FAQ

A: BEST stands for Board of European Students of Technology. It is an organization entirely run by students with the purpose of making engineering students more internationally minded and prepared for the future.

 

Q: What is BEST offering me?

A: For students that are enrolled at a university with a BEST Group, BEST offers various "public events". These include Academic Courses within the Vivaldi program, Leisure Events, Engineering Competitions and Events on Education.
Further, some local groups organise other events, e.g. job fairs.

 

Q: Why is this programme called Vivaldi?

A: That's because of the composer Antonio Vivaldi who composed "The Four Season". There are four seasons (summer, autumn, winter and spring) for going to courses. In each season you can only go to one academic event.

 

Q: Why are the courses so cheap?

A: The organising BEST Group is trying to get as much money as possibly by co-operating with several organisations. The university is interested in hosting foreign students, and in becoming more internationally minded. Companies wish to get access to European-minded students, which is done during the event by company presentations, guest lectures or company visits. In some countries, the student union also provides some financial aid.

 

Q: Why is there a fee for some courses, and none for others?

A: The fee depends mainly on the situation in the BEST group, how much support they get from university, student union, etc.

 

Q: Why is there a (much) higher fee for Leisure Events?

A: As said above, BEST Groups fund the events by support from various organisations, like the university, companies and the student union. Most of these organisations are interested in a serious academical course, which a leisure event will (and shall) never be. Therefore, raising money for these events is much more difficult. Plus, these events are more like a holiday and they include some activities like sailing, skiing or wine-tasting - usually you pay more for a holiday like this ...

 

Q: How is the selection for the courses done?

A: The organising BEST Groups will get all the applications entered by the students, and then will decide on regional aspects (they try to get people from all over Europe, so they in general won't take more than one student from each BEST Group/country), on your Motivation Letter (they have to read many of them, so try to be creative!), and maybe on your educational background (only if you need some previous knowledge for a specific course).

 

Q: Can I apply for every course?

A: Yes, and no... Yes meaning you can apply for every course, no meaning it might not be reasonable in some cases. It might be that one course requires some previous knowledge, and if you don't have that you might not be taken. On the other hand, there might be beginner's level courses in the field of your study, and then the course will get too boring!

 

Q: For how many events per season may i apply?

A: You can apply to three academic courses as well as three "other" events (i.e. Events on Education and Leisure Events).
You can be accepted to at most one learning event, but any number of other events!

 

Q: Are you getting paid for promoting these events?

A: Well, we don't earn money with BEST.
But as BEST members we acquire a lot of valuable skills ... and we have many more opportunities to go to BEST events.

 

Q: What is the BEST Spirit?

A: Well, the BEST answer to that is to experience it... so go for application now!

 

Q: What will happen if I go to a Summer Course and get infected by the BEST Spirit virus?

A: It's likely that you're going to go on more events, and maybe join BEST Vienna for organising an event...

 

Q: What do I do if I'm not accepted to a Summer Course?

A: You will apply for the next seasons, i.e. Winter and Spring, and you might also join BEST Vienna, for going on internal events.

 

Q: What are the Internal Events?

A: Internal events are only attended by members of a BEST Group. They might be decision bodies, as the General Assembly, or training events, where you can acquire skills like presentation techniques, meeting organisation, marketing, etc.
Then there are workshops, where some actual work on a specific project is done (e.g. implementing the web site of BEST international). Then there's the JAMboree, an event to motivate new members; and regional meetings, where you meet up with groups from your region. Last but not least, there's the Cultural Exchange, where two or three BEST Groups visit each other for about one week.

 

Q: Why is this page, and the whole web site, in English?

A: BEST is a very international organisation, and English is the official language of BEST. Therefore, see it as a training for your next event!

 

Q: What does happen if my BEST application system account is not validated or prolonged before application deadline?

A: It is important that you send your application before the application deadline. Usually, there are still two more days during which we can validate your account. See List of BEST Courses for the deadlines and Validation for information on how to validate.

 

Q: What do I need to do to get my deposit back?

A: You need to participate in the course and evaluate the course after participating. Log in to the BEST application system to find out how to evaluate and to check the deadline for evaluation.

If you have any further questions, please send us an e-mail: vienna@BEST.eu.org!