Becoming a student and completion of studies
- Call for scholarship and non-scholarship applicants to the programme “International Relations and Diplomacy” is announced every spring on our website, see admission requirements for scholarship and non-scholarship applicants. ESD will sign study agreements with successful candidates; the agreement will set out the rights and obligations of both parties, and payment terms.
- After completing the study programme, on the date of graduation the Student receives ESD’s certificate, academic record and description of the ESD’s study system.
- The Student has completed the programme when he/she has collected at least 60 credit points.
- ESD cannot transfer subjects and credit points of previous BA, MA and PhD programmes to the certificate of ESD.
- The certificate is not granted if, at the end of the academic year, the Student has outstanding debt of tuition fees or penalty fees for re-exams/plagiarism, unreturned study materials or key cards, or has not fulfilled any other obligation set by ESD.
- If the Student does not collect the required credit points by the graduation date, an official confirmation will be issued by ESD listing the courses that have been successfully passed. A scholarship student cannot continue the studies after the graduation date. A non-scholarship student may continue the studies next academic year, agreeing the exact conditions with ESD.
Study rules
- In order to participate in the study process the Student must attend the classes scheduled in the curriculum. To obtain access to study materials of a course, the Student has to enrol to the course via online study platform Moodle.
- The Student is obliged to indicate his/her attendance in each class by signing the attendance list. If the Student has not attended 75% of the lectures, ESD has the right to give an extra assignment for the course.
- Absenteeism from exams is prohibited and a failure to attend an exam results in the grade F (failed). Only in exceptional cases and if agreed with the programme manager beforehand, the student is allowed to take the exam on another date. In that case, the maximum grade the Student gets is B (very good).
- There is no need to register separately for exams.
- Re-examinations can be taken on specific dates agreed with the programme manager. The Student has the right of maximum 2 attempts of re-examinations per given course (called respectively: the 1st re-examination and the 2nd re-examination). The 1st re-examination will cost 10 euros, the 2nd one 20 euros. After three unsuccessful examination attempts, the Student has failed the course and has no right for further retakes.
- Essay is a form of examination. In order to submit an essay the Student must upload the paper by the given deadline (stated in the curriculum) to the online system Moodle. Submitting the paper later will automatically lower the grade. In case the paper is submitted a week later from the deadline, it results in lowering the grade + costs 10 euros. If the paper is submitted more than two weeks later, the grade will be two grades lower and costs 20 euros. ESD has the right to impose stricter rules to scholarship students.
Grading
- ESD grading system uses the following scale for exams and essays: A (excellent), B (very good), C (good), D (satisfactory), E (poor), F (failed). Positive grades are from A – E, negative grade is F.
- Re-examination can be realised only in case of F, positive grades do not permit re-examination. Maximum grade on re-examination is B.
- ESD runs a number of courses for which the grade to be received is “passed”. This means the given course will be completed when the Student has attended at least 75% of all classes (3 days out of 4). The courses assessed by attendance are marked in the curriculum.
- The lecturer of the course has the sole authority to issue the final grade. In case needed, the Student has the right to ask the lecturer for additional feedback about grading principles. If the lecturer decides to change the grade, ESD accepts the new grade without reservations.
- When submitting written exams or essays, the Student must follow the academic rules established by ESD. The rules are introduced at the beginning of the academic year and are available in Moodle.
Plagiarism
- The Student must acknowledge that plagiarism (copy-paste of texts without references to original sources, as well as cheating at exams) is an object of moral condemnation and therefore strictly prohibited, and is penalised up to expelling the Student from the study group. Each exam or essay, where plagiarism has been identified, will be instantly graded as F (failed) and the Student must pay a penalty fee of 40 euros according to the invoice presented by ESD.
- Bringing a crib into the examination room is considered as plagiarism. In addition, the use of mobile phones or any other type of smart devices during exams is prohibited.
