Procedures

1. Application procedures
2. After arrival at Porto
3. During the mobility
4. Antes do regresso

Application procedures

The University of Porto has an online platform through which all the foreign students, interested in perform a mobility period in its faculties/schools, have to mandatorily fill out and submit an application form.

Normally, we can only start the mobility procedures after we receive your official nomination, directly from your home university:

Nomination*		Application
Autumn term	Spring term	Autumn term	Spring term
Ideally until 30th march	Ideally until 31th august	Until 15th may	Until 15th October

*We ask the partners to send us a message with the name and at least the email address of the nominees

1. Request a user by email

The first step is to request a temporary login at the University of Porto.

After filling the fields with your data, you will receive an email with a temporary username and password. For security reasons, the password expires automatically, so you must create a new password to validate and complete the Application Form.

2. Fill out the Application Form

With the password created by you definitively, validate in University of Porto website and generate your Application Form.

We call your attention for the following aspects during the filling of the form:

• The selection of the right institution is crucial, because it determines the visualization of the application by the ICBAS: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS). Since U. Porto has two Integrated Masters in Medicine: one of our ICBAS (associated to the Central Hospital of Porto - Santo António Hospital) and other from the Faculty of Medicine (associated to S. João Hospital), it is quite common the students select the wrong faculty and then have several problems;
• The choice of curricular units from different years, courses or faculties, may involve incompatibilities concerning timetables and exam schedules;
• ICBAS established, according with U.Porto indications, a minimum number of credits to be accomplished during a certain mobility period- these has to be mandatorily respected:
  Annual = 50 ECTS
  Semester = 20 ECTS
• Before the submission, save the data and verify it – doubts related to the study plan, contact the Mobility Office. After submit the candidature, you cannot alter the application form so to correct it you have to ask us to unblock it;
• The submission of the online application form does not guarantee the place for the mobility student in the U.Porto. The incoming students are only officially accepted after the sending of the Letter of Acceptance by the U. Porto.

For more detailed information, look at THE ADVENTURE BEGINS and  Online application. In case of errors / web problems, we ask you please to contact the Rectory of the University of Porto: international@reit.up.pt

3. Print form

After application submission, you will have access the application in PDF format, which you have to print to collect the signatures and stamps of your institution.

In addition to the Application Form, duly signed and stamped , we must upload other required documents:

• Transcript of Records*;
• Copy of Identity Document ( ID / CC / Passport );
• CV (optional);
• Motivation and / or Recommendation Letter (optional).

* It is mandatory to attach the Transcript of Records, document authenticated by the home institution (signed and stamped). The Transcript of Records is a certificate that shows a list of all courses taken and corresponding classifications and number of credits.

4. Insert file

After gathering all documents, you should join them in a single file (.pdf) and make the upload – it is only allowed the upload of one document.

Then, your documentation will be analyzed by the different area coordinators and by the mobility coordinator to approve the proposed learning agreement. If the case, we will contact you to make the necessary corrections for candidature acceptance.

5. Acceptance

The student application is officially accepted when the form is validated by ICBAS and by the University of Porto, because only then can be issued and sent the Letter of Acceptance. After receiving of the Letter of Acceptance, the student should begin to prepare his trip and stay at Porto, searching information in the available websites, among them, our platform ( you found it if you are reading this) and the one of the University of Porto: Life U.Porto.

We can also contact our student association – AEICBAS – and add its Facebook group created every year for the mobility students, as well as make a register in EESN.

We call the attention of the students from non-EU countries (eg Brazil and Mexico) to the need to obtain the visa and to the fact that this process is very slow, frequently making it impossible for the students arrive in time for classes. Thus, once the acceptance letter is available on the online platform, the student must immediately apply for the visa at the respective consular post.

6. Desistance

In case of desistance, the students must notify immediately the Mobility Office and proceed obligatorily to its formalization in the University of Porto website, on the same platform where you created their application form. Therefore, we appeal to your sense of responsibility and we call your attention to the importance of this procedure, since you could be occupying places/spots necessary for other students, either from mobility or from ICBAS.

