Erasmus at SMFI: A Practical Guide

This is particularly important when preparing or modifying your Learning Agreement.

Courses included in your Learning Agreement must appear in the official University of Parma Course Catalogue / Learning Offer for the academic year in which your mobility takes place.

You can find the Course Catalogue and the instructions for preparing your Learning Agreement here:

University of Parma — Learning Agreement for Study and Course Catalogue
https://www.unipr.it/en/node/109009#paragraph-id--148028

In particular:

• the fact that a course appears on a degree programme webpage does not, by itself, mean that it is available to exchange students;
• the fact that a course was offered in a previous academic year does not guarantee that it is offered in the current one;
• if a course does not appear in the Course Catalogue / Learning Offer for your mobility year, it is not available to exchange students and cannot be included in your Learning Agreement;
• when entering a course in the Learning Agreement, please make sure that the course code, official course title and number of ECTS credits correspond exactly to those indicated in the Learning Offer for your mobility year.

The academic offer for the forthcoming academic year is normally published during the summer. If the Course Catalogue for your mobility year has not yet been published when you prepare your first Learning Agreement, you may use the previous year's catalogue as a provisional reference only.

Once the new Course Catalogue becomes available, you must check your proposed courses against the official offer for your actual mobility year and make any necessary adjustments.

This check should be made both when preparing your original Learning Agreement and whenever you request a change during your mobility.

Lecture timetables are published on Agenda Studenti UniPR:

https://agendastudenti.unipr.it/

Please note that the timetable is normally available only a few weeks before the beginning of the teaching period. In most cases, therefore, it will not yet be available when you prepare your initial Learning Agreement and cannot be used at that stage to check for possible timetable clashes.

Within each degree programme, the timetable is organised so as to avoid, as far as possible, clashes between courses that students belonging to the same year of the same degree programme are normally expected to attend.

However, this protection does not generally extend to courses belonging to:

• different years of the same degree programme;
• different degree programmes;
• different Departments.

Exchange students often build an individual study plan by combining courses from several years or programmes. In such cases, timetable clashes are possible and sometimes unavoidable.

As soon as the timetable becomes available, please check your selected courses carefully on Agenda Studenti. If you discover a significant conflict, you may need to reconsider part of your study plan and, where necessary, make a change to your Learning Agreement.

Timetables may also change during the semester because of room changes, timetable adjustments or cancelled lectures, so please continue to check Agenda Studenti regularly.

Exchange students may choose courses from different years of a degree programme and, where permitted, from different degree programmes or Departments.

This gives you considerable flexibility, but it requires some care.

In particular, courses belonging to a later year may rely on material taught in earlier courses. Two courses that appear independent in the Course Catalogue may therefore have important mathematical prerequisites.

Before combining courses from different years, especially courses in the same subject area, we recommend that you:

• read the course syllabus carefully;
• check the prerequisites indicated in the course description;
• contact the instructor if you are unsure whether your previous background is sufficient.

Please do not assume that two courses can be taken simultaneously simply because both are formally available to exchange students.

Please pay attention to the level of the degree programme to which a course belongs.

Master-level courses may assume substantially more background than Bachelor-level courses, even when there are no formal restrictions preventing an exchange student from selecting them.

If you are a Bachelor student considering a Master-level course, we strongly recommend discussing your academic background with the instructor before confirming your choice.

Please check the language of instruction of each individual course in the official course information.

An English translation of the course title in the Course Catalogue does not mean that the course is taught in English.

In most cases, courses are taught in Italian. We therefore recommend having at least a B2 level of proficiency in Italian.

If your knowledge of Italian is below B2 level, we strongly recommend taking an Italian language course alongside your academic courses. The University of Parma offers Italian language courses for international students through the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries (DUSIC). Information on the courses, levels, enrolment procedures and schedules is available here:

DUSIC — Italian Language Courses for International Students
https://dusic.unipr.it/didattica/corsi-di-lingua-italiana-stranieri

These courses are specifically intended, among others, for Erasmus and other international students and are offered during both semesters.

Language is particularly important in Mathematics/Physics/Computer Science courses, where being able to follow lectures, understand mathematical explanations and interact regularly with the instructor can make a significant difference.

Please check the assessment method for each course carefully.

Depending on the course, the examination may consist of a written test, an oral examination, a project, or a combination of different forms of assessment.

You should also not assume that an examination can be taken in English if the course is taught in Italian. Instructors may sometimes be able to accommodate exchange students, but this should always be discussed with the individual instructor in advance.

We therefore recommend contacting the instructor early in the semester if you have questions about the examination format or language.

Please also consult the official academic calendar and exam timetable when planning your stay, particularly if you intend to leave Parma shortly after the end of the teaching period.

Regular attendance is strongly recommended.

For Mathematics/Physics/Computer Science courses in particular, lectures are often cumulative: later material depends closely on definitions, techniques and results introduced earlier in the course.

Attending regularly will also allow you to identify possible difficulties early and to establish contact with the instructor before the examination period.

If you realise that a course is significantly different from what you expected, please discuss the situation with the instructor and with the Erasmus coordinators as early as possible rather than waiting until the end of the semester.

Before submitting your Learning Agreement, please check that:

• every selected course appears in the Course Catalogue / Learning Offer for your actual mobility academic year;
• the course code, title and ECTS credits match the official Learning Offer;
• the course is offered during the semester in which you will be in Parma;
• you have checked the language of instruction;
• you have read the syllabus and considered any prerequisites;
• you have checked whether the course belongs to a Bachelor or Master programme;
• you understand the examination format and, where relevant, the language in which the examination will be conducted.

Once the timetable is published, you should additionally:

• check your courses on Agenda Studenti;
• identify any timetable clashes, particularly if you are combining courses from different years or degree programmes;
• contact the Erasmus coordinators promptly if a clash requires you to modify your study plan.

If you are uncertain about the suitability of a course, please contact the instructor or the Erasmus coordinators.

We will be happy to help you choose a coherent and manageable study programme.

Welcome to Parma, and we wish you a rewarding and enjoyable stay at the University of Parma!