Erasmus+
Erasmus+ participation advantages
You get a taste of what studying abroad means.
Many students are fascinated by the idea of studying abroad and dream of doing so. Erasmus gives them the opportunity to actually experience something that they’ve been dreaming about.
You receive financial support.
Every Erasmus student receives a grant. The amount depends on the home country and destination, and students are told from the beginning that the grant will not cover all of their expenses. However, it is of significant help. And for many countries, the grant is so high that it makes studying abroad quite an affordable experience.
You can learn a new language or practice one you already know.
One of the biggest advantages of the Erasmus program is that you get to improve your communication skills in a foreign language. Many host universities even offer free language courses.
You get inspired and motivated.
Many students come to feel demotivated at a certain point in their academic life. Erasmus gives them an opportunity to turn it all around. Taking a semester or a year abroad is a one-of-a-kind source of inspiration and may become a turning point for your future career.
You become more responsible.
Many students that attend universities in their home towns are still living with their parents or other relatives. Studying abroad gives them the opportunity to experience real adult life and manage all of their chores and responsibilities on their own. When they return, they are more equipped and ready to handle all sorts of challenges.
You make friends from all over the world.
Erasmus gives you the opportunity to form life-long friendships with fellow students from all over the world. Most former program participants say that they have forged lasting relationships during their study abroad experiences.
You travel.
Erasmus gives you the opportunity to travel. Not only will you explore your host country, but if you set some money aside, you can explore the neighboring countries as well.
About Erasmus+
Mobility projects for higher education students and staff
This higher education mobility action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students in any study field and cycle (short cycle, bachelor, master and doctoral levels). Students can either study abroad at a partner higher education institution or carry out a traineeship in an enterprise, a research institute, a laboratory, an organization or any other relevant workplace abroad. Students can also combine a study period abroad with a traineeship, further enhancing the learning outcomes and development of transversal skills. While long term physical mobility is strongly encouraged, this action recognizes the need to offer more flexible physical mobility duration to ensure the Programme is accessible to students from all backgrounds, circumstances and study fields.
This action also supports higher education teaching and administrative staff to take part in professional development activities abroad as well as staff from the world of work to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions. These activities may consist of teaching as well as training periods (such as job shadowing, observation periods, training courses).
Furthermore, this action supports blended intensive programmes, allowing for groups of higher education institutions to jointly develop blended mobility curricula and activities for students as well as academic and administrative staff.
Objectives of the action
The objective of this action is to contribute to establishing a European Education Area with a global outreach and to strengthen the link between education and research.
The action aims to foster employability, social inclusion, civic engagement, innovation, and environmental sustainability in Europe and beyond by enabling students from all study fields and at all study cycles to have the opportunity to study or train abroad as part of their studies. The objectives of the action are to:
- expose students to different views, knowledge, teaching and research methods as well as work practices in their study field in the European and international context;
- develop their transversal skills such as communication skills, language skills, critical thinking, problem solving, inter-cultural skills and research skills;
- develop their forward-looking skills, such as digital and green skills, that will enable them to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow;
- facilitate personal development such as the ability to adapt to new situations and self-confidence.
The objective is also to enable any staff, including staff from enterprises, to teach or train abroad as part of their professional development in order to:
- share their expertise;
- experience new teaching environments;
- acquire new innovative pedagogical and curriculum design skills as well as digital skills;
- connect with their peers abroad to develop common activities to achieve the programme’s objectives;
- exchange good practices and enhance cooperation between higher education institutions;
- better prepare students for the world of work.
In addition, the objective is to foster the development of transnational and transdisciplinary curricula as well as innovative ways of learning and teaching, including online collaboration, research-based learning and challenge-based approaches with the objective of tackling societal challenges.
Eligible participating organizations
A mobility consortium in higher education can be composed of the following participating organizations:
- higher education institutions holding a valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education;
- any public or private organization active in the labor market or in the fields of education, training and youth.
Each participating organization must be established in the same EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme. Mobility consortia cannot be established in third countries not associated to the programme.
How to apply
The applicant organization applies for the mobility project grant, signs and implements the grant agreement and does the reporting.
Participating organizations involved in the mobility project assume the following roles and tasks:
- Sending organization: in charge of selecting students/staff and sending them abroad. These responsibilities also include grant payments (for those participants in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme), preparation, monitoring and automatic recognition related to the mobility period.
- Receiving organization: in charge of receiving students/staff from abroad and offering them a study/traineeship programme or a programme of training activities or benefiting from a teaching activity. These responsibilities also include grant payments (to those participants coming from third countries not associated to the Programme).
- Intermediary organization: this is an organization active in the labour market or in the fields of education, training and youth work in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme. It may be a member in a mobility consortium but is not a sending organization. Its role may be to share and facilitate the administrative procedures of the sending higher education institutions and to better match student profiles with the needs of enterprises in case of traineeships and to jointly prepare participants.
The sending and receiving organizations, together with the students/staff, must have agreed on the activities to be undertaken by the students - in a 'learning agreement' - or by staff members - in a 'mobility agreement' - prior to the start of the mobility period. These agreements define the content for the mobility period abroad, and specify the formal recognition provisions of each party. The rights and obligations are set out in the grant agreement signed between the beneficiary and the participant. When the activity is between two higher education institutions (student mobility for studies including blended mobility, and staff mobility for teaching), an 'inter-institutional agreement' has to be in place between the sending and the receiving institutions before the exchanges can start.
For more information about Erasmus+, click here.