How to Apply for Exchange
Applications for exchange studies or traineeships at Oamk are free of charge. You must first be nominated by your home university. Then you have to submit your application online via our MoveON system. The link to access MoveON at Oamk will be available at the beginning of the application period. Follow the steps below and apply before the deadline.
Any questions? Feel free to contact us at incoming.students@oamk.fi but check the information below.
We held a webinar on our exchange programmes and the application to spring 2025 (2nd semester) on Thursday, 26 September 2024. See the slides for a summary. We will arrange our webinar for autumn 2025 (1st semester) on Thursday, 27 March 2025 at 1 pm Finnish time, EET, in Zoom.
Thinking of applying? Please check the steps below and then apply via MoveON:
Welcome! It’s great to know that you are interested in an exchange to our university. Have a good look at the study programmes and/or traineeships we offer for exchange students. Please write down the programme and courses to which you intend to apply. You will need the information for consulting staff at your home university as well as for your application to Oamk.
We usually receive students only during our academic terms and mobility periods. You are required to stay for the whole term or mobility period, as long as learning activities last.
Exchange student applications are governed by bilateral agreements between universities or mobility programmes like Erasmus+ and north2north.
Contact your home university’s international office for study abroad details. Exchange studies under these agreements are tuition-free.
If your home university does not have a bilateral agreement or mobility programme with Oamk and you would like to complete part of your studies through an exchange with us, you can apply as a free mover student. Admission is subject to Oamk’s resources and preference is given to students with a bilateral agreement or mobility programme, see also our admission crieria below.
Free mover students must remain enrolled at their home university and ensure that their exchange studies count towards their degree. Include a certificate of enrolment from your home university with your application.
Oamk may charge for free mover studies based on the Open University Studies fees, currently 15 EUR per credit or 300 EUR annually (1 August to 31July) for unlimited credits. Any applicable charges will be notified with the admission decision.
You need suffcient English language skills to succeed in your exchange studies or traineeship. Oamk requires English skills at a minimum B2 level based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
If you are applying as a student from one of our partner universities, we assume that you have at least the minimum level, so an official assessment or attachment to your MoveON application is not usually required.
If you are applying as a free mover student, please ask e.g. your English language teacher to assess your skills to match the CEFR B2 level. Upload this assessment with your other application documents to your MoveON application.
You must have an appropriate academic background and have completed at least one year of study at your home university before an exchange at our university. Some exchange study programmes and courses may have specific entry requirements, which are detailed under each programme or course.
For practical training or traineeships in health and social care, education etc., certain vaccinations and special requirements such as tests or a criminal record extract may be required. See the link below and “Step 4: Prepare documents and information” for more information.
You must devise a learning agreement for studies or traineeship before your mobility to regulate the accreditation or recognition of your exchange. Contact your home university to ensure your exchange studies, practical training or traineeship at Oamk will be recognised and accredited towards your degree, except if you are a recent graduate applying for an Erasmus+ traineeship. See the link below and “Step 4: Prepare documents and information” for more information.
You must be enrolled at your home university for the duration of your mobility at Oamk, except if you are a recent graduate applying for an Erasmus+ traineeship.
You must complete your exchange within the official mobility duration and timeline, as specified by Oamk and your home university.
If you have needs that require special attention and/or services in order to participate in the exchange, please contact us at incoming.students@oamk.fi.
We will do our best to ensure that appropriate services are available to support your participation in the exchange.
However, many of these services are provided by organisations outside of our university and the availability of these services may need to be checked separately.
In order to ensure the fairest and most efficient selection process, we consider the admission criteria in the following order of priority:
- Timeliness of nomination and application
- Places available in our exchange study programmes, courses, practical training or traineeships
- Previous studies, academic performance and/or relevant professional experience
- Agreement status: we give preference to students with a bilateral agreement or mobility programme over free mover students
- Interests and motivation for the exchange and the applied study programmes, courses, practical training or traineeships
- English language skills (minimum B2 level based on CEFR)
- Number of agreed student mobilities by type of mobility (studies/traineeships)
- Balance of student mobilities in previous years
- Special requirements, only if applicable. Certain vaccinations and other special requirements such as tests and a criminal record extract may be necessary for practical training or traineeships in health and social care, education etc.
