Study Tours

What is a Study Tour?

Study Tours are a signature part of the DIS experience, allowing you and your classmates to explore academic topics in real-world settings beyond Copenhagen and Stockholm. These tours vary by course, time of year, and location but offer the chance to deepen your knowledge through on-site learning with local organizations and experts.

While Study Tours emphasize academics, they also include time to explore and bond with classmates and faculty. Activities may involve visits to businesses, research labs, museums, and nonprofits, where you’ll see firsthand applications of your studies in diverse contexts.

Do I get to pick my Study Tour destination?

When you enroll in your semester Core Course or summer course (in applicable sessions), you automatically join its corresponding Study Tour.

In some cases, a single course will have multiple sections which travel to different locations on tour. In this situation, the travel dates and locations for each section of the course will be listed in your Student Registration when you sign up for your course.

Course-integrated and no extra cost

Study Tours are integrated into the curriculum and academic material of your course, so every Study Tour is unique.

Participation on tour is required, and they are included in your tuition at no extra cost.

Every Core Course travels together on two Study Tours throughout the semester.

Short Study Tour

Early in your semester, an entire week is dedicated to your Core Course. Dive deeper into key aspects of the topics at hand as you spend two days in your home city and three days on Short Study Tour to a domestic destination or a neighboring country.

Long Study Tour

Later in the semester, your Core Course will travel once again, this time for a full week to another European country. With more classroom knowledge under your belt, you will apply academic concepts in a new cultural context and take your learning even further. You will travel during one of the two designated travel weeks, which you can see in the student registration portal and calendar.

View Core Courses on the Course Finder and explore their corresponding Study Tours.

What is a study tour, Iceland — *Study Tour to Iceland with Engineering Sustainable Environments*

Long Study Tour is only included in courses under:

Summer Session 2
Architecture & Design Session
Furniture Design Session

Select courses in other sessions may also travel on Study Tour or include a similar fieldwork and travel component.

Travel dates vary by course. You will be informed of your exact Study Tour dates prior to the start of your session.

View Summer Courses on the Course Finder and explore their corresponding Study Tours.

What is a study tour, Finland — *Summer Study Tour to Finland with Architecture Design Studio*

More questions, answered

: We try our best to account for all your needs while on Study Tour.

If you have a specific need or accommodation request for traveling on Study Tour, please reach out to the Health Accommodation Team at healthaccommodation@disabroad.com

: If you are coming from a country which requires an entry visa and you are traveling on a Study Tour which will take you outside the Schengen area (i.e., United Kingdom, Ireland, Greenland, Svalbard,) you are encouraged to contact the DIS North American Office early in the registration process to fully discuss the visa application process and what it entails.

Read more about which countries require an entry visa into Copenhagen or Stockholm.

We will make every attempt to assist you in obtaining the necessary visas/permits for entry into the countries for your Study Tours. However, the issuance or denial of visas/permits of entry are solely at the discretion of the relevant country’s immigration authorities and therefore, DIS can make no guarantees.

If you are to experience a delay or denial of issuance of a visa/permission for entry which is out of your individual control, we will work to accommodate you on another Study Tour or otherwise make up the missed academic work.

: DIS covers the cost of round-trip transportation to the destination, accommodations, two meals per day (breakfast plus lunch or dinner), entrances and guides to relevant visits booked by DIS, events and program activities, and transportation to and from those activities.

Typically, you can expect to purchase one meal for yourself per day, along with any independent activities you take part in outside of the official program.

: Yes, you can use your non-travel week however you like, but you must be sure to register any independent travel with DIS.

Read how to register independent travels.

: No. Due to safety and planning concerns, students must travel with their group from Copenhagen or Stockholm, and are unable to meet their group at the Study Tour destination.

: No. Your return from the end of Study Tour to your home city will be guaranteed, but you are free to travel elsewhere once all tour program activities have concluded.

Be certain any travel you book does not begin until after all tour activities are completed, as all activities are mandatory and you cannot depart from Study Tour early.

If you choose not to travel home with your class, you must let your tour leader know this at the beginning of the tour.

You must also register your independent travel.

Trekking out to the west coast

During her Short Study Tour to Western Denmark, Eva (Haverford College) explored local ecosystems through oyster harvesting, fossil digging, and birdwatching, making it a nature-filled few days with her Polar Biology course.

Read Eva’s blog

The largest Baltic port city

When Jack (Tufts University) and his Terrorism and Security course went to Gothenburg, Sweden for their Short Study Tour, they met with politicians, academics, and military analysts who provided real-world context to their classroom discussions on security and defense.

Read Jack’s blog

B.E.R.L.I.N.

Melanie (Vanderbilt University) recounts her Long Study Tour to Berlin with her Innovation & Entrepreneurship course. Some highlights include visits to startups, a bike tour, and pitching a business idea to venture capitalists.

Read Melanie’s blog

Biomedical Engineering in Norway

For Mikayla (Cornell University), visiting Norwegian startups and the University of Oslo’s biomaterials department with her Biomedical Engineering in Scandinavia course helped her to clarify her academic interests and inspired deeper conversations with professionals in the field.

Read Mikayla’s blog