General rules and requirements for exchange studies

Application

Link to Online Application

The link to apply for exchange studies in the academic year 2025/2026 will take you to our Mobility Online database where you will be asked to first create an account. After that you will receive an email and by following the link included in that email you will be able to access your account in Mobility Online and to submit all the necessary documents to finalize your application:

• CV
• Motivation letter
• Transcript of records
• Merits documents (for instance: research experience or engagement in BUS)

Until your deadline you can prepare yourself by collecting the necessary documents. You can also read the exchange reports from previous exchange students and benefit from their experience.

List of available exchange places (semester 6)

Follow the instructions carefully: an incomplete application results in not being considered for exchange studies by the international committee. Late applications will not be considered in the first round of applications.

The electronic application is constituted of two parts. The first part is the online registration where you state your contact details, information about your present studies, which semester you are studying and which programme you are registered in at Karolinska Institutet. You can state up to 6 preferences in the order that you choose to prioritize. You will only be able to choose universities with which your programme has a bilateral agreement.

After you have registered your application online you will receive an automatic generated email with a link that you will have to follow in order to complete and submit your application with all the extra necessary documents. This last step can be done online directly in Mobility Online.

Participation in an exchange programme

General requirements

• You must have studied at least one year at KI (60 ECTS). Specific rules regarding additional study merits may be specified by the univer sity abroad.
• You must be eligible to continue your studies at KI before you go on exchange. 
• You must have a good command of the language of instruction in order to go abroad. Within the Erasmus+ Programme you will be required to show results in a language test (Erasmus+OLS).
• You must be able to accredit your exchange studies at Karolinska Institutet (only applies to exchanges in semester 3).
• An exchange must be at least three months (Min. 90 days within Erasmus+) up to a full semester.

Eligibility for exchange studies during semester 3

• In order to be eligible for exchange in semester 3, you must have passed all your courses from semester 1, as well as the course Biochemistry in semester 2, at the latest on April 15. 

Eligibility for exchange studies during semester 6

• In order to be eligible for exchange in semester 6, you must have passed all the courses from semester 1-4 on September 15. Moreover, you must have passed Part 1 on the course Molecular Medicine – Oncology, and have participated in the obligatory sessions of Molecular Medicine – Cardiometabolic and Infectious Diseases.

Additional rules and conditions may apply for students going abroad on their own (freemovers). Please check with your study programme at Karolinska Institutet.

General rules

Important information regarding application, waiting list and second round of application.

Deadline to apply for exchange studies in the academic year 2025-2026 is Friday January 31st, 2025 at 11am. Only complete applications are assessed by BIONK. No individual extensions will be granted.

Acceptance of nomination

After BIONK has assessed all applications, they are ranked based on the criteria set by the international committee. Successful applicants will receive an offer of exchange (nomination) by email and a deadline to accept/reject their nomination.

As an applicant you have the following options:

• Accept your nomination
• Reject your nomination
• If not having been nominated to the first hand choice of university, the applicant can accept their nomination and be placed on a waiting list for a higher alternative as listed in the application

If the applicant does not fulfill the course eligibility criteria to be nominated for exchange, i.e. having passed all taken courses, the applicant will receive a conditional nomination. This eligibility criteria will be checked again on April 15 for exchange during the Autumn semester 2025 and on September 15 for exchange during the Spring semester 2026.

Acceptance of nomination:

As soon as an applicant accepts their nomination, the international coordinator will nominate the applicant to the allocated host institution; the applicant will have to apply to the partner institution according to the rules stated in the information sent by the partner institution.

Waiting list:

During the first two weeks of May the international coordinator will assess if any of the applicants placed on the waiting list can be offered a higher alternative. After this assessment, all applicants on the waiting list will be informed if any of their higher alternatives have become available and they will be offered the opportunity to be nominated to a higher ranked alternative or to keep the original nomination.

After this step the student will no longer be able to change to any other host institution. It is not permitted to reject a nomination awarded in the first round of applications and then re-apply in the second round. Any such application will not be assessed.

Second round of applications

Those who did not apply for exchange in the first round have the opportunity to apply for exchange in the second round of applications. In mid-May the list of places still available after the first round will be published online, and a second application round will be announced.

During the first week of the summer break, students who did not participate in the first application round can apply in the second round, and exchange study places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Until accepted by our partner university it is possible to withdraw from the exchange program. Please consider though that the later you withdraw, the fewer chances you will give to a fellow student to be nominated instead of you if there is a tight application deadline to the partner institution. After being accepted you will only be able to withdraw due to issues related to health, family problems or financial problems.

• You can only be nominated twice for exchange, once in semester 3 or 4 (courses in Leiden) and once in semester 6 (Degree project). 
• Only one exchange per academic year is possible. 
• You cannot postpone an exchange place to next academic year unless you have a valid reason for doing so. 
• If you are awarded a scholarship, you have to follow the rules that apply to the scholarship. 
• Within Erasmus+ you can receive the scholarship in total up to 12 months per academic level (i.e. Bachelor, or Master).
• During your exchange period you must be a good representative for KI and market KI in the best possible way. See Code of Conduct for exchange studies.
• You have to hand in your exchange report after your exchange period has ended. The deadline is September 1 every year, but you are strongly advised to write and hand in the report directly upon return from your exchange.

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After a decision has been made by the Nomination Committee within BIONK

If you are nominated by BIONK

• Note that BIONK will only nominate you to one exchange place. You are not admitted as an exchange student at the partner university until you have received a letter/notice of acceptance from the partner university.
• If you are nominated for exchange by BIONK you must accept or decline your place by giving notice via email to the International Coordinator before the deadline specified in the email that you receive when you are nominated. If you do not accept your place within the deadline, it will be considered that you have declined the place and it will be given to another student. 
• You can only accept a place that you have chosen in your application even if other nomination places are on offer. 

If you are not nominated by BIONK

• If you have not been nominated to an exchange place, you will be able to re-apply in our second round of application later on in the Spring semester to all remaining available exchange places. 

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Renouncing your place after you have sent your application to the partner university

• If you renounce your exchange place after having sent your application to the partner university, you must have specific and valid reasons for doing so (ex. illness – show medical statement). You are obliged to explicate these reasons to the International Coordinator.
• Possible costs paid in relation to the exchange will not be reimbursed if you renounce the exchange place or discontinue an ongoing exchange without showing specific and valid reasons  (ex. illness – show medical statement).