SEP Report

SEP Report
1. Student Information
Name (as in myisis)
Matric No
Faculty/Major
Host University
NUS Semester and Year of Exchange
(eg. AY12/13 Semester 1)
Ng Jeng Lin Geelyn
A0083279U
Science/Life Sciences
University of Edinburgh
AY2013/2014 Full Year
2. Study at Host University
Please provide information on the academics at your host university:
- Studying or learning culture at your host university. How were classes conducted?
- What did you like most or dislike most about the academics at your host University?
- Advice on module registration and module mapping
The classes in the University of Edinburgh were very similar to NUS. For life sciences (also known as
Biological Sciences over there), lectures were held either twice or thrice each week, with each lecture
lasting either 2 hours or 1 hour long. Laboratory sessions were held weekly, with each session lasting
about 3 hours long. Tutorials were conducted either in substitution of lectures or lab sessions on some
days.
I enjoyed the lectures and learning in a completely new environment. Some of the laboratory sessions
were fascinating. For a course (it is known as course instead of module in UoE), we had to examine the
skeletal structures of animals and I got to see the life-size skeleton of many animals, including a horse
and one from a few centuries ago! I also appreciate the fact that they give out a physical coursebook at
the start of every course. This coursebook includes the timetable and schedule of the whole course,
introduction to the course, breakdown of assignments and grading, grading criteria, reading list, the
lecturers involved in the course, and some advice on the course in general. What I did not really enjoy is
the inconsistent schedule for some of the courses. Some courses are very ambiguous in their schedule
until the course starts and even so, they may have classes on some weeks at a particular timeslot and
none on others, and there is no particular pattern (i.e. odd week or even week). This makes it imperative
to check the coursebook every week on the classes held every week and the schedule for that week.
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Example of a coursebook.
The University of Edinburgh has a Peer Tutor (PT) system in which a student is assigned to a professor.
Typically, a professor has several students under his/her guidance and he/she is the only one who can
register courses for the students. The students are thus required to meet up with the PT at most a
couple of times each semester to discuss about the courses to study and for advice on further
education. I was very blessed with an excellent PT who was very kind and helped me tremendously in
my course registration.
The problem with module mapping, as with exchanges all over the world, is that one can never get it
fully done until one reaches the partner university (PU). Typical problems on module mapping are
timetable clashes between two desired modules, incomparable module content hence not being able to
map the PU module to NUS module, whether one meets the pre-requisite in the PU, etc. For UoE, their
website offers a comprehensive description of the courses, including the timetable and the course
content. Should a student need more information, he/she can also email the course coordinator or
secretary whose contact emails can be found on the same webpage.
Please list the courses that you took during SEP. (Please take note that the list of modules available to
exchange students at the host university are subject to change. This table merely serves as reference.)
Host University
Module
Course title
code
BILG09010
Developmental Biology 3
BILG09015
Structures and Functions
of Proteins 3
BIME09003
Pharmacology 3
ECTS
Credit
20.0
20.0
20.0
NUS Equivalent
Module
Course title
code
LSM3233 Developmental Biology
LSM3231 Protein Structure and
Function
LSM3211 Fundamental
Pharmacology
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Modular
credit
4
4
4
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BILG09007
BIME09005
20.0
20.0
LSM3223
LSM3213
BILG08005
Immunology 3
Mechanisms of Brain
Development 3
Evolution in Action 2
20.0
LSM3252
BILG08011
Animal Biology 2
20.0
LSM3992
Immunology
Molecular and Cellular
Neurobiology
Evolution and Comparative
Genomics
Exchange Enrichment
Module
4
4
4
4
2. Accommodation
What kind of accommodation did you stay in during your exchange (eg. on campus / off campus)?
Would you recommend this accommodation to future outgoing students?
Do you have any other suggestions?
The University has three major campuses spread out around the city, excluding the medical campuses
and hospitals (for medicine students). There is therefore no “on campus” accommodation as
accommodations offered by the University are all flats found around the city.
