Erasmus exchange in Aarhus University, spring semester 2014

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1 Travel Report: Erasmus exchange in Aarhus University, spring semester 2014 k Preparing for the exchange Preparations for the exchange semester in Aarhus University are quite simple, after you get accepted to go to exchange by Aalto, you will be sent an from the host university requesting our appli atio. The appli atio is do e through Aarhus U i ersit s online system; you need to fill in some personal information, and attach a copy of transcript and passport. At the same time you have the chance to apply for accommodation from the International Center, which I recommend, as they guarantee housing for all exchange students. I will write more about this in a later chapter. If ou ha e t o e alread, get a Europea Health I sura e Card, as it will cover you medically before you have applied for Danish residence and become a part of their healthcare system. You also need to choose your classes before the semester via , and get your Learning Agreement approved. Depending on how fast you send the initial exchange application, after so e ti e ou are offered housi g ia e ail, a d ou eed to pa the deposit a d first o th s rent to accept the offer within a week. The deposit can be paid with bank transfer, but credit card is required for the rent payments. The o l se d o e offer, so if ou iss or de li e it, ou o t get student housing. At some point they also request for your picture, so they can make a Student card ready for you. The student card can be activated online to work as a key card for the campus facilities outside opening hours. After all that the only preparation you need to do is to arrange your travel to Denmark, and contact your tutor in case you need them to help you in the beginning. Since I arrived during a weekend when the International Center is closed, I arranged with my tutor so he could pick up my apartment keys and welcome package. He met me at the bus stop as I arrived to Aarhus and took me to my apartment and helped with my luggage. Rest of the bureaucracy is done during the intro week, and due to agreements between Scandinavian countries, there is not very much for it for Finns. During the week you apply for a CPR number, which is a Danish social security number, and notify the local authorities of your address. The CPR number is required when applying for various services such as bank account, tax

2 number, Danish classes, etc. Also due to the Scandinavian agreements, you just notify the Maistraatti when you get back to Finland so they will de-register you from Denmark. Bear in mind that you have to personally go to the Maistraatti office with your ID and Danish CPR card to do it. 2. Exchange Studies in the Aarhus University The spring semester started in the end of January, but we were required to attend a mandatory Orientation Week for exchange students starting from Jan 20 th. The Intro week consisted of introductory lectures, campus tours, free sandwich breakfasts, organized handling of the school and national bureaucracy, and nightly student parties. The exchange students were divided to small groups with a mentor, so you get to hang out with them quite a lot during the week. The business school comprises of 3 departments, out of which you have to choose one to select courses from. This limits your choices somewhat, but it is also possible to choose from several. Do so with your own risk as the class hours and exam times can be conflicting and then you cannot negotiate about the exam dates. The exam dates are announced quite late into the study period, so you cannot know if they are overlapping from the start if you choose from many departments. The courses you can select also usually have some requirements about previous courses, so it might not be possible to choose everything you want. All in all the course selection is large enough. I took my courses from the Department of Economics and Business Administration. There are 2 study modules in one semester, and your classes can be either one or 2 modules long. I did not have any exams in the end of the first module, which made the workload quite high in the end of the semester. The Danish academic style differs a bit from what I have gotten used to in Aalto, as the grades of the classes usually depend on just one deliverable or exam at the end. This leaves the academic work to be paced by the students themselves, so the start of the study modules the workload is usually quite low, and the intensity picks up considerably when nearing the end of the course. Lot of the Danish students pull all night study sessions and group meetings during the exam weeks and when the deadlines are closing. Also the stakes are a bit higher since your grade for the whole semester can depend on a single oral exam.

