Procedures for BSU master students from 2015 – 2017
Allowance
You will receive a personal allowance of DKK 5,903 per month corresponding to the official Danish students’ grant. This is equivalent to DKK 197 per day. Accommodation, including heating, water, electricity, and media license is paid by DFC. The allowance covers food, clothes, medicine, spectacles, dental visits, daily transport, and pocket money.
You are insured by the national insurance scheme and will receive a “yellow insurance card” shortly after your arrival.
End of study allowance and housing
You will receive allowance throughout your stay in Denmark up to and including July in your final year of study.
Note that the date for vacating your room in Copenhagen can be no later than 4 days after the end of your study, regardless your monthly allowance is paid for the month of July.
Book allowance
You will receive an annual flat rate of DKK 3,000. You might use more the first year, but the experience is that the expenses will be less the second year, thus the total of DKK 6,000 will be enough to cover the expenses.
Laptop
At your arrival DFC will provide you with a laptop computer in order to complete your Master study.
Your payment of the computer will be DKK 2,500 which will be deducted from your allowance for October, November, December 2015, and January 2016 by DKK 625 per month. The equivalent new value is in the region of DKK 10,000. The computer will be your personal property at the end of your study in Denmark.
Home leave/vacation
Flight tickets for vacation will not be provided by DFC. You will keep your allowance during the university’s winter and summer holidays, even if you decide to go home for vacation 1 – 2 month during summer. This will enable you to bear the cost for vacation during the summer holiday
For many of you there will also be a possibility of going home for field work in connection with your thesis work, when and if this is a part of your study.
Tax exemption/work
- You are not allowed to take up paid employment while in Denmark.
- You are exempted from taxation of your allowance, ‘free’ accommodation, etc.
- This enables you to study full time while you are in Denmark and finish your study within the scholarship period.
Travel insurance for trips outside Denmark
Please note that the Danish National Health Insurance Scheme covers Denmark only. If you travel privately outside Denmark it is your own responsibilityto make sure you have the required documents like residence card or re-entry permit and insurance.
You can take out a travel insurance at many insurance companies for example: Europaiske and Tryg
Mandatory study tours and field work
If your travel is a mandatory study tour or field work in connection with your study, DFC will take out the travel insurance for you, unless it is in your country of residence.
It is therefore important that you inform DFC about your travel plans within 5 working days before you leave.
Scholarship period in Denmark
Your scholarship is for two years of a maximum (some are one year). The scholarship period follows the study period of the universities, and is normally from end August or September 1 till end of June or beginning of July.
- At some studies there will be no oral exam/defense of your thesis, and in other cases it is an option.
- It is important that you inform the study administration and supervisor about the maximum of the two years scholarship period, so that it will be taken into consideration when planning for handing in your thesis and setting the date of the exam.
- As soon as you know the date of your final exam or handing in the thesis (in case of no oral exam) please contact Ms. Eva Thaulow for booking of return flights, by filling in the attached form.
- Please note that the date of the return flight can be no later than three weeks after the end of your study; otherwise the ticket will be cancelled/lost, regardless that your residences permit has a longer validity.
Field work in connection with thesis work
To ensure that your Master degree will contribute to the development of your home country, it is a requirement that your thesis covers relevant issues, and that you to the extent possible carry out minimum four weeks field work in your home country.
- The size of the field work travel grant will be up to DKK 10,000 (exclusive flight tickets) depending on the length of the field work and expenses involved. The flight tickets will be covered by DFC.
- For more extensive field work studies, for example within the science area, where there may be a need for technical equipment, etc., it is possible to get up to DKK 15,000.
- It is a precondition for accepting a field work grant that none of the budgeted expenses are funded by other sources.
- In some cases there is a possibility of getting a travel/field work grant from the university. If this is the case you should apply for this, as this is a part of the study fee. Remember to inform DFC, as this will have to be deducted from the grant provided by DFC.
- BSU master students cannot apply for a Danida Travel Grant.
- In order to receive a field work travel grant, you must at least 2 weeks before departure hand in this application form and a signed approval by your supervisor.
