Exchange Report

Exchange report - Student at KI

Picture of me in front of the main building of ETH.


Home university:	Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich)
Study programme:	Biomedicine
Exchange programme:	Erasmus
Semester:	Spring semester 2014/2015

Pre-departure

Choice of Partner University

I knew already one year ahead during my studies that I wanted to go abroad on exchange. In retrospect, it turned out to be just the right decision! I was curious to go abroad because I wanted to learn something knew and broaden my horizons, which led me to Zürich in Switzerland. To live in another country by your own also affects your personal development. I chose to go to ETH (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule Zürich) in Zürich because Karolinska Institute (KI) has an agreement with them. Although ETH is mostly a university with a technical, engineering and physics background, they also conduct research within biomedical sciences, biology, neuroscience, health and food sciences. The nice thing with ETH is that they combine their engineering background with the non-technical fieldls, which allow them to develop many interesting products and new techniques in the other fields as well. Also, ETH is one of the highest ranking universities in Europe and is ranked number 13 in the list of top universities in the world. The fact that Albert Einstein also went to study here is not making it worse. In addition, my father also went to ETH as a guest researcher many years ago, which also was a part of my decision as I heard a lot of positive things about it. In mind I also had Switzerland as a country as they are leading in medical research and have a large pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, Zurich is a city I have visited before and I really like it, so I thought that it would be nice to try out the life there.

Suprisingly, when I had applied for my exchange studies to KI in order to get the permission/nomination to go to ETH, a girl from ETH and Zurich was on exchange in our class during the 4th semester. This was of course a really nice opportunity for me to get to know more about Zurich and ETH and we became good friends during here stay. She gave me some contacts from ETH with whom I had some email contact and they were answering really fast and were so friendly! As soon as I got my nomination to go abroad, I got an email from ETH saying that I am mostly welcome to turn in an official application to the university and that they will provide me with all the information. The exchange coordinator at ETH were really helpful, kind and really quick in answering all of your questions. My first impressions was therefore really good even before I came to Zurich.

Practical Information

I was not required to be vaccinated before my departure. The only thing is that Switzerland left the Erasmus programme the semester before I left. This means that they are no longer part of the Erasmus, but instead they created the "Swiss-European Mobility Programme" which allow students to still go to Switzerland. The formal registrations are not complicated if you are a citizen of EU/ESS, but if you are from outside of Europe you will be required to get a visa. The scholarship is normally given by Erasmus when you go abroad to any European country. As Switzerland are no longer part of that, they instead give you a swiss scholarship from the government (which you received by ETH in cash). The scholarship was quite good as the swiss franc rose before I left. However, the expenditure is much higher in Switzerland, especially in Zurich, so it is good to save some money before you go.

View over Zurich

Arrival and registration

Arrival

The spring semester normally starts in mid-February at ETH. Then the students have courses until approximately the end of May. Most of the students also have their session exams in the end of August, which means that you have to prepare for the tests during the summer time (no proper summer-break, I know!). As I was not taking any courses, but was meant to do my Bachelor research project in a lab (bachelor thesis), I started my project in Zurich according to the swedish calendar. I arrived January 18th and started to work in the lab January 19th. The project was supposed to be 30 ECTS, so I stayed in Zurich until the end of May and then went back to Stockholm to present my thesis to receive my Bachelor of Science. ETH did offer a full-time intensive course in german for the exchange students, two weeks before the start of semester in February. I did not chose to take it, because I worked in the lab and did not have time to take it due to my project. I also already know a little bit of german, so I already knew most of the stuff from the beginners course.

The first weeks in Zurich I spent in the lab and got to know everyone there and at the institute. I did my project work in the Institute of Molecular Life Sciences in the University of Zurich (UZH), because my supervisor and his lab was located there. I was officially registered at ETH in the Department of Biology. My research was in the field of neuroscience and the lab I worked in is belonging to the Neuroscience Center in Zurich (ZNZ), which is part of ETH. So there is a collaboration with all the research groups at ETH and UZH, which I find very nice. In mid-February there was an introduction lecture for all the exchange students at ETH (because everyone taking courses was actually starting by then). I went to that lecture and got to know some other exchange students. As I was not taking any courses I did not have the same opportunity of meeting the other students during the day, so I became part of something called the International Erasmus Student Network. There I met other exchange students in Zurich and some of them were also doing their bachelor or master thesises there.

