BEST Courses

  • Visit companies, industrial plants and research centres
  • Take part in case studies
  • Follow interesting lectures covering many different technology fields, economics, marketing and management
  • Receive ECTS credits in recognised courses

    • In these events, participants attend lectures given by the university's teaching staff or by experts from companies. At the end of the course students take an exam, which is designed to evaluate the participants' success.

    A BEST Course should fulfill these general criteria: it is aimed to provide new knowledge or skills for participants and is taught by professional people. It is normally an optimised event. Subtypes are BEST Courses on Technology and BEST Courses on Career related skills.

    BEST Courses on Technology is a BEST Course aimed for increasing and widening the professional knowledge in a certain field of technology, especially concerning modern technical applications of technology and the latest research achievements.

    BEST Courses on Career related skills is a BEST Course about non-technological subjects in order to develop personal skills in topics linked with working methods, communication techniques, marketing, economics, project and organisation management and other such soft skills, stressing practical work.

    In order to apply for an event, there are a few steps that you have to follow:

    Who can apply?

    Only the following students can apply for BEST events:

  • Students of technology from universities with a Local BEST Group.
  • Students from universities belonging to partner organisations (bonding in Germany).

    • A student can apply to:

  • A maximum of 3 BEST Courses or/and Seasonal BEST Engineering
    • Competitions.
  • A maximum of 3 Leisure Events or Event on Education.

    • A student can attend:

  • A maximum of 3 BEST Courses or/and Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions during your period of studies;
  • A maximum of 2 BEST Courses or/and Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions on summer seasons;
  • A maximum of 1 BEST Course or Seasonal BEST Engineering Competition per single season;
  • Any number of Leisure Events and Events on Education.

  • An application consists of:

  • An application form with general personal information of the A participant.
  • motivation letter.
  • A list of studies appropriate for the event.
  • An essay demonstrating the applicant's knowledge in the field of the event (if necessary).

    • What do I have to do?

    Go to the best.eu.org, list of events, choose the event you want to apply to and click apply link. Enter your email address and your password if you are not already logged in.

    If you do not yet have an account, register here. After entering the applications, contact your Local BEST Group and ask them to validate your account.

    How to write a motivation letter?

    Writing the motivation letter is an important step in the application procedure - it is the basis on which the organising group selects their participants!

    So, where do you start? What should you say? What shouldn't you say?

    These guidelines aim to help you write your motivation letter. However, keep in mind that there are no perfect templates or instructions, therefore these general tips and hints are mainly a starting point just to help you write a good motivation letter, increasing your chances of getting accepted!

    Where to start?

  • Before applying to any event, you should read the information on the webpage very carefully. What will the event be like? What type of participants are the organisers looking for? etc. Reading the Survival Guide can be very useful in this sense!
  • Local BEST groups can receive something like four hundred applications to their course! Can you imagine reading all those different motivation letters? If you want your letter to stand out, then try to be creative and funny and capture the attention of your reader.
  • Needless to say, the letter must be written in English.

    • What to write about?

  • Something about yourself - what you study, what you do in your life, what your hobbies are, sports you do, maybe even what languages you speak... BEST courses are always a lot of fun, so the organisers should know that you are a fun person!
  • Why do you want to go abroad, and why do you want to go to a BEST event? It is important for the organisers to have internationally minded people.
  • Why do you want to go to THIS particular event you're applying for? Why is the topic attractive? How will the knowledge you gain there help you (in your studies, in your future career...)? BEST courses, for example, have a strong academical part (depending on the level of the course), so it's important for the organisers to know if you're actually interested in the topic! Naturally, if you're applying to a Leisure Event, then you can ignore this tip.
  • Explain why you want to go to that city or country so badly! It's strongly recommended that you do a small research of the place you're applying to before writing your motivation letters. Famous monuments, typical foods and drinks, traditions etc. Organisers like it when applicants show a real interest for the location they're applying to.
  • What do you have to offer to the event? In other words, why should the organisers pick YOU? (like: you're a star in karaoke, you can dance like Michael Jackson, or you know more than 100 jokes).
  • Sometimes, it is required to tell the organizers that you have a sufficient knowledge of the topic of the course. Read the course information on the site carefully in order to find out this sort of information.

    • What not to do?

  • Your motivation letter will be read by students, just like you. Therefore, there is no need for formalities such as "Dear Madam or Sir"!
  • A motivation letter is NOT a curriculum vitae (CV). Don't bother enlisting all the schools you've attended, your grades, the jobs you've done... We want to know more about you and what you're like!
  • You aren't allowed to insert pictures or links in your motivation letter.
  • Be careful, and send the appropriate letter to the appropriate place (don't mix them if you apply for more than one event!).
  • Copy-pasting motivation letters isn't very recommended. You should aim to make each motivation letter personal and unique!
  • Don't make the letter too long! Half to one A4 page is good, and should be enough for the organisers to get to know you. If the letter is longer than a A4, there is a chance they are not going to read all of it. On they other hand, if it's too short they will think that you are not interested enough in the event! So try to keep the balance.
  • Avoid submitting your applications at the very last minute, in order to prevent system crashes.

    • These are just some general hints - take the ones you want, ignore the ones you don't like, but in any case, use your own imagination and style and be creative!

