I applied to the University of Edinburgh as they have an excellent Department of neuroscience which has always been my big interest. 

When receiving my nomination for Edinburgh the first thing I did was to find a suitable lab to do to do my Master Thesis in. The different University Departments are spread out all over the city so it is a good idea to make sure you know where your lab is located before looking for a place to stay. When receiving a research position I travelled to Edinburgh to attend an animal handling course as the UK has their own certificate you need to have to handle laboratory animals. I knew I was going to work with animals and I did not want to waste time from my thesis work by not having the right papers. I already had a certificate from KI but still had to attend a course to get my ‘Home office certificate’. This about to change, the FELASA certificate will be sufficient eventually, and you will not have to attend the course, but you will still have to apply for a UK certificate. It might be a good idea to check with your supervisor to see if you will need a certificate. In that case, receiving the actual certificate takes a couple of months so it is worth getting the paperwork out of the way before arriving.

If you are an European citizen there is no need to apply for a visa or even report you presence in the UK.

I stated quite a long time in advance to find a flat share and got quite stressed when I couldn’t find anything at first. But the closer you get to the start of the semester the more flats will be announced.

I left Sweden as fast as I could. We had a course the semester before that extended to January but I was able to finished before Christmas and left after New Year’s. This was just to get as much time as possible to work in the lab, creating a Master Thesis is a time-consuming job. There is some administrative things you need to do around the University, like picking up your University card, so if you plan to attend courses it might be a good idea to spare a couple of days for that.

The University did not have any introduction courses, but the city is really easy to get to know and everyone is really friendly with helping out.

I applied for the ERASMUS stipend before leaving for Scotland but I didn’t get the money until after three months in the UK so I was lucky having my savings. You will need to give your landlord a deposit for the apartment you decide to rent. This is usually a one moths worth of rent. If you choose to live with other students in a shared flat you will pay 300-400£ a month, depending on the flat and area.

I decided not to get an British card or bank account, turned out it was cheaper for me to get money out from an ATM (~30kr) than transferring money from my Swedish bank to a British one(~100kr). But this can also be even cheaper if you for example apply for an ICA bank-card before leaving. They offer free cash withdraws all over the world.  

If you have a phone that is unlocked you can get really cheap deals with companies like Vodaphone, Orange etc. if you just by a SIM-card. I paid 10£ a month and that gave me more than enough to call and text for. To call home the absolute cheapest way to do it is to download Skype or apps like Viber on your smartphone, and call over the internet.  

You can walk to anywhere in Edinburgh so getting a bus card is really not necessary if you don’t live to far away from where you work.

In Edinburgh the most common way of living is renting a flat with a couple of other students. The easiest way to find a flat to share or for living in alone is webpages like Gumtree.com or Spareroom.co.uk. For me it was a great experience living with other students and I really liked my flatmates. I would really recommend it to anyone going to Edinburgh as you really get the British student experience.  

As students you are relived from council tax. To not having to deal with this is to look for student flats right away, if this is not done already by your landlord you can ask the University for a Certificate that will relive you from paying the tax.

Again, where the best place to live as a student differs depending on where you have your lab our courses. I lived in an area called Marchmont in the south part of Edinburgh which has a lot of students. Other areas close by are Bruntsfield and Newington. If you prefer to live north the New town is nice but a bit more expensive. For rent in a flat share in an area as Marchmont you should pay ~350£/month but this varies depending on the standard of the flat. Edinburgh has really old houses and they are COLD. You pay for your own heating and it can be quite expensive during the cold months of the year. As students living together you rarely leave the heating on so make sure you have proper clothes to sleep in and something to wear on your feet. It might sound a bit extreme, but believe me, my dad’s old army socks completely saved me.

To by electronic things to your flat, Argos is the place to go, cheap and has everything. Bed sheets, pillows, hot water bottles (you’re going love them during the winter) etc. you can get at PRIMARK, also really cheap.    

As I mentioned I did my Master Thesis in Edinburgh so I did not need to take any courses. However, I did audit my supervisor’s Honours course. (Honours are the British version of a Major, so Neuroscience Honours students, will take Neuroscience Honours courses and get a Bachelors in Science with an Honours in Neurocience.) The courses are quite similar to KI with lectures, journal clubs and take-home exams. A big difference is that students have several courses in parallel and exam period means all exams at the same time at the end of the semester.

When writing a Master Thesis the process is basically the same all over the world. I had a really great lab and received a lot of help and encouragement from my supervisor and co-workers.

Edinburgh is a really student-friendly city and there are plenty of places to write and study, including the University Library.

Edinburgh is a really international city with people from all over the world. Everyone speaks English of course. It might be tricky in the beginning to understand a real Scottish accent but you will get used to it eventually. The Brits are quite similar Swedish people and there is no major culture chocks. One thing that is tricky to understand sometimes is some British people’s ability to tell you off in the most polite way. There is a kind of hidden social structure of politeness not that easy to understand if you are not used to it. I found the best way to handle it was to be as polite as I could but still just act as the foreigner I was.

It exist specific exchange student-groups at the University. I had a really social lab and really lovely flatmates so I never felt I had the need (or time) to join. The Uni also have a lot of different clubs and societies, if there is a specific activity you are searching for. There is also a gym specific for students with really great deals. Over all there was not too expensive to go to an ordinary gym or swim hall as I did, most places have decent student deals.  

Around Edinburgh there are plenty of theatres and galleries to keep you busy for a while. And when you feel like you have done Edinburgh, Glasgow is only an hour away by train. If you want to go further away there are several companies organizing tours to the highlands, whiskey distilleries and castles (http://www.rabbies.com/edinburgh_tour_departures.asp). I you feel like a weekend in a bigger city London is only 4h away by train. If you plan to travel a lot by train (or only once to London) it might be worth it to get the discount card called ‘Rail Card’. You by it once, it costs 28£, and then you get a lot cheaper tickets when taking the train anywhere in the UK.    

My favourite thing about Edinburgh actually turned out to be the food. Maybe not so much the traditional Scottish food, but eating out is cheap in comparison to Stockholm, and the city has so much great food from other parts of the world. The east African wraps, the best Chinese I have ever had and the most amazing Brazilian Crepes. 

Of course pubs are everywhere in Edinburgh and the most of them are both cheap and cosy.

I am really happy I went to Edinburgh during my exchange period. It is a lovely city with a great atmosphere. I learned so much in the lab I was in. I recommend everyone that have the chance to go abroad on an exchange, and of course to Scotland.