INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY PROGRAMMES – STUDENTS
Regulations
CHAPTER I
General Provisions
- The present regulations shall govern the international mobility of students of the Faculty of Human Sciences, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, hereinafter referred to as FCH.
- International mobility allows students enrolled at FCH to conduct a period of study or an internship at one of FCH’s partner universities.
- Erasmus+ international mobility is carried out under bilateral cooperation agreements, as part of the Erasmus+ Programme and may be financed through Erasmus+ grants.
- There are two types of international mobility: mobility during a period of study and internship mobility.
4.1. International mobility during a period of study and international internship mobility cannot be carried out concurrently.
- For both aforementioned modalities, students shall pay their tuition fees at FCH, and academic recognition is awarded through the preparation of a Learning Agreement to be signed by all parties involved: the two universities and the student.
- The Learning Agreement binds the student to undertake the curricular units that he or she has proposed and has been authorized to undertake by the Degree and International Relations Coordinators and cannot be altered without the express consent of both.
- Students in a mobility programme shall benefit from the rights and duties inherent to the status of student in mobility and must comply with all FCH regulations and comport themselves in accordance with the principles set out in the statutes of UCP.
- International mobility during a period of study has a minimum duration of one semester and may last for one academic year if warranted by the curricular plan and/or if existing placements permit it.
- For Master’s degrees, the mobility period may last no longer than one semester, except where the nature of the internship demands a longer duration.
- Master’s students who choose to complete an Internship Report may undertake the corresponding internship in Portugal or abroad (international internship), which shall have a minimum duration of four months.
- Master’s students who choose to undertake an internship report to fulfil the requirement towards degree completion and who intend to complete their internship in Portugal and to undertake an international mobility during the period of study in the remaining semester must apply to the Board of Directors of FCH, requesting authorization for this purpose.
CHAPTER II
Application and Selection Procedures
- The following may apply for international mobility programmes:
- undergraduate students who attended and successfully completed at least one full year of their degree;
- Master’s students who have successfully completed the first semester of the first year, in accordance with the regulations of their respective degree.
- In the case of Master’s students, mobility during a period of study provides for the attendance of one curricular unit at the Receiving university that shall be deemed to correspond to the Research Seminar.
- Students who are behind on up to two seminars may attend curricular units at the foreign university that shall be deemed equivalent.
- Candidates shall be responsible for:
- acquainting themselves with the set of expectations and duties associated with attending one or two semesters at a foreign university;
- meeting deadlines for the submission of application documents. If these deadlines are not met, candidates will be excluded from the selection process.
4. In Erasmus+ mobility programmes, language proficiency tests are mandatory, namely before the start of the period of mobility, through OLS – Online Linguistic Support, an online tool created specifically for this purpose.
5. Host universities may require additional certification of language skills in the language in which curricular units are taught.
6. Applications take place annually, in February, through an online form.
7. Candidates are selected by the International Relations Coordinators, on behalf of the Board of Directors of FCH.
8. In the event that the number of applicants exceeds the number of places available for each Receiving university, selection shall be carried out by ranking degree averages (rounded to decimal points).
9. In the event that candidates score identical degree averages, priority shall be given to students with the highest number of completed credits and, if needed, a curricular analysis and interview may also take place.
CHAPTER III
ERASMUS+ Grants
- The provisions of this chapter shall only apply to students selected for a period of international mobility under the Eramus+ programme.
- The ‘Agência Nacional Erasmus+ Educação e Formação’ (AN) awards mobility grants that offer support towards extra costs incurred while spending time abroad and, as such, these are not considered scholarships.
In the case of internships, students can apply for an Erasmus+ grant under the Atlantic Erasmus Training Consortium (AETC).
3. The sum to be allocated is calculated based on the table published annually by the AN, the amounts being distributed between three groups of countries based on cost of living (high, medium, and low). These sums are fixed and include the value of travel.
