I knew already when I began to study in university that I will go to Australia for exchange. I love traveling, 

and having been abroad (I’m originally from Finland) for 2.5 years had just boosted my enthusiasm to go on 

an exchange! As Australia, for me yet so unexplored country, is so far away I also thought that this would 

be the best opportunity to visit it, and do it properly. After bouncing in-between different universities I 

decided to apply to University of Sydney (USyd), because Sydney has a very high reputation in biomedical 

research both in Australia and internationally. The pictures of the beautiful Camperdown campus as well as 

the city itself might though have had an impact on my choice, I admit freely! 

The application process to exchange studies is quite long and needs a lot of patience. First, you apply to get 

nominated as an exchange student through Karolinska Institute Exchange Program in the beginning of 

February. For this you need to write a motivation letter to show why you should be chosen to the university 

you want to go on exchange. As USyd requires an average grade B it’s good to think about this as early on 

as possible and to make sure you fulfil this requirement. I had some last-minute-panic moments before 

some exams, but in the end, totally unnecessary (even though I believe that little stress makes me perform 

better). Other things that are valuable for getting nominated are your previous research 

experience (which I had) and your engagement in the student union (which I had too). These are not 

necessary though!

After you have been nominated (results come in the beginning of March) it’s time to start looking for a 

supervisor. I’m very interested in neurosciences so I looked for groups that were doing research on that 

topic (http://sydney.edu.au/research-opportunities.shtml). I mailed several groups and got several positive 

answers! In the end I chose a group that is working on neurodegenerative diseases and neuroprotection 

induced by non-pharmacological interventions. My supervisor replied to my email very nicely and as I saw 

that they had published many papers lately on very interesting topics I went for it and didn’t regret! I 

couldn’t have got better group!

After I had got a supervisor I started writing my official application to USyd. See all the information on 

http://sydney.edu.au/courses/undergraduate-exchange-program-one-semester. I send in a paper 

application but from 2015 you can apply easily online. The complementary documents you need to include:

For my paper application, I needed to fill in two forms. It takes a while to get all these documents so start collecting them in time. I also filled in the application beforehand, then I could go it through with Malin Ahlen, the international coordinator, and make sure everything was correct. I lacked a course code in my application which turned out to be quite important 

when I arrived in Sydney… The Faculty of Medicine's overseas office in USyd should give you a code, ask about 

this when your writing your application! I would suggest that you try to get your supervisor in contact with 

the international coordinator in USyd and ask about the code before you send in your application. You need 

a course code to get enrolled (you can get an enrolment code though without it which is quite confusing). 

The last day to send in the application is 30th of November. 

After a successful application you will receive an offer letter and student ID. Accept the offer!! And don’t 

pay the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), you are already covered by Swedish State's Insurance during 

Education Abroad. After this you will receive your enrolment code and you can apply for your visa. Do this in 

time! Create an account on http://www.immi.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx, I applied for a student visa nr 

757 (offshore) which cost me 535$. I had way too many difficulties applying for the visa (I don’t know the 

exact reason but probably the combination of wrong nationality in the first enrolment code (I received a 

new one only 5 days before I travelled), brand new passport, applying for an onshore visa (double check it's offshore!), and in the last week the visa payment that didn’t go through and the embassy in Berlin didn’t believe that I didn’t 

need OSHC until I sent in a certificate of this). Ensure that your passport is valid 6 months after you plan to 

come back to Sweden! For me this whole process took 18 days, and 2,5 hours in the phone with the Australian 

embassy in Berlin… BUT for all the other students this has been really easy and they got their visas like in 8 

hours so don’t get freaked out by my story! Just be careful when doing the application. The joy and happiness, when 3 

days before my departure the officer from Berlin called me and told me that I had been granted the visa, 

was enormous as you can imagine! The officer himself sounded relieved and happy for me!

I had booked my flights already in August and arrived in a hot, humid and sunny Sydney on 21st of January 

after 23 hours in airplane. I flew with Finnair and Qantas airways, I had a short stopover in Singapore. I had 

really good flight times, just tried to sleep as much as possible, I barely had jet lag which was really nice! I went to customs to show some biscuits and chocolate I had with me - be aware of the customs, Australia is really strict with importing any seeds or nuts or soil! My supervisor picked me up from the airport and drove me to my hostel that I had booked beforehand (790 on George street). A PhD student from my lab picked me up from the hostel to my first lab meeting after I had taken a refreshing shower – she had bought me a topped Opal card and refused to receive any money back. The lab meeting was really nice and informal - my arrival to Australia was better than I could have wished!

