1 Viewpoint of Portas do Sol overlooking the Alfama district in Lisbon

Nova SBE – Lisbon, Portugal

SPRING SEMESTER 2017

EXCHANGE REPORT

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Table of contents

1. Preparing for the exchange 2

2. Exchange studies 2

3. Free time and other information 6

a. Accommodation 6

b. Cost of living 7

c. Free time 7

d. City & culture 7

e. Travelling in Portugal & around 8

4. Final comments 9

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1. Preparing for the exchange As an Erasmus student, the documents needed beforehand were the Application for the Erasmus grant for Aalto and the Learning Agreement. Furthermore, I had to do a language test on the language of the teaching. Nova SBE sent an acceptance letter for the spring semester at the end of October. In November, I had to fill in an online data form with basic information, and upload a scanned photo of my passport. I also emailed a scanned version of the Learning Agreement, and got a signed version from Nova within a few days. When arriving to Nova, I had to submit a signed Terms and Conditions. As an EU citizen, no visa issues had to be handled. So, the paperwork was overall extremely easy. As for insurance, the European Health Insurance Card provides the same public health care the locals have but in addition to that, I got a private travel insurance covering both health care and luggage. Notice, that normally travel insurances cover trips maximum of 3 months, so you will probably need to buy an extended insurance. I arrived to Lisbon at the end of January with TAP, and paid 82€ for a one-way direct flight including 1 piece of luggage, which was a really good deal. I booked the flight early in advance before even knowing the exact date I would start my studies because I found the cheap flight, but the date was actually a good choice. I think it’s good to arrive at the beginning of February the latest, as then starts most of the Erasmus events. Nova organised a Welcome Day on February 9th and classes started on the 14th. This schedule was for undergraduate students, as for masters the classes already started in the beginning of February. The welcome day wasn’t super useful, as most of the information was already covered in the Welcome Guide Nova sent at the end of November.

2. Exchange studies Nova SBE building is located in Sao Sebastiao, on the blue metro line, 5 stops from the city centre (Baixa-Chiado). The law faculty and information management school are located in the same campus. However, they are building a new campus in Carcavelos, a smaller city outside of Lisbon by the sea, that’s scheduled to be ready in 2018. The train ride from Lisbon centre to Carcavelos is around 30 minutes. The courses in the spring semester started on February 14th for undergraduate students and ended on May 19th. Exam period was from May 29th to June 19th and resit exams until July 4th. There is no official orientation period in addition to the welcome day on February 9th, but the many Erasmus organisations in Lisbon and Nova’s student union organises different events starting from the beginning of February.

2 Nova SBE campus in Sao Sebastiao

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Undergraduate course enrolment was on December 8th to 13th via an online application where I just had to click on the courses I wanted. The application was not first come first served as it has previously been, but apparently, everyone got the courses they wanted. Before choosing the courses, you got to know the lecture times and exam dates. Only one exam is allowed per day. Unfortunately, they didn’t tell the time slots for practical classes, so I couldn’t completely choose my weekly schedule. There was to changing periods for courses and in the later one I chose to change one course as it turned out to be a lot of work (Industrial Organisation). Undergraduate courses were all 7,5 ECTS courses (with few 4 ECTS courses) and lasted for the whole semester. Each course has 2 x 1,5h theoretical lectures and 1 x 1,5h practical class per week. Practical classes consisted of about 30 students each, and some courses gave the opportunity to change practical class according to your schedule. Nova also offers a 3 ECTS Portuguese language course held on another Nova campus close by, but I chose not to attend that because of the mandatory attendance. The course selection for undergraduates was a bit limited, as it is possible to take either management or economics track. From other subjects, they only had some introductory courses on undergraduate level. You should check the prerequisites each course has. I chose to study mainly management courses. All courses were offered in English, some had to different versions, one in English and one in Portuguese. All the classes I took had quite a lot, maybe 20-40% exchange students. All courses had a Moodle page where material was provided and where we turned in assignments. Attendance was not mandatory in any of the courses I took, but some had attendance counting for a certain percentage of course evaluation, varying between 5% and 15%. Also, some courses didn’t provide much material from the lectures, so for those it was more useful to attend the classes. Overall, in the undergraduate classes it’s fairly free to choose whether to attend the classes or not. I took the following courses:

