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DURING YOUR MOBILITY

CATÓLICA-LISBON currently has bilateral agreements with over 140 schools worldwide, carefully selecting top institutions in each country. Many of our partner schools have international credentials such as EQUIS, AACSB, and/or AMBA accreditation.

Each year, we welcome a growing number of incoming exchange students from our partner schools, while also strongly encouraging our full-time Undergraduate and Master students to go abroad on exchange semester or year.

As an exchange student at CATÓLICA-LISBON, you can expect an interactive learning environment with an international student body and faculty. Nestled in one of Europe's most desirable capitals, our city provides a vibrant backdrop for your academic experience.

To ensure your Exchange at CATÓLICA-LISBON runs as smoothly as possible, the International Office Team has compiled a comprehensive list of Academic Information to guide you throughout your mobility period.

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MyExchange Portal is an essential tool for incoming students; by loggin-in with their student credentials, exchange students will have access to their Acceptance Letter, Certificate of Arrival and Departure, and Transcript of Records.

Academic Calendar

The Academic Calendar allows you to organize yourself during your stay in Portugal.

  • Consult the Undergraduate Academic Calendar here.
  • Consult the Master of Science Academic Calendar here.

Course Workload

There is no minimum workload per semester established for exchange students. However, students must be enrolled at least in one course per semester or one course in each trimester.

30 ECTS is the normal semester workload for a CATÓLICA-LISBON Undergraduate student, and 28 ECTS for a Master student. Exchange students, however, should follow their home Universities guidelines.

The maximum workload per semester for an exchange student is 33 ECTS, including an optional and paid Portuguese Language course.

 

Undergraduate Students:

28.5 ECTS in regular courses + 4.5 ECTS in the extensive language course.

or

30 ECTS in regular courses + 1.5 ECTS in the intensive language course.

 

Master Students:

28 ECTS in regular courses + 4.5 ECTS in an extensive language course.

or

28 ECTS in regular courses + 1.5 ECTS in the intensive language course.

 

To help you select the courses you will attend during your exchange, the Student Affairs Teams makes available an up-to-date list of courses before every semester:

 Undergraduate Course Catalogue Master Course Catalogue

 

Course enrollment

The Online Course Selection is made through one of CATÓLICA-LISBON’s platforms: dates and instructions will be sent by e-mail in due time. Students should use their Personal Area Access (student number) to enter this platform.

After the course selection procedures are complete you will be able to access the list of courses in which you are enrolled in and your final schedule for the semester.

Course enrollment is made on a “first-come, first-served” basis, which means we cannot guarantee slots in courses. To ensure a smooth process, we recommend having contingency plans (plan B, plan C) with alternative courses for enrollment

Course changing period

During the course-changing period, students can make adjustments to their enrollment (add or drop courses, change sections). Dates will be confirmed before the beginning of classes.

Enrollment checklist:

  • Based on the course’s syllabi, create a shortlist of courses you would be interested in. Prepare for a range of scenarios, since enrollment is conditional on available slots. To ensure a smooth process, we recommend having contingency plans (plan B, plan C) with alternative courses for enrollment;
  • Check course’s schedules when selecting your courses. If a course schedule does not allow you to attend all classes, do not enroll in that course. Check syllabi for course-specific rules regarding attendance and participation;
  • Check the exams schedules available online. There may be two or more exams scheduled for the same day. Plan your enrollment accordingly;
  • Check courses’ pre-requisites (included in the syllabi).

Portuguese Language Course

The Portuguese Language Course for exchange students is a paid course provided by the Faculty of Human Sciences. It aims to enable students to tackle the most important daily situations and to get to know Portuguese culture and traditions.

The course is offered every semester, starting at the beginning of September and February.

The ECTS for language courses will be credited only to those students who pass the final exam. Kindly be aware that the ECTS from the Portuguese Language course will count for the total of ECTS you can take at CATÓLICA-LISBON.

 

Learning Agreement

  • There is no deadline for students to deliver their Learning Agreement (optional), so they should comply with their Home Universities’ guidelines;
  • Note that even if we sign your Learning Agreement before the Course Enrollment day, this does not guarantee you a slot in the designated courses;
  • Students will only be sure of their finalized study plan upon the course enrollment  & course changing period. If needed, an updated Learning Agreement should be issued at that time;
  • CATÓLICA-LISBON works with Online Learning Agreement (OLA). In case students need to write down the Component Code for their courses, they can use 000 or contact the International Office team if that is a mandatory procedure for their Home Institutions;
  • If you are having trouble filling out your OLA note that there are video tutorials available at the official Online Learning Agreement: video tutorials playlist on YouTube, where you can learn how to log-in, create and make changes to your Online Learning Agreement.

Certificate of arrival

Certificates will be made available at MyExchange Portal upon the student's arrival/departure; these Certificates are issued based on CATÓLICA-LISBON’s own template.

In case students arrive after the Welcome Day they should contact the Incoming Coordination.

Absence Justification

Absence justifications will only be accepted if you provide evidence of absence.

The Absence Form should be submitted within two days after the date of the class. If necessary, the substantiation documents can be provided later, but always within five working days after the date of the class. At the end of this time period, the absence justification will be automatically declared invalid.


Conditions

Absences due to student’s serious illness or injury, or death of an immediate relative, can be justified using the Absence Form that should be submitted along with an evidence of absence. This evidence should be one of the following documents:

  • Signed and stamped declaration issued by the competent healthcare authority: hospital or healthcare center of the National Health Service.
  • Death certificate issued by a funerary agency.

Contact hours

Please note that 1 ECTS-credit point stands for close to 6 contact hours and an estimated workload of around 25 to 30 hours. To determine the number of contact hours of a course, the process should be as follows:

Number of hours of a class per week  X  Number of weeks the class takes place

For example, for a Master student, a 3.5 ECTS course equates to 3 hours of class per week, and because it is a trimester course, it runs for 6 weeks, therefore, 3 x 6 = 18 contact hours. 

However, for an Undergraduate student, 7 ECTS course equates to 4.5 hours of class per week, and being a semester-long course, it runs for 12 weeks, therefore, 4.5 x 12 = 54 contact hours.


Course grading

Average grade obtained during the course period is less than 8 values: student is excluded (failed).

Average grade obtained during the course period is between 8-9.5 values: student is required to go to the final exam.

Average grade obtained during the course period is above 9.5 values: student is approved.

Any deviations from these rules need to be explicitly written in the syllabus.

Long Distance Exams

In case of overlapping academic calendars or proven illness, CATÓLICA-LISBON may allow the performance of long-distance exams, either sending CATÓLICA-LISBON’s exams to be supervised at the Partner Universities or invigilating exams from Partner Universities.

The performance of exams abroad is dependent on the approval of the Academic Direction, Professor of the course and Partner University.


Students applying for a Long-Distance Exam should submit the following form, and the International Office and Student Affairs teams will analyze their request internally. 

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