3 The exams at the BSS vary from closed book exams to take home assignments and written reports with varying times to write them, to oral exams, which seems to be a Danish specialty, as I ha e t seen that elsewhere. 3 of my exams were essays and reports that I had different times to complete, and one that was a written exam that you could do with your laptop. This last one o fused e as efore the e a the se t the i stru tio s to upload the essa to the u i ersit s online system, and I thought I could write it from home like the other ones. However they did not accept my submission because I did not go to the class during the exam, and I had to do an oral reexam instead later in the summer. This was a huge hassle, as they required that I attend it physically instead of doing it on skype or other such software. And they did not announce the reexam dates until very late, and changed the date once I had booked flights, even though I confirmed the dates multiple times through . In the end, they agreed to change the date back, so I did not have to buy new flights, but the whole experience was rather frustrating. Courses Altogether I chose 4 graduate level courses; 3 courses of 5 ECTS and one 10 ECTS from the department of Economics and Business Administration. I felt like I chose a good mix of classes based on the course descriptions online, but in hindsight, I would have chosen differently as some of the descriptions gave a bit different view of the courses compared to reality. In addition to the courses offered by the University, I did a free Danish language course offered by the municipality at the LaerDansk language institute. Aspects of Denmarks 5 ECTS The aim of this course was to familiarize foreign exchange students with Denmark as a country, Danish culture and the Nordic welfare state, and contrast the learnings to their own countries. The course consisted of weekly guest lectures about different social, political, cultural and economic topics such as Danish literature, movies, happiness, welfare state, healthcare system etc. The lectures were held by the experts on these fields, and varied from interesting to boring. The final exam of the course consisted of an essay comparing the Danish welfare or healthcare systems to the stude t s o ou tr, and we had one week to write it. Data Mining for Business Decisions 5 ECTS The aim of this course was to introduce the participants to the methodology and business context of data mining. The course topics included understanding the capabilities of important machine

4 learning techniques and applying them to typical data mining problems such as customer segmentation, cross-selling of products and services, direct marketing and fraud detection. The learning outcomes could roughly be divided to four parts; Data mining process (business context, data mining methodology, action and results), Discovery of meaningful patterns in massive data sets (clustering, association rule mining), Predictive analytics (regression approaches, neural networks, support vector machines, decision trees, nearest neighbor), and Model assessment and selection (bias-variance trade-off, signal detection theory, decision analysis) The course consisted of theoretical lectures and some hands-on workshops with the SAS Enterprise Miner software, which we got to have on our laptops for the duration of the course (the use of R and Rattle open source data mining software was optional). The lectures were mostly about the mathematics and statistics behind the data mining models, and while interesting to some, were a bit too math heavy and theoretical, and there was not much emphasis on the software workshops. There was a lot of learning to do outside the lectures, as you had to basically learn the use of the software with the help of some manuals and a lot of course literature and apply the theory learned to the example cases given, but there were no other deliverables in the course than the final exam. In the final exam we were given a dataset and a business problem, and we had 2 days to find a data mining solution to the problem and document the process, results and our reasoning in a report. This course is due to be overhauled and made into a 10 ECTS course already in the next semester, so I doubt anyone will be taking the course in this form anymore. Neuroeconomics and Neuromarketing 5 ECTS Neuroeconomics and neuromarketing are a merger between economics or marketing and neuroscience although many other fields are involved such as economic psychology, behavioural economics, consumer psychology and cognitive science. Neuroeconomics is a rather new field that seeks to understand decision-making in economic situations, whereas the strongly related but more specific field of neuromarketing focuses strictly on consumer decision-making. This course takes a broad perspective on decision-making and looks at motivated behaviour in purchase situations, social interactions, and self-regulation.