International management 1211 UG 7.5 ECTS Lecturer: professor Milton de Sousa for theoretical classes and teaching assistant Manuel Ventura for practical classes Evaluation: 70% theoretical Of which 50% final exam and 20% business and society case (group work) 30% practical

Of which 25% internationalization report and presentation (group work) and 5% participation

Theoretical classes focused on how to manage international companies and we mainly talked about different company examples. Lecturer was interesting, but didn’t give much new content to the slides. On the theoretical part, we had a business and society case in a group of 5, where we had to write a 7-page report of an international company making a big change, for example merger, acquisition, market entry or launch of a new product. We chose to write about Nokia’s acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent. This case was fairly easy and didn’t require much effort. Exam consisted of 15 multiple choice questions (20%) and two small essays (40% each). Practical classes focused heavily around the internationalization report, as every class covered a topic we had to write in the report, for example value chains, country analysis or international marketing strategies. The report itself was the biggest assignment of the course. Some of these

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topics were familiar from the entrance exam or Principles of Management from Aalto’s first-year courses. At the end of each practical we had a short group discussion. Slides from the practical classes very much covered everything discussed on each session. Attendance was not mandatory, but it accounted for 5% of practical part of the evaluation. The report was max 15 pages in the same group as the case study. Groups were divided by the teaching assistant. I didn’t think I learned that much new topics on this course, and therefore didn’t think it was very useful. However, due to its low effort it’s a good choice for someone looking for easy credits.

Global business environment 1212 UG 7.5 ECTS Lecturer: professor Luís Brites Pereira for theoretical classes and teaching assistant Milton Figueira for practical classes Evaluation: 50% final exam (open-book) 10% readings discussion presentation (in groups of 2) 15 % analytical essay (individual) 25% business report and presentation (in groups of 5) The course is a second-year compulsory management course covering quite broad topics such as different political systems, cultural and ethical differences, foreign direct investment, monetary policy, and so on, following very closely to the course book Global Business Today. The professor is the former foreign minister of Portugal, giving an interesting touch to the topics. He does not post the lecture slides online, but an older version of them is circulating among the students as well as lecture notes from previous years (ask the locals). Practical classes follow the topics of the lectures, and at every practical there are groups of 2 presenting different articles about the topic. The topics are very interesting and current, but this course required a bit more work than for example International management. As for the assignments, the analytical exam was the very first thing on the course. This is the first course that teaches the local students how to write essays, the first 5 lectures were about analysing articles and writing, and then you had to show your skills in the 2000-word essay. So, for an Aalto student used to writing, this is quite easy. Readings discussion included presenting one article on a practical class and then asking questions about another group’s presentation. Business report included making a strategy of relocating an existing company to another country (10-ish page report) and then presenting it to “potential investors”. Exam was open-book (all hard-copy material was allowed), and we had to write one essay about the US-Germany trade deficit and reasons behind it using an article given. There was no mandatory attendance for lectures except for minimum attendance of 50% in practical classes. I think the course was useful to deepen my knowledge of these macro-subjects and phenomena in the world. Not too much work, but not the easiest one either. Essay in the exam was more challenging than I expected.

Information systems 1208 UG 7.5 ECTS Lecturer: professor Paulo Faroleiro for theoretical classes and teaching assistant Tatiana Pereira for practical classes.

