Exploring the world with VŠE: a throwback to 2023

Internationalization counts as one of VSE’s long-standing strengths and belongs to our major priorities. The number of students going abroad continues to grow, in 2023 the number of students with international experience has again surpassed the numbers of the previous year. .

Overall, 1069 students chose to spend a semester abroad at one of our nearly 250 prestigious partner universities, and 132 more decided to do an internship abroad. By and large, 1201 international mobilities were carried out.

Who spends semester abroad the most often?

All VSE students are welcome to study or intern abroad. In 2023, 536 undergraduates, 629 masters, 29 PhD students and 7 VSE graduates made use of this opportunity.

Concerning both internships and exchanges, the most active travellers are students of the Faculty of International Relations and students of the Faculty of Business Administration, followed by students from Faculty of Finance and Accounting the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics by a smaller margin.

What are the top destinations our students choose?

In total, VSE students set off to 56 countries in 5 continents with Germany being the number one country of choice followed by, among others, France, Austria and the USA. Thanks to a rich network of partner institutions, VSE allows students to choose from a wide range of overseas destinations as well – for example Canada, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil and Singapore.

From the academic year 2023, a new opportunity for international experience opens up for students in the form of a short-term intensive course organized by one of the partner schools. In these cases, the intensive course abroad is always preceded by a short virtual activity. In 2023, 5 students from FMV participated in this kind of program in Holland and 5 students from FIS gained this experience in Slovenia.

For Internships, the largest number of VSE students went to neighbouring Germany and Austria. France was the third most popular destination. Last year, however, interns also travelled to more exotic and distant parts of the world, such as the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Indonesia and Vietnam.

Bc. Barbora Kučerová (FIR), Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Toronto, Canada

During my studies at the Faculty of International Relations, I did a 3-month internship in Toronto, Canada. I worked in the Trade and Investment Section of the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Toronto. My job included preparations of professional economic texts, taking the minutes from the talks during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU and I was  responsible for providing trade contacts for Czech firms interested in exporting to Canada. I was also helping with the propagational materials and the design of the Czech national stand at the biggest Canadian fair of the brewing industry.

I have to say that working in economic diplomacy has filled me with enthusiasm because of its diversity! One week, I was responsible for the delegation of Czech brewmasters, a week after,     I had to prepare materials about the economy of Saskatchewan and before I knew it, I had to write an article about uranium and nuclear industry. You have to keep learning and following the latest developments, which makes you gain knowledge in a variety of fields. My stay in Canada was not just limited to work. In my free time, I had the chance to explore both Toronto and more remote parts of Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. I experienced Canadian Halloween and Christmas celebrations.

Ing. Nina Krivošíková (FFA), CA Advisory, Italy

During my Master’s studies, I had an opportunity to spend 3,5 months as an Erasmus+ intern in Milan, Italy. I worked in a consulting company focusing on corporate finance, especially on financial models, business plans and valuations. I got to know a new culture, improved my language skills, learned new financial skills and made great connections with amazing people that I still keep in touch with. My international experience was amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Bc. Daniel Hošek (FE), Permanent Delegation of the Czech Republic to the OECD, France

As soon as I learned that there was an opportunity to go to Paris for a 3-month internship at the Permanent Delegation of the Czech Republic to the OECD, I did not hesitate and applied for the selection procedure… and lo and behold, I was selected.

The main focus of my work was to participate in the meetings of the individual Committees directly at the OECD headquarters and to prepare documents for our delegates, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The range of OECD agendas is vast, and I worked on economic policies, international taxation and the OECD budget itself. Representing our delegates and the Czech Republic at the roundtable meetings was also a great experience. Priceless!

But what would an internship be without travelling, right? I visited many cities, such as Lyon, Bordeaux, Troyes and many more… oh, and DisneyLand.

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Top universities in terms of number of outgoing VŠE students

International Mobilities are not concerning only students

The experience from the international environment is also very valuable for academic and non-academic staff of VSE. In 2023, VSE employees travelled to 42 countries through 646  business trips, mainly to Europe, but also to Japan, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the Erasmus program, VSE sent 89 employees abroad in 2023 – for training or as visiting teachers at partner schools.

Back in Prague, the programme of visiting professors has also been very successful. VSE students got the opportunity to study in English and to choose from 37 additional courses in the Spring semester (including 3 on-line) and 20 courses in the Fall semester.

Get inspired!

Experiences, photographs and videos of outgoing students and staff are being continuously shared on our Instagram account vse_studyabroad and Facebook account VSE Study Abroad. We carry on with student takeovers series in order to allow the outgoing students to share their adventures with many tips and tricks for prospective exchange students. All takeovers are saved in International Office Instagram Profile so that it inspires more students to (ex)change their life. That is why both IG and FB VSE Study Abroad profiles are worth following!