Didactic activities

• MONODISCIPLINARY COURSES are characterized by theoretic contents taught in lectures and verified with tests and interviews.
• STUDIOS involve both several internal faculty teachers and external professionals. You will work under their guidance and their specific architectural expertise.
• INTEGRATED COURSES cover more than one discipline or specific context. They are complementary and taught by more professors who supplement each another.
• WORKSHOPS last one week during which you will develop a project under the guidance of an established and well-known professional or a company.

Good to know

Please note that due to the high demand for popular study programmes, the School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering (AUIC School) will accepte your application and assigne you to the most appropriate study programme based on your academic background. Please find the general guidelines of the AUIC School on the school’s website.

• All studios have limited places, so it is not possible to guarantee access to a specific studio: places will be assigned on a “first come first served” basis. 
• Some monodisciplinary courses have limited places or are not available for exchange students: the list will be provided before the study plan submission opening. 
• Since places are limited, we encourage you to prepare a backup list. The AUIC School offers many interesting studios/courses taught in Italian that are equivalent to the ones taught in English: they might be a good way to take advantage of all aspects that the exchange experience offers. 
• Choose courses at your study level. Even though you are allowed to choose courses from both BSc and MSc programmes, it is strongly recommended that you attend courses corresponding to your current study level. A lack of solid foundational knowledge might negatively impact your attendance and your results (note: the Italian educational system consists of 3 years for a BSc degree and 2 years for an MSc degree).
• The AUIC School also offers workshops, which are short and intensive courses worth 4 ECTS, with no exams or grades. Some of them are offered free of charge, while for others you will be required to cover the costs. Please note that if you add a workshop to your Polimi study plan, you must also register by following the instructions you can find here.

Course selection rules

Your Polimi study plan must include:

• a studio within your track (e.g.: students assigned to Progettazione dell’Architettura BSc must select the studio from the study programme Progettazione dell’Architettura BSc)
• at least one course of your study programme at Polimi if you do not plan to attend any studio;  
• only courses of the current semester.

Your study plan can include:

• maximum one studio per semester; 
• any other course from other study programmes if available, both in English and in Italian; 
• maximum 32/34 ECTS per semester; 
• up to 12 ECTS from the Schools of Engineering.

Keep in mind that

• All courses require full-time attendance.
• In case of late arrival professors might NOT accept you in studios.
• A full workload at the AUIC School is 30 ECTS credits per semester.
• 1 ECTS (equal to 1 CFU) = about 25 hours of workload including classes, practice, homework.
• Use the Customized Schedule tool at the Manifesti degli Studi to verify your weekly schedule.
• Pay attention to where the course is held and avoid choosing courses held in different campuses.
• The same course might have more than one section: you may choose any section.
• Most courses at BSc level are offered in Italian, while the majority of courses at MSc level are taught in English.

Final project thesis

You must search for a supervisor at Polimi who is willing to assist you with your thesis work. At the same time, you need a supervisor at your home university. You will not defend your thesis at Polimi, but only at your home university: therefore, you cannot select “final project” in your Polimi study plan and no grades/ECTS will be assigned in your final Transcript of Records (ToR). Nevertheless, your supervisor at Polimi can issue a statement upon request, with information about your thesis work.