UNIVERSIDAD DE MÁLAGA
SOCRATES/ERASMUS
STUDENT GUIDE
2004-2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
An introduction to MalagaThe university
Programmes for Socrates/Erasmus students
Degree courses
Record transcripts
Academic calendar
Autumn semester 2004-2005
Spring semester 2004-2005
Accommodation
Travelling expenses
Banking
Miscellaneous costs
Health insurance
Vaccinations and prescription medicines
Weather/clothing
Shopping hours
Chemist’s
Public transport
Weekend fun
Special attention
Arrival in Malaga
On arrival
Mobility Office opening hours
Enrolment and contact with the academic co-ordinator
Free Spanish course
Arrival dates
Libraries
Sports
Culture
Useful telephone numbers
Tourist Office
Addresses
Other websites of interest
Consulates
Hostels
Appendix: Application forms
1. Erasmus registration
2. Free Spanish course / 2
2
3
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
10
10
10
11
11
11
11
12
13
14
16
AN INTRODUCTION TO MALAGA
A city with a rich historic and cultural tradition, Malaga was founded by the Phoenicians around 800 B.C. and later colonised by Iberians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Christians. Its privileged position on the shores of the Mediterranean, its mild climate and the friendliness of its inhabitants have all meant that the capital of the Costa del Sol has, throughout its history, sustained excellent trade and cultural relations all over the world. Nowadays, Malaga is a modern, cosmopolitan and welcoming city with over 600,000 inhabitants, which has successfully developed its commercial, industrial and tourist sectors.
THE UNIVERSITY
Welcome to the University of Malaga.
In its 31 years of existence the University of Malaga has taken on a major role as both principal catalyst of the cultural life of the city and fundamental platform for future developments in the fields of technology and research.
The University of Malaga constitutes one of the three vertices of the so-called “productive triangle” of the city, together with the airport and the PTA or Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía (Andalusian Science and Technology Park). The latter has close ties with the University due to the constant flow of ideas, highly qualified professionals and advanced technologies.
At present the University of Malaga has two campuses, El Ejido and Teatinos, in addition to several other buildings located in different parts of the city.
The ultimate objective of the policy of the university regarding infrastructure is to eventually have all university centres and services located on the Teatinos campus.
New buildings
The future university campus, which will cover an area of approximately two million square meters, includes a new building to house the Rector’s offices and related services, and others for the faculties and university schools which presently do not have their own buildings or for those pending creation.
The former central Post Office building, located in the centre of Malaga, has been another important project that serves to improve the infrastructure of the University of Malaga. Once remodelled, it will house a centre for documentation of foreigners (Centro de Documentación de Extranjeros), the General Foundation of the University of Malaga (Fundación General de la Universidad de Malaga), along with different exhibition and conference halls. Visitors can also have the chance to admire the archaeological remains of the city walls of the old port discovered beneath the building when work commenced.
PTA
The PTA is also included in university expansion plans. To this end several building located in the science park already house university spin-offs.
The University of Malaga contemplates the 21st century from different angles. However, if one of its objectives stands out above all others, that objective is without a doubt research. Encouragement and support of technological research and development are amongst the top priorities of the University of Malaga, since these fields in themselves contribute in multiple ways to the educational system, raising the level of excellence in teaching and internationalising the life of the university.
One of the fundamental objectives of this institution is to promote research, not only in its theoretical aspects, but also in its applications. To that end there are presently 209 research groups working on different projects at the University of Malaga. The largest number of these groups belong to the area of the Humanities, followed by those of the Social Sciences and Life Sciences.
The University of Malaga sponsors a large number of projects that have a direct impact on the productive sector. Some of these projects, to name just a few, involve the development of specific software, image processing, automation and robotics, applications of new materials and biotechnology.
Over the last few years new infrastructures have been created to enhance technological training. These include construction of the third engineering module at the Teatinos campus, the Central Research Services building (Servicios Centrales de Investigación), the Animal Research Centre at the Faculty of Medicine and the future Centre for Health Research (Centro de Investigaciones Sanitarias).
