The FHNW School of Applied Psychology has been one of the leading competence centers for work, organisational and business psychology in German-speaking countries for more than 15 years. Roughly 700 students are enrolled in our bachelors’ and master's programmes where they learn basics and advanced issues in psychology from experienced professionals. Partnering up with industrial partners, the students learn how to apply their theoretical knowledge and gain valuable practical experience. Our students can specialise in work, organisational and personnel psychology or in business psychology.
We have summarised the most important information for you in the fact sheet (PDF).
Watch the video to see what it's like to study at the FHNW
Our program is mainly taught in German, and we recommend a B2 level (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) command of German. However, we have some modules which are offered in English. For the courses taught in English at least a B2 level in English is required:
Are you interested in spending a semester at the FHNW School of Applied Psychology? Then contact us and we will discuss the general conditions together. Students from a partner university must be nominated by their home university. The application deadline for the fall semester (September to January) is June and for the spring semester (February to June) the application deadline is November.
Costs of living including rent, health insurance, food, books, etc. must be covered by yourself. A large part of the costs consists of accommodation at around CHF 400 to 800 per month. Overall, exchange students should expect monthly expenses of about CHF 1,000 to 1,500.
Swiss European Mobility Programme (SEMP) Exchange students from a European partner university who study and live in Switzerland receive a Swiss mobility grant from the Swiss government.
Greener Mobility Students from a European partner university travelling by a sustainable means of transport receive additional financial support (CHF 100). Students must keep the relevant receipts (outward and return journey) and submit them to the International Office of the FHNW School of Applied Psychology.
FHNW Worldwide Support A grant may be provided to incoming international exchange students from non-European partner universities. This grant is dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions.
Living in Switzerland
The information provided here will help you when studying in Switzerland.
There are several student organisations such as the student council and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) FHNW. These organisations are run on a voluntary basis and organise activities, trips through Switzerland and social events for exchange students throughout their stay. Moreover, we organise Welcomedays and will provide a local buddy for exchange students. Exchange students are welcome to participate in the various sports-activities which can be found here.
Aaround 4,000 people study, research and work at the FHNW Campus OLten. The educational programmes in Olten are managed by by the FHNW School of Applied Psychology, School of Social Work, School of Business and the School of Engineering (Optometry). Our campus facilities include alibrary, two campus canteens and a coffee bar.
Olten is uniquely situated between several major cities such as Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, and Basel, each of which is less than a 30 minute train ride away. Also, in less than 3 hours you can be standing at the foot of the Matterhorn or below the palm trees of Ticino in southern Switzerland. In Switzerland there are four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansch. The official language in Olten is German.