Public Transport

Arriving in Zurich was easy and the airport is very close to the city center. It takes only 4 minutes if you go by S-bahn and 17 minutes with the tram. Zurich is a very small city and you can reach any place by tram, train, buses or bike. It is also very nice for walking. Tram is the main transport in Zurich and there are a lot of tracks on the ground because of that. Be careful though if you are going by bike. My friend once experienced that the wheels on here bike fits perfect into the tram tracks, so you might get stuck with your bike if you are not attentive enough! There are a lot of markets where you can by bikes on second hand. It is very convenient to buy a bike for your stay and then sell it to another student when you are leaving. It is a cheap option if you do not wish to pay for the public transport all the time. The tram tickets are quite good as well, the prices are similar to Sweden (maybe a lot cheaper). You can choose to buy a 24 hour ticket or a monthly one. The tickets are valid for all the public transport (buses, trams, S-bahn etc.) so the system is very easy to understand.

Zurich main station in the end of Bahnhofstrasse.

Economy

Finance

Everyone knows that Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world. I knew it, but did not realise it before I actually arrived. It did not make it any better that they changed the interest rate so the swiss franc rose only two days before my departure. The swiss franc was almost 1 to 1 before I went to Zurich and was kept more or less like that during the whole stay. For me it was of course nice that my scholarship would be worth more in swedish crowns, but then it meant that the rent for my accommodation immediately increased as well, which was less nice...

If you are going to Switzerland on exchange, you have to save some money. It will help you a lot. I did spend a lot of money during my stay, but it is totally worth it. This occasion is a "once-in-a-life-time" experience and if anything, it is worth spending money on education purposes. Everyone told me that I should be used to the high costs because I am from Sweden, and Sweden have is quite expensive too. Then you can imagine when you are going to a country where things are more expensive than in Sweden. My worst chock was McDonald's. McDonald's is almost twice as expensive than in Sweden. Of course, you will stay healthy by not eating there, but the weight gain are compensated by all the swiss chocolate that you can eat in Switzerland! Chocolate in Switzerland is quite expensive too, but you have to make priorities.

You do not have to pay a student fee at ETH, they pay it for you as an exchange student. However, you need to register for the authorities when you arrive in Switzerland. If you stay less than 3 months you do not have to register, but if you stay for a longer period you have to register in order to get an "L-Ausländerausweis", which is kind of a passport and permission you receive that tells you that can work in Switzerland and stay there for a certain time. ETH provides you with more information on where to get that, but usually you have to pay for getting one. I was told that I had to pay approximately 60 CHF for the registration at the authorities including the Ausländerausweis, but it turned out that as an exchange student at ETH they pay it for you and you only have to pay 20 CHF yourself. This is a bit less than 200 swedish crowns. Other than that, you do not have to pay any obligatory fees. The International Erasmus Student Network is a union for exchange students, which exists in other countries in Europe as well. There you have to pay 5 CHF for being a member.

Bank account

I suggestion is to open a bank account if you are staying for one semester or longer. This will reduce the exchange rate expenses, but also you benefit from having a swiss account. You can open a student account for free in any bank: UBS, ZBK, Credit Suisse etc. I opened one in the Zurcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), because they have a nice offer where you get a debit card (Maestro) and a credit card (MasterCard) with which you can pay on the internet. You get two accounts, one savings and one connected to the debit card. In addition, you get to travel with the night buses for free in Zurich with their agreement. To open the account is costless and to keep them is also for free. Then when you finish your exchange, you can just close the accounts if you wish. It is convenient to have an account as you can draw swiss money at any ATM directly without any exchange rate costs and you can put your scholarship there as you usually receive it in cash from ETH.

Reduce Costs

Per month, I spent most on accommodation, food and activities. In Zurich it is very hard to find accommodation, but there is a lot of websites were you can find student accommodations that you can rent secondary. In Switzerland it is common to live in student flats, called a "WG", with 4-7 people where everyone has their own room, but you share kitchen, living room, bathroom and toilet. I was lucky, because the girl form Zurich that came to my class was living in a "WG" (Wohngenossenschaft) with six other people and there was one girl going on exchange the same time I arrived in Zurich. So, I simply subrented the room from that girl who went abroad during my stay. The rent was quite cheap for being in Zurich and of course the student flats are always cheaper.

