Greetings from Poland full of snow!

Was it worth moving to Sweden? If I had a chance would I choose LiU again? Well… since I did my bachelor’s and applied for a master’s again I think the answer might be rather simple to guess. But since you maybe wonder if you should choose LiU? If you should apply for studies in Sweden or not here comes a small compilation of 5 things that I like about LiU and 4 that I perhaps don’t enjoy much. But please keep in mind that it’s only my experience and since the time I arrived here, some things might have changed.

I like:

  1. The practicality of the studies – I’m generally amazed at how much effort is put into the practical use of our knowledge at LiU. We have a lot of projects and assignments where we have to use what we have learned during lectures. In my programme, we always have a semester-long project where we, for example, were developing an assay kit for prostate cancer or we were writing a full project description for a clinical trial study. But it’s not only the case, in my programme. The Industrial Engineering programme has a project where a group of students works with a real company to solve some kind of their problem. They do it before the thesis so it’s a great opportunity to practice everything they have learnt! To my knowledge, other programmes also have a lot of labs and practical work so it is definitely advantageous in my opinion!
  2. Teamwork – it ties up with the previous point to a certain extent. The majority of the assignments are done in a group. They vary in size; it may be 2 people or 10 people but it’s rather rare that you do individual assignments. They happen as well (in my programme) but not so often. I remember that when I came to Sweden I really did not work in groups before so it was hard in the beginning but later on I actually started appreciating group work. Also, it a lot depends on with whom you end up in a group but usually it works in the end. And it’s always nice to exchange ideas because the way how somebody approaches a problem is so different for everybody – great learning experience!
  3. Friendly atmosphere – my mind was blown away when my professors started introducing themselves by their first names. There is not much hierarchy and you can just approach your lecturers via email or after a lecture and ask about anything. It creates a very pleasant atmosphere where you are not afraid to ask questions and you are not stressed about every day at university. You want to go there because it’s just nice and you know you will learn something. Also, as I just said we do a lot of teamwork but exams in the end are individual. In the relation to that what I also like is that the depth of your studies depends on you. Of course, you need to pass every subject so you need to have the required knowledge but then how many details you want to know is up to you. For example, I’m interested in immunology and microbiology so after discussing it with my teacher I joined another course that was for master students aside from my studies. I also had a classmate that joined a lab of one research group because she was greatly interested in the subject. So, you just need to be active and show interest and you will have multiple opportunities!
  4. Easy communication in English – well… there is not much more to say about it other than you can easily communicate in English at the university. Currently, the student unions with the university also make more effort to the inclusion of international students so the lack of Swedish shouldn’t be a problem (but it’s always worth studying it if you plan to stay in Sweden).
  5. Not much bureaucracy – the application process is simple and clear, registration at LiU is simple and clear, and administration during your studies is simple and clear. There is really not much to worry about just follow a few deadlines and that’s all!

I dislike:

  1. Multiple apps – let’s start by saying that I’m not a tech person 😀 That will perhaps clear out why I dislike the fact that you perhaps should have the LiU app, Mecenat, Studentkortet, ISIC and maybe something else (I just use those 4). Remember that the LiU app is optional! Others as well but if you want to get student discounts you need them.
  2. The size of Linköping – I lived for some time in a city 10 times larger than Linkoping. Don’t get me wrong, Linkoping is large enough but I personally like larger cities a bit more.
  3. Not many science clubs – in Poland, it is very popular to have science clubs at university but not so much here to my knowledge. There is one biology-related organisation called iGEM which I was part of last year. It was a great experience! I think it may come from my mindset that I expected it but it’s not there. Nevertheless, you can still do subject-related things apart from your studies! Just look at point 3 in what I like because I think it is somewhat the substitute for the science clubs.
  4. It’s rather what I regret doing – application in the national round. As I’m a European student I had an opportunity to apply in the national round which I did. However, at that time I wasn’t aware that it wasn’t the best idea. You can still do it! But here is a tip for all Europeans applying in the national round. You are somewhat treated as a Swedish student so you need to check for a lot of information by yourself. Don’t let that discourage you – on the LiU website you can find really everything you need! And always you can contact the info centre or our Instagram (email below) to ask about anything.

As I said in the beginning, it is my experience here and everybody can perceive things differently. But I hope you’re close to deciding regarding your programme and university. Remember that this academic year, the application closes on the 16th of January 2023 for autumn 2023.

Hej då!

/Alexandra, Experimental and Medical Biosciences

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