Partner Universities Summer Program, Linkoping University, July 2018

This experience gives international students an opportunity to study abroad
for one month. They have several high-quality courses to choose from and will
gain cultural insights together with other international students from all over
the world. All courses are taught in English and are full-time.

July 2-July 27 on site (some courses have preparatory exercises before arrival in Sweden).

To meet the general entry requirements, students must have completed 1 year full-time studies (passed 60 ECTS credits or equivalent) from one of Linköping University’s partner universities. (In order for the student’s application to be processed, all required documents must be submitted and the entry requirements must be fulfilled upon application in March.)

Different for each course. Lectures, workshops, seminars, PBL, laboratory exercises and field trips. Some preparatory work is required from the students before their arrival in Linköping.

All courses are in English and partner universities can nominate students with a good command of English (We expect the students to have at least English level B2).

We aim for a good mix of students, and selection is therefore based on the principle of achieving a multicultural classroom.

No tuition fees. Courses are only eligible for students from LiU’s partner universities.

Different for each course.

Stockholm and Vadstena at the students’ own expense.

The overall aim of this course is to give students an introduction how the advanced technology can be realized at nanometer-scale, and the impact on the global market and society for sustainable development. The course will explore the recent development of nanotechnology in several emerging fields for sustainability. Some particular societal and business perspectives related to entrepreneurship, commercialization, challenges and the translation from early innovation stage to market will be then addressed. The course will also discuss the benefits and risks of nano-products, and will look at how nanotechnology may have a significant impact on the sustainable development of society.

The course intends to give students a broad perspective on this quickly developing area of science and technology, without becoming embroiled in details of the complicated scientific principles and mathematics.

Honestly, my main purpose of joining this program is to improve my English skills and I wanted to try to stay in a foreign country in which I cannot use Japanese because I do not have enough opportunities to use English in daily life and conversations. In addition, I study bioengineering in Tokyo Tech. That is why I thought that choosing the class of nanotechnology is suitable for me because I can use English and nanotechnology can be applied to my study, at first. But in conclusion, this choice was challenging.

We have classes every day and the main style of this course was lecture. It was similar to the class in Tokyo Tech. In my opinion, this course was mainly composed of 5 parts; quantum physics, material science, environmental studies, bioengineering and entrepreneurship. When we study nanotechnology, it is inevitable to study quantum physics because quantum effect is occurred in nano-scale field. By using the knowledge of quantum physics, we studied the application of material science and bioengineering in terms of environmental study, which meant that these applications should be sustainable. And finally, we learned that the way and strategy to make such a new technology in the market. This study contained how to make a convincing presentation as an entrepreneur. Officially, we are not required to major physics, mathematics or material science before joining this program.

As this official remark, the exams did not ask us about such a technical process. But I thought that the knowledge of such studies was necessary to understand the lecture clearly. In addition, there were not so many classes about bioengineering, unfortunately. In this program, there are manyprofessors and each of them had the other specialty. That is why we could hear the lectures about so many field from many aspects.

Our grade were evaluated by 2 presentations about entrepreneurship and the final examination. In addition, we had quizzes at the beginning of each class.
Each quiz contains 5 questions. We could get 1 bonus point which can be counted as 1 point in the final exam if we can get 3 point in 1 quiz.

We had time to do something after class every day. Thanks to student host in Linköping university, there were so many activities which included trip to Va d s t e n a and Stockholm in the weekend. Fortunately, the time I went was the same time of FIFA world cup. That is why we often watched the game in the restaurant or dining of ours.

As an activity after classes, we often played sports or went to the beach close to Linköping. That is why it is helpful to bring exercise clothes and swimsuits. In addition, many participants planned to go abroad in the each weekend; for example, Norway, Denmark, Poland and so on.

This was the first time for me to study abroad for one month. That is why I was very nervous about security on the way to Sweden and first week inSweden. But fortunately, there were no accident in my stay in Sweden.

Before joining this, I thought that most participants were from Europe. But there were also many participants from Asia like Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong and so on.

In my opinion, one of the biggest merits to join this program, not other programs like exchange, was that we could make friends with each other easily because every participant starts this program at the same time.

As I mentioned, the class of nanotechnology was mainly held as a lecture, not discussion. That is why taking the class itself did not slightly fit my purpose to use oral English as much as possible. But I could use English many times when I discuss contents of the class with my classmates. So I thought that this opportunity was very helpful to improve my English skill.

I used Linköping airport. But the flight ticket via Linköping airport was more
expensive than that via Stockholm. That is why using Stockholm airport was
recommended.
Accommodation Package-5000 SEK

Excursion to Stockholm (not mandatory) -1300 SEK
Excursion to Vadstena (not mandatory) -260 SEK
Food expenses

A single corridor room for one person is 20 square meters and includes a private bathroom. There are eight rooms in a corridor sharing a kitchen and a living room (please note that some of these rooms are inhabited by Swedish students who will be away for summer vacation). The room is fully furnished and the beds are 90x200 cm. In the shared kitchen you will have access to shared fridge and freezer.

It was hard for me to understand the class partly because my English skill was not enough. But I could understood the class when the lecture was about my field, bioengineering. On the other hand, it was not hard for me to communicate with friends of mine every day.

That is why I thought that high English level was necessary to understand the class if the field of yours does not match this course.

In addition, I had difficulty in communicating with staffs in some restaurants because some Swedish people could not use English.

Fortunately, there were few rainy days during my stay in Sweden. The temperature at the beginning of July was not so high. That is why we need some jackets. But the temperature in the middle of July reached over 30 °C, so we did not need them at that time.

As I mentioned, I sometimes needed some jackets. But I could spend almost every day in T-shirt and half pants.

In addition, we could swim in the lake near the dormitory, so swim suits was needed.

As weekday, there were some activities in the weekend held by student host.
But so many participants in this program traveled to the other places like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and so on.

The dormitory had internet but it was not wifi. That is why I could not use smartphone in my room. But there are so many hot spot in Sweden (for example in the university, downtown, restaurants, train and so on.).

I did not buy Sim cards or portable wifi in advance but it should be much more convenient if I could connect the internet whenever I wanted to use.

In Sweden, you have to take off your shoes at the entrance.