You must submit your application for exchange studies or traineeships at Oamk via our MoveON system within the deadlines mentioned below.
Exchange applications cannot be processed after the deadlines given and will be automatically rejected or shifted to the next term/academic year.
Autumn (1st semester) and Academic Year:
- Nomination: 15 April
- Application: 15 March – 30 April
Spring (2nd semester):
- Nomination: 1 October
- Application: 1 September – 15 October N.B. If you are applying to the Visual Design Factory, please apply as early as possible and reserve an interview time as well. See more at “Step 4: “Prepare documents and information” > “Interview”.
Please note that you need to find and apply for accommodation separately. For information, see “Step 4: Prepare information and documents” and therein “Accommodation”.
Please ask your home university to nominate you for an exchange at Oamk well before the end of our deadline via the form below. Do not nominate yourself – your home university staff is in charge of nominations via the form below.
Let your home university know which exchange study programme you wish to apply for, or any other information, so that we can receive it and process your nomination accordingly.
- Autumn (1st semester) and Academic Year: 15 April
- Spring (2nd semester): 1 October
Once you have been nominated by your home university, you can proceed with your online application to Oamk via MoveON and your separate accommodation application to PSOAS. We will also email you on receipt of your nomination, usually just before the application period starts.
A staff member from your home university should provide your nomination via this form in as much detail as possible – this helps us to process your nomination:
Nomination form
The MoveON system will require you first to register and then apply via MoveON. You must submit the following information and documents in English – please obtain and prepare these in advance:
In your MoveON application, please provide the information required on your own part. We will ask you to provide your name, email, phone number, country of birth, nationality and emergency contacts. Your information will be processed according to general data protection regulation standards and privacy policy in Finland and Oamk.
In your MoveON application, please provide necessary information about your educational background at your home university.
In addition, mention whether you are applying for studies or a traineeship, and choose the status as either an exchange student from a partner university or as a free mover exchange student.
If you are a free mover student, also attach a recent enrolment certificate from your home university indicating that you are enrolled for the entire exchange at Oamk, and an assessment of your English language skills.
In case you need Oamk’s information for your application, see the list below. To find out who you need to contact at Oamk, please follow the links provided here.
- Name: Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk), Oulun ammattikorkeakoulu
- Erasmus code: SF OULU11
- Campuses & Services: normally not required, depends on field or exchange study programme. Linnanmaa campus, Kontinkangas campus, Oulainen campus. Our International Mobility Services and Oamk Services are located on Linnanmaa campus. Luotsi service point
- Department: depends on field or exchange study programme
- Email for mobility enquiries: incoming.students@oamk.fi
- Address: Yliopistokatu 9, wing 7C, 90570 Oulu
- Service point: Luotsi on Linnanmaa campus, see “Mobility contact and guidance”
Please get your photo as a JPG file and attach it to your MoveON application. You can take it with your mobile phone or camera. It should be in a similar format to a passport photo, but does not need to be an official passport photo.
Please obtain a scanned copy of your passport or national ID card as a PDF file and attach it to your MoveON application. Make sure it is valid as a travel document for the duration of your exchange.
Please prepare your CV as a PDF file and attach it to your MoveON application. A CV is a document that briefly (1-4 pages) includes:
- your personal and contact information
- educational, work and traineeship qualifications
- academic and/or professional skills
- language skills
- hobbies and interests
For example, a skills profile (such as Java: basic/good/intermediate/excellent) can be useful to our staff when reviewing your CV and MoveOn application.
