Academic mobility in A2

Students going abroad in A2 will spend a full academic year with our partners, i.e. two semesters, corresponding to 60 European credits (ECTS).
If the academic year abroad is not validated, the student will have to repeat their A2 year at a French university (there is no 2nd year course at Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA).

Allocation of places abroad

The opinions of the teachers of the method conferences and of the two compulsory languages will be taken into account for the selections. As language proficiency criteria are imposed under bilateral agreements signed with our foreign partners, and a good level of language skills is necessary for students to pass their exams abroad, the student's language level at the end of the first semester of A1 will also be taken into account.

Applications are examined on an individual and competitive basis, as there are more applications than places available for many destinations. The destination awarded after this selection process, by decision of the Research Department and the International Relations Department, is final.

Reminder of a point in the Erasmus+ regulation: 

Any student who has not completed his/her year and whose jury has decided to allow him/her to repeat the year cannot be sent abroad the following year, even if he/she has been selected in advance.

Choosing a destination
The first step towards securing a place at a university abroad is for students to express their choice of several destinations from our list of agreements. Students must enter a list of seven destinations on an online form. They may also indicate a particular motivating factor.

Academic stays abroad replace the year of study the student would have spent at Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA. Therefore, a learning agreement will be established before the student's departure, detailing the course program that will be followed at our partner university. This document will be signed by the student, the Head of Studies at Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA, and the partner university.

This academic stay is an integral part of the student's Bachelor's degree program; the courses chosen must therefore follow the main themes of a Bachelor's degree in political studies (law, economics, history, political science, sociology or international relations), and in accordance with the partnerships established between foreign universities and Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA.

Failure in a course taken abroad may be compensated by passing a supernumerary course taken on site, but not by additional work completed after the student's return from their academic stay. If the student fails to validate 60 ECTS during the year, the Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA jury will decide to repeat the year. It is therefore essential not to consider the academic stay as a simple language stay.

Selection process timetable

• An information meeting dedicated entirely to the selection process will be held in early November.
• Early December: all students receive an e-mail with their login details, enabling them to enter their cover letter and wish list online, based on the table of possible destinations.
• In January, the Pedagogical Council meets to review A1 students' results in the first semester's courses.
• Final destination assignments will be communicated before the February academic break. No appeals will be possible, except to withdraw from a project abroad and in cases of force majeure. Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA reserves the right to cancel departures to a destination deemed unsafe by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

It is imperative to respect the deadlines imposed for each stage.

All students get a destination of their choice, and all return delighted, regardless of the destination.

To validate a year of study, at Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA or abroad, you must obtain 60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System). Each semester therefore corresponds to 30 ECTS. For your exchange year, you can organize your workload by leaving a slight imbalance between the two semesters (e.g.: 28 ECTS + 32 ECTS) unless our foreign colleagues do not allow it. However, it will not be possible to overbalance your academic year because you risk not being able to cope with the workload. 
 

As you may encounter difficulties in one of your courses, we advise you to enroll in an additional 'back-up' course in an area with which you are familiar, in order to compensate for any failure in one of your other courses. However, this is not always possible, as in some countries courses are heavily credited.

Please note : In the United Kingdom, three other credit systems are used: 'CATS', 'CQFW', and 'SCQF'. These 'local' credits each correspond to ½ ECTS. For example, a 10-CATS course corresponds to 5 ECTS. You will therefore need to obtain at least 120 CATS to validate the 60 ECTS for your academic year.

As at the IEP, you need to pass the tests and exams corresponding to the course in order to obtain ECTS credits. Grading scales and types vary from country to country, but everywhere you need at least an average or a 'Pass' to validate your credits. The IR Department will validate your pass after your return to France, provided you send them your foreign transcripts as soon as they are received.

Just one address to send your statements: outgoingmobility@sciencespo-grenoble.fr!

The Directorate of Studies authorizes you to take language courses abroad. It has set the maximum number of credits that can correspond to these courses at 12 ECTS/year (if, for example, you want/can continue practicing your other modern language). Sometimes your host university will offer you paid language courses: Erasmus regulations prohibit their validation. You are, of course, free to take these courses if you wish.

Reminder : After your return, a jury will be held at the IEP to officially decide on the validation of your year abroad and therefore on your progress to A3 or possible repeat. This jury is sovereign (see below 'Pass/Fail').

Your host university will ask you to send them a list of the courses you would like to take, and then the IEP will also have to give its opinion on this list before finally making it official. Here is some information to help you compile this list.

Field of study

On this issue, the Directorate of Studies is very open-minded, considering that this year abroad is a year of openness and discovery which can allow students to approach themes sometimes not offered at Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA or, on the contrary, to already prepare an orientation towards a course. 

It is advisable to take first or second year courses on site.

List of courses

The titles, codes and ECTS of these courses must be entered by the student in an official document called 'Learning Agreement', which must be validated and signed by your academic supervisor at Sciences Po Grenoble - UGA, and sent to outgoingmobility@sciencespo-grenoble.fr before your departure.
 

You can choose the courses offered by the partner university according to the agreements made: you will find the list of these agreements in the destination table which will be sent to you once updated.
 

This list of courses "learning agreement before mobility" must be signed by the partner university, then sent to outgoingmobility@sciencespo-grenoble.fr within three weeks of the start of the courses, even if the courses have to be changed subsequently.
 

If you need to change courses once you arrive, you must complete the "during mobility" section of the learning agreement. Your choices must be validated by email by your academic advisor and returned to outgoingmobility@sciencespo-grenoble.fr, signed by the partner university.
 

To validate your mobility year, the course titles on your 'learning' and on your transcript must be identical and the ECTS must be validated.

Please note: A course change notified at the end of the year may be refused by the jury.
Please note that the Learning Agreement, even if requested at the same time as your scholarship application, is also used to validate your year abroad and not just to obtain a scholarship!

Three scenarios:
 

• You have successfully completed all exams corresponding to the courses listed on the official Learning Agreement.
• Your A2 is validated and you move on to A3.
• You have successfully completed the courses in your official Learning Agreement, but unfortunately you have not passed all your exams/tests and therefore do not earn 60 ECTS. The jury will then decide that you must repeat your A2. Please note that this repeat cannot be done at the IEP. You will therefore have to enroll in a French university of your choice. No repeating abroad.
• You have obtained 60 ECTS, but some courses do not correspond to those listed on your official Learning Agreement. In this case, the IEP jury will decide whether or not to validate these courses. In the latter case, you will have to repeat your A2 under the conditions detailed above.
   

REMINDER: In all cases, the jury is sovereign.

This is very important, because without it, you won't be eligible for Erasmus status or student social protection. What's more, your year would not be validated.
 

An early registration session will be held in mid-July to enable those who have to join their university during the summer to register. You can be represented at this session, but you cannot register by mail.
 

All students going abroad as part of an IEP exchange program must register with IEP for the year spent abroad. As such, he/she pays the usual IEP registration fees, but benefits from a waiver of registration fees at the host university.
 

Please note! In rare cases, you may also have to pay a registration fee at the host university (see the list of partner universities ).