As part of the ERASMUS program, students and graduates (up to 1 year after graduation from the University of Osnabrück) can receive financial and organizational support if they want to do a traineeship in another European country. They can gain work experience in an international environment and add to their skills base by acquiring communication and cooperation skills, and an understanding and knowledge of other cultures and markets. These stays abroad are funded in all countries included in the program.

Erasmus+ allows students to spend periods of study in the European countries in the program during all phases of their studies:

• Up to twelve months each for Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees, or 24 months for single-stage degree courses (state exams, etc.)
• Traineeships in other European countries of 2-12 months each (incl. multiple stays).
• Traineeships within one year following completion of a study phase (graduate traineeships) if the application was made during the last year of the study phase.

Advantages of an Erasmus Traineeship Abroad

• EU-Traineeship Contract between university, company and student (Learning Agreement for Traineeships)
• academic accreditation of the traineeship, where applicable
• mentoring during the traineeship by a contact person at the home university and a contact person at the company
• funding for higher cost of living abroad, where applicable
• support in preparing the traineeship (culture, language, organization)
• additional payments for disabled students from 20% disability upwards
• additional payments for students with children
• additional payments for students with a chronic illness
• additional payments for first-time graduates
• additional payments for working students

Conditions for an Erasmus Traineeship

• standard enrolment at a German university
• full-time traineeship (30-40 hrs per week)
• sending universities hold a valid Erasmus University Charter (ECHE)
• traineeship are not funded if they are in European institutions or organizations, national diplomatic missions or organizations that administer EU programs

Selection Criteria for Funding:

• funding eligibility of the traineeship (according to Erasmus funding guidelines)
• language ability
• attainment
• motivation

Erasmus+ Grant for Work Placements as of 2021 / 2022 (starting Feb 2021)

The Erasmus National Agency in Germany (NA DAAD) set the size of the Erasmus grant for work placements in the 2021 project year and onwards for the whole of Germany.

The monthly support payments amount to the following:

Erasmus+ special grants for participants with fewer opportunities

Erasmus+ aims to promote equal opportunities and inclusion, for this reason access to the program is facilitated for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds and for learners with special needs.

In addition, students who belong to one of the following groups can receive a grant for additional costs during an Erasmus stay (social top-up of 250 EUR/month):

• Students with disabilities from 20% upwards
• Students with children
• Working students (net income must be between 450 euros and 850 euros for at least six months at a time)
• First-time graduates (both parents or reference persons do not have a degree from an university or university of applied sciences)
• Students with a chronic illness

Please contact the International Office if you need consultation on this. If you qualify for a Social Top Up, please submit the document "Declaration of Honour, Fewer Opportunities - Green Travel Traineeships" (see template below) when applying for funding.

Participants with an established degree of disability of 20 or more, students with a chronic illness or students with one or more children have the alternative of submitting long applications for their "real costs" to be reimbursed for additional costs incurred abroad of up to 15,000 euros per semester.

Erasmus+ special grants for sustainable travel

Students going abroad in Europe through the Erasmus+ program (mobility from January 2023; project 2022) can receive a top-up in addition to the individual support for environmentally friendly travel ("Green Erasmus"). In this context, they receive an one-time Green Travel Top Up of 50 euros and can receive additional support for up to 4 days of travel.
Green Travel is defined as travel that uses low-emission means of transportation such as bus, train or carpooling for the main part of the trip. If you qualify for a Green Travel Top Up, please submit the document "Declaration of Honour, Fewer Opportunities - Green Travel Traineeships" (see template below) when applying for funding.

Organizing Your Erasmus Stay Abroad:

Accommodation: In general, the host institution can provide you with some initial assistance with finding a place to live - usually in the form of information about the local housing market or in the form of other support (e.g. offering you a place in company-owned accommodation, helping you to find a host family, etc.). There are also internet portals abroad which can be used to find rooms or apartments. If you would like to temporarily sub-let your own room to another student during your stay abroad, the International Office can also refer incoming students to you.

Entry requirements and visas: Initial information on entry requirements and visas is available from the Federal Foreign Office or the embassy/consular mission of your host country. You must apply for the visa yourself, but the staff at the International Office will be happy to assist you in any way they can.

Travel and safety information: Before you start your stay abroad, please contact the German Foreign Office for information on travel and safety information regarding your host country. If you think it is necessary, you should consider entering your name in the "Elefand" crisis prevention list for the duration of your stay.

Insurance Cover: As a participant in the Erasmus program, you undertake to ensure that you have adequate health, accident and liability insurance cover for the duration of your stay. Under the European Social Security Agreement, you have general health insurance coverage in other European countries. However, it may be advisable to take out appropriate supplementