Erasmus and Programs with European Universities
EEE department has bilateral agreements for undergraduate student exchange under the Erasmus+ student mobility program with the following universities in electrical and electronics engineering:
– Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany (4 students): Classes mostly in German. Some classes in English, but the options are limited. So, to satisfy the course load requirements, you may need to take classes in German.
– ESIEE PARIS (2 students): Classes in French or English. More options in French. If you plan carefully, your entire course list could be in English.
– AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland (1 student): Classes fully in English for exchange students
– Aston University, England (2 students): Instruction in English.
– TELECOM SudParis, France (3 students): Classes fully in English for exchange students. Students can also take classes in French if they want to.
– Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland (3 students): Classes in French or English. More options in French. If you plan carefully, your entire course list could be in English.
– Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain (3 students): Instruction fully in Spanish.
Applications are done in the Spring semester, typically in February. Students with a minimum CGPA of 2.50 and currently in their minimum 3rd or maximum 5th registration semester are eligible to apply. The ranking will be based on %50 CGPA and %50 language proficiency. The language proficiency level of each applicant will be calculated based on his/her score received in ENG 101 (%25) and ENG 102 (%25) courses. Qualified students’ CGPAs will be checked by the Office of International Exchange Programs before their Erasmus semester begins, to make sure that they still qualify for the program.
For more details, please see
http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/bilkent/admission/outgoing_exchange/
Exchange via Bilateral Agreements with Universities around the World
Bilkent University has exchange agreements with several major universities in the world. The list of these universities are given in
http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/bilkent/admission/outgoing_exchange/bilateral_agreement_list.html
EEE Department students have preferred mainly University of California campuses in the recent years as well as Drexel University, City University of Hong Kong, etc. We encourage our students for an international experience during their fall, spring, or full academic year. Students with a minimum CGPA of 3.00 and currently in their 3rd or 4th registration semester are eligible to apply for Exchange via bilateral agreements. All students who plan to apply for the Student Exchange Program should contact the Office of Exchange Programs in Registrar’s Office for more information. Applications are accepted generally at the end of November. In addition, your studies abroad will be recognized at your home university. We generally expect 4-5 EEE students to take advantage of this opportunity every year.
Again, for more information, please visit
http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/bilkent/admission/outgoing_exchange/
Summer Internship Program
We have an ongoing agreement with the Fraunhofer Institute for a 3-month internship program. Master and bachelor students (after their third year of studies) are offered to intern at the Chair of Information Technologies LIKE or the Fraunhofer IIS. The internship should not last less than 3 months. Starting date and duration are flexible and can be arranged with the supervisor. Extensions and the preparation of Bachelor or Master Thesis are possible upon mutual agreement. Applications are done in the second semester. Details on how to apply and list of available internship topics will be announced later.
For more information, please see
http://www.like.eei.uni-erlangen.de/bilkent/Information_Turkish_students.shtml
For more information, do not hesitate to contact
Tolga Çukur, EEE Departmental Exchange Coordinator
E-mail: cukur@ee.bilkent.edu.tr Tel: x1164
Student Exchange Program FAQ
(generally based on the FAQ page of our CS department maintained at http://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~selcuk/exchange_faq.html)
What are the financial issues involved for an exchange student?
The university tuition/scholarship status remains intact for the exchange student. The student continues to receive his scholarship or pay his tuition to his home institution (Bilkent University) as he/she would do otherwise, of the same amount. Living expenses are generally on the student’s own for students of Part B. On the other hand, Erasmus program (Part A) pays a stipend to the student for their expenses. These grants are distributed according to the country at which the hosting university resides see below the country of destination and associated Erasmus grants.
| Country Groups | Host Countries | Grant per Month for
Student Mobility (EURO) |
| 1 and 2. Group Program Countries | U.K., Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweeden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Norway, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Southern Cyprus, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Greece | 500,- |
| 3. Group Program Countries | Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Türkiye | 300,- |
Part C students are also offered a stipend.
Can’t I go to exchange on the 4th year?
The ideal time for going to exchange is one’s 3rd year in college, so that the student will have a chance during his 4th year to complete the courses he couldn’t find at the host institution and will be able to graduate in time. A student who goes to exchange on his 4th year may delay his graduation for one or two semesters. This said, several of the programs above are directed towards only 4th year students and we therefore encourage applicants from 4th year students (Telecom Sud Paris is one such example) as well.
How can I apply for the exchange program?
Application for the Erasmus exchange is done through the departmental coordinators; and application for the other exchanges are done through the Office of Student Affairs. Applications for non-Erasmus exchanges are typically received in mid Fall semester; Erasmus applications are received in early Spring. The exact application deadlines and the requirements are announced each year by e-mail to the Bilkent student body.
Is there a GPA requirement for exchange applications?
Bilkent is very selective about the students it sends for exchange. The minimum cumulative GPA requirement as of now is 2.8 for Erasmus and 3.0 for the general exchange applications, although the actual GPA of the selected students tends to be much higher, especially for Part B students. Any possible changes that may occur on this requirement will be specified in the announcement e-mail.
How is the course program determined for the exchange students?
Once the student is selected for exchange with a particular university, he/she should go to that university’s course catalog webpage and identify the courses that are suitable. These courses can either be the equivalent of a Bilkent EEE course, or otherwise can be taken as a technical or non-technical elective. (I encourage students to take the exchange as an opportunity for taking courses they find interesting which are not offered at their home university.) The departmental coordinator and the student then go over the course list and finalize the courses that will be taken.
How are the courses transferred to Bilkent?
The credits of the courses taken in the exchange are transfered towards the student’s degree at Bilkent, but their grades are not included in the CGPA. That is, once the student returns back to Bilkent, based on his transcript at the exchange university, the student will be exempted from several of his/her courses at Bilkent. The general rule is that the sum of the adjusted credits (ECTS credits in case of European universities) should exceed the sum of the ECTS credits of Bilkent courses that are to be exempted. For example, a student who succeeds in three courses with an ECTS sum of 19 credits, we exempt the student from three Bilkent courses with 18=6*3 credits. In case of lack of a common credit system, we adjust the credits of the home institution based on the institution’s own credit system plus the length of the semester at the foreign institution.
Is there a grade requirement for the courses taken in the exchange?
A passing grade is required for a course to be accepted for the student’s degree at Bilkent, which usually means a grade C or higher.
What if I can’t find some of my required courses at the exchange university?
It is very rare that the course offerings of two departments agree exactly and the exchange student can find all his required courses at the host institution. Typically there will be courses that are missing, in which case the student will take other courses instead that can be counted towards his 4th year electives, and will take the missing courses upon his/her return to Bilkent University.