Students' Feedback on the Dual Degree Programme with UAS Techikum Wien
Dmitrii Cherepov and Olga Dornostup, graduate students of MSc 'Business Analytics and Big Data Systems' (previously - 'Big Data Systems') share their experiences on the Dual Degree Programme with the University of Applied Sciences Techikum Wien.
Dmitrii:
The existence of a double degree program distinguishes the Big Data Systems program from other courses both at the HSE and other universities. My choice fell on Austria, University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, for several reasons: the possibility of living in the capital of one of the most developed countries in Europe, as well as studying at a renowned technical university and receiving a diploma from a member state of the European Union. Well, after meeting with other students of this program who came to study with us from Vienna, I became firmly convinced of my desire. Having passed IELTS and received confirmation of admission from the university, I received a student visa and went for 5 months to Austria!
The learning process was similar to the one in HSE: group projects, homework, and all the teachers had extensive experience in their subject area. I liked the attitude of both students and professors towards the learning process: grades do not mean much, the main thing is the knowledge that you will gain after completing the subject. The program I studied on was called Information Systems Management - an analog of HSE's Business Informatics, where one half of the subjects was aimed at an IT manager role, and the second was purely technical - artificial intelligence, big data analysis and even mobile robotics. Comparing to HSE, it felt like it became a little harder to study because both I and Olga were more technically-minded, and subjects where it was necessary to solve IT business cases were harder for us than for the colleagues who are undergraduate in this field. On the other hand, we excelled in technical subjects.
However, the most important things on this trip are the experience of living abroad, traveling and making new foreign friends, which I obtained completely! Erasmus, a non-profit organization that helps students from both the European Union and friendly countries to go on an exchange program, contributed a lot to this. Its volunteers organized meetings with foreign students, parties, graffiti courses, excursions (to the famous incinerator, film shooting locations) and much more. Because of this, I found friends with whom I still communicate and do not plan to stop. I managed to travel with them, having visited a total of 6 countries - all thanks to Vienna's position in the center of Europe, as well as the development of transport and its relatively low prices.
As a result of doing the double diploma program, I not only gained the experience of studying abroad, made new friends and traveled all over the half of Europe, but also rethought my attitude to the world and my goals for the future. This is exactly why such trips are worth doing.
Olga:
Last semester I also spent in Vienna studying at the FH “Technikum Wien. It is worth being said that until the very beginning of our study there was no exact information about whether we will get the scholarship covering the accommodation and living costs, or not. This fact somehow stopped me, but together with my family I decided to use this great opportunity to study abroad. Spoiler: in the end of the first week of studying we received the awaited letter stating that we are awarded with an Erasmus + scholarship.
Studying. Dima well described the academic process at our university in Vienna. Studying, indeed, is very similar to which we had at HSE, but fellow students are different. Austrian students seemed to me more mature, because they usually know why they visit classes and what they expect to get from this program. Most of them came for a master's degree, after getting some experience of working in the industry. In this regard, it was not a surprise that we were the youngest students on our master's program :)
Living. We lived in an apartment-type dormitory close to the university and in 20 minutes from the city center by foot (by the way, in comparison to Moscow, everything in Vienna is within a walking distance). As far as I understood, our dormitory was one of the largest, since it has everything, ranging from music, games and party rooms to the gym, roof with a panoramic view and sauna. Unlike Russia, in Austria there are some originations, independent from the universities, which offer accommodations for students. It also means that students must think about the place for a living by themselves and in advance. Tip: try to apply for a dormitory right after receiving an invitation from the university, because the demand for these places is high.
Nutrition. Of course, there is no traditional Russian “grechka” can be found in supermarkets, but there are a lot of small Russian shops around Vienna with all our usual products. There we bought all the needed ingredients for preparing the “Olivie” salad and Russian thin pancakes to the “International dinner” event at the university. By the way, our Russian table was one of the most popular among the international students, because everyone was surprised with such a sweet taste and unusual consistency of the condensed milk.
Leisure time. Austria is situated in a very favorable geographical position for traveling around Europe and we actively used this property. I have added several more items to my list of visited countries and cities. By the way, it is funny that half of them start with letter “B”: Budapest, Brno, Barcelona, Bratislava. The guys from the international organization ESN (Erasmus Student Network) organized trips to different cities of Austria, to Alps and to the neighboring countries almost every weekend. But on the weekdays we visited museums, Vienna Opera, we painted public walls along the banks of the Danube river, walked along the sewer canals of Vienna (there is an excursion organized to the places of the shooting of the movie “The Third Man” in Vienna), and just enjoyed our living in a beautiful European city.
Instead of a conclusion. These six months gave me an unforgettable experience and impressions. These six months were the most interesting and intense in my life. These six months gave me new interesting acquaintances and friends all around the world. And, finally, during these six months I was taken out of my comfort zone.