Mobilità internazionale Incoming students

Incoming students

The International Relations Service promotes student exchanges within the Erasmus Programme. It provides information and assistance to all students participating in these study abroad programs. A substantial part of this activity is devoted to the orientation and support of foreign students, to whom the following sections are addressed.

The headquarters of the International Relations Service are located in the main building of the School of Agriculture, Piazzale delle Cascine, 18 - 50144 Florence.

You can contact us by email at the address  erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it

ERASMUS+ STUDY ADMISSION PROCEDURE

The School of Agriculture has decided to accept students who have at least a B1 level of knowledge of the Italian language, B2 level of knowledge of the English language for the master's degree program in Natural Resources Management for Tropical Rural Development (NRMTRD).

An insufficient knowledge of the Italian language could make it very difficult to attend courses and take exams.

You need to send us a copy of your language certification in order to be able to take exams. All official certifications are accepted, including OLS .

Students requesting attendance records should consult the course professor, who is responsible for signing the student "libretto" (attendance is not compulsory for Italian students, although highly recommended for our students).

Nomination (for Partner universities' coordinators)

In order to be accepted by the School of Agriculture, the HOME INSTITUTION of students selected within the framework of the ERASMUS+ programme must send an official NOMINATION to erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it

Application

STEP 1. Once we receive your nomination, we will contact the students by email, providing all the information needed to proceed with the Application. Due to the big amount of incoming students the School of Agriculture receives every semester, this can take some time. We kindly ask students to read the following instructions in order to prepare their documents in advance.

Please note that we do not sign documents required from your home institution before the application submission.

Documentation needed for the application below:

• Enrolment form (pdf) *
• Learning agreement (pdf)
• 1 scanned copy of passport or national identity card
• proof of knowledge of ITALIAN, LEVEL B1 (mandatory). Note: Enrolment will not be considered without the certificate. OLS certificates are accepted.

* How to fill the Enrolment form (see the Tutorial )

It is very important that you send the documents in separate PDF files and name your file SURNAME_name_NAME OF DOCUMENT (e.g. DOE_John_ENROLMENT.pdf, DOE_John_LEARNING AGREEMENT.pdf, etc), otherwise they will not be considered. 

If you forget to send a document, the processing of your application will be delayed, or your application may be refused!!

All the above-mentioned documentation, with the signatures and the stamps of your home institution, must be sent by your official email of your University to the address erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it

Please note:

• the Student Mobility Proposal - Enrolment Form and Learning Agreement must be signed and stamped where indicated by the coordinator of the Home institution, forms without signature and stamp cannot be approved and will not be taken into consideration;
• the enrolment is valid for one academic year.

STEP 2. Web Registration - You need to enter your personal data in our online system to pre-enrol. (Tutorial).

After completing the web registration, you will receive an email from the Erasmus Desk and you will be provided with a student number (matricola).

You will also receive a provisional password (date of birth), which together with your student number will serve as your credentials to access all online services.

Students are requested to change the password at the first access. If you should lose the registration number or the password, please contact erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it

Please consider that the date of the beginning of the classes will be the date of the beginning of your Erasmus mobility.

ACCEPTANCE LETTER – for the sending institution  

As soon as application forms are processed, the International Relations Office will send incoming students an acceptance email (or letter for non-EU nationals requiring a Visa) and the signed learning agreement. Please make sure that the email address given by your home Institution is correct or we will be unable to get back to you!

Before arriving in Florence

The start date of the Erasmus period coincides with the business day (Monday to Friday) following your travel day as certified by your travel document (e.g., airline ticket, boarding pass, train ticket, highway toll payment receipt, etc.):

Note:

>> FIRST SEMESTRER: If you arrive before September 1st, the start date of your Erasmus period will automatically be September 1,

>> SECOND SEMESTER: If you arrive before February 6th, the start data of your Erasmus periodo will automatically be February 6th

After you have sent the required documents to the School's International Relations Service, we will check the documentation received and, if correct, signs the Learning Agreement and send a formal email of acceptance as an Erasmus+ mobility student at UNIFI.

-> How to request the "Codice Fiscale" Tax Identification Number (from the Agenzia delle Entrate)

Arrival in Florence: check-in

Once you arrive in Florence, in order to enrol at the University of Florence you must declare your arrival date. The starting date of your Erasmus period in Florence corresponds in fact to the working day (Monday to Friday) following the date of your travel document (e.g. the air ticket in your name). If you arrived before 1 September, your mobility start date will be 1 September. Once you arrive in Florence, you have to send an e-mail to erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it , which is the unique office in charge of your enrolment.

In the email you must enclose:

• if you are an EU student: your travel document (e.g. boarding card, train ticket, motorway toll payment, etc). If you do not have a named travel document, please specify this in the email and you will be contacted by the office;
• if you are a non-EU student: your passport with student visa (if required, click here) and your travel document (e.g. boarding card, train ticket, motorway toll payment, etc). If you do not have a named travel document, please specify this in the email and you will be contacted by the office.

You will receive your arrival declaration only in digital format.