5 The course provided introduction to the brain and its functions, and from a behavioural-scientific point of view shed light on motivational processes i.e., models of self-regulation and self-control, the role of reward, and on emotions and cognitions involved in decision processes. The course consisted of a few long intensive lectures, during which there was much discussion and reflection on the course literature and a wealth of other topics. The lecturer was very knowledgeable and fostered a good atmosphere for discussion and participation. Also the course seemed much more scientific than I have gotten used to in a Business School. This was by far the most interesting class I took during my semester at Aarhus. The final exam was a short essay about Neuroeconomics or Neuromarketing topic of own choice. Project Management 10 ECTS This was a fairly extensive class on the theory and practice of project management, but more emphasis was put on theory. The class was divided into two parts; the theoretical lectures and readings, comprising a group presentation about a topic in the literature, a d the pra ti al part where you researched a real project done by a company, interviewed the company representatives and applied the theoretical topics of your choice to the project. This Included group presentation and report and an individual 3 day take-home exam. There was also an optional group assignment to make a project initiation document, where the best group won some nice bottles of red wine. The literature of the class was some articles about different approaches to project management a d appl i g it i IT i ple e tatio or i o atio proje ts, a d t o ooks; Larso & Gra s Project Management and OGCs PRINCE 2 manual. The main focus on the literature was to learn the concepts and stages of project management, and the PRINCE 2 project management tool. The lectures were long and consisted of the lecturer going through the theoretical topics in the readi gs, a d also a stude t-teach-stude t approa h where single or a group of students would read a chapter and then teach others about it. The course was not as practical as I would have liked it to be, and the selection of the company for the final project proved to be quite critical regarding the learning outcomes and usefulness of the course. Danish students who had more contacts with the local companies could make much more in-depth look into the project they were covering, and the students without those contacts

6 had to work with a pretty general case from Arla, with limited amount of contact with the company representatives. Danish Class at LaerDansk The Aarhus Municipality offers a free Danish Language class for all foreign people moving to the area, including the exchange students. You can join the classes at the LaerDansk language school when you receive the Danish CPR number, which you can apply for in the Orientation Week. Danish is quite similar to Swedish, so those who speak good Swedish should get into a more advanced class. I started the most beginner level class, and felt the pace of learning was much too slow, and I should have chosen a more advanced course. I finished the first module of the class, but did not have time to participate to the second due to increasing workload from the University studies. The class is held twice a week, and there is multiple options to accommodate your schedules. I got to know a lot of other foreigners in the class, and would recommend it to anyone living in Denmark for a while. I also got some sort of diploma from the class, not sure if that can be redeemed for ECTS, as I did not need any more of them. 3. Free time and other information Aarhus is the second biggest city and main port of Denmark, and the capital of the mainland Jylland region. The city has about 260,000 inhabitants, of which over 40,000 are students. This makes Aarhus a fairly young and student friendly city. There is a lot of student life and culture happening, with some events drawing tens of thousands students, such as Kapsejlads in May. There is an old town in the city center, which is very active with shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. The city is very green and clean, biking friendly and very windy. Aarhus is by the sea, and there are beaches all around the shoreline, but the water might be a bit cold for swimming. The Risskov forest is very close to the city centre, and very good natural area for running. The cost of living The University offers student housing to exchange students, but will only send one offer, which it is smart to accept, as finding accommodation in the city from the private market can be difficult and expensive. The student housing is applied at the same time as you apply to the University. The exchange students have a few options in their application, such as privacy, price or distance to the campus as the primary choice. The application process works in first-come-first-served basis, so it

7 is wise to send the application as soon as possible. Most of the housing has some shared facilities with other students, but mine was a studio apartment about 10 minute bike ride from the BSS campus. The monthly rent was around 390 euros, which was not bad for over 30 sq meter studio. The rent deposit was 2,5 months rent. The apartments are mostly in kollegiums, student apartment complexes, usually with their own bar and other common facilities. It is also possible to apply for a shared house, which can be quite nice and communal, but a bit more expensive than the kollegiums. Be aware that most of the kollegiums require you to move out one week before your contract officially ends, so plan travels and possible accommodation needs keeping that in mind. Also as the kollegiums are privately run enterprises, they have different guidelines about returning your deposit. I got all of my deposit money back after a regular moving out cleaning, but I heard stories of other exchange students getti g e pe si e lea i g ills e ause the ere ot thorough e ough ith their lea i g, or get billed for things that were already broken when moving in. The kollegiums have to pay back your deposit to International Centre within 2 weeks of you moving out, but the IC pays it to you very slowly, and can keep it up to 3 o ths of our o i g out, so do t ou t o getti g the deposit back immediately. Food and drink I would say the cost of my groceries was the same in Denmark as it is in Finland, but the quality of the food was better, as there are long traditions in Denmark for organic, and some specialty items are cheaper. There is more competition and variety with the supermarket chains, so it is easy to find good deals and choose the shops that have an acceptable ratio of price and quality to your taste. In addition to the supermarkets, you can find the Bazaar Vest in the western side of Aarhus, where you can buy fruits and vegetables for cheap and find all kinds of middle-eastern food stuffs. Alcohol is cheaper in shops than in Finland, and you can get it in every shop and all times of the day and night. Normally shops close around 21 or 22, but there are 24hour shops also. Aarhus is more expensive in eating and drinking out than Helsinki though. Bars and Restaurants are ore e pe si e, a d the s hools do t offer a cheap student lunch like in Finland. However, the stude t kollegiu s Thursda a d Frida ars are er heap, a d so eti es ou a fi d 3 for 1 cocktail offers and free beer nights in some of the bars downtown. Transportation