Therefore, if you want to spend less: try to find as cheap accommodation as possible, buy your groceries in the cheaper stores (try to plan your cooking) and eat less in the restaurants. Going out for dinner is much more expensive than in Sweden and you save a lot by cooking yourself. However, if you show the student card, "Legi" that you receive from ETH in the university mensa (food canteen) you get a discount, which is a really nice price for the food you get for lunch. By saving money on food, you have more to spend on free time activities with friends. For example, I brought my own food sometimes when going on different hiking or trips.

A lot of piggy banks in a mall. You do not have any use of that in Switzerland, because you do not save money...

Acommendation

Accommodation

As I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to know a friend in Zurich before I went. By that I could subrent a room from a girl who lived together with my friend in the student flat. The accommodation was relatively cheap for being Zurich prices and the room was very nice and comfortable. The flats are in good shape and there is even a small garden between the student houses. There was even a student bar next to our student community where they had pubs every thursday. The student life is very good in Zurich and there is almost a party every weekend in some of the student houses. The small student place I lived at is arranged in a way that you have several flats and houses together with small gardens in between. The accommodation I found was arranged by WOKO, a student organization that rent out student flats (http://www.woko.ch/de/default.asp). You can say it is similar to SSSB in Stockholm. Sometimes you have to pay a small deposit for the flat, which you get back when you go home again, but that is between the agreement between you and the person you are subrenting from.

The standard of the student flats are good, but of course it depends of how old it is. In my flat we had different cleaning responsibilities, but most of the time we cleaned spontaneously when something needed to be cleaned. The kitchen and the bathroom was cleaned mostly as that are the common areas that are used daily and by many people. WOKO also have mandatory cleaning days twice a year for all the student fals in Zurich. Then you have to clean all the areas in your flat and WOKO will come and inspect everything. If something is not done properly or needed to be fixed they will note that. I think this was fair because they keep track of the quality and standard of the flats regularly.

My suggestion if you want to find a good accommodation is to do it via the website of WOKO. You can also go to the Erasmus Student Network group on Facebook, called ESN Zurich, where a lot of students upload ads and sublet rooms at different times etc. If you do not want to live with several people in one flat, WOKO also have single rooms with kitchen for students or corridors. I really liked living in a flat with several people, we became like a family and it was nice to not be alone all the time. When you live with several people you have shared areas, but you always have your own room, so can also have your own privacy if you wish.

I was lucky enough to get a student flat 3 minutes walk from the campus (Campus Irchel) where my lab was located. Actually it was so close that I could literally see the lab-building from my street. This was of course a benefit for me as I did not have to go commute and pay tickets everyday for the tram. Generally, there is two main campuses belonging ETH and to for the UZH. There are student flats close to both of the campuses, so if you know where you are going to stay it will help if you apply for an accommodation on the right side of town. Anyway, Zurich is really small and commuting there is not at all like in Stockholm. If I travel for 30 minutes in Stockholm, I think it is quite close. In Zurich, that is long. The trams and buses leaves all the time and it took me around 12 minutes to travel by tram from my flat to Zurich. I leaved in a region close to Oerlikon, which is in the middle of the city center and the airport. Oerlikon is a calm area and you have all the facilities you need there.

Studies in general

Studies

I spent my study time doing my bachelor thesis in Zurich. I did my work in the Institute of Molecular Life Sciences in a lab that conducts research in Drosophila flies. Their research field is neuroscience and they study synaptic transmission in these flies. My first impression of the whole institute was great. All the researchers and groups have good contact and the environment in the UZH is very nice. My supervisor and everyone in my lab where really nice. I was lucky to go to a small research group, which is now expanding, so it is easier to get to know everyone more on the personal level. Before I went to Zurich I had a Skype-meeting with my supervisor, so I got an impression of him before I came.

I was supervised by a post-Doc in the lab who taught me all the techniques and helped me along the project. She was great and my supervisor (PI of the research group) was also very kind and helpful all the time. The others in the lab created such a nice atmosphere and were really helpful and they also invited me to activities after work. I think it is really important to chose a lab with a research topic that you know excites you. Also, it is good to have maybe a Skype-meeting before, so you get an impression of the lab and the supervisor. In Sweden, there is almost no hierarchy between student and professor/teacher. However, in Germany, the hierarchy is larger and you have to pronounce a professor or teacher by their title and last name (ex. Prof./Dr. Svensson) in university. I thought that it would be similar in the german speaking part of Switzerland, but I think it varies quite a lot between different lecturers etc. The swiss people are not so hard on the hierarchy in university as well, but I think it is a bit more stricter than in Sweden. My supervisor was not very formal at all, so for me it was very easy to get to know him.

