Report from Kiki
Our student Kiki reports on her semester abroad
"The range of courses on offer in the summer semester is not as extensive as in the winter, but you can still find some courses. For example, I opted for the "Information Search and Retrieval" course, which fits in with the Regensburg Information Science Master's programme. Prof Markus Zanker and Prof Francesco Ricci taught the course together in the 2016 summer semester. Professor Zanker took on the theoretical lectures (4 hours per week) and Professor Ricci the exercises (2 hours per week). In this course, the basics of information search and retrieval are deepened theoretically and put into practice in the exercises. I had not previously taken an information retrieval course at the University of Regensburg, but was still able to follow the course well. However, some mathematics skills are a requirement, as many algorithms are calculated by hand to deepen understanding. Professor Ricci has already received several awards for his good teaching methods and I was never bored, as he makes even dry content entertaining and varied. Because you study at the Faculty of Computer Science in Bolzano, a lot of the subject matter comes from computer science, but even that can be mastered. For this course you had to complete a small project in group work, submit a paper (max. 5-6 pages) about it and write an exam at the end. The final grade is made up of 50% exam and 50% project (small prototype + paper). Although I was initially a little surprised and unsure about the maths part of this course, I achieved a very good result for the exam thanks to the group work and the collaborative learning groups.
The support at the University of Bolzano is excellent, as it is a small university. For example, there were only 10 students on the course I mentioned. It was also possible to visit the professors at any time to clarify any questions or uncertainties. Co-operation with the international students also worked really well. As the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano is trilingual, English is a must.
As I was only missing one course for my degree programme, I discussed the course allocation with the module coordinator beforehand. As a result, I was able to have a course at the University of Bolzano, which normally gives 8 credits, recognised for 12 credits at the University of Regensburg.
In addition to the "Information Search and Retrieval" course, I also took the "Technical and Scientific Communication" course with Professor Andrea Molinari. This course gives students a good overview of how to write papers in English. It also discusses the presentation of project work and pitches. It is a very interesting course, but if you are in an advanced Master's semester, it may seem slightly superfluous. However, if you find project presentations or writing project papers difficult, this course is recommended. A paper of 5 pages must be submitted, a short pitch of 3 minutes and a final presentation of 20 minutes must be given. This course is worth 4 credits. The professor is very competent and organises his course in a very entertaining way!
In addition to the course at the Computer Science Faculty, I also took the Italian beginners' course A1.1. This was 4 lessons a week and quickly showed initial success. There were great teachers and support here too!
What you shouldn't miss if you're in Bolzano in February/March are the Snowdays! 3 days of fun: skiing/snowboarding and the opportunity to make lots of friends. The University of Bolzano Sports Club (SCUB) is highly recommended. A wide variety of sporting events are regularly organised here (rafting, canyoning, horse riding, football tournaments, SNOWDAYS ...).
Based on my experiences, I can highly recommend a semester abroad at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy!"
Report from Milena
Our student Milena reports on her semester abroad:
