Nomination Process
If you want to be an exchange student at Åbo Akademi University, you must contact your home university in order to be nominated for the exchange period. The nomination is based on exchange agreements (can be limited to specific subject areas and a specific campus), or a student exchange programme. Please note that we don’t accept free movers.
Once you have been nominated, you will receive an e-mail from Åbo Akademi University with a link to the online application for exchange students. The online application form will be available in late March/September.
Nomination & Application Deadlines
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Nomination deadline for partner universities For studies in Autumn (August-December), or full year (August-May): 16 April at 16.00 CET+1 For studies in Spring (January-May): 1 October at 16.00 CET+1 |
| Application deadline for exchange students
For studies in Autumn/Semester 1 (August-December) or Full year (August-May): 30 April at 16.00 CET+1 For studies in Spring/Semester 2 (January-May): 15 October at 16.00 CET+1 |
The nomination e-mail must be sent to exchange@abo.fi by the nomination deadline. Åbo Akademi University accepts exchange students on both campuses: Åbo (Turku) and Vasa (Vaasa).
Please note that the e-mail address of the student, provided in the nomination by the home university coordinator, is the one that will be connected to the online application. Thus, the acceptance letter will also be sent electronically to this same e-mail address.
Application Process
Please find our step by step application instruction guide for SoleMove here.
Before you start your application
Before you start your exchange application, please read the instructions below very carefully and make sure that you have all of the necessary documents to complete your application.
Online Application Form
Complete your exchange application online via the link that was sent to your email address after you were nominated. You should complete the online exchange application in the SoleMove portal. Complete all parts of the application as well as upload the necessary documents that are needed for your application. Please remember to submit the application before the application deadline for your application to be considered.
Documents for your application
In order to submit your application and for us to consider your application, you will be asked to provide specific documents. Please make sure that these documents are in English and are uploaded and submitted before the application deadline and that they are in PDF format.
- Learning Agreement/study plan OR Online Learning Agreement
- Official transcript of records
- A copy of your passport
Please find more in depth information about the documents below:
1. A Learning agreement/study plan:
What is a learning agreement?
A learning agreement is a list of courses that you want to study at ÅA and is an obligatory part of your application and exchange. The learning agreement at this stage is just a preliminary plan of the courses your want to study and does not guarantee you a place on the course.
The study plan must be approved and signed appropriately by your home institution. Åbo Akademi does not need to sign your learning agreement when you submit your application. We will check all learning agreements and study plans after the deadline. Only your home university needs to sign you learning agreement for you to submit your exchange application.
Which courses can I take?
Use the course information of the current academic year found in our Study Handbook. Please select the campus/faculty you will study at and choose courses from there. You can find more in depth information on course offerings at ÅA here.
How many credits can I take?
Plan a full time course load, 30 credits for one semester, 60 credits for an academic year.
If you plan to write your thesis during your exchange period, please include the title of your thesis in your learning agreement plus the name of the thesis supervisor at ÅA in your application. For more information about writing a thesis during exchange please check the following page.
Where can I find the Learning Agreement?
Erasmus+ and Nordplus students should use the Erasmus+ learning agreement of their home university OR the Online/Digital Learning Agreement. Please contact your home university to get the Erasmus+ learning agreement or for more information on how to complete the Online/Digital Learning Agreement.
Exchange students coming from outside of the EU can use the study plan/learning agreement form of Åbo Akademi University.
2. An official transcript of records
The official transcript of records should be in English, Finnish or Swedish and should include all the courses you have taken at your home university, with the credits and grades, from all your previous years of study. if you are a Masters level student you should upload both your Bachelor and Master transcript of records.
Students should have studied around 60 ECTS/credits at their home university before the exchange studies begin at Åbo Akademi University. These credits should show on the transcript of records that is submitted with the application.
3. A copy of your passport (or your European National identity card).
Please note! We no longer require an English Language Certificate to be submitted with the application. However it is still imperative that exchange students are B2 level in English. It is the sending universities responsibility to make sure that students are minimum B2 level in English when nominated.
Acceptance information
Provided that your application is approved, you will receive a letter of acceptance as an e-mail attachment from Åbo Akademi University within two weeks after the application deadline (remember to also check the spam folder). In case of any issues, we will contact the applicant.
If you are unable to accept your exchange period at Åbo Akademi University, please inform International affairs (exchange@abo.fi) in writing, as soon as possible.