- Student
- 29/04/2026
And how are things in Graz?
After living in the same place for five years, it was time for Tom Stuth to do something more adventurous. For his exchange, the master’s student in Building Physics and Services already knew he wanted to go to a German-speaking country, and Graz proved to be the most obvious choice.
“Graz is a city roughly the size of Eindhoven, but in my eyes very different in terms of style and arrangement. This is very clear when looking at the buildings of the university campus compared to ours. It is even more interesting when you learn that the interior of some of these old style buildings are crammed with modern labs. On the one hand very cool, on the other I noticed how intensely impractical it can be. I experienced the same thing when it comes to cycling in the city. According to the locals Graz is a great city for cyclists, but I quickly learned that we shouldn’t take our infrastructure at home for granted.”
“Apart from these ‘impracticalities’ things have been amazing so far. I was absolutely surprised by how easy it has been to make new friends in the ERASMUS community, but I have also been able to make connections with some locals. A few times I went to a local party by myself and was stunned by how little effort it took to quickly meet some people. Could it be that a German speaking international is very attractive to talk to? Or I am just a very fun person to be around? Or maybe both?”
“I am about halfway through the exchange right now. So far I have spent a lot of days skiing, as cheap day trips are very possible from here. What is very cool about doing day trips is that you get to go to many different places instead of one huge resort for an entire week. I have seen about seven different mountains just for the purpose of skiing in the last month. Now that it is getting warmer I will shift my focus more towards hiking trips probably. Gotta use those mountains since we severely lack them at home.”
“I am taking my electives here meaning that I have a decent amount of freedom when it comes to what courses I take. It was quite hard to determine beforehand not only what would be interesting, but also what would be useful to learn and what would fit my degree at home. So far my courses have been very interesting and provided me with a new perspective on my study. I am however glad that I’m specifically taking electives and therefore not missing on core content in my home study since it is clearly hard to find courses that fit relevant topics at home.”
“For me this problem showed specifically when for example finding the right faculty. Where does Building Physics fit between Architecture and Civil Engineering? This clearly proved different for every country and university. Luckily I think I managed to find the right courses as I am thoroughly enjoying them, and even in German they are very manageable leaving me enough time to do fun stuff.”
“Maybe it is still slightly early to say, but I can recommend anyone who has the chance to spend a semester in another country. Looking forward to seeing you all again in July.”
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