Please devise and attach your motivation letter as a PDF file to your MoveON application. A motivation letter is a document by which you should briefly mention (1/2 A 4 page):
- your personal motivation and reasons
- academic/professional interests towards an exchange at Oamk.
Kindly mention relevant interests and skills you are already maintaining or wish to pursue during your exchange.
If you are applying to a project work, practical training, mention also your relevant work or other experience, as well as your interests in relevant educational/professional fields or project work and traineeship topics offered by or through Oamk.
If you are applying to a health and social care practical training course or traineeship, please mention your educational/professional field as well as possible special interests (e.g. maternity ward, emergency unit, therapy places, optometric measurement units etc.). This will make it easier for our academic staff to assess your application and find a suitable place at Oamk or a third party
Please consult our detailed information if you intend to apply for practical training or a traineeship in health and social care:
Please attach the most recent transcript of records (in English) from your home university as a PDF file to your MoveON application. A transcript of records is an official and certified copy of your previous studies, including (ECTS) credits and grades, if possible.
Please refer to the “Detailed learning agreement information for all applicants”. There you will find contact details for Oamk and information on the required learning agreement depending on your type of mobility (study or traineeship) and exchange framework (e.g. Erasmus+, bilateral or free mover).
In short, check our detailed information at the link provided here. Devise your learning agreement according to the mobility type and exchange framework for your MoveON application.
If possible, get your learning agreement approved by your home university. If necessary, contact your home university for advice.
In any case, upload your learning agreement (even a draft version) as a PDF file to your MoveON application by the application deadline.
We will only approve your learning agreement after you have been admitted.
Due to timetabling constraints, it is normally only possible to apply for and take part in one of the exchange study programmes offered and at one level. Please note that you can choose only a programme according to the fields covered in university agreements.
However, if courses are offered in different teaching periods (first or second half of the semester) within specific programmes and the fields are covered by university agreements, you can combine them.
You can also select common and interdisciplinary courses in addition to your programme courses. You can take courses only once during your stay at our university.
You should choose courses according to the workload requirements of your home university and the requirements of Oamk, which is usually 30 ECTS credits per semester. Traineeships and practical training courses have limited seats and ECTS credits.
In your MoveON application, please select all the courses for your studies and/or traineeship on the page titled “Exchange Studies”.
Make sure your course selection in MoveON matches the courses in your learning agreement.
Campus Online courses and online courses from other universities (max. 1-2 per semester) are only offered by mutual agreement at the beginning of the mobility.
You will find more detailed information on Oamk’s course selection in the MoveON application form and on our Studies or Traineeship website.
Audition material is only compulsory if you are applying for music or dance programmes. Audition material can consist of a video, audio recording or any other suitable item.
Please upload your audition material to your MoveON application as a PDF attachment (maximum 10Mb) with possible links to your audition material, or provide a web link.
A portfolio is only compulsory if you are applying to the Game LAB, Visual Design Factory and Journalistic LAB. We also recommend it if you are applying to dance programmes.
Please create your portfolio and upload it to your MoveON application as a PDF attachment (maximum 10 Mb), or provide a web link.
A portfolio is a documentation of examples of work that show your interests and demonstrate skills and knowledge in relevant areas.
For example, it may include documentation of:
- your previous or ongoing projects
- works of art and design
- music/dance events and recordings
- journalistic productions
- animation and graphics
- game development (in Oulu Game LAB Unity knowledge/skills are required)
- sound design
- video production
- digital publishing
- programming
- entrepreneurship, business
- education
- health and social care
- team work, etc.
An interview is only compulsory if you are applying to the Visual Design Factory. Make sure to apply via MoveON including as soon as possible. Include all required documents, especially, your motiviation letter, curriculum vitae and portfolio.
The interview for Visual Design Factory will usually take place shortly before the end or after the application deadline. It will be carried out individually by phone or other suitable tool (Zoom, Teams), and you may need to register for it, or will be notified by the interviewer.