- Be aware that for some studies, for example at DTU, it might not be possible to do field work in your home country due to lack of technical equipment.
- The extent and the ambition of the field work should be coherent with the requirements for a master’s thesis (and not a PhD), and not hinder the study to be completed within the scholarship period.
Mentorship by the home university during field work
In order to establish a closer connection between the BSU II and the Scholarship Programme, it will be possible to be offered mentoring performed by an senior employee (compensated with a fee up till DKK 5,000 from DFC) at the home university, if the master student has a wish to perform field work in collaboration with the university and vice versa.
This could have several benefits:
- Enable the student to set up field work contacts in the home country
- Create a link between the student and BSU II (if not already)
- Create opportunities for cooperation between universities in the north and south, by the interaction between the thesis supervisor and the mentor.
If you are interested in a mentorship, you have to get an approval by your supervisor (by filling in the section for mentorship in the form for travel grant), before you contact the coordinator of the BSU programme at your home university. You find the contact information of the BSU coordinators here. The mentorship has to be arranged before you start your field work.
Internship in Denmark
For a few of the studies under the BSU Master Scholarship Programme internship is an integrated part of the study. If it is not possible to find an internship in a company or organization in Denmark (because of language problems etc.), then it is possible to choose an optional course instead. An internship with an organization outside Denmark is not possible under the BSU Master programme.
If you find an internship (with or without remuneration) you have to ask your university to fill in this form (soon you will also find it in English) in cooperation with you and send it to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration for approval.
Please inform DFC if you find a paid internship, as you are not entitled to receive allowance during the same period as your paid internship.
Course/field trip outside Denmark
It is not possible to do courses or field trips outside Denmark, unless it is a mandatory part of your study.
Only applicable for master students in Jutland
Tenancy agreement
Be aware that DFC will pay the deposit and the monthly rent, but it is your responsibility to notify DFC if there is any problems regarding the payment or housing arrangement.
You are also responsible for reading the terms in the contract and especially take note of the terms of moving out.
Moving out
Even if DFC is paying your rent it is your responsibility to make sure that the contract is cancelled in accordance with the rules in the contract. It can vary from 6 to 12 weeks prior to your departure.
Be aware that you have to leave your room 1-2 two weeks before end of contract.
Media License
In Denmark anyone who has a television or a computer, smartphone or tablet with internet access has to pay a media license. The media license fee is 2,460 DKK a year.
The license is paid monthly or twice a year.
Monthly payments must be made through Betalingsservice (direct debit). The monthly fee is DKK 205 in 2015. In addition there is a monthly administrative charge of DKK 4.33.
Half-yearly payments are DKK 1,230, and payment through Betalingsservice (direct debit) is optional.
When you register for Betalingsservice (direct debit), the first invoice is sent to you by mail. You can register here
DFC will cover payment of the license – but you have to register and pay, and DFC will reimburse you.
Remember to unsubscribe the media license before you return home.
Special housing conditions in Aarhus
International Housing in Aarhus only offers accommodation to international students for one year.
Therefore you have to make an application to Kollegiekontoret(the office for all students’ accommodations in Aarhus) for another accommodation.
This should be done after your arrival and no later than October in order to get on the waiting list before the new applicants starting in February.
Procedure: Apply here: www.studenthousingaarhus.dk
As you need to get an accommodation with furniture we suggest you set up an application for a single person and choose the hostel: Vilhelm Kiers kollegiet – one room (værelse) and indicate moving-in date as 01.04.2016.
The rooms at Vilhelm Kiers hostel are single rooms with own toilet and bathroom, and shared kitchen facilities, close to town and where the BSU-students starting last year live (you can ask them for assistance).
You can also choose another hostel closer to your study, but you should only apply for the accommodations that do not have a wait for more than 7 – 12 months. There is also a possibility of choosing a shared apartment for two people. Make sure only to apply for hostels with furniture’s. You can contact the Kollegiekontoret about this.
Remember that you have to renew your application every month.