Campus life

Each year, students on both campuses organise a number of conferences as well as a series of national events and other social activities celebrating the diverse cultural, musical and gastronomic heritages of their respective countries. Studentorganised debates, plays and sporting events are also important features on the annual student calendar.

In recent years, students have formed a film club, a student choir, and have been actively involved in social issues. These activities are supplemented by College-organised study trips and exchanges between the campuses. Teams of students also participate in international academic competitions such as the European Law Moot Court, and students have the possibility of publishing papers in ‘Collegium’, the College’s academic journal. Student representatives are elected to act as liaisons between the administration and the students.

Residential life: a European microcosm

The College’s residential life is a vital component of the student experience. By living in student residences, students from across Europe and beyond live and work together, in the classroom, in the residences, and in the College as a whole. The intensity of this personal experience and interaction ensures that students become familiar with the full cultural and social diversity of Europe and learn how to operate in an international environment.

All students are allocated their own room with a private bathroom. In addition, each room has a private telephone number, network and internet access. Each residence also features a common room as well as a kitchen area, equipped with refrigerators and a microwave.

The Bruges campus offers excellent catering facilities. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served from Monday to Saturday. Meals are not served on Sundays, Christmas and Bank Holidays.

The College provides either a standard or a vegetarian menu in the student restaurant. However, no other diet can be catered for.

At the Natolin campus breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided from Monday to Sunday. Meals are not served during the Christmas holidays, when the College is closed. A standard or a vegetarian menu is available in a wide variety of dishes. On National Days the restaurant offers expressly prepared national specialties.

ICT

The College of Europe provides students with the necessary infrastructure to carry out their day-to-day work - an internet connection and telephone are provided in each student room, internet connections exist in all classrooms, and in the library and computer room in the main building. The computer room is equipped with Windows and Office XP. Each student has access to his/her own private data and to the shared data on the College data server.

The cost of photocopies (5€ cents per page), printing (5€ cents per page for black and white prints and 50€ cents per page for colour prints) and syllabi are borne by students. For information, the total cost of syllabi for the entire academic year ranges from approximately € 275-300 for the students of the Law Department, through € 100 for the students of the Politics Department, to € 75 for the students of the Economics Department.

The Natolin campus provides students with 25 computers in students’ computer rooms (one in the library and two in the students’ residences). All computers are equipped with network printers, scanners, DVD writers and Microsoft Windows and Office software. Each student has access to his/her own private data and to the shared data on the College data server. Moreover, each student room is equipped with a telephone and a network socket to connect personal computers to the internet and intranet. The cost of printing from the computers in the computer rooms on black and white printer is 0.18 PLN per page (approx. € 0,04) and 0,72 PLN per page (approx. € 0,18 ) for colour prints. The cost of photocopies is 0.27 PLN per page (approx. € 0,05). On average the total cost of printing and photocopying is € 150 per student for the entire academic year.

Libraries

The libraries of the College of Europe contain one of the world’s best collections of information related to European studies with 65.000 volumes and 1.600 periodicals.

Information resources available, in both print and electronic form, focus principally on European law, economics, international relations and diplomacy, and politics and administration, with a special focus at the Natolin (Warsaw) campus on EU neighbourhood policy and issues regarding the role of the EU as a regional actor after the 2004 enlargement. Both libraries host European Documentation Centres linked to a worldwide network that are supported by European Union institutions and are continuously updated. In addition, they have ready access to information from other international organisations. Internet access is extensively available in both libraries.

Culture and recreation at your doorstep

The College campus in Bruges, with its seven halls of residence, is located in the historic centre of what is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and a former European Capital of Culture. The College campus in Natolin and its two halls of residence form part of a 120-hectare historical park and nature reserve, situated in the southern part of Warsaw.

Bruges and Warsaw are cities with many faces. Both have earned their prominence in Europe through their impressive art-historical and cultural heritages. Bruges enthralls millions of visitors every year with its medieval beauty, while Warsaw offers the experience of an historic city at the forefront of the dynamic changes taking place in the Central European Region. Both cities house excellent theatres and concert buildings, as well as numerous museums. For Bruges students, Brussels is one hour away, whereas Natolin students can reach the centre of Warsaw in thirty minutes. Both cities offer a wide variety of cultural events.