Andrés Felipe García Albarracín from Colombia

Why did you apply to Lund University?

"I knew about the University because my home university has an exchange agreement, and one of my friends, who was studying this programme at Lund, recommended it to me. I looked at several universities, including in the US, but the Lund programme stood out to me. The ranking of the University is very good and I was fascinated by the structure of the curriculum: the compulsory courses as well as the huge range of interesting elective courses are notable."
 
How do you find the learning environment?

"The structure of the programme and the level of teaching are all really impressive. It’s a very specialised programme and although my programme is purely international, most classes are taken together with Swedish students. We study two courses at a time, so you are always focused on specific subjects. At Lund, it is up to you to decide how much you want to study. Additionally, it is remarkable that the entire city offers facilities to study and at the end, the learning process is easier and better. There’s a very open relationship between teachers and students. Some of our teachers are entirely devoted to students, carefully selecting material and always available to us. My digital communications’ teacher, for instance, is even the author of the book of the class!"
 
What kind of connections are there to research, industry and companies?

"The teachers are researchers as well, so we are aware of what is going on with the latest research. This close relation between education and research provides first-hand knowledge about how things are right now within industry, what is being developed in terms of trends or technology – like 5G. Lund University is one of the most important research players in this area right now. The PhD students from our department are also very friendly and open and there are very good opportunities and conditions for continuing research here. I went to the careers fair for engineering students and there were many impressive companies attending, which highlighted the connection between my Master's studies and industry. Likewise, one can develop projects with companies such as Ericsson and Huawei, which turns out to be a fantastic opportunity to apply all the learnt knowledge in real applications."
 
What is it like to live in the city of Lund?

"Lund is lovely – it's a city from another time and it's mostly devoted to students. It’s an interesting environment and it feels very nice. Because the city is mostly for students, it is also very safe and quiet. English is not the first language here, but you can speak English and have no problems at all – people switch to English for you. The people are a bit shy but they always have open arms and provide help in case you may need it. Finally, everyone respects bicycles, and there is a beautiful connection between people and nature."