I learnt a lot in the lab and I read a lot of articles in relation to my research. We had lab-meetings every Thursday, where someone in the lab presented their recent data or we discussed urgent things in the lab. Sometimes we had invited speakers who talked about their research and who wanted to collaborate or work in the lab. We also had journal clubs where someone in the lab chose an article that just came out and is related to our research. Then everyone has to read the article and the one who chose it presents i shortly, followed by a discussion in the whole group. I got the chance to hold in one journal club during my stay. I learnt a lot on how to present and read it. It was a nice opportunity to do as journal clubs are very common in labs all the world around.

The Institute

The institute I stayed at was very nice (http://www.imls.uzh.ch/index.html). Every Friday we had a TGIF (Thank god its friday) where all the groups could meet after work and have a beer/soda with some snacks. It is a nice way of brining all the researchers together. I met a lot of new friends during TGIF and got to know more people in the institute. The institute also arranged guest speakers and talks every week. I attended most of those lectures and I learnt a lot of up to date research and what is actually going on right now. You get the chance to see new researchers every week and that creates new collaboration or networking for the researchers in the institute. As a student you also learn different presentation techniques and theoretical fact during these lectures. Alongside that, you could also attend dissertation talks. There was also a talk every Tuesday called: Fish 'n' Chicks, which was organised by some labs in the institute that is doing research on fish, chicken or flies. They all share the research topic neuroscience and each Tuesday one scientist from a lab is giving a presentation on new results in their studies. This is a very nice way of sharing research among scientists.

In addition, my lab was going to some conferences during my stay, and as I was part of the lab, I went with them. We visited a Neuroscience meeting in Fribourg (french part of Switzerland) and a Drosophila meeting in Lausanne during my stay. I would say that the relationship between students and my professor/supervisor specifically was very good. Looking at other research groups in our institute, I think that most of the students working there had the same feeling as I do. Therefore, I can strongly recommend to do a research project in Zurich and the Institute of Molecular Life Sciences if you are interested in taking part of the research life.

ETH

I did not spend most of my time at the campus of ETH, but I met a lot of friends who took courses there. ETH however was always in contact with me during my studies. They have talks and presentations with scientists regularly and many of them are past nobel laureates. ETH send out news letters via email all the time and as a student of theirs you are allowed to attend all of these lectures for free. There are also many workshops and career events organised by ETH. In the middle of my semester they also invited you for a special events directed towards all the exchange students. They wanted to gather all of us for an occasion to meet ETH students that are going abroad themselves next year. This event was very helpful for the swiss students as they could ask us about our countries, universities and the life in different cities. I met some new friends during that event and some of them will come to study in Stockholm during the autumn semester, so hopefully I will get to meet some of them soon.

Courses during the exchange period

Courses corresponding to semester 6 at KI

Courses

I went to Zurich during my 6th semester of the Bachelor's programme in Biomedicine. This semester is officially done at KI, so if you go abroad you will still be counted as a student in Stockholm. The bachelor research project (30 ECTS) that you carry out will be automatically registered at KI even if you go to another university. In this way there is also less paper work for the partner university and the supervisors will receive some evaluation forms that they can fill in to grade your work. I was very happy with my choice to go abroad on the 6th semester. ETH normally does not require you to take any further courses in parallel with your research project. Some universities do, but if you wish to take any courses in addition, I think this can be arranged between KI and ETH.

Language and Culture

Language

I did not take any courses, so I did not have to learn the native language. In research, english is the most commonly used language and that is how I communicated with the other people on my lab. However, ETH offered all the students an intensive course in german for two weeks. Some of my friends took the course and learnt standard phrases and common words, which will help you in your daily life. Some of the courses (rarely) are actually in german at ETH, so it is recommended to take some german classes before you arrive if you chose a course in german.