4. The allocated sum must be:
a. partially returned in the case of partial withdrawal, i.e., the interruption of the study period. The AN shall determine the amount to be returned based on number of months remaining in the period of study at the date of withdrawal. The above is possible only where the student has spent at least 60 days in a period of study mobility or internship mobility at the host university and has successfully completed at least one curricular unit. Exceptions to the previous shall be duly justified situations of force majeure, duly documented and accepted by the AN.
b. returned in full, where one of the following occurs: (i) failure to complete the minimum period of study defined by the AN; (ii) complete withdrawal; (iii) failure to successfully complete curricular units.
5. Selection as an Erasmus+ student does not in itself guarantee the award of a grant, and the student may complete a mobility programme with a zero grant.
6. In the event that the number of grants available is lower than the number of students selected, allocation of grants shall be subject to the selection criteria detailed in Articles 8 and 9 of Chapter II.
CHAPTER IV
Enrolment
1. Students in mobility programmes must settle the annual enrolment fee for the following academic year within the set deadline.
2. Students must enrol as normal in curricular units, as follows:
a. students undertaking their period of mobility during the first semester must enrol online in second semester curricular units, on the dates set by the FCH Board of Directors;
b. students undertaking their period of mobility during the second semester must enrol online in first semester curricular units, on the dates set by the FCH Board of Directors.
c. students who, on an exceptional basis, are undertaking their period of mobility for a full academic year are not required to enrol in curricular units and shall simply settle the annual enrolment fee within the set deadline.
3. For students who undertake their period of mobility in the first semester, enrolment in second semester language curricular units is dependent on the grade obtained in previous curricular units (pre-requisite) and can only be completed after publication of the respective ECTS correspondence. Enrolment in language curricular units (levels II, IV and VI) must comply with the provisions of the Regulations for Foreign Language Curricular Units..
CHAPTER V
Learning Agreement
1. The Learning Agreement is a document that binds the student and the two universities – the Sending and the Receiving institutions – and must be approved by those responsible for the mobility programme between the two institutions.
- Candidates are responsible for:
- collecting information regarding the institution they wish to attend;
- preparing a Learning Agreement to be submitted for approval by FCH’s International Relations Office which, in turn, will consult the student’s Degree Coordinator;
- submitting the Learning Agreement approved by the Sending university to the International Relations Office of the Receiving university, which must sign and affix the university’s seal to the contract.
3. The Degree Coordinators are responsible for guiding, recommending, or proposing changes to curricular units to be attended at the Receiving university.
4. Students in mobility programmes shall be informed in a timely manner of the deadline for submitting the Learning Agreement to FCH. This deadline may not be exceeded under any circumstances.
5. Any change to the Learning Agreement must be requested, in writing, to the respective International Relations Offices and Degree Coordinator, and must be authorized by both universities.
6. Should they wish to extend their stay abroad, Erasmus mobility students must put a request, in writing, to the Dean of FCH, before the end of the first semester.
CHAPTER VI
Credit Conversion
1. The process of establishing the conversion of curricular units is regulated by the decree entitled ‘Classifications Conversion Table’ (‘Tabela de Equivalências de Classificações’).
2. In order for correspondence with the recommended academic path at FCH to be met, students must attend a set of curricular units, preferably totalling 30 ECTS. Correspondence may be granted for up to 36 ECTS per semester.
3. Regardless of the number of credits awarded by the Receiving university, correspondence is awarded, as a rule, on a case by case basis for each curricular unit, with the exception of cases provided for in paragraph 5. Other exceptional requests are contingent on a positive opinion by the International Relations Office Coordinators and authorization from the FCH Board of Directors.
4. Where there is no direct correspondence with regard to the number of credits per curricular unit, that is, if the set of curricular units defined in the Learning Agreement corresponds to a number of credits smaller than that which would be obtained with the same number of curricular units undertaken at FCH, the student must select, with the help of the Degree Coordinator, one or more additional curricular units, so a balance between the sum total of credits at the Sending and Receiving universities is reached.
5. In cases where the receiving university does not allow attendance of a number of curricular units equal to FCH’s, and where assurances are given that the workload will be identical to what the student would have had at FCH, the mean of the grades obtained in the curricular units attended at the receiving university will be determined, after converting the grades of each curricular unit according to the table referred to in paragraph 1. This grade will be attributed to all curricular units for which credit conversion is obtained.