8 Get a bike. Seriously, do it. Aarhus has public transport, but it is quite expensive and the night buses go rarely. I got a bike in the start of the semester, and did not regret it. Normally you can buy them from exchange students who are leaving Denmark for about 600 to 1000 krones, depending on the bike, and you can usually sell it for the same price at the end of the semester. The Student House also rents them for 600 krones per semester, but these ones are taken fast so get it early if you want it. There are also City Bikes offered by the Aarhus City, which you can unlock with a 20 krone coin. There are bike lanes everywhere, and the infrastructure is built for biking, so Danes bike everywhere and in every weather. Only issue with biking is that Aarhus probably has the only hill in Denmark, going down to the city center and harbor, and up to anywhere else away from the center, so you will get in shape riding the bike up and down the hill every day. The city is quite compact for its size, and the maximum time you are ever going to bike is probably around 30 minutes, going from one end of the city to another. Remember to put lights on your bike, since it is illegal to ride at night without them, and you can get a big fine if the Police catch you. Culture Aarhus is a big enough city to have cultural happenings, art, music and festivals going on quite often. There are a few museums in the city, and you should definitely check out the contemporary art museum Aros. Walking around in the rainbow coloured glass circle at the top of the museum is worth going by itself, and there were quite interesting exhibitions when I was there. You can get a single ticket for 100 krones or buy a season ticket for 200, which lets you bring a friend for free (which is always worth it if 2 people are going). Other cultural area in Aarhus to keep your eye on would be the GodsBanen. This old railroad area has been turned to a cultural space for artists, youth and events. I went there for Sustain festival, some art exhibitions and techno parties during the semester. There is also a skatepark and graffiti walls at the GodsBanen. Aarhus has the Northside music festival early in the summer, and also during the spring I went to some nice concerts and parties. Travel You can take a bus or a train to Copenhagen, the bus being the cheapest option. Students can ride the bus for 100 to 150 krones, depending on the time of the day, and the bus company. The cheapest companies are Rodbillet and Abildskou Linie 888. It takes bit over 3 hours to get to

9 Copenhagen. Also the buses go cheaply to Hamburg and Berlin in Germany. There is an airport in Aarhus and also in Billund, but I never used them. Copenhagen has the biggest international airport and most choice in flights. The Danish rideshare website is called gomore.dk. 4. Final Comments All in all, I had a nice semester in Aarhus, and would recommend the university to others. I felt that the academic level of the university was good, and Denmark is a nice place to live; everything works, and some things are easier than in Finland. Aarhus is big enough city for one semester to ot get ored, a d it as t as old as I thought. Ho e er, the eather as e eptio all su during the spring, which made things much easier for me. Normally it can be awful, the Danes said. If going to the exchange again, I would choose some of my courses differently, as some of them were not very good, and were a bit different from what was said in the course descriptions. During the exchange I learned that the Danes are pretty similar to Finns, a bit reserved at first but quite social after some beers. During one class with a lot of group work, I learned that I can lead others much better than I thought, and do large amounts of work fast if I put my mind to it.