Each interview will last approx. 15-30 min. Kindly note that the interview is given by default according to Finnish local time.
The purpose of the interview is to engage you in a conversation about your motivation, interests, knowledge and skills relevant for carrying out your exchange in multidisciplinary ways and by means of team work and individual efforts.
The interviewer will check your MoveON application and documents in advance (e.g. CV, motivation letter, transcript of records, portfolio) and direct questions to you accordingly.
You are also welcome to ask any questions you may have about the Visual Design Factory programme and the way in which it is taught.
Please find more information on the interview:
- Visual Design Factory, spring 2025
- Interviewers: primarily Aleksi Kauhanen, +358 50 436 26 09, aleksi.kauhanen@oamk.fi
and if need be Karoliina Niemelä, +358 40 141 51 51, karoliina.niemela@oamk.fi - Registration: The interviews will be in Teams on 30 October between 1 pm and 3 pm (30 min time slots, Finnish local time, EET). Please register here via MS Bookings. After your registration, you will receive an email link to Teams for your interview time slot.
The interviewer may give you informally admission at the end of your interview, but your will formally receive the admission decision from our services within approx. one month after the interview/application deadline.
You must be prepared to take out sufficient insurance cover for your exchange once you have been admitted to our university. In your application, you can either provide information about your insurance or confirm that you will arrange your insurance before you leave for Finland. Please read our information on insurance requirements and follow the instructions:
Please check our information on vaccinations and special requirements and follow any instructions given:
Please refer to our “Accommodation for Exchange Students” section and the websites of any housing provider for detailed information – below is a brief overview of accommodation for exchange students:
In Oulu, the local student housing association PSOAS runs the Routa dormitory near the Linnanmaa campus with 118 furnished apartments for Oamk exchange students.
For regular terms in all fields, as well as short-term stays in health and social care, we recommend that you apply to PSOAS for the Routa dormitory. For shorter stays or if the PSOAS quota is full, please check other housing options.
Apply separately to PSOAS for exchange student accommodation, preferably during the Oamk application period. PSOAS holds a “homerun” in early or mid-June and mid-November, where you should complete your housing application.
For PSOAS housing, you can finalise your rental agreement in late June/early July for the autumn/academic year and in late November/early December for the spring.
Rental agreements for Oamk exchange students at PSOAS are binding and have specific durations. Please contact PSOAS directly if you have any queries.
The application for spring 2025 (2nd semester) has ended on 15 October 2024. Late applications cannot be accepted.
The application for autumn 2025 (1st semester) will be from 15 March until 30 April 2025. The link to the MoveON application form will be available in this section as of 15 March 2025.
Instructions
Register first your email address with QS Unisolutions, the provider of MoveON. You can do so by first accessing the registration column on the MoveON form:
Check the technical requirements for the browser – the latest Chrome browser is recommended. The MoveON system will email you an account activation link respectively confirmation email to the address you entered. The confirmation message for the registration is sent automatically from noreply@oamk.moveon4.de with the subject “Form – Confirmation registration”.
If you are not able to receive or locate the account activation link respectively confirmation email from QS Unisolutions within a reasonable time span (30 – 60 min), please check your email spam folder and, if need be, our troubleshooting guideline:
- Check the spam folder of your email account / address with which you registered to MoveON. If you cannot locate the confirmation message there, then you may need to turn to the system administrator at your home university or your e-mail provider to find out about possible e-mail restrictions/greylist or blacklist filtering applying to the incoming mail to your e-mail account. The confirmation message for the registration is sent automatically by QS Unisolution from noreply@oamk.moveon4.de with the subject “Form – Confirmation registration”.
- Wait for some time, as there may be delays for QS Unisolution to automatically send the confirmation message to your registered e-mail account. However, based on our testing and experience with the MoveON exchange student application/registration, the confirmation messages have been sent immediately by QS Unisolutions.