Culture

Switzerland is a very special country. It is one of the smallest countries in Europe and it is not part of the Europeanian Union. There are three different parts in Switzerland: the german, french and italian parts. Therefore they have four major languages that are spoken in each part: french, italian, german and rhaeto-romanian. The rhaeto-romanian language is an old roman language that are mostly spoken in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. This sounds almost as a mixture of swiss german and italian. There are around 40.000 people who speaks rhaeto-romanian today and the swiss government is subsidising for keeping the language alive, as it is slowly dying out.The swiss people normally learns french, italian or german in school as a mother tongue (depending on which part you come from) and then an additional language to that (most often german/swiss german). It is important to know that when they speak german in Switzerland, they speak swiss german, which is a dialect of high german. Sometimes it does not sound like german at all, due to all the different dialect that exist. As Zurich is a large city the dialect is also milder. Most of the swiss people know high german, but sometimes it can be difficult to understand them anyway as they have an accent. Officially, they write everything in high german, so the swiss german language only exists as a dialect. It is therefore useful to still know high german in the german speaking part. It may be good to know that in Switzerland you sometimes greet each other either by hand shake or by kissing on the cheeks three times. So do not be surprised if someone kisses you on your cheeks!

Switzerland is a very old country that was founded ca. 1300. It consists of 26 cantons, which is different districts in the country. I stayed in canton Zurich. The swiss people are very proud of their country and you have to admire them as the structure and standard there is very high. Everything is organised and the fact that three different ethnical groups (french, italian, german) have lived together for so many years in peace is very impressive. For me, who has a swedish nationality, the cultural differences was not very different to Switzerland. To my friends from other parts of Europe or outside of Europe, the cultural shock was bigger. I learnt also that many swiss people that I met during my stay tend to like Sweden very much. I think it is because of the nature and that the people in Sweden have a similar withdrawn character to swiss people. Furthermore, Switzerland is a beautiful country with an amazing nature such as the alps with mountains, forests, nice lakes and old cities. The food is very tasty and differ a little between the different regions. They eat a lot of cheese and have tasty sausages. Not to mention the chocolate, which is the best in the world!

Summarizing, you can say that Switzerland is a romantic country. They have a low criminality and they are very concerned about the environment and to keep the country as it is.

A swiss dish called "Pizokel", made of similar dough as pasta, but heavier with a lot of swiss cheese. Really nice after ski-food!

Leisure time and social activities

Leisure

There are a lot of things to do in your free time in Switzerland. To go there during the spring semester was convenient, because you get to experience both winter, spring and early summer time. Winter time allows you to go skiing and there are many skiing resorts that you can reach within 1-2 hours from Zurich. I went to Lenzerheide in Graubünden, twice. They have a nice offer for students and sometimes you can even by combine skiing tickets with the train. Those tickets are called "Snow 'n' rail". The skiing season ends in mid-March and if you are lucky there are even snow until the end of March. There are famous skiing resorts like Zermatt, but they are much more expensive.

The Train Network

The train network in Switzerland is one of the largest and you can reach several countries in Europe by train. Milano and

Paris is only 4 hours away from Zurich each. There are also night trains going to Budapest and other trains going to Germany etc. The swiss train network is called SBB and they have a lot of offers and tickets that you can buy for different occasions. If you are a group of more than 10 people, you can buy tickets with discount. The nice thing with Switzerland is that you travel across the country by train within 3-4 hours. If you want to travel around and explore new cities I recommend to buy the "Halb-tax" card that gives you 50 % discount on all train tickets and is valid for 1 year. It costs around 170 CHF but you save money it if you are going more than two or three times by train. It is even valid on the tram, but there you get a bit lower discount. If you buy a train ticket to Lausanne for example, it is valid for 10 days. If you wish to buy cheaper tickets they also have supersaver tickets, but then you have to travel at specific times. Some really nice cities to visit is Luzern, Geneva, Fribourg and Bern.

International Erasmus Student Network (ESN)

There is a network for all the international students in Zurich. There are several swiss students from ETH and the UZH that organise many activities and trips for all the exchange students. If you want to be a part of their network you have to pay 5 CHF and then you get a member card. With this card you sometimes get good student prices and everytime ESN is organising anything they get good prices for groups. I can strongly recommend to be part of the ESN (http://zurich.esn.ch), especially if you are doing a research project in a lab and do not take any courses. It is a nice opportunity to meet other students and I made a lot of friends through them and we organised trips ourselves sometimes. I went to a chocolate factory and to do some treasure hunting in Fribourg. They have international dinners where everyone gets to cock their national dish. Of course they organise skiing trips and much more. The ESN also took us for a guided tour in Zurich in the beginning of the semester. The ESN also have international pubs every Wednesday. Then they meet in a different bar in Zurich every week.

