Alexander Heeley, 2012-2013 at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Edith Baer grant recipient)

The money I received from the Edith Baer grant made a huge difference on my year abroad. Year abroad can be a very expensive year for a student, and makes certain aspirations a financial challenge, such as traveling around your destination country, as opposed to staying in the one host university city/town. However this grant …

Lucy Baughan, 2014-2015 at Heidelberg University

Studying There are a few peculiarities in the German university system that you will notice: at the end of classes the students knock on the desks, for example! The classes at Heidelberg start 15 minutes past the hour and finish 15 minutes before the time stated on your timetables, to allow staff and students to …

Verity Roberts, 2013-2014 at Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat, Heidelberg

Top ten things 1. The Schloss: Heidelberg feels like a mixture of Oxford, York and Durham: it’s a quaint town nestled between two hills on the river Neckar, and the Uni is the oldest in Germany. It’s therefore no wonder that it’s full of american and japanese tourists photographing the architecture. This beautiful castle ruin is …

Oscar Davies, 2014-2015 at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris

Studying The ENS is a very prestigious place to be at in France academically, being one of the few grandes écoles that exist. I was inspired to apply here because famous theorists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Raymond Aron studied here at some point in their careers. If you get to go as an exchange student, you …

Violeta Todorova, 2013-2014 at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III)

Accommodation Finding accommodation was one of the hardest parts of living in Paris.  Firstly, even as a study abroad student, you are not guaranteed housing.  I was not allocated a spot in the university accommodation.  The ones associated with Parisian universities are not located in the best areas of Paris.  However, they are convenient and …