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Evaluation: 50% final exam 20% group project (in groups of 5) 15% Moodle quizzes 15% in-class participation (10% from theoretical classes, 5% from practical classes) Theoretical classes followed the chapters of the book Management Information Systems (pdf on Google) with very self-explanatory slides, so attendance wasn’t necessary. The professor is very enthusiastic but unfortunately doesn’t bring much new to the slide content. The subjects covered on the course are for example different types of computing, information systems and enterprise applications, management concerns to IT, ethical questions, e-commerce and IT infrastructure. The subjects are very interesting and useful knowledge for a business student. Unfortunately, they are taught on a very conceptual level only, focusing on definitions. The Moodle quizzes appeared quite randomly, once or twice a week. They were not super long or difficult, but required some effort and familiarity with the topic of the week. The final project was to design an app or other user interface for an existing company. We had to interview target users, create user personas based on them, plan a sitemap for the app, make paper prototypes and usability testing, and describe how it supports the business processes. Making the actual app was not mandatory but in our opinion the most interesting part of the project. The final exam consisted of multiple choice and correct/incorrect questions, two mini essays (you could choose two questions from a list of six) and one business case about the systems required when starting a new company. The course topic was interesting and useful but as I said, the execution needs some improvements. I would have hoped for more concrete and technical topics and less definitions, lists and tables.

European law 1208 UG 7.5 ECTS Lecturer: professor Leonor Rossi for theoretical classes and teaching assistant Patricia Vinagre e Silva for practical classes. Evaluation: 60% final exam 30% midterm exam 10% practical classes (attendance and participation) This course was by far the most interesting and motivating but also the most interesting course I had at Nova. The professor was extremely enthusiastic and about the subject and made even the most boring subjects super interesting. She told stories, gave examples and truly made an effort to motivate us. I attended every class I could. We learned about EU institutions, different types of legislation, free movement of goods, entering and exiting the union, and access to EU documents. Course was based on case-law so we read a lot of European Court of Justice judgements together with the EU treaty. You could take both the cases and the treaty to the exams, which you really should do – the exams are all about them. The cases are quite hard to understand, which is also why I decided to go to classes. Professor Rossi’s slides are also a bit cryptic. So again, lectures are worth going. The practical classes focused on access to documents and cases related to it and practical class content was also covered in the exam. Midterm exam had 6 questions and final exam 12, both of which were broad multiple choice questions about the cases, and you had to justify your answer. All in all, the course seemed hard in the beginning but the exams were easy to pass if you were on the classes and have an overview about the cases and their main point to the development of EU law. I would highly recommend this course if you don’t mind the small extra effort to get a truly

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interesting course. The course was more useful than I thought as I now truly understand how EU law works and affects businesses in the union.

3. Free time and other information

Accommodation

Lisbon has a wide selection of rooms for rent. Nova provided some offers that I didn’t much notice, but heard afterwards that they were actually really nice apartments. Many exchange students book a room through Uniplaces.com, so did I. I booked my room quite early on and found a nice room in Baixa close to Rossio square with 3 flatmates. I paid 430€ per month including bills, which is quite a good price for the location. I shared a bathroom with one girl, as two of the rooms had their own bathrooms. The apartment was a bit small but had everything I needed, and it was just as in the pictures. The landlord rents the apartment out via Erasmus Life Housing from now on, so you can ask for the apartment on Rua dos Sapateiros 207 with a landlord named Miguel. In general, rooms in shared apartments are 350-500€ a month, so quite expensive compared to the overall price level in Lisbon. You can get an apartment cheaper, but then you might have to share it with a lot of people and/or live far from the city centre. I would advise you to book a room beforehand, because the demand for rooms is really high in the beginning of the semester. This of course comes with a risk because you can’t know for sure what you’re renting. Therefore, you should try to find a verified apartment. Another option is to join Erasmus Lisbon Facebook groups where many exchange students look for flatmates in

apartments they’re already living. Check carefully if the rent includes the bills or a cleaning service. Apartments are quite cold and humid particularly in the winter so look for a room that has heating, or buy a small heater from a previous exchange student. I really loved Baixa as a neighbourhood, because it’s close to everything, has 3 metro stations nearby (Baixa-Chiado, Rossio and Restauradores) and the area is very beautiful. Downsides are a large number of tourists particularly in the summer and the high rents. Areas I would recommend to live are areas around the blue metro line (Baixa, Chiado, Alfama if not too north-west, Avenida, Marques de Pombal and Sao Sebastiao). Also, Saldanha and Principe Real are good for someone studying at Nova. I would not move to Martim Moniz or Intendente, as they can be a bit sketchy to walk alone at night. However, that’s only a personal opinion as some people really like the areas. You could compare them to Kurvi in Helsinki.