I stayed in a self-catered flat at a street called East Newington Place. It is a typical student flat shared by
4 of us and no food is provided but there is a great kitchen and living room area where my flatmates and
I hung out at a lot. It is managed by the University and is situated at a wonderful location, within 25
minutes walking distance to the Science and Engineering campus where my classes are mostly held and
10 minutes to the main campus where the main library is at. I would recommend the accommodation
offered by the University though it tends to be a little pricier. This is because the accommodation is
insured and electricity, basic heating, and Internet bills are all paid for. I could also report any glitch in
the flat immediately to the site office and they would send someone to solve the problem very quickly.
Flatmates and neighbours are also students from the University so it was easy to make friends in this
way. However, as mentioned, the downside is the slightly pricer accommodation. I paid £99 per week
(approximately £400 per month) for my accommodation while my friends who stayed in a privately
rented apartment paid a range of £270-350 per month, excluding the bills.
The school accommodation is usually offered to first year students and exchange students who have not
had friends in the University to rent a private place with. Most second to fourth year students will rent
the private flats with their friends because of the lower cost and the limited availability of school
accommodation.
3. Activities during SEP
Were there any activities organized by school/student group/external organizations at your host
university which you would like to recommend to other students?
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The Edinburgh University Students’ Assiociation (EUSA) organises the popular Freshers’ Week at the
start of every academic year. Attending events of Freshers’ Week is optional, but it does include useful
activities such as campus tours and city tours to more fun-oriented ones such as pub crawl, partying,
and Dinner & Dance. I would strongly recommend the various tours as they are useful in helping
students get their bearings in the respective places. There may also be events held specially for
exchange and ERASMUS (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students)
students which are also fun because these are platforms to meet international students.
UoE also has an International Student Centre which includes a lounge in the main campus run by a
student organisation that organises day trips out of Edinburgh, within Scotland and England, specially
for all the international students in the university. UoE is an internationally recognised university and
therefore has many international students, and not just locals. It is henceforth easy to make friends with
international students but making friends with the locals may become a bit of a challenge as they are
quite scarce in some courses.
4. Cost of Living
Please provide an estimation of how much money you spent during your SEP?
Please list travel expenses separately.
At the time of my exchange, the exchange rate between Great Britain Pound to Singapore Dollars was
approximately £1 is to S$2.
Accommodation: £3758 (approximately S$7600)
Transport within the city: £0
It is a very walkable city and most people commute by walking around. The school also provides free
shuttle bus service that shuffles between main campus and the Science and Engineering campus.
Transport outside the city (a.k.a. travelling by plane or trains): difficult to estimate
This is dependent on how much a student wishes to travel. However, if planned early, flight prices are
cheap and affordable. For example, for a flight from Edinburgh to Brussels (Belgium), I paid £14, which is
less than S$30 at the time of purchase.
Food: difficult to estimate as well
The amount spent on food is very much dependent on how willing a student is to cook his/her own
meals. It is much cheaper to cook your own meal than to eat out. The ingredients of food are
inexpensive (some are even much cheaper than in Singapore) and so cooking meals can help save a lot
of money. I personally enjoy cooking and baking so I do spend slightly more money getting good
ingredients. However, I still save a lot compared to staying at a catered accommodation
(accommodation that provides breakfast and dinner) and eating out.
Some cost to keep in mind will be daily necessities (toiletries, dishing washing liquid, toilet rolls etc.) and
one should bear in mind that one may spend slightly more in the first couple of weeks as he/she is still
settling down and need to buy some household equipment (cutlery, crockery, kitchen utensils, blankets,
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pillows, bedsheets, table lamp etc.).
I believe that for my 10 months stay, in total I spent less than S$20,000, including my travels to and
within 13 different countries.
5. Challenges
Did you face any challenging issues during your SEP stint? How did you overcome it/them?
The first challenging issue I can think of would be module mapping. I experienced a lot of timetable
clashes, UoE not allowing me to take some courses because I don’t meet the pre-requisites, NUS
rejecting my module mapping etc. However, I had the help of my PT to discuss these issues with, hence
the problems were more or less solved.
As I earn my own pocket money and manage my own living expenses here in Singapore, financial
management was not a big issue to me. The second challenging issue I can think of, rather, would be to
set up my own living environment with completely no kin around. As I had previously lived on campus in
NUS, living alone was not the problem. Having to travel around solely on foot, walking from one place to
another and choosing, purchasing, and carrying many things all with my hands, this became the
problem. I no longer had the comfort of something as simple as a car ride from my father to carry heavy
things for me as I move into my new place. To me, this takes independence to another level.