The semester starts officially in the beginning of March, and O-week with the student union USU presenting its all societies and committees is in the end of February. Make sure to arrive in Sydney before that! USU is defintely worth of joining, with Access card ($45) you'll get a lot of discounts both on- and off-campus. Most importantly, join different societies (usually a small membership fee, like $3-25): they have a lot and lot of fun activities! See Leisure for more information. 

Other stuff to take care of during the first days after your arrival: buy Opal card for public transport (https://www.opal.com.au/) and remember to tap off when you get off! Also, there are no announcements for bus stops in the buses so you have to make sure yourself to get off at the right stop. Also, buy a sim card for your phone from supermarket such as Coles. I had a prepaid Optus for $30/month which was enough for me (https://www.opal.com.au/), but I heard that Telstra covers more of the country which is good if you travel. If you want, you can get a bank card from CommonWealth Bank (https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/students.html), see Finance for more information.

Most importantly: when you arrive in Sydney, go to see the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, and go to Coogee Beach to enjoy the cool waves of Pacific Ocean!

Visa to Australia is expensive, there's nothing you can do about that. And don't try to apply for any dodgy visa even it's cheaper! My friend had a tourist visa (you can stay up to 3 months in the country) but as she practically was a student they stopped her at the passport control and she had to stay there for an interrogation where she was informed which visa she actually is eligible for. They let her go but told her to get the right visa asap. So, don't bluff!

No vaccinations or whatsoever are needed to Australia. 

Accommodation is really expensive, a single room with shared bathroom and other facilities costs $195-300. When you try to find a room, check if electricity and water are included, to avoid extra surprise costs. If you can, share the kitchenware, iron, vacuum cleaner etc with your roommates. Darlington Terraces has many Australian students who have been living there for a while, and they often have a lot of stuff already that they are always happy to share! Cooking together also cuts down the costs, and is a lot of fun. The best food stores are Woolworths (Woollies) and Coles - food has similar price as in Stockholm. Check the last-date food offers - once we got amazingly good kangaroo meat for free because it was due one day ago!

To explore Sydney and its surroundings I suggest to join the student union ($45) and its different societies (3-25$ in general). You'll get a lot of discounts and new friends! Also, they provide you with equipment for many activities, and take to weekend adventures for free. To get around the city, OpalCard is the best option. After you get a student ID you can get a concession card thus half price on the tickets. Also, the card has max consumption per day, and if you travel 8 times a week you'll get the rest the week travel for free! Even better, on Sundays you can travel as much as you want for $2.5 - so do a longer day trip to beautiful Blue Mountains or go to see kangaroos in Morisset Park. Finally, as I said before, a sim card costs around $30.

If you want to travel around Australia, I would suggest to use following websites to check flights: http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home, https://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/flight-search/global/en, http://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/bookings/flights/make-a-booking/, http://www.tigerair.com/sg/en/booking_info.php. Jetstar, Tigerair and Virgin Australia are cheap airlines if you book a lot beforehand but you can't take much to the cabin and luggage costs always extra (weight your luggage always carefully when traveling with them!). Qantas has really good service and food (which the others don't have), tickets are more expensive but the prizes don't go up much thus if you're late with your booking choose Qantas. Websites where you can compare prizes from multiple airlines are http://www.webjet.com.au/flights/australia/ and http://www.skyscanner.se/flyg-till/au/billiga-flyg-till-australien.html. 

The student accommodation in Sydney is way more expensive that you are used to in Sweden. Be 

prepared to pay 195-300$/week for a single room with a shared kitchen and bathroom. You may find cheaper options but they never include an own bedroom. I found it easiest to apply for an accommodation on campus, as I wanted to make sure that I will meet other students. You can find out more of different alternatives on http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/accommodation/. The application opened in December. If you prefer to live closer to the beach (the only reason why I wouldn't go for the accommodation available on campus) I would recommend to check the off-campus options at USyd's website that I linked before, other websites such as gumtree.au might be a bit unreliable. Facebook pages such as https://www.facebook.com/StudentAccommodationSydney might also be worth to check out. 

