of the learning agreement before the mobility.

Kindly note that it is normally only possible to apply for and to pursue studies from one of the offered exchange study programmes and on one level due to timetable limitations. Courses can only be taken once during your stay at our university.

You should select courses according to your home university’s workload requirement and Oamk’s requirement, which is usually 30 ECTS cr per semester. Traineeships and practical training courses are usually limited regarding seats and scope in ECTS credits.

In your MoveON application, please select the courses for your studies and/or traineeship on the relevant page. More detailed information on the course choice is available in your MoveON application form. 

Audition material is mandatory only if you are applying to music or dance programmes. Audition material can consist of a video, sound recording or any other suitable item.

Please upload your audition material to your MoveON applicaton as a PDF attachment (at most 10 Mb) listing possible links to your audition material, or provide a web link.

A portfolio is mandatory only if you are applying to Game LAB, Visual Design Factory and Journalistic LAB. It is recommended also if you are applying to dance programmes.

Please devise and upload your portfolio to your MoveON applicaton as a PDF attachment (at most 10 Mb), or provide a web link.

A portfolio is a documentation of sample works showing your interests and giving proof of skills and knowledge in relevant areas.

It may include, for example, documentation on:

• your previous or ongoing projects
• works of art and design
• music/dance events and recordings
• journalistic productions
• animation and graphics
• game development (in Oulu Game LAB Unity knowledge/skills are required)
• sound design
• video production
• digital publishing
• programming
• entrepreneurship, business
• education
• health and social care
• team work, etc.

An interview is mandatory only if you are applying to Visual Design Factory, see more below.

N.B.! Game LAB does not anymore require an interview as of 2023-24. Please make sure to apply via MoveON including all required documents, especially, your motiviation letter, curriculum vitae and portfolio. If you have questions about the application, please reach out to incoming.students@oamk.fi. In case you have questions about the content and suitability of the programme in your case, please contact directly our academic staff in charge, see http://u.oamk.fi/coordinators

The interview for Visual Design Factory will usually take place shortly before the end or after the application deadline, in 2023 on 10-11 October already, see below.

It will be carried out individually by phone or other suitable tool (skype, Zoom, Teams), and you may need to register for it, or will be notified by the interviewer – see more below. Each interview will last approx. 15-30 min. Kindly note that the interview is given by default according to Finnish local time.

The purpose of the interview is to engage you in a conversation about your motivation, interests, knowledge and skills relevant for carrying out studies/traineeship in multidisciplinary ways and by means of team work and individual efforts.

The interviewer will check your MoveON application and documents in advance (e.g. CV, motivation letter, transcript of records, portfolio) and direct questions to you accordingly.

Please find more information on the interview:

•  Visual Design Factory, spring 2024

Interviewer: Ms Karoliina Niemelä (+358 40 141 51 51, karoliina.niemela@oamk.fi) Registration, times and link: The interview will take place in Teams 10 – 11 October already. Please submit your application beforehand via MoveON, and register for the interview in advance https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/e0LGLlKe.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the interview via Teams.

Informal admission decisions may be given by the interviewer at the end of your interview, but the formal admission decisions will be circulated by our service staff within approx. one month after the interview/application to MoveON.

Check our information on vaccinations and tests at http://u.oamk.fi/healthcare > Vaccination. We recommend the most common vaccinations and Covid-19 vaccination for all exchange students!

If you are applying for a health and social care practical training/traineeship (apart from optometry) or are from a high/very high risk country for tuberculosis (TB), special vaccinations and/or tests are required in your case upon admission. Please consult the aforementioned link for detailed information.

Please fully familiarize yourself with the information in our study guide in the section “Accommodation” > Housing with PSOAS. PSOAS maintains a student dormitory with 150 rooms for Oamk exchange students and we recommend to apply for it, if you are coming for a regular term in all fields, and short terms also in health and social care. You have to apply for accommodation separately directly to PSOAS at the latest after you have submitted your MoveON application.PSOAS arranges nowadays a “homerun” event to complete accommodation applications in mid-June and mid-November, see the accommodation website for details. If you will apply / have applied for accommodation with PSOAS as an exchange student to Oamk, then you will be able to finalise your tenancy agreement wiht PSOAS for autumn/academic year approx. in the end of June and in early July, and for spring approx. in the end of November and in early December. In case of questions, contact directly PSOAS.

Kindly note that tenancy periods for Oamk’s exchange students’ accommodation from PSOAS are binding and subject to specific durations!If you are coming for shorter durations – exceptionally – or the room quota at PSOAS has been surpassed, kindly check the study guide in the section “Accommodation” > Other housing options.

The application for autumn 2024 (1st semester) will be from 15 March until 30 April 2024. 

Before applying via the link hereafter, please check the instructions below. Apply via the MoveON link within the given deadline, by 30 April 2024. Don’t leave it to the last moment – late applications cannot be accepted.

https://oamk.moveon4.de/form/65e570d231d144c7fc0a4dac/eng

The application for spring 2025 (2nd semester) will be from 1 September until 15 October 2024. The link to the MoveON application form will be available in this section as of 1 September 2024.