Social Activities

Zurich is a small city, but has a lot to offer! There are nice restaurants and bars, concert halls and cinemas. During summertime they have open air cinemas and concerts outside. Many famous festivals also take place in Switzerland during summer time. To go out in Zurich is very expensive, but there are popular places that are cheaper if you go to the right side of the city. There is a street called Langstrasse, which is more of the "multicultural" place in Zurich. Here you can find a lot of different bars and clubs. The entrance fee is about 25 CHF if you are lucky, but it can even be up to 50 CHF if you go close to the city centre. Some bars have student fees. I can strongly recommend a bar in Niederdorf called Cabaret Voltaire, which is around 100 years old. The "dadaism" was born in Cabaret Voltaire and many famous people have been guests there during all these years.

There are a lot of museums in Zurich. My favourite one is the Kunsthaus, the art museum. They have very nice exhibitions all year around and they also have a lot of famous art. You can get a student discount there as well. The main churches of Zurich are also very nice to visit, and here you do not pay any fees. Everything in Zurich i quite close such as the opera and the concert hall.

If you want to go hiking there is a lot of mountains and places in Switzerland. However, if you wish to go in Zurich, there is a mountain called Uetliberg. You take the train up to the mountain or you can also walk/bike. It is a nice hiking place and they have restaurants and cafés up there. You have an amazing view over whole Zurich from Uetliberg.

The river Limmat and the Lake of Zurich is very nice to visit during summertime. Many people take a swim or bath in the lake. I can also recommend to visit a thermal spa in Zurich, located in Enge. They have a roof top terrase where you can take a swim in the hot thermal baths and the whole building used to be an old brewery. If you would like to have a cup of coffee or some baked things, you can visit Sprüngli or Läderach. They have really nice chocolae. I can also recommend a nice confectionery in Niederdorf called "Schober", a really old Place with really nice hot chocolate and comfortable salons!

Sports

The nice thing with Zurich is that all the students enrolled at ETH, UZH or other universities can do as much sports as they want for free. There is a special sports club called ASVZ and they have gyms all kind of sports classes for free. They have fitness studios on all the campuses: ETH Hönggerberg, ETH Polyterasse, UZH Irchel etc. You only have to show your student legi in order to enter. I can highly recommend to do some sports during the stay, because the chocolate comsumption rises exponentially as soon as you enter Switzerland. A fun sport to do is "Superkondi", which is a class where you do a lot of different movements to high-tempo music.

Photo of me in Lenzerheide in the slope!

Summary

Conclusion

The exchange changed the view on my studies. I experienced so much and gained a lot of new knowledge that I did not have before. I also got the chance to extend the knowledge I had from my studies at KI. Sometimes it is hard to see the future directions when you are studying for exams all the time and you are still in your bachelor's. When I started the research project I could see the future more clearly. We got to transfer our theoretical knowledge into practical skills and I felt for the first time that I know what I actually want to do. Coming to Zurich also made my interest in science become even stronger. I also learnt what field I want to specialize in after my Master's degree.

After my exchange I have noticed that I have become more open and spontaneous as a person. I was already quite outgoing before I left, but you learn to communicate on a different level when you go abroad. You improve your language skills, especially English and you learn a lot about other cultures. I think it will be much easier for me to study and keep up the motivation after my trip to Switzerland. I have learnt how I work with other people and all the knowledge I have gained is really useful for the Master's programme in Biomedicine that I will begin this autumn. You make a lot of contacts during your exchange semester and you meet a lot of researchers. This is really essential and I am sure that it will be useful for the future regarding my professional role. I made good friends with people in the lab and I feel like I could contact my supervisor anytime after my stay in Zurich. Also, my supervisor in Zurich know some reasearchers at KI, so I learnt that the scientific and academic world is quite small once you have entered it.

Taken together, my trip to Switzerland is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I had a great time and most of all I could combine my studies with a lot of new life experiences. I can strongly recommend to go on exchange. In the beginning everything is a bit nervous and you get travel fever, but once you go you will have the time of your life!