3 Overview of downtown Lisbon from viewpoint of Senhora do Monte (a must see!)

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Cost of living Apartment costs aside, the cost of living is very affordable compared to Helsinki. Food and drinks are very cheap, both in the grocery store and in restaurants/bars. I did not have to pay any fees or buy books for the studies. I borrowed one book from the library and made a copy of it in the campus copy shop for about 6€. Clothes and accessories are also somewhat cheaper than in Finland. However, prices are going up in the city because the number of tourists is increasing year by year. To get a Portuguese SIM card, the easiest way is to buy the membership card of either ELL or ESN, because they offer a cheap SIM card as well. The card costs 11€ a month including calls, texts, 1 gb of data and free usage of social media and messaging apps. To give more idea about the price level, below are some average prices.

Rent 350-500€

Monthly card in the public transport: 36,20€

SIM card 11€/month

Cup of coffee (espresso) 0,60€

Loaf of bread 1,50€

Bottle of wine 2€ (grocery store) and 10€ (restaurant)

Beer 0,60€ (grocery store) and 1,5€ (bar)

Uber/Cabify from the airport to downtown 8€ and within downtown 3-4€

Free time In the beginning, the easiest way to get to know the new city and other exchange students is to participate in Erasmus events. There are multiple different organisations: ESN Lisboa, Erasmus Life Lisboa (ELL), TIAB Events and Nova SU. You should follow their pages on Facebook to keep up-to-date. ESN and ELL have membership cards that give discounts and free entrance to clubs. I got both cards, but preferred the events by ELL. Especially the free walking tours ELL organises were a good way to get to know the city and meet new people. They also have trips to different cities and sights in Portugal. If you’re in Portugal for the spring semester, I wouldn’t miss out the trip to the city of Torres Verdas, where they have a huge carnival in March. The district of Bairro Alto in Lisbon is the place to go on the evenings. The narrow streets fill with people no matter what day it is to meet friends, drink cheap beer and enjoy the warm Lisbon nights. A quiet residential area during the day, but when the evening comes, every door and window is a bar. For Erasmus students, the meeting place is Erasmus Corner, in the corner of Travessa da Cara and Rua do Teixeira. After Bairro Alto, you can continue to clubs either on Pink Street (Rua Nova do Carvalho, literally a pink street) or next to the river near Cais do Sodre. All in all, Lisbon has a great nightlife, if that’s what you’re looking for.

City & culture As a city, Lisbon is a great combination of buzz of a big city, nature, and beach. There is something happening every night as Portuguese people love to eat out and go for drinks even on weekdays. Even though the city is similar to Helsinki in terms of size, Lisbon feels a lot bigger. Still, the city is compact enough to walk around, although the number of hills makes it quite a workout. Lisbon is called “the city of seven hills”, and you can definitely feel it: uphills and staircases everywhere. This makes Lisbon also very beautiful because it has a lot of beautiful viewpoints (miradouros). My favourite ones are Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, Portas do Sol and Santa Catarina.