7. Learning agreement from home institution

Normally, apart from ICBAS form, students also need to fill out a document relating to their faculty - both learning agreements (ICBAS and home) must match, that means, even if the format of the documents is different, the requested information has to be the same. Regarding ICBAS data, please consider the following: 

Data	Fill guideline
Name	University of Porto
Faculty	Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar
Code	PORTO02
Size	>250
Address	Jorge Viterbo Ferreira Street, no 228, 4050-313 PORTO
Country, Country Code	PORTUGAL, PT
Contact person	Eduardo Rocha
Function	Mobility Coordinator
Contact Person email/phone	mobilidade.in@icbas.up.pt / +351 220 428 025

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After arrival at Porto

When do I have to arrive at ICBAS?

We advise the students to arrive about a week before the beginning of classes, medicine 6^th year rotations and internships, namely when there are issues to be solved related to the particular accommodation. Students who arrive after the beginning of classes have to warn ICBAS Mobility Office and bring an official document of the home university to justify their absence.

How can I get to ICBAS?

The new ICBAS building is flanked by the Crystal Palace- Rosa Mota Pavilion and the CICAP Old Quarters (building opposite to the Soares dos Reis Museum). The students may walk on feet from the Rectory of U.Porto to ICBAS. When you arrive at ICBAS gates, you should get in the building on the left, take the elevator until the 6th floor and then walk through the hall until see a white door with a prohibited sign- our office stays right before that, on the left (room 17)

What is the difference between ICBAS and U.Porto? Do I have to go to both places?

U.Porto is composed by several faculties, including ICBAS, and works like a central office. That said, the students have to go both places to register their arrival. Concerning ICBAS, the students must be present at one of the welcome sessions, regarding U.Porto, they must schedule a meeting, after receiving this indication by email. If you did not do it yet, please access to: https://international.up.pt/service_registration/form.

Do I have to pay something in ICBAS?

Yes, your scholar insurance = 2 euros. Freemover students may have to pay additional fees, since this program does not contemplate this type of exemption.

Do I have to bring any document with me?

You must have your passport or ID card and bring any document from your university that requires ICBAS’s signature and stamp, like Learning Agreement or Certificate of Arrival. We also need the information regarding your address at Porto and the cellphone number to be used in Portugal.

When will I have my timetable?

You will only have access to your timetable upon your arrival and only then we will know if it is necessary to make any changes to the initial Learning Agreement.

And about the accommodation (University Residence)?

All the issues concerning the accommodation are dealt by the Rectory of U.Porto and not by ICBAS.

I am a non-European student. Is there any specific information for me?

Non-European students who have stopped at an airport prior to landing in Portugal must go to the SEF for the next 3 days, because if not, will have to pay a fine.

May I make modification to the study plan? Is there any deadline?

Yes, but the deadline to make the alterations to the study plan depends on the begginning of the classes (which is different for each course) since there is a limit for the number of faults. That said, the changes must be done as soon as possible, namely, to prevent the missing of classes and do not harm the student.
To make a change to the Learning Agreement and / or to the proposed mobility, you have to "Create a Change Form" in the same online platform where your application was submitted. Like the form, also this change has to be signed by the student and by the home university - only then can be sent/delivered in ICBAS Mobility Office. That said, ICBAS will conduct this procedure, but the filling of the change form of the home university is the student's entire responsibility.
Type of changes that you can make in the same request:

• Changes in the Learning Agreement (only for add / delete Curricular Units);
• Change the period of study, extending or reducing ( in the case of the study period did not change , you should keep the " change type " field blank). If the student wishes to make an extension from the 2^nd semester to the 1^st semester of following academic year, he must submit a new application;
• Add / Delete institutions (Curricular Units of another faculty).

ICBAS does not authorize changes that result from a drop-out after the start of classes or a possible failure at the end of the semester, either by exceeding the minimum number of absences or by not complying with the specific rules of each course (practical assessments, delivery of works, etc.).

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During the mobility

Check-list

In the welcome session, the students will receive their INCOMING notebook, where they can find a check-list to fill out during the mobility, as well as other important information.