Another aspect to highlight is the important role of the business sector in university research. At present many companies contact the University for the Implementation of their research projects.
There is no doubt that the proximity of the University of Malaga to the PTA enables it to interact with companies that are at the forefront of technological development, such as Nokia, Retevisión and Andalucía Digital, amongst others.
In order to promote this trend the university has established in the park a research centre dealing with projects in Information and Communication Technology and Production Technology that are being implemented in conjunction with firms specialised in those fields. The management of that kind of agreement is the responsibility of the Office for the Transfer of Research Results (Oficina de Transferencia de los Resultados de la Investigación, OTRI), which tripled turnover in 1998, with respect to 1997, after moving to the PTA. In the year 2000 the OTRI signed a total of 171 contracts with companies for a total value of 863 million pesetas.
PROGRAMMES FOR SOCRATES/ERASMUS STUDENTS
The European Commission has developed the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to help students make the most of their studies abroad. Basically, this system is a way of measuring and comparing learning achievements and transferring them from one institution to another. Likewise, it helps higher education institutions to enhance their co-operation with other institutions by improving access to information on foreign curricula and providing common procedures for academic recognition.
ECTS credits are a value allocated to modules to describe the student workload required to complete them. They reflect the quantity of work each course requires in relation to the total quantity of work required to complete a full year of academic study at the institution, that is, lectures, practical work, seminars, private work – in the laboratory, library or at home – and examinations or other assessment activities.
ECTS credits are allocated to courses and are awarded to students who successfully complete those courses by passing examinations or other assessments. They are also allocated to practical placements and to thesis preparation when these academic activities form a part of the regular study programme both at home and at host institutions. The overall objective is to offer ECTS students flexible study programmes with the aim of allowing them to make the most of their studies at the host university and plan their own study programme.
The University of Malaga has already introduced the ECTS into all its faculties and schools. With this system 60 credits represent one year of study (in terms of workload); normally 30 credits are awarded every six months (a semester) and 20 credits every term (a trimester).
Grading system
The grading system used by Spanish universities is based on specific attainment levels, rather than on a numerical scale. It should be noted that the grade Matrícula de Honor is rarely given.
Spanish System
/ECTS Grading Scale
Matrícula de Honor (MH) / ExcellentSobresaliente (SOB) / Very Good
Notable (NOT) / Good
Notable (NOT) / Satisfactory
Aprobado (APR) / Sufficient
Suspenso / No presentado (SUS) / (N.P.) / Fail
Academic calendar (depending on the degree course)
First semester / September/October - FebruarySecond semester / February - June/July
Please note that students enrolling in the free language course offered by MalagaUniversityshould arrive before September 1 (first semester) or February 3 (second semester).
Spanish credit system
The Spanish Credit System only measures different teaching loads using temporal criteria. That is to say, one Spanish credit is equivalent to 10 teaching hours, regardless of their practical or theoretical nature. As a Spanish semester has 15 weeks, an UMA six-credit module (60 hours) will have four allocated hours per week.
DEGREE COURSES
These are the degree courses in the University of Málaga:
Faculties of Sciences (Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Chemical Engineering); Educational Sciences (Pedagogy, Psycho pedagogy, Hearing & Language Education, Special Education, Physical Education, Pre-school, Musical Education, Primary School, Foreign Language); Journalism, Audio-visual Communication; Economics and Business Studies (Administration & Business Management, Economics, Management & Public Administration, Actuarial & Financial Sciences); Law, Humanities (English, Spanish & Classical Philology, History, History of Art, Geography, Philosophy, Translation and Interpreting -English, French, German, Italian, Arabic and Greek); Medicine, Psychology, Higher Technical Schools of Industrial Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Informatics and Computer Science, School of Tourism, Nursing, and Labour Relations.