Being in a foreign environment forces you to take responsibility of yourself and to be more aware of and
alert in your surroundings. I feel that I have a responsibility towards my family and therefore a need to
keep myself accountable to them. Being put in an entirely new environment, there is a feeling of starting
over and from scratch. Making new friends becomes imperative as these friends become your family.
I feel blessed to have ample help from the Edinburgh University Singapore Society (EUSS). I went on this
exchange alone (and not with friends as some students do), and while it is encouraged for students to
make friends with international and local students while overseas, I feel that there is a need for a
balance. EUSS helps me keep this balance as I meet other Singaporeans studying full time over in
Edinburgh who help me integrate into the life there and answer my queries whenever I am in doubt.
Nevertheless, I was able to make friends with international and local students on my own.
6. Overall SEP Experience
Please write one paragraph about your exchange experience and attach some photos that represent
your exchange experience.
It is important to keep an open mind while on exchange and not be too hung up on extreme views (I
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have heard of students who went overseas and swore not to hang out with other Singaporeans and also
the other spectrum where Singaporeans just stuck together). I am thankful to have a good balance of
both Singaporean and international friends. My exchange is an extremely unforgettable one as the city
of Edinburgh and the country of Scotland are absolutely stunning, especially for a nature-lover like
myself. The international aspect of it allowed me to make some of the closest friends I can ever have in
my life, and the friendships built overseas are quite unlike those formed in Singapore. Being on
exchange goes beyond just classroom learning. It hones a person’s character in ways quite unimaginable
in Singapore. It is easy to pen this down but I feel that only after experiencing it can a person truly feel
the change. Living as a student overseas is also drastically different from going overseas on holiday.
Cultures arise from people, and therefore the best way to learn about cultures is through the locals. I
feel fortunate that during my exchange I had the opportunity to befriend many locals and understand
their way of life, be it in Edinburgh or outside Scotland. This is truly an experience that cannot be
replaced.
Emelie, a Swedish friend (left); Juliette, my French flatmate (right); and I at the International Student
Centre.
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The EUSS vice-president, Christabel, and myself, at a Christian Fellowship welcome event.
My two French friends, Mégane and Léa, and I at Loch Katrine, one of the many lochs (lakes) in the
Scottish Highland.
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Atop Arthur’s Seat (a famous hill in Edinburgh), lying on the grass and relaxing after classes one day.
An awkward photo of me and the beautiful School of Divinity in Edinburgh, arguably the most beautiful
campus in the University of Edinburgh. XD
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With Sarah, my closest Scottish friend, at her home.
Calum (Scottish), Michelle and Adrian (Hong Kongers), Bethany (English) and me on a small group
meeting in Calum’s student flat. 
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Wei Ling (my Malaysian flatmate), Juliette (my French flatmate) and I celebrating Juliette’s birthday.
Last but not the least, a picture I took depicting the beautiful scenery of Scotland.
7. Suggestions for future outgoing students
Please share any other suggestions for future outgoing students.
Ignore the opinions of others about the places you are going to visit, keep an open mind, fully
experience the adventure yourself, and create your own memories and opinions of the places.
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Be a good steward and representative of Singapore and NUS and make as many friends as you can. Live
the exchange life as you like but don’t completely neglect your studies!
Most importantly, keep safe because you truly only live once! 
8. Report Submission
Please submit your report (including photos*) at https://share.nus.edu.sg/goabroad/Lists/SEP
Report/AllItems.aspx. Please note that you can only upload one document. As such, please zip your
report and photos into one file and name the file in this format ‘Host University_Full Name_Matric
No’ (eg. Waseda University_Tan Mei Ling_A1234567B).
*Photo submission:
-
1 image of you with host university landmarks in the background
2 images of you with your exchange friends or local students
Submit the photos in JPEG format. Good quality photos between 2MB and 5MB are preferred.
Please name all photos in this format ‘Host University_Full Name_Matric No_Caption’ (eg.
Waseda University_Tan Mei Ling_A1234567B_Visit to Mt Fuji with exchange friends).
Kindly note that we may share your report on the NUS/IRO website and relevant information at SEP information sessions
and/or in publicity collaterals.
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