ERASMUS FAQ

Can I apply?

All students at every level of their university studies (Bachelors, Masters, PhD) can participate in the Erasmus study program. Each level can be undertaken for a maximum of 12 months (i.e., one year for Bachelor's, another year for Master's, and possibly an additional year for doctoral studies). It is not possible to go abroad during the Bachelor's program if you have already exhausted your 12 months, whether for a study stay or internship. The same applies to Master's and Ph.D. students. It is not possible to go during the first year of the Bachelor's program, but this is not relevant since freshmen cannot apply to go abroad before their second year. The duration of the stay must be at least three months. It is not permitted to be on Erasmus when your studies are "interrupted"; during your whole Erasmus period, you have to be studying the degree that nominated you for your Erasmus. You can apply for Erasmus at the end of your Bachelor's program and go abroad at the beginning of your subsequent Master's program, but you must maintain student status throughout the stay and note this plan in your application.

I am a combined/distance learning student – can I apply? Are the conditions the same for me?

Yes, all students can apply. Obviously, during your Erasmus stay you will participate in normal courses that take place every week in a classroom (e.g. no distance or online courses).

When can I apply?

The call for applications is published at the end of January. Electronic submission of applications takes place in February, and the submitted applications are evaluated by institutes in late February to early March. Subsequently, nominations are processed by the International Office (IO). Final results are usually available in early April.

Specific dates in 2024 (see International Office announcement):

• February 8, 2024 – opening of the online application system for the students
• February 22, 2024, at 16:00 - deadline for electronic submission of applications in the system and other materials of applicants to institute emails (or to IO for inter-faculty agreements), as outlined below. Closure of the web application for FSV students
• February 23 - March 5, 2024 – selection process at institutes and IO
• March 5, 2024 – submission of protocols with selected students from individual institutes to IO
• April 2024 – announcement of final results (each student will find the result in their electronic application, where, in case of success, the application status will be changed to "NOMINATED"; if it does not appear, the student was not nominated).

How many applications can I submit, and for what?

At the Faculty of Social Sciences, you can submit up to three applications in total. You can apply for universities via ICSJ agreements, via International Office's faculty-wide agreements or even via agreements of other institutes. The updated list of agreements is available on the International Office's website. You will also find there instruction on how to apply.

What about language certificates? What if I don't have any?

Proof of your language skills is a required part of your Erasmus application. In case you are a native speaker of a given language or you are enrolled to an English language programme (e.g. MARS, SCM etc.), please provide a statement of this fact in a separate document.

Normally, we expect something like TOEFL or Cambridge Certificate for English language, Goethe Zertifikat etc. for German, DELF/DALF for French, DELE for Spanish etc. However, for the purposes of the evaluation process at the ICSJ you can use also other documents to prove your language skills, such as a copy of your high-school diploma that contains a grade from the foreign language or clearly states that the education was conducted in the foreign language, written confirmation from a foreign language teacher at the Faculty of Social Sciences stating your language skills level, a transcript of records indicating that you have completed a university course in a foreign language, or any other document that somehow shows your foreign language skills. An ordinary photocopy is OK.

Please note that some partner universities require official tests scores and do not accept documents that would be acceptable for the ICSJ selection process. You should check language certificate requirements at the website of your desired university. It is also advisable to check language of instruction in courses you would like to study there.

In the list of agreements, each university has listed one or several languages, for example a university in Croatia has both English and Croatian. This does not mean that you can apply only if you are fluent in Croatian, but that the university offers courses in these languages. Exchange students here at the Charles University also study mostly in English, although we offer courses in both Czech and English.

How to get a confirmation about my language skills at the Faculty of Social Sciences?

You have to get in touch with a teacher of the foreign language at the Faculty whose course you have completed in the past. Alternatively, you can approach him/her with a document that proves that you have completed a similar course at some other university. In this case, the teacher might want to check your language skills in person. Please note: this document is not on the same level as TOEFL, Cambridge Certificate etc., it is intended primarily for the purposes of Erasmus application process at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Please notice that in the period before the Erasmus deadline, the foreign language course instructors are usually overloaded with requests to evaluate students' language skills, sometimes even by students that have not taken their classes. It is strongly suggested not to leave this for the last minute and contact a teacher whose class you have taken.

Or, better still, get a globally recognized language certificate that will be useful beyond the Faculty's Erasmus application process.

I want to study in France, do I need to speak French? I want to study in Finland, do I need to speak Finnish?