Instructions:

Everyone:

1) Register first your email address with QS Unisolutions, the provider of MoveON system. You can do so by first accessing the registration column on the MoveON form:

The MoveON system will email you an account activation link respectively confirmation email to the address you entered. The confirmation message for the registration is sent automatically from noreply@oamk.moveon4.de with the subject “Form – Confirmation registration”.

If you are not able to receive or locate the account activation link respectively confirmation email from QS Unisolutions within a reasonable time span (30 – 60 min), please check your email spam folder and, if need be, our guidelines for troubleshooting.

2) Once you have received the activation link, confirm your email and activate your account by clicking the link in the activation email.

Please note that the link will only be valid for 24 hours! After registering you can log in to the MoveOn application form with your email address and password:

3) Fill in the MoveON application form with all relevant information. Mark all the pages as complete, then make sure to submit the application form at the end. Once submitted, wait for a while, then you can download a PDF of your application:

If you will apply to Visual Design Factory, please also reserve and take part in your interview.

If you will apply for a double degree, you may need to follow a distinct application process in addition to MoveON – information will be provided as soon as possible after your nomination, at the latest after your exchange admission.

Our international academic coordinators from our departments will review all applications soon after the deadlines given. They will apply the admission criteria listed below. If you have applied for Visual Design Factory, please also reserve and take part in your interview. 

You can expect your admission decision approx. within one month after the application deadlines. If you cannot be admitted, then we will inform you as soon as possible.

If you have been admitted, we will email the admission decision on the part of our international administrative coordinators incoming.students@oamk.fi:

• For exchanges starting in the autumn by the end of May at the very latest
• For exchanges starting in the spring by the middle or end of November at the very latest

Your admission email will include the letter of acceptance and practical information about your exchange.

We will approve and circulate your learning agreement (before the mobility) only after admission as follows:

• Erasmus+ Online Learning Agreement (OLA): we will approve the confirmed OLA in our system (MoveON) after admission, and you should then be able to obtain it in the system used at your home university.
• Erasmus+ Traditional & Global Learning Agreement (LA, only if need be): we will send the confirmed LA in a separate email after admission.
• Bilateral/Free Mover Learning Agreement (LA): we will send the confirmed LA in a separate email after admission.

Kindly note that we prioritise admission decisions for students from a Third Country (Non-EU/EEA/Swiss/Nordic) due to immigration matters.

Admission criteria in the order of priority:

1. Number of applications and available seats in the programme(s) offered
2. Previous studies, academic performance and/or professional experience in relevant fields
3. Nomination status, i.e. students within the framework of exchange programmes and university agreements are preferred to visiting/free mover students
4. Interests and motivation towards an exchange as well as the programme(s) applied
5. English language proficiency
6. Balance of incoming and outgoing student mobilities in previous years
7. Number of student mobilities agreed according to type of mobility and agreement

If you have been accepted for an exchange to Oamk, feel free to prepare your stay in more detail:

• Confirm your stay to us at Oamk (incoming.students@oamk.fi) as soon as possible by responding to the admission email.
• Take care of your mobility documentation such as a possible grant and other related matters together with relevant staff from your home university.
• Make sure to get your learning agreement (before the mobility) approved by all parties. As for Oamk, we will approve and circulate your learning agreement at the latest approx. within one month after your admission:
  • Erasmus+ Online Learning Agreement (OLA): we will approve the confirmed OLA in our system (MoveON) after admission, and you should then be able to obtain it in the system used at your home university.
  • Erasmus+ Traditional & Global Learning Agreement (LA, only if need be): we will send the confirmed LA in a separate email after admission.
  • Bilateral/Free Mover Learning Agreement (LA): we will send the confirmed LA in a separate email after admission.
• Consult Oamk’s residence permit and visa information for Third Country (= Non-EU/EEA/Swiss/Nordic) students and follow the instructions, if applicable.
• Check our insurance requirements and obtain required insurance coverage.
• Obtain health care information and submit possibly required certificates to Oamk. If you are a student in health and social care (apart from optometry) and intend to pursue practical training, then you must have specific vaccinations and possibly tests before your exchange – please consult our website and checklist for the required vaccinations.
• Search and apply for accommodation, if possible, already before your admission. If you have applied for accommodation (recommended) with PSOAS as an exchange student to Oamk, then you should prepare yourself also for the “homerun” event arranged by PSOAS approximately in the middle/end of June or in July respectively in the middle of November.
• Take part in our welcome webinar shortly after you have received the generic admission message
• Make arrangements for travelling and coming to Oamk in time for arrival services and orientation days, if applicable. N.B.! If you are a student from a Third Country, you can complete or finalise your travel arrangements only once you have received the residence permit from the Finnish Immigration Service or the visa confirmation from the authorities in charge.
• Please regularly check your emails by which you have applied to Oamk. We shall send follow-up emails about arriving and orientation days at certain times. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us at incoming.students@oamk.fi.