You will also automatically receive your student number from the system for access to the University's online services GCS (Student Career Management), where you will use:

Username: n° di matricola (student number)

Password: the password you chose when you filled in the online pre-registration.

Email address:  You will also have your own institutional email address (name.surname@edu.unifi.it) that you must use for all communication with the University offices; you can access it with your matriculation number and password (click here). For further information visit the UniFI website.

Courses information and registration to the exams

In order to check the courses in the current academic year, students can visit the section “Ricerca Insegnamenti” in our website and insert the requested information:

- Programme Course Name: type the name of the course (or alternatively part of it).

- School of: select the option “SCUOLA DI AGRARIA”

- Type: select both "3-years First Cycle Degree (DM 270/04)"  (for First Level Course)  or

                                    "Second Cycle Degree"  (for the Master Course)

- click on “search”

If you click on the relevant class, you will be redirected to the details of the subject (name of the Professor, hours of class, downloadable programmes).

Note: once filling in your Learning Agreement, please remember to include the alphanumerical codes (ex. Course: AGRONOMIA GENERALE, code B006288), so that it is easier to register you once all the pre-enrolment procedure is completed. Usually we recommend getting maximum 30 ECTS for 1 semester and maximum 60 ECTS for full year exchange.

ONLINE SERVICES 

Some professors (although it is not compulsory) upload material for didactic purposes on Moodle.

Moodle is an e-learning online platform in which you can sign up to the courses and receive the didactic materials that the professor may choose to upload.

In order to check the courses selected please go to Moodle, put your username and password, insert the name of the course selected and click on “cerca”. 

TAKING THE EXAMS

In each term, after the end of the classes you have the possibility to take the related exams.

The main examination sessions are:

> the winter one in January-February

> the summer one in June - July

In order to register for an exam you have to go to SOL UNIFI (click here) where you can also check all your personal academic records.

By inserting your matricola and your password, you can see the dates in which you can sit the exam and you can register for it (from two weeks until three days before).

Finally, we would like you to note that you cannot use Moodle to register for an exam, in fact the use of Moodle is limited to receiving documents and/or texts that the professor wants to share with the students.

Changes to the original Learning Agreement and extension of your stay (prolungamento del periodo Erasmus)

After starting classes, you may change the courses that do not suit you, but remember that you are allowed to do changes to the original study plan just one time per semester. Therefore, we advise you not to make changes immediately.

Change deadline:  

• 1st semester: 31st October
• 2nd semester: 31st  March 

Below is the procedure for changing any of your classes:

1. Download the form (click here )
2. Fill and send it to the Erasmus coordinator of your University, asking to sign it (a legible scanned version is ok)
3. Mail it back to us as soon as possible at the address erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it
4. Our Erasmus Coordinator will sign the form and we will send it to Erasmus Desk in Novoli so that they can update your study plan.

Please note that in order to successfully complete the change of your study plan, you have to use our form and following our procedure. If your home university needs the same procedure, we will be happy to sign also the document provided by your Home Institution but this cannot replace ours.

Extension

The student can ask for an extension of the study period within one month before the end of his/her Erasmus. The extension can be up to a period of a total of 12 months but remind that you have to finish your Erasmus mobility by the end of July. Here is the procedure for extending your mobility: 

1. fill in the form (click here to dowload ) and send it to your University’s Erasmus coordinator, asking them to sign and stamp it
2. send us back the form signed and stamped by your Home Institution for our Delegate's signature
3. please note that forms without the Institution's stamp cannot be processed.

Leaving Florence: check-out

The closing date of your Erasmus in Florence coincides with the date of the last exam, passed or not, or the end date of classes if no exam was taken. In the case of traineeships, the end date of the mobility coincides with the end date of the activity.

1. Before checking out, check on GCS Student Career Management to see whether all examinations have been recorded, fill out the “esami sostenuti” form (pdf), and submit it to erasmus(AT)agraria.unifi.it

2. To avoid delays in the issuance of the final Transcript of records, while in Florence, check periodically on GCS Student Career Management the transcripts of exams taken. It is important that records are kept, even of failed exams. Hence, it is your responsibility to ask so to each Professor specifically.

3. By submitting the form, you communicate that you have completed the activities and wish to receive the Certification of Stay and Transcript of records. The International Relations Office will close the mobility and send the Certification of Stay and Transcript of records by email to the home university and in copy to the student

4. You have formally ended your Erasmus mobility period in Florence by checking out. Therefore, you can no longer take exams or other educational activities

5. The Certification of Stay issued upon arrival and departure is in Unifi format. No other form or declaration will be signed.

6. Make sure to hand in all your library books before you leave Florence. If you forget to do this, you will receive a fine.

Utilities and Facilities

Accommodation 

Useful information can be found on these institutional websites

• Feel Florence (the official tourist website of the Metropolitan City of Florence)
• Uffici informazioni turistiche (Italian only)
• Housinganywhere
• Cercoalloggio (by Azienda Regionale per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario della Regione Toscana - DSU in Italian only)
• BeLong.DestinationFlorence

Canteens (click here)

Florentine Civic Museums (click here)

Uni-buddy: chat with UNIFI international students (click here)