    What you get?

    A backpack, your knowledge and a friendly attitude are all that you need to bring with you. We will take care of the rest:

    Teaching:

    The academical programme will be brought to you by experts in their fields. All lectures are held in English and all teaching and material costs will be covered by the organising Local BEST Group. The events will not only focus on the theory, but you will also get the chance to put your knowledge into practice.

    At the end of the event and after passing the exam successfully, you will receive a BEST Certificate confirming the attendance at the course, and also a Course Information Form, with details about the academic programme of the event, in order to help you get ECTS credits from your University.

    Social activities:

    Let's not forget to have fun as well! Besides the academical programme, you will be introduced with the culture, traditions, sights, people of the host country. You are also expected to share your culture with others.

    Logistics/BEST Standards

    BEST works hard to ensure the BEST possible quality for you. Therefore you will get proper sleeping facilities and an easy access to a shower. For the whole duration of the event, three meals per day will be provided. At least one of them will be hot. Also the transportation to lectures and all activities related to the contents of the event will be provided at no extra cost.

    The organisers will provide you the following at no extra cost:

  • A survival kit containing information about the event, at latest 3 weeks before the beginning of the event
  • Approximately 20 academic hours per week (for BEST courses). Academic hours consist of lectures, factory and company visits, case studies, laboratory work, group work, training etc.
  • Course materials written in English
  • A course certificate and a Course Information Form, if you take an active part in the course and you pass the final exam
  • Transportation to the lectures and all organised activities
  • An organised social/cultural program
  • Three meals / day - at least one cooked - during the whole event including the week-ends
  • Proper sleeping facilities and an easy access to a shower

    • What is not included:

    Although we are striving to offer you as much as possible to make the event an unforgettable experience, you should be aware that you may have extra expenses related to the event, such as:

  • Travelling to and from the event
  • Extra drinks and food
  • Some of the evening activities (e.g. disco tickets)
  • Travel and health insurance

    • What do we expect from you?

    As you can see, we are trying to impose high quality standards in our work. In return, there are students responsibilities, which you should remember about during the participation in the event:

    Participant responsibilities:

  • Participants have to pay the deposit to the sending Local BEST Group.

    • If you are sure that you will participate in the BEST event where you were accepted in, don't forget to pay the deposit to your Local BEST Group. It is needed to get confirmed to the event. The confirmation deadline is on the:

    BEST Leisure event deposit is same for all students and amount to 60 Euro.

  • During the event, participants have to behave in a civilized manner, respecting people independently of their nationality or beliefs and in accordance with the laws of the country where the event is being held.
  • Participants must provide the host Local BEST Group with the information of arrival at the location specified on the website of the event at least one week before Arrival Day.
  • Participants must arrive at the location specified on the website of the Event at the latest on Arrival Day at the time specified on the event's website, and depart from the event the soonest on Departure Day at the time specified on the event's website.
  • In events with an academic component, participants have to attend all the academic part of the event. Participants have to be on time at the start of all academic sessions.
  • Participants have to attend all activities, take active part in them and may not leave the group unless agreed upon with the organisers.
  • During the event, participants have to pay the event fee specified above, according to the country category of their sending Local BEST Group.
  • Participants may not consume alcohol nor be visibly intoxicated during academic activities and other activities defined by the organisers in advance.
  • Unless medical reasons apply, participants may not consume or be visibly under the effects of drugs during academic activities and other activities defined by the organisers in advance.
  • Participants may not sleep during academic activities and other activities defined by the organisers in advance.
  • A participant will have to pay for any damaged property, if the damage was caused by himself/herself.
  • Participants have the responsibility to evaluate the event in BEST website after their attendance. This must be done before the correspondent deadline specified on BEST website.

    • Important:

    The deposit will be given back once the student has participated to the event if he/she respected his/her responsibilities and answered more than 70% of the questions of the evaluation form through his/her personal area on BEST website.

    What are the application rules?

    Each student is allowed to apply to 3 optimised events and 3 non-optimised events per season. The 3 optimised events include both BEST Courses and Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions. The 3 non-optimised events include BEST Leisure Events and BEST Events on Education. You can read more info about events types by following this link.

    A student can be accepted to a maximum of one optimized event and, in the same time, to any number of non-optimised events per season.

    Important:

    A student who has confirmed his or her participation, even if later didn't attend the event to three or more BEST Courses or Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions in any season, is not allowed to apply to BEST courses or Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions in any other future season. Moreover, a student who hasconfirmed his or her participation, even if later didn't attend the event to two or more BEST Courses or Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions in the Summer Season is not allowed to apply to BEST courses or Seasonal BEST Engineering Competitions in other future Summer Seasons.

    In case you have to cancel your participation in event and have any doubts or questions about this rule we suggest you to contact Local BEST Group in your University for more information. Also you should inform organising Local BEST Group about cancellation and its reason as soon as possible.

    Got a problem?

    If you have any serious problems getting in contact with organisers, or if you consider that one of the rules stated in this guide has not been fulfilled and you can not find a solution together with your hosts, please contact either Helpdesk or your own Local BEST Group.

    At the end of the event, you will be asked to express your opinion about the event in an evaluation form. We will take your evaluation into consideration and use the outcomes to improve our events in the future.

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