Erasmus+ traineeships

Unlike studying abroad with Erasmus, spending time abroad on a traineeship (internship at a company, carrying out practical research for your final thesis, research placement, practical year, clinical practice, working as an assistant teacher) is eligible for funding from the first semester onwards. We would recommend, however, studying at least one academic year at FAU before commencing a traineeship abroad. You should have sufficient language skills in the working language and/or the language spoken in the country.

Students may be granted Erasmus+ funding (for program countries and partner countries) more than once as detailed below:

• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, doctoral degree/PhD: a total of 12 months in each period of study can be spent studying and/or taking part in a traineeship abroad. This corresponds to 3×12 = 36 months.
• Teaching degree, state examination: 24 months for either studying or taking part in a traineeship abroad before completing the first degree. A further 12 months is possible during a doctoral degree, so 24 + 12 months = 36 months in all.

You are entitled to funding if you are enrolled at FAU for a degree program with the aim of obtaining a university degree (including a doctoral degree) and are planning a traineeship relevant or applicable to your degree program in another country within Europe (see list of possible host countries below). There are no limits regarding your nationality. Funding is only available for full-time traineeships according to the laws of the host country.

Recent graduates can also apply for funding for a traineeship abroad provided the following requirements are met:

• The application for funding is submitted during the final year of study
• The traineeship is to be started and completed within one year of completing the respective period of study
• The maximum period for Erasmus+ funding (see above) has not already been completed in the previous period of study

Due to the limited financial resources, funding traineeships for graduates takes a lower priority.

Funding is provided for traineeships in companies, organizations, universities/institutions of higher education, research institutions, hospitals, educational institutions, pharmacies, law practices, embassies, etc. in Erasmus+ program countries, i.e. in member states of the European Union including the overseas regions of the Netherlands and France as well as Greenland (Denmark). Funding is also provided for traineeships in Iceland, Lichtenstein, Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey.

Traineeships can be carried out in any institution based in one of the program countries acting either in the employment market or in areas relating to general and vocational education or youth work. They must have their place of jurisdiction in the host country. If you intend doing your traineeship at an institute of higher education, it must hold a valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE).

Research placements at universities are possible. Prerequisite: You must not be enrolled at the university.

For traineeships or practical theses or final theses at universities in Switzerland however, students can apply for (“replacement”) funding directly from the relevant university as part of the Swiss-European Mobility Program. Please contact the host university for further information.

Funding is not available for traineeships at:

• EU institutions and other EU facilities including specialized agencies
• Institutions administering EU programs (e.g. national Erasmus+ agencies)

The traineeship must last at least a total of 60 funding days. Funding is only available for full-time traineeships according to the laws of the host country. At the current time, funding is only available for traineeships lasting a maximum of 6 months.

Funding is therefore provided, for example, from October 2 until December 1 or from March 15 to May 14. Funding cannot be provided otherwise. Note for medical students: Half rotations as part of the year of practical training (PJ) usually only last 56 days, which means they are too short.

If you terminate the traineeship before the end of the 2 months, you must pay back all the grant you have received. An extension is possible, but an application must be made at least 4 weeks before the planned end of the traineeship.

Please inform the relevant parties in good time of any changes to the duration of your stay. Written confirmation from the Internship Office is required in order for your grant to be recalculated.

Depending on the availability of funding, the new grant will be paid with the remaining installment. There is no guarantee that your grant will be extended.

• You are free to choose the starting and finishing date of your traineeship yourself. We strongly recommend completing traineeships in the lecture-free period. If you intend to complete a traineeship during the lecture period, you must apply beforehand for leave of absence. Funding is not available for traineeships once you have completed the (individual) standard duration of study.
• Funding is granted as long as sufficient financing is available. Funding is allocated according to the order in which applications are received. Incomplete applications are moved to the end of the queue when allocating funds.
• Funding for the Erasmus+ traineeship is paid in two installments. You will receive 70 percent of the total amount at the beginning of your traineeship, the remaining 30 percent is transferred after you have completed your traineeship and have submitted your experience report and your internship confirmation. You are still eligible for Erasmus+ funding even if during the traineeship you receive funding from a private or public foundation, a BAföG international grant or remuneration from the institution where you are doing the traineeship. However, receiving funding from other EU funds at the same time is not permitted.