For more detailed information about the university’s different degree courses, please consult the UMA website:
Click on “Programas de movilidad” and click again on “Guías ECTS”.
RECORD TRANSCRIPTS
All transcripts will be sent to the International Offices of the different partner institutions. Students are asked to collect them from the home institutions.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR
Although the university would like to provide exchange students with the academic calendar for the year 2004-2005 as soon as possible, this information will not be available until September since each faculty/school decides on its own calendar. The following information should, however, help students to plan their stay in Malaga:
AUTUMN SEMESTER 2004-2005
July 31, 2004: Deadline for sending registration forms for the autumn semester to the Mobility Office.
August 31, 2003: Deadline for sending confirmation of the date of arrival to the Mobility Office ().
September 1, 2004: Informative meeting at the Mobility Office (12.00–13.30 p.m.).
September 2-28, 2004: Spanish course. As students will be expected to sit a placement exam, they are asked to be at the university language school (Curso de Español para Extranjeros) before 4 p.m., room 17, on September 2.
September 27, 2004-February 18, 2005: First semester.
December 22, 2004-January 10, 2005: Christmas holidays.
January 24-February 18, 2005: First semester exams.
NOTE: The aforementioned dates are provisional and might be subject to changes, (every Faculty and UniversitySchool has its own calendar), and hence students are asked to confirm them before the end of September before booking the flights.
SPRING SEMESTER 2004-2005
November 30, 2004: Deadline for sending registration forms for the spring semester to the Mobility Office.
January 15, 2005: Deadline for sending confirmation of the date of arrival to the Mobility Office ().
February 3, 2005: Informative meeting at the Mobility Office (12.00–13.30 p.m.).
February 4-March 2, 2005: Spanish course. As students will be expected to sit a placement exam, they are asked to be at the university language school (Curso de Español para Extranjeros) before 4 p.m., room 17, on February 4.
February 18-July 8, 2005: Second semester.
March 19-29, 2005: Easter week.
June 1-July 8, 2005: Annual and second semester exams.
NOTE: The aforementioned dates are of a provisional nature and may be subject to changes, (every Faculty and UniversitySchool has its own calendar), and hence students are asked to confirm them in September before booking flights.
ACCOMMODATION
Consult the Accommodation Office:
Click in “A.Sociales” and click again in “Alojamiento”
Recommendations
Students who wish to share a flat will have to find provisional accommodation for few days, particularly in February due to the affluence of students. To this end the city’s pensions and hostels are a cheap and safe option.
Find Accommodation
TRAVEL EXPENSES$
To cover all eventualities students are advised to travel with about 30.05 € in cash. A taxi from the airport into town costs 7.81 € and a normal meal around 9,01 €.
Students who wish to take a bus into town should obtain some small change at the airport as the drivers will not accept anything larger than a 5 € .
The bus costs 1 € and the train approximately 0.96 €.
It may be helpful to keep a supply of coins on hand, especially for buses, public telephones, where the exact change is required.
BANKING
In Malaga, as in many other cities, it is not a good idea to keep large amounts of cash on one’s person or at home. Therefore, students are advised to open a bank account on arrival.
Banks are generally open from 9 am to 14:00 pm weekdays. On Saturday only from October to April.
In addition, many banks have 24-hour automatic teller machines that give you access to most bank services.
MISCELLANEOUS COSTS
Bus / 0.80 €Cinema / 5 €, special prices depend on the day
Lunch in the Univ. canteen / 4.20 €
Whopper at Burger King / 4.50 €
Coca Cola / Beer in a bar / 1.50-2.00 €
Coca Cola / Beer bought in a Supermarket / 0.30 €
Cappuccino or Café au Lait / 1 €
HEALTH INSURANCE
Before travelling, EU students should obtain the E-111 form from their local health office. The E-111 provides the holder with medical coverage for three months – from the date when the application is made – in the EU country specified on the form (students from the UK are not required to follow this procedure). Students may also wish to take out additional insurance to cover liability and personal belongings during their stay in Malaga. The University of Malaga will not be held responsible for the loss of personal belongings.