I got finally a single room at Darlington Terraces for 195$/week and shared a terraced house with an Australian guy and a girl, and an Indian guy. We had a lot of fun together, and shared kitchenware and other stuff like vacuum cleaner! I got even some kitchenware from my labmate and bought the rest from IKEA (I would recommend KMark instead, a lot cheaper). To make my room a bit cosier I bought a mirror, a small lamp and a blanket. You should also bring your own pillow and sheets, and when it gets colder during the nights you want to have a quilt.  You probably want to buy a fan as well as there are only air vents… It was really hot during the nights in January and February! BUT, be quick – as it’s the end of summer they’re pretty quickly sold-out! I didn’t get one… Luckily my roommate lended me a fly screen so I could have my window open during the night time (without the screen you probably get some unwanted guests...). The common rooms were cleaned every Thursday, the house was a bit old but really cosy. So, all in all, my accomodation was superb and close to everything (5 minutes walk to the lab and Quadrangle) except the beach. However, the train station and buses are really near thus making it convenient to go to the each after work at uni, I really recommend doing that!

My supervisors were both really helpful, as the other members of my lab group. I got help to any problem that I had! My lab supervisor was both relaxed and work-focused at the same time, which encouraged me to do my best but not afraid of asking any questions. Weekly lab meetings were a good place to hear what everybody was doing and to have a good contact wih all the lab members. My main supervisor (the head of the Bosch Institute) was always very very kind to me, and even arranged a sailing trip with the whole lab group on his boat when I was about to finish! 

As for Australian culture, I really recommend to learn of aboriginal people. They have a long and interesting history with dreamtime and hunting stories and multiple religious rituals. in Sydney visit both the Rocks Discovery Museum and National museum, and go to the Quadrangle to see aboriginals playing didgeridoos and selling paintings, boomerangs and roarers. If you are really interested in them and want to experience the famous outback, do a long weekend trip to Uluru and Kata Tjuta - magical places full of aboriginal stories and spirit!

The student union USU is THE place in USyd to join! I joined several societies and got a lot of new friends through them. As I'm quite adventurous when it comes traveling I joined surfing, bushwalking and caving societies - the best one was definitely bushwalking! Surf camps cost quite a lot but bushwalkers and cavers provided me all the equipment and I basically did two weekend trips for free! This way you'll definitely see the side of Australia many people don't - I hitchhiked and swam in canyons, climbed to high cliffs with magnificent views, did a nightwalk in a canyon with glowwarms, crawled in narrow caves, drove car and played music as loud as we could... Best memories from my time at uni! I even joined chocolate, photographing and fashion society - every second week I got pancakes for breakfast and I participated in a photographing workshop for free (they have many but as you might imaging I didn't have time for more). Besides, many societies had free lunch (= BBQ of course) every second week which you could get by showing your Access card. If none of these socities didn't feel right for you visit http://www.usu.edu.au/Clubs-Societies.aspx to find out the ones you like to join! Maybe you want to try quidditch or watch Disney films or talk politics? Possibilities are endless!

There is a gym and pool etc on campus, if you're interested of them you can find more info on https://www.susf.com.au/.

Sydney is, well, big and offers something to everyone. Shopping, museums, beaches, zoos, parks, theatres, cinemas, restaurants, concerts, festivals, parties... To find out what's happening in the city I used https://whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/. When I arrived to Australia in January Sydney Festival was on, and because of summer there were fireworks (better I had ever seen!) in Darling Harbor every Saturday. Australians know this stuff, just look around and you'll find heaps to do! 

If you have time during Easter break and after or before you start your project at uni take time to explore and travel Australia, or even New Zealand or Bali or Fidzi. That will change your life! I among other did bungee jumping during Easter break in NZ, and during the 6 weeks I traveled around OZ  we drove along the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adeleide, drove on the beach on Fraser Island, slept under the Milky Way in Uluru, visited the beautiful Kakadu national park with huge salties (saltwater crocodiles), laid in the sun on Magnetic island, did scuba diving in Cairns, and went sailing and snorkeling on Whitsunday islands. Just to mention a few things I did! To do all this cost a lot but was definitely worth of every single coin!  

Australia left a mark on me, forever - I hope I will neer forget all the experiences I got and people I met! I grow a lot as a person, I became more independent and confident of myself. I found new parts of me that I didn't know they existed. Australian way of life, the spontaniety and a relaxed attitude towards life, are hopefully part of my life from now on!