It depends on the language of instruction of the courses you would like to study. Most French, German or Spanish universities offer some courses in English, but most of the classes will be in their national language. Universities in other European countries usually offer courses in English for international students. Before submitting your Erasmus+ application, it is important to check if your language skills match with your desired university and its courses. Being fluent in a given national language is a huge plus, as you will be able to get by in a foreign environment. In general, applications to France, Germany and Spain are evaluated with consideration to the applicant's French, German or Spanish language skills. We also consider everyone's level of English.

What are the most popular partner universities?

ICSJ has about seventy partner universities for Erasmus+ student mobility; statistics for past calls (in Czech) is here: 2023, 2022, 2021 a 2020.

Can I go for a semester or a whole year?

Most ICSJ Erasmus+ agreements provides for student exchange for one semester (5 months) and students cannot apply for a longer period. In case the agreement allows a longer period (typically 10 months), it is possible to apply for a year. Sometimes it is possible to extend a Winter semester exchange into a Summer semester – but this needs to be negotiated with the partner university and with our International Office.

How are Erasmus+ applications evaluated?

Since 2019 we have abolished interviews with applicants. Currently, only submitted applications and attachments are evaluated, so it is wise to take a great care of every aspect of the application and attach copies of all documents that may increase your chances.

Every application is evaluated individually by at least three ICSJ lecturers with a focus on motivation, academic profile and language skills. We take into account grade average, language skills, motivation, familiarity with desired partner university etc. After evaluation, the applications are sorted based on their average score (from 0-30) and assigned to their desired destinations based on capacity of the agreements. Incomplete or unconvincing applications are eliminated. In other words, if someone is not nominated, either all available slots of his/her desired university have been filled by people with a higher score or his/her application has not been good enough in general.

Once ICSJ sends its nominations to the International Office, the Erasmus+ agenda is in the hands of the International Office (except for Learning Agreements). 

I would like to go via ICSJ agreement, faculty-wide agreement, or other institute agreement...

At ICSJ, we only evaluate applications for ICSJ agreements regardless of whether they have been submitted by ICSJ students or students of other institutes at the Faculty of Social Sciences. The International office and each institute evaluate applications for their own agreements. Applicants should deliver hard copies of their application to the appropriate institute or directly to the International Office for the faculty-wide agreements. For example if you have two applications for ICSJ partner universities and one for a faculty-wide agreement, you submit one application package to ICSJ and another one to International Office. There is no need to submit duplicates of documents such as a language certificate or a transcript of records to the ICSJ. However, to have the same "universal" motivation letter for two different universities is not a good idea.

If you are applying via another institute, it is important to explain your reasons well in your motivation letter and in an interview in case it is held.

Where to find information about courses at partner universities?

Normally the information about available courses can be found on university's website. ICSJ has dozens of partner universities and we do not monitor their websites regularly, so it is up to the student to find out which courses are available.

How does credit and course transfer work?

The point of study exchange abroad is to be able to study courses that are not available at your home university. On the other hand, not all courses taken as an exchange student can be counted toward your degree at the ICSJ. Students should therefore consult their Learning Agreements with their study programme’s guarantors or coordinators:

M.A. in Media and Area Studies / MARS (English): Mgr. Jan Miessler

M.A. in Journalism (Czech): doc. Barbora Osvaldová

B.A. in Communication Studies, M.A. in Media Studies (Czech): prof. Martin Štoll

M.A. in Strategic Communication (Czech): dr. Marcela Konrádová

Usually it is necessary to make changes in the Learning Agreement as classes at partner universities become cancelled, there are schedule clashes, students change their minds etc., and these changes should be discussed with the guarantor or coordinator who approved the original Learning Agreement.

In general: we normally do not accept replacing your compulsory courses at ICSJ with courses passed abroad, we want you to pass our version of them here in Prague. For that reason, it is wise to plan your exchange period well to avoid extending your study period.

It is possible to replace our elective courses with similar courses from abroad, but for that you should provide the guarantor or coordinator with the course syllabus containing all the important information about the course. However, the easiest way is to do a credit transfer so that you will get ECTS credits for your courses passed abroad. The point is to have enough credits to be able to continue with your studies at Charles University.

While studying abroad, you are free to expand your horizons and take courses that are totally unrelated to media, communication, marketing etc. if you do not mind that you will not get credits for those courses here at Charles University.

While being on exchange abroad, is it possible simultaneously to take courses at ICSJ and study in a "distance" form?

No. In exceptional circumstances, you may try to ask a course instructor if he/she would agree with some kind of special arrangement, but usually this is not possible. In any case, it is better to focus fully on your study abroad experience.