Details

• Portugal
• MASIMC-17
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

The course signup period was rather smooth, and I was able to get into all desired courses. Apart from that, there was not much to prepare except for flights, which I got 4 months in advance. I would advise arriving a week before the kickoff to explore and enjoy the summer in Lisbon before university starts.

2. Accommodation

I was looking through portals like Uniplaces and Housing Anywhere but eventually signed on the lease of another WU student. Housing in Lisbon is rather expensive considering the other costs of living and often hard to get. Try and get an entire apartment and either invite other WU students to join you or get international students to hop on your lease; you will definitely fill out the apartment. I ended up in a 4-bedroom apartment with a living room and a kitchen and paid 625€/month. We found it via Uniplaces and, and it was 3 marketing WU people and myself, so we got to know each other already in Vienna. The flat was really nice and had two metro lines nearby, so the location was perfect. We lived at Alameda, which has a nice park, metro, bus, and all sorts of conveniences nearby. We always felt safe, since even families were out till late, especially during the warmer, early months of August and September.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus at Catolica is rather old, and especially compared to WU, not as comfortable. Classrooms were nice, but there is a shortage of common study areas and no private rooms for group work, etc. They have 4 cabins to hold meetings, but they are only able to seat 4 people. In general the business building is quite packed, so I preferred to study at home or go to the library right across the street in another building of Catolica. There is an insane number of German students at Catolica, to the extent that randomly allocated groups of 5 would consist of myself and german students only. I did not get to know many Portuguese students. The teaching style was quite similar to what I had at SIMC and BBE at WU, with lots of group work, presentations, and exams that only count for roughly 60% of the grade. Courses were a lot of work considering it was only 3.5 ECTS, so I ended up working more than I thought I would.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport in Lisbon is decent; you can get the Lisbon public transport card for €30 in Lisbon alone and €40 for the metropolitan area, including Carcavelos, Sintra, and Cascais, among others. So if you plan on taking public transport to explore the surroundings of Lisbon, I would strongly suggest taking the Metropolitan Card. What we often did over the weekend was to rent a car for a day trip from the airport, which was as cheap as 10€/car/day. Uber is also very cheap if you end up getting home late or are in a rush. There are various Erasmus Student Networks that host different activities and events, but I found them rather pricey and did not attend many. Erasmus Corner is the street where all Erasmus people gather to talk, drink, and have fun.

6. Testimonial

Catolica is a great choice if you are looking for a vibrant city in Southern Europe to spend your semester abroad. The weather in the months of August, September, and October is great, and even after that Lisbon offers mild temperatures. Try and explore some authentic Portuguese food and enjoy the laid-back culture that Portugal offers. While Lisbon is a beautiful city, make sure to explore the rest of the country as well, since Portugal has so much more to offer, both in the north and in the south.