VACCINATIONS AND PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES
No special vaccinations are required or recommended before travelling to Spain. Students following a course of treatment should bring enough prescription drugs with them to last them their stay.
WEATHER/CLOTHING
Malaga is a Mediterranean city with a very mild climate. Winter temperatures very rarely drop below 10ºC and in autumn and spring the average temperature is about 20ºC, although evenings can be a lot cooler. Average rainfall for the region is normally quite low, nevertheless it can rain torrentially during the autumn and spring months.
SHOPPING HOURS
Normal opening hours: 9.30-13.30 and 17.00-20.30.
There are several Shopping Centres open from 10.00 to 22.00, like, for instance, El Corte Inglés (up market department store), Centro Larios and Centro Rosaleda.
Although shops are usually closed on Sundays, there are a number of small grocer’s and delicatessens to be found in the city centre.
CHEMISTS
Most chemist’s open from 9.30-13.30 and 17.00-20.30. Nevertheless, some establishments open from 10.00 to 22.00 and others 24 hours a day. When in doubt, consult the local newspaper or the list displayed in all establishments.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Buses
Forms and further information are available at the Mobility Office.
Bus prices
Fixed rate per trip / 0.80 €Monthly student card / 21 €
The “monthly card” (unlimited number of trips) / 27 €
Students can apply for a monthly student card which enables him/ her to make an unlimited number of trips within the city limits which costs 21€. Only students under 25 registered at the University of Málaga can apply for the student bus card. For those over this age limit, there are several other options:
The “montly card” which costs 27 € and allows holders to make an unlimited number of trips within the city limits.
Buses 1 and 13 connect the El Ejido campus with different parts of town, and buses 20, 22 and 8 are the ones to take to go to the Teatinos campus. For those living in the city centre the main stops for buses to both campuses are located in the Alameda Principal.
WEEKEND FUN
Always a must when travelling abroad, Malaga has an exciting and varied nightlife at weekends. When the city centre’s shops close its numerous bars offer foreigners the chance to get to know the locals.
SPECIAL ATTENTION
Students should take special care of their personal belongings. It is extremely unadvisable to leave any unsupervised items in bars, shops, etc. Important documents and large sums of cash should be left at home.
ARRIVAL IN MALAGA
For students arriving at the international airport “Pablo Ruiz Picasso”, there are three ways was travelling into town:
- A taxi costs between 12 € and takes roughly about 15 minutes to reach the city. The rank is located directly outside the arrivals terminal.
- There is a bus into town every 30 minutes, and a ticket costs 1 €. The stop is located directly outside the arrivals terminal.
- Trains leave the station connected by a pedestrian walkway to the departure terminal on the second floor every 15 minutes, and a ticket costs between 0.91-1.01 €, depending on the destination.
For information about the transfer service
ON ARRIVAL
On arrival all Erasmus students are advised to attend the information meeting, where the personnel will provide them with an Erasmus I.D. card and general information. Erasmus students that arrive after the meeting must report to the Mobility Office (in opening hours) located on the “El Ejido” Campus (Casa del Estudiante s/n.) to obtain the documents. For further information, please consult the sections dealing with the academic calendar (pp. 6-7).
INTERNATIONAL OFFICE OPENING HOURS
MONDAY and WEDNESDAY10.00-14.00
THURSDAY, TUESDAY and FRIDAY10.00-12.00
ENROLMENT AND CONTACT WITH THE ACADEMIC CO-ORDINATOR
Those students who wish to study in different faculties will be required to enrol in each one. To enrol all students have to do is go to the secretary office of the faculty or school in question and present their Erasmus I.D. card along with a list of the modules that they wish to study. It is essential that students provided the module code along with its title. Erasmus students are allowed to study modules in any faculty or school.
There is deadline as regards enrolment: