ECTS, The European Credit Transfer System, was developed by the Commission of the European Communities in order to provide common procedures to guarantee academic recognition of studies abroad. It provides a way of measuring and comparing learning achievements, and transferring them from one academic institution to another.

The ECTS system is based on the principle of mutual trust and confidence between the participating higher education institutions. The few rules of the ECTS, concerning Information (on courses available), Agreement (between the home and host institutions) and the Use of Credit Points (to indicate student workload) are set out to reinforce this mutual trust and confidence.
The ECTS Credits
ECTS credits are numerical values which express the student workload required to complete a particular course unit. They reflect the quantity of work each course requires in relation to the total quantity of work required to complete a full year of academic study at the institution. ECTS credits are relative values.

In the ECTS, 60 credits represent the workload of a year of study; 30 credits are normally given for a semester, and 20 credits for a term. It is important that no special courses are set up for the purposes of the ECTS, but that all courses are mainstream courses of the participating institutions, as followed by home students under normal regulations.

It is up to the institutions to subdivide the credits for the different activities. Practical placement and optional courses which form an integral part of the curriculum also receive academic credits. Practical placements and optional courses which do not form an integral part of the curriculum do not receive academic credits. Non-credit courses may, however, be mentioned in the transcript of records.

Credits are only awarded when courses and all required examinations have been successfully completed.

Roskilde University is characterized by interdisciplinary problem-oriented and project-organized group-work. This implies that the course structure and availability information is not immediately comparable to course unit descriptions of other universities.

The main difference is that whereas courses normally constitute the main part of a study programme and are the basis for the assessment of students, at Roskilde University, courses and seminars have both learning and supportive functions in relation to project work in groups. Consequently the evaluation of the student is related to the project work for which the courses supply the theoretical background. The students are expected to show their understanding of fundamental knowledge, through written projects and the problem-oriented group work. Thus, most programs will give project work a superior rank in the overall evaluation of a student's performance during a semester, and 15-18 ECTS credits are usually assigned per semester to project work.

Self motivation is a major focus of the programmes. This is achieved by giving the students strong influence on their own study and learning processes. The special study form at Roskilde University will in many ways facilitate the integration of an international student in every-day life of the university. Students will feel more empowered by the Roskilde University philosophy than at other more traditional institutions. The students decide in close connection with small groups of other students, what is relevant to work with in their studies. They will have a closer relationship with the teaching staff than what they are used to, and therefore benefit more from the experience than elsewhere. A typical problem for many exchange students is their relative anonymity in a large student population. Here, things are different.