SIGARRA: complete the data

After receiving the credentials to access to ICBAS online academic system – SIGARRA- the student must make login(authentication), go to personal page/profile (click in his/her name, upper right corner) and fill out the rest of the demographic data - “Dados Demográficos”. Additionally, the insertion of your personal email in SIGARRA is also a very important aspect. To do it, you must click in “Configure” (lateral panel on the right) and put your personal email in the "Alternative Email". This way, you will receive all the information divulgated by ICBAS and U.Porto, including the teachers' alerts.

Language course

The classes at ICBAS are taught in Portuguese and communication with patients (hospital practice) and with animal caregivers (veterinary clinic) is also in Portuguese. Therefore, we strongly advise the students to attend a Portuguese language course, even resourcing to our Faculty of Arts (https://sigarra.up.pt/up/pt/web_base.gera_pagina?p_pagina=122273) .

Public transport

If you cannot get around on foot to ICBAS, the best solution is to buy the Andante card (monthly payment) so that you can use public transport (subway, bus and train). That said, you should ask us for a declaration for it, in order to get student discounts.

Medical Assistance

In case of an urgency, the student can go to the emergency room of Santo António Hospital, with his/her student's ID card besides the identification (identity card, passport, etc.). If it is a less urgent condition and it is possible to wait for a consultation in the respective area of expertise/ specialty, the students can schedule an appointment with our U.Porto Social Services 

Documents emission

In case of need to issue documentation (eg. SEF statement), students must request it at least 2 working days in advance.

Course sheets

Students are advised to carefully read the course sheets available on SIGARRA, since this way they may access to more specific information, such as methods of assessment and frequency regime (mandatory presence in at least 75% of the practical classes). Note that absences can be justified if the cause is provided in ICBAS regulation or is considered valid by the responsible for its analysis.

Not validated changes

ICBAS change form is extremely important, since without its validation on the system, the transcription of records is compromised. Examples: if you cancel a course, it still appears in the TR but as "failed due to faults"; if you add a new one, it does not appear in the TR and does not even get a classification. Thus, students should regularize this situation as soon as possible. It is the student's responsibility to complete the change form of the home university.

Programmmatic contents / hours

If the students need to present at the home university, besides the transcription of records, a portfolio with the programmatic contents / hours of the approved courses, signed and stamped, they will have to require it ICBAS Academic Section. This requirement can only be submitted after insertion of all the classifications in the SIGARRA and involves the payment of emoluments.

Exams: overlaps

Since mobility students have a greater flexibility in choosing disciplines from different curricular years and even different courses and faculties/schools, it is normal to occur overlapping of exams, at the same time and on the same day. In these particular cases, students may request a new date for one of the examinations, based on fulfillment of the inherent procedure for it.

Grade’s improvement

The student can request improvement of a grade, resorting to our academic services and paying the respective fees. To do this, they must apply three working days before the appeal exam.

Monitoring

The Mobility Office, at the end of the 1st semester, will hold monitoring meetings with the annual students in order to verify the obtained results and to plan the second semester. At this meeting, will be also verified the check-list and the students have a new opportunity to change the study plan for the second semester.

Other advices

Students should check their email inbox regularly and send messages with the knowledge of our office (in CC) in case of more complex situations. If the address or the mobile phone number changes, our mobility office must be informed as soon as possible.

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Before returning

ICBAS Mobility Office will meet with all students before their return, normally in the week after the performance of all the exams, being this a mandatory procedure for the conclusion of the mobility. Regarding the periods of training and rotation, the students must present themselves during the last week of it.

During this meeting, it will be done:

• Verification of the obtained results;
• Verification of the checklist in the IN notebook;
• Delivery by students of the supervisor’s feedback/declaration, in case of internship;
• Getting the original documents;
• Delivery of the documentation to be presented at the home university (we advise you to contact your faculty in advance and confirm what will be necessary);
• Getting the schedules of the second semester;
• Signing of departure / stay certificate.

If the student does not present him/herself again at the mobility office after this, the final data to be indicated in the stay / departure certificate will be the date of this meeting. Note that this document, according to the indications of majority of the home universities, must be delivered in person within 10 days after the final date.

The transcripts of records will be sent later to the partner institutions, by email (with the knowledge of the student) and by post, if necessary, since at the departure of the student, the final results are not all inserted in SIGARRA.

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