- If the aforementioned measures do not yield positive results, please get back to us at incoming.students@oamk.fi, give a brief description of the encountered problem. We will then check possible solutions on our end or with QS Unisolutions. We may send you then the activation link once more.
Once you have received the activation link, confirm your email and activate your account by clicking the link in the activation email.
Please note that the link will only be valid for 24 hours! After registering you can log in to the MoveOn application form with your email address and password:
Fill in the MoveON application form with all relevant information. Please don’t use online translators such as Google Translator or equivalent tools when filling in this form – otherwise your application data will not be imported correctly and cannot be processed.
Once you have entered all relevant information to your MoveON application form, mark all the pages as complete and submit the application form. Once submitted, wait for a while, then you can download a PDF of your application:
If you will apply to Visual Design Factory, please also reserve and take part in your interview.
If you will apply for a double degree, you may need to follow a distinct application process in addition to MoveON – information will be provided as soon as possible after your nomination, at the latest after your exchange admission.
Our international academic coordinators will review all applications soon after the deadlines given. They will check your MoveON application thoroughly. If you have applied for Visual Design Factory, please also reserve and take part in your interview.
When reviewing your application, our academic coordinars will apply our admission criteria – please refer to our “Admission criteria” under “Step 1: for details on a fair and efficient selection process.
You can expect your admission decision approx. within one month after the application deadlines. If you cannot be admitted, then we will inform you as soon as possible.
We prioritise admission decisions for students from a Third Country (Non-EU/EEA/Swiss/Nordic) due to immigration matters.
If you have been admitted, we will email the admission decision on the part of our international administrative coordinators incoming.students@oamk.fi:
- For exchanges starting in the autumn by the end of May at the very latest
- For exchanges starting in the spring by the middle or end of November at the very latest
Your admission email will include the letter of acceptance and practical information about your exchange.
We will only approve and circulate your learning agreement (before the mobility) after admission as follows:
- Erasmus+ Online Learning Agreement (OLA): we will approve the confirmed OLA in our system (MoveON) after admission, and you should then be able to obtain it in the system used at your home university.
- Erasmus+ Traditional & Global Learning Agreement (LA, only if need be): we will send the confirmed LA in a separate email after admission.
- Bilateral/Free Mover Learning Agreement (LA): we will send the confirmed LA in a separate email after admission.
If you have been accepted for an exchange to Oamk, feel free to prepare your stay in more detail:
- Confirm your stay to us at Oamk (incoming.students@oamk.fi) as soon as possible by responding to your admission email.
- Arrange your mobility documentation, such as a possible grant and other related administration, with the relevant staff at your home university and with us.
- Make sure you have your learning agreement approved before your exchange. As for Oamk, we will approve your learning agreement within approx. one month after your admission.
- Consult our immigration information for Third Country (= Non-EU/EEA/Swiss/Nordic) students and follow the instructions. You will not be able to travel until you have completed your immigration formalities.
- Get the insurance cover you need for your exchange.
- Check our health care information before your exchange
- Take care of vaccination and special requirements, if applicable.
- Secure accommodation for your exchange.
- Join our welcome webinar as soon as you receive information about it. You will receive an email with your admission decision. We will share important information, have time for questions and give you tips from students and staff. We will email the slides afterwards if you cannot attend.
- Make arrangements to travel to Oamk in time for your exchange.
- Use the Goin’ application, contact your peer tutor and join our WhatsApp group once we have shared the information with you.
- Please regularly check your email with which you have applied to Oamk. We shall send follow-up emails about arriving and orientation days etc. at certain times. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us at incoming.students@oamk.fi
Please consult our exchange guide and useful links below to find out more about planning your exchange, moving to Finland, studying at Oamk and living in Oulu!
“I would say the most important thing I learned during my semester abroad is how to adapt to foreign cultures in order to live optimally in another country.
To try new things and not be afraid of unknown experiences. Just go for it.”
(Lisa Schmidt, Hochschule der Medien, Exchange at Oamk in Information Technology)