Welcome and presentation

“I thoroughly enjoyed my year abroad studying at ULB. It was my first international learning experience, so I was a little nervous about how it was going to turn out. [...]The exchange first began in my home country, when I received my information package from the international student department in ULB. [...]These materials that I received from the PI SOCO international student faculty were excellent and provided me with more than sufficient information to be prepared to enter, live and exit Belgium. Once I arrived in Brussels for school, the faculty had an orientation session for all international students. [...] The international organization called Express, which helped make the international experience a memorable part of my life. They provided the international community with opportunities to meet each other and share stories and challenges that we may have been going through with adjusting to life in Brussels.

I really enjoyed my classes for several reasons: the professors were great and provided guidance on projects or questions that I posed and the courses allowed me to take on new roles while working in groups that mimicked roles that I can take on after university. Several of the courses I took allowed me to explore existing theories and develop new ideas and thoughts. The professors pushed each student to perform at their best.

My international experience was great. Yours can be too!”     

 Kelan Jylha, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

« J'ai choisi l'ULB pour une raison à la fois personnelle et académique:

découvrir de nouveaux horizons. D'abord Bruxelles, une ville ouverte, agréable, protéiforme à laquelle je conçois mal que l'on ne puisse pas s'attacher, cœur de l'Union Européenne et de la Belgique fédérale, deux objets éminemment intéressants pour un(e) étudiant(e) en science politique. Nouveaux horizons ensuite dans les cours, les conférences et les nombreux colloques proposés. Je désirais développer mes connaissances sur des aires géographiques mal connues: Europe centrale et orientale, Russie... je me suis découvert une passion, notamment grâce aux déplacements sur le terrain.

Tirer un bilan aussi positif, sur les plans personnel et académique, de mon année d'échange ne pouvait que me conduire à rester à l'ULB. J'y réaliserai à la rentrée prochaine ma deuxième année de master, spécialité Europe centrale-Russie-Caucase, un programme unique au sein d'une université ouest-européenne. »

Emilie Balayn, Université Lumière – Lyon II, France

“Coming to Brussels - to the “capital city” of European Union can be a breakthrough for everyone interested in international business. Moreover the reputation of ULB - Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management is one of the best in Europe. The study at SBS gave me a lot of experiences, such as ability of dealing with: financial aspects, finding relevant flat, and keeping up with language barrier. In this specific place, I have met great mixture of nationalities, what made me more open up and familiar with other nations. Furthermore, being here I have improved my English and French, what currently helps me to meet and better communicate with foreign people. High level of education at SBS, as well as professors from all over the world, made classes very exciting but also challenging, thus it encouraged me to put stronger emphasis on theoretical issues. Nevertheless, the great advantage of ULB classes is their content full of practical business cases. [...]Brussels is a life-flourishing city, with many restaurants, cultural places and open-minded people. [...] Coming to ULB was for me a great adventure and true school of life. “

Krzysztof Dziwisz, University of Warsaw, Poland