6. Additional curricular units should, preferably, focus on contents complementary to those of the curricular units for which correspondence at FCH is sought.
7. Students on mobility programmes must abide by the pre-requisite rules for Foreign Languages. As such, attendance of more than one language level per semester is not possible [see Regulations for Foreign Language Curricular Units].
8. For a smooth conversion process, students must acquaint themselves, at the beginning of the semester, with all of the assessment criteria for the curricular units they will attend at the Receiving university and take responsibility for any consequences resulting from not completing these curricular units successfully.
CHAPTER VII
Assessment and Examinations
1. During the semester in which they are in a mobility programme, students may not sit the ‘provas complementares’.
2. Students may register for up to two resit examinations (“Exames de Recurso”) for curricular units for which they would have been granted correspondence at FCH, provided that they are able to produce documentary evidence of attendance and of having failed the curricular units at the Receiving university.
3. In order to take the resit examinations referred to in the previous paragraph, students must:
a. register after having their request to do so approved;
b. settle the amount defined for re-sit examinations.
4. Elective curricular units are excluded from the provisions of paragraph 2.
5. Students may not resit exams to improve their grade for curricular units undertaken while in mobility programmes during the re-sit examinations season.
CHAPTER VIII
Fees
1. Erasmus mobility students are exempt from the payment of tuition fees, registration or enrolment fees for examinations at the Receiving university.
2. Students are not exempt from payment of tuition fees at the Sending university. The value of monthly tuition fees during the mobility period shall correspond to enrolment in 30 ECTS.
3. If, at the end of the mobility period, the number of ECTS to be transferred exceeds the 30 ECTS paid for during the mobility period, the student shall need to settle the corresponding difference.
CHAPTER IX
Certificate(s)
1. At the end of the mobility period, the Receiving university shall issue a certificate of attendance and successful completion based on the agreed learning plan, which shall itemize both the number of ECTS achieved and final individual quantitative classifications.
2. The certificate attesting to the grades obtained shall be signed either by the lecturer of the curricular unit and/or by the International Relations Office Coordinator and shall be duly authenticated by the administrative office of the Receiving university.
3. Should the certificate be sent directly to the student, the student must submit it to the FCH International Relations Office, so that the accreditation of curricular units undertaken may be carried out.
4. The International Relations Office is responsible for completing the form stating the correspondence between curricular units, in accordance with the student’s Learning Agreement. This document shall subsequently be submitted for approval by the student’s Degree Coordinator.
CHAPTER X.
Withdrawal from the Programme
1. Unless resulting from duly documented medical reasons or force majeure, withdrawal from mobility programmes is subject to the following penalties:
a. disqualification from reapplying to the programme within the same cycle of studies;
b. payment of fine for late registration in FCH curricular units;
c. payment of a fine corresponding to administrative costs incurred, in accordance with the amount annually set in the table on Tuition, Fees and Emoluments.
2. In order for the request for withdrawal from the programme to be considered, the student must:
a. meet with the relevant Degree Coordinator and the International Relations Office Coordinators, to notify them of the decision to withdraw;
b. submit a request to the Faculty’s Board of Directors, duly justifying the reasons for withdrawal.
3. Students who withdraw before completing the academic goals of the programme shall be responsible for all the implications inherent in resuming attendance at FCH.
4. Any penalties to be applied shall result from an opinion delivered by the International Relations Coordinator and shall be decided upon by the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Human Sciences.
CHAPTER XI
Free Mobility
1. Applications for one-semester free mobility programmes require the independent submission of an application by the student to the selected Receiving university;
2. This form of mobility entails the payment of tuition fees by the student at the Receiving university.
3. The student shall be responsible for taking all steps required to obtain approval of the study plan before the start of the programme, in accordance with the procedures stipulated by FCH.
CHAPTER XII
Unforeseen Cases
Any and all situations not provided for in the present regulations shall be adjudicated by the FCH Board of Directors, upon application.
Lisbon, 14 March, 2025
The Chair of the Scientific Council
Professor Nelson Costa Ribeiro