From abroad to Switzerland
Studying at the FHNW School of Applied Psychology
The FHNW School of Applied Psychology has been one of the leading competence centers for work, organisational and business psychology in German-speaking countries for more than 15 years. Roughly 950 students are enrolled in our bachelors’ and master's programmes where they learn basics and advanced issues in psychology from experienced professionals. Partnering up with industrial partners, the students learn how to apply their theoretical knowledge and gain valuable practical experience. Our students can specialise in work, organisational and personnel psychology or in business psychology.
We have summarised the most important information for you in the fact sheet (PDF).
Watch the video to see what it's like to study at the FHNW
Course Offer
Bachelor
Master
Our program is mainly taught in German, and we recommend a B2 level (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) command of German. However, we have some modules which are offered in English. For the courses taught in English at least a B2 level in English is required:
- Introduction to Economic and Consumer Psychology, 3 ECTS, (offered in spring)
- Psychology of Economic Decision Making, 3 ECTS (offered in spring)
- Business English, 3 ECTS, (offered in spring)
- BWL-Marketing, 3 ECTS (offered in spring)
- German for Beginners, 3 ECTS (offered in spring and fall)
- Literature Colloquium: Sociotechnical Systems, 3 ECTS (offered in spring)
- Consumer Behavior, 6 ECTS (offered in fall)
- Psychology & Behavioral Economics, 6 ECTS, (offered in fall)
- Product and Service Design, 3 ECTS (offered in fall)
- Economic Psychology I Module 1: Introduction to Economic Psychology, 5 ECTS (offered in fall)
- Economic Psychology I Module 2: Consumer Behavior, 5 ECTS (offered in fall)
- Economic Psychology II Module 3: Psychology and Behavioral Economics 5 ECTS (offered in spring)
- Economic Psychology II Module 4:
- Applied Economic Psychology (Workshop Facilitation and Workshop New Work Applied), 5 ECTS (offered in spring)
Application
Are you interested in spending a semester at the FHNW School of Applied Psychology? Then contact us and we will discuss the general conditions together. Students from a partner university must be nominated by their home university. The application deadline for the fall semester (September to January) is June and for the spring semester (February to June) the application deadline is November.
Cost of Living
Costs of living including rent, health insurance, food, books, etc. must be covered by yourself. A large part of the costs consists of accommodation at around CHF 400 to 800 per month. Overall, exchange students should expect monthly expenses of about CHF 1,000 to 1,500.
Accommodation options can be found here:
www.fhnw.ch/accommodation
www.wgzimmer.ch
Grants
Swiss European Mobility Programme (SEMP)
Exchange students from a European partner university who study and live in Switzerland receive a Swiss mobility grant from the Swiss government.
Greener Mobility
Students from a European partner university travelling by a sustainable means of transport receive additional financial support (CHF 100). Students must keep the relevant receipts (outward and return journey) and submit them to the International Office of the FHNW School of Applied Psychology.
FHNW Worldwide Support
A grant may be provided to incoming international exchange students from non-European partner universities. This grant is dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions.
Experience reports
Exchange students report on their semester abroad at the FHNW School of Applied Psychology.
Living in Switzerland
Information about Switzerland
The information provided here will help you when studying in Switzerland.
Student Activities and Support
There are several student organisations such as the student council and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) FHNW. These organisations are run on a voluntary basis and organise activities, trips through Switzerland and social events for exchange students throughout their stay. Moreover, we organise Welcomedays and will provide a local buddy for exchange students. Exchange students are welcome to participate in the various sports-activities which can be found here.
Campus Olten
Aaround 4,000 people study, research and work at the FHNW Campus OLten. The educational programmes in Olten are managed by by the FHNW School of Applied Psychology, School of Social Work, School of Business and the School of Engineering (Optometry). Our campus facilities include alibrary, two campus canteens and a coffee bar.
Olten – central and connected
Olten is uniquely situated between several major cities such as Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and Basel, each of which is less than a 30 minute train ride away. Also, in less than 3 hours you can be standing at the foot of the Matterhorn or below the palm trees of Ticino in southern Switzerland. In Switzerland there are four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansch. The official language in Olten is German.
More information about Olten can be found here.