• To ensure that your application is successful, please send the following information to mobility@fau.de with the subject line: “Pre-registration Erasmus-SMP, SURNAME, first name”:
  • First name, last name
  • Date of birth
  • Email address
  • Student registration number
  • Degree program at FAU
  • Exact date of planned stay (to the day)
  • Exact name of host institution, including country
  • Your traineeship contract or confirmation of traineeship (or alternatively our template for the confirmation of traineeship) indicating that it is a full-time position of at least 35 hours per week.
  • Your confirmation from your department that the traineeship is compulsory or can be credited towards your studies
• You will then receive an email with a link for an online application via “Mobility Online” and further information about the process. Your data are processed in accordance with EU data protection guidelines.
• Applications can be handed in to our office at any time, but can only be processed once the trainee position has been confirmed (employment/traineeship contract or confirmation of traineeship) and all application documents have been submitted.
• Applications for Erasmus+ funding are processed according to the date on which they are received. When allocating funding, attention is paid to when the documents were submitted and whether they are complete and consistent. Please inform us in your application if you are classed as having a disability or suffer from a chronic illness.

Places are allocated by International Affairs. The selection criteria are divided into qualitative and formal criteria.

The formal criteria are:

• Documents must be complete
• Correct information must be given
• Information must be plausible
• Deadlines must be met, any other agreements complied with, and applicants must have the required language skills.

The qualitative criteria are:

• The applicant must be motivated to do the traineeship for reasons relating to their subject and their career
• The traineeship must be incorporated into the applicant’s course of studies.

Please contact the supervisor at your institute or faculty if you have any questions about having your traineeship accredited towards your degree program. International Affairs arranges for your stay abroad to be included automatically in your diploma supplement.

Students doing a traineeship abroad must ensure that they have adequate insurance cover. For example, the DAAD offers various insurance policies especially for traineeships in Europe and worldwide. Detailed information and additional links can be found on the DAAD websites.

Health insurance

The European health insurance card is all that is needed for traineeships within the EU. In addition, Germany has social security agreements with various countries outside the EU. In these cases, students must request an entitlement document from their German health insurance company.

However, we would like to explicitly point out that your existing insurance cover may be insufficient, especially when repatriation or special medical treatment is required. Taking out additional private medical insurance can be a good idea. Students have to take out private health insurance for traineeships outside the EU and in countries with which there is no social security agreement (e.g. Turkey).

Privately insured students must clarify with their health insurance company as to whether their stay abroad is covered, and if not, take out additional private foreign travel health insurance.

Accident and liability insurance

Two types of insurance are recommended for the duration of the traineeship:

• Accident insurance to cover damage suffered at your place of work
• Liability insurance to cover damage you cause at your place of work

Check first of all with someone responsible at your institute or your faculty which specific requirements have to be met when working on your final thesis or ensuring that the traineeship counts towards your degree. If you have already received confirmation of your traineeship place, complete our form confirming that is a compulsory internship or can be accredited towards your studies.

You are not allocated a traineeship place as part of the funding. You should therefore find a traineeship yourself before you apply.

Further information:

• Information on looking for a traineeship
• FAU Career Service – checking and correcting application documents in English, application workshops

Once you have been offered a place, you should apply to International Affairs and register online via “Mobility Online”. You need to upload certain documents to the portal (confirmation of enrollment, traineeship contract or confirmation of traineeship with host institution etc.). Your data are recorded and processed in accordance with data protection regulations and afterwards you will receive a personalized EU Learning/Mobility Agreement for Traineeships via the online portal. In addition, you will also receive an email from the EU instructing you to register for one of the compulsory OLS language tests (see section called “Language learning” above).

Guidelines for SMP Learning Agreements

Take the required language test and upload the result which you receive as a PDF to the application portal. Complete the Learning/Mobility Agreement for Traineeships in consultation with the institution where you are to do the traineeship and the person responsible for accrediting the traineeship at your institute or faculty. Please note that all parties involved have to sign before the traineeship starts.

Upload a high resolution PDF scan of the Learning/Mobility Agreement signed by all parties at the latest one month before the traineeship is due to start.

Once all documents are complete, you can access your grant agreement via the online portal, as well as an official certificate of confirmation and any documents you may require to apply for a visa to the host country. You can download and check a digital copy of the grant agreement. If all the information is correct, sign the original document in the online portal using your digital signature. International Affairs also signs the document with a digital signature and uploads the grant agreement into the portal for you to view and download. 70 percent of the agreed grant is then transferred to you in advance. You travel abroad and complete your traineeship as planned.

Shortly before the traineeship is due to end, you will be provided with a template for the required Traineeship Certificate via the application portal. This must be issued and signed by the institution where you are doing your traineeship and you must then upload it.

At the end of your stay abroad you will be asked to take a final OLS language test. There is no requirement to take a final language test if you are a native speaker of the language and were not required to take an initial language test or if you are not a native speaker but achieved level C2 in the initial language test. Everyone else receives an email from the OLS system with a PDF document, which then has to be uploaded to the online portal of International Affairs.

The same applies to the EU Survey. After submitting the survey, you receive a PDF by email from the EU Commission. Please also upload this into the online portal. International Affairs then checks the data and the grant is adjusted if necessary. You are provided with a final confirmation via the application portal and the second installment or final payment is transferred or you are asked to make a repayment, as the case may be.