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Lisbon is also great if you like the beach and surfing. Portugal is the best surf country in Europe, and classes for beginners start from 10€ onwards. Nearest big beach to Lisbon is in Carcavelos, 30-minute train ride away. In the spring, beach weather starts around the end of March. For weather, Lisbon is warm and beautiful in the spring/summer and cold and rainy in the winter. When I arrived in the end of January, it rained for a week straight, so the best things to have are rainboots, raincoat and an umbrella. The temperature until March is around 15 degrees with cold wind from the Atlantic. Inside is cold as well because of lack of insulation and heating. This spring, the warm weather (above 20 degrees) started in the beginning of March with a few rainy days and actual heat (above 25 degrees) in April. I was told that usually also March and April are quite rainy, but this year the spring was quite nice and dry. Proper summer weather, around 30 degrees or up, lasts at least from April to October. Heat wave in June made the temperature climb up to 40 which was a bit too much. Still, the weather even in summer can be unpredictable and nights can be cold. One thing to know in Lisbon is the high number of pickpockets and tourist traps. During my half-year, my phone got stolen, someone broke into my rental car and stole my bag, and I was charged way too much in a restaurant. This can happen anywhere, of course, but you should be careful with your bag, not leave anything inside cars, check restaurants on Zomato or Tripadvisor beforehand and try to seem as local as possible. Taxis will try to charge too much especially to and from the airport, so use Uber instead. Culturally, the Portuguese people are quite different from Finns but not as much as you would think. They are more used to small talk, are more relaxed and hurry less. Be prepared for waiting almost everywhere: restaurants, cafés, grocery store queues, for busses, you name it. Everything happens 10-ish minutes late. It is annoying, but you get used to it really fast. It’s a great way to learn some patience and chill attitude. When meeting new people or old friends, you always greet with two kisses on the cheeks. Portuguese people are very open and ready to help whenever you need it, but still more reserved than for example Spanish. Young people speak generally super good English (especially Nova SBE students), older people not so well. I didn’t study any Portuguese but I learned enough to order food or coffee and talk with the grocery store cashier or Uber driver and I managed just fine. Portugal has a similar small-country syndrome as Finland: they are very proud of their own heritage and become very annoyed if you mix them up with the bigger neighbouring country. Do not say gracias, you will get mean looks.

Travelling in Portugal & around Travelling in Portugal is easy and relatively affordable. During my semester, I travelled within Portugal to Porto, Coimbra, Ericeira, Sesimbra and Algarve. Porto is a beautiful old city on the northern part of the country with a lot of sights and of course the port wine cellars. You can get there by plane (Ryanair tickets start from 10€ one-way), train (around 40€ but much faster) or bus (30-ish €). Coimbra is a smaller city with a very old and strong student culture. You can see university students with Harry Potter style capes everywhere. There’s also a big student party in Coimbra every spring. Busses from Lisbon cost 20€ there and back. Ericeira is a beautiful seaside city famous for surfing. Sesimbra area, south from Lisbon, has amazing beaches as well (check Praia do Ribeiro do Cavalo). Algarve is the whole southernmost part of Portugal with many holiday cities, such as Portimao, Lagos and Albufeira, with beautiful beaches and vivid nightlife. The Azores is a group of volcanic islands in the Atlantic, and Ryanair flies to the largest island, Sao Miguel. I highly recommend going there as the nature is just breath-taking. It’s a perfect place for a more relaxed nature holiday. Renting a car is necessary as there is barely any public transport in the

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island. I would describe Sao Miguel as a greener and slightly warmer version of Iceland. For a great 4-day plan in Sao Miguel you should check http://www.geekyexplorer.com/sao-miguel-island-in-4-days/. I spent my spring break in Barcelona. People also travelled to Madrid, Sevilla, Morocco, Paris and so on. From Lisbon it’s quite easy to fly to central Europe as low-cost companies (Transavia, Vueling, Norwegian, Ryanair) all use the Lisbon airport.

4. Final comments I would recommend Nova SBE to other students as it is very prestigious and highly ranked but still quite forgiving towards exchange students in terms of grading. Still, you should be prepared to do some work as well, and it is clear that the local students are very competitive and hard-working. Nova SBE has the same accreditations as Aalto, so it will also look quite good on the CV. Nova SBE is popular among exchange students from all across the world, so it’s easy to meet likeminded people. Course selection isn’t super wide for undergraduate students, but if I would do something differently, I would maybe choose courses that are more demanding to have more motivation to study. During my exchange I learned to be more independent, solve problematic situations, worry less and be more patient. Meeting people with varying international backgrounds widened my world view. From the studies I was able to expand my knowledge in business with fields I would probably not include to my studies at home, such as law and information systems. All in all, the semester was a very refreshing change and an eye-opening experience. It’s hard not to fall in love with Lisbon.