International experiences are very important both for students and for lecturers. The professional benefits gained in international cooperation projects have significant impact latter on. The students’ motivations for studying abroad are very diverse. Beside the professional aspects several other factors can be enumerated, like discovering the “unknown” or learning languages. The challenges in a new environment are high. Adapting to a different curriculum and studying style/methods, facing and reacting to new questions develops new skills. Students learn how to handle cultural differences, acquire language skills usually in a native speaking environment, and observe other students’ life. The social-life experiments in an international environment are also significant.

The guest lectures provide many experiences for lecturers too. The number of teaching hours may vary, so it differs from the course given at the home university. Almost every guest lecture is presented as an intensive course. Many positive and sometimes negative aspects of intensive programs can be enumerated. Some of these aspects are easy to handle, others require efforts. Presenting a topic without knowing the complete details of the knowledge background of the students is also an important fact to deal with. Lecturers gain substantial experiences too. They also cope with language barriers, differences in teaching and research methods.

The paper presents international collaboration experiences, especially Erasmus (bilateral and intensive programme) experiences with particular aspects encountered in computer science education. Both the students and the lecturers meet exciting challenges in higher education while cooperate with other universities.