Erasmus Exchange Programs | Department of History

Over the years, the Department of History has established Erasmus exchange programs with many prestigious universities in Europe and beyond. We encourage our students to take advantage of these unique opportunities to establish professional contacts with professors and peers at different institutions, take classes and gain perspectives not offered at CEU, and acquire language skills.

This being said, we consider applying for an Erasmus exchange a privilege. Students who have successfully demonstrated that they need to study abroad, acquire a new research language, and more important, who are in good academic standing at CEU are encouraged to apply. In short, the Erasmus Mundus exchange status is subject to eligibility and merit.

Moreover, since students will be gone on an exchange for at least a semester or up to an entire year, a good deal of preparatory work has to be completed well in advance to ensure the success of a particular project. A student's application for the exchange will be considered by a committee consisting of that student's advisor, the 2 YR MA Program Director or the PhD Program Director, the Department Head, and the CEU Erasmus coordinator.

Below are helpful pieces of information, deadlines, and guidelines that students must take into consideration in order to apply successfully for an Erasmus exchange:

Eligibility:

Only 2YR MA and PhD students are eligible to apply for Erasmus exchanges.
2 YR MA students have the option of going abroad on an exchange only during their second year, Fall Semester. In exceptional cases, the committee will consider the applications of students who want to study for an entire year abroad depending on whether the host institution has no objections, the candidate's successful demonstration of why this is necessary for his/her academic goals in his/her proposal, and the student's academic record in the Department. Going abroad for a full academic year will also prolong the overall study period accordingly, i.e., students will have to "stop the clock" at CEU.
PhD Students can go on this exchange only after they have successfully completed their course work in the first year here at CEU and passed their preliminary exams and PhD proposal defense.

Procedure:

Students interested in applying for an Erasmus exchange the next academic year must write a statement of purpose addressing: 1. why they need to study abroad at the particular university of their choice; 2. how particular classes and specialists at the host institution will contribute to their intellectual horizons; 3. how they will meet the overall program requirements given that they will leave CEU during the Erasmus exchange period; 4. how they will address their thesis writing goals in their absence; 5. if one of the main purposes for studying abroad is language acquisition, students also need to detail how the particular language they plan to study abroad is crucial for completing their degrees at CEU and how they plan on studying that language abroad.
This statement is due on 1 February for students interested in participating in the exchange the following academic year, and this statement must also be accompanied by a letter form the student's advisor stating her/his approval and why studying abroad is important for the student to achieve her/his academic goals. It is the student's responsibility to inform the advisor of this letter well in advance of the deadline.
It is the student's responsibility to plan ahead and map out a feasible plan with her/his advisor and the 2 YR MA Program Director or PhD Director to fulfill all program requirements the s/he will miss while studying abroad on an Erasmus exchange. This is particularly important for the thesis writing seminars. While the Department will be somewhat flexible in order to ensure that the student has a fruitful experience abroad, a feasible working plan must be conceived well before leaving for the host country.
Semester dates of different universities often conflict. Therefore, in addition to providing the committee with a statement of purpose, a list of proposed classes, etc., a student must also mention the host university's academic calendar in her/his statement, and if there is a conflict, s/he must discuss how to address it.
2 YR MA students who want to study for an entire year abroad must suspend their stipends for a year and use their second year stipend upon their return in their third year.

Participating Institutions

Note: The agreements below are with Central European Unversity, Budapest (KEE). Due to the transition of our degree programs to Vienna, we are currently in the process of signing new agreements, valid for CEU Vienna - Private University. Students, who are considering an Erasmus exchange are encouraged to contact the head of department about current options.

University of Vienna / Universität Wien

Augsburg Univesity / Universität Augsburg

Ruhr University Bochum / Ruhr-Universität Bochum

University of Konstanz / Universität Konstanz

University of Regensburg / Universität Regensburg

Pantheon-Sorbonne University / Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

University of Macedonia / Panepistímio Makedonías

University of Rijeka / Sveučilište u Rijeci

Utrecht University / Universiteit Utrecht

University of Gdańsk / Uniwersytet Gdański

Bogazici University / Boğaziçi Üniversitesi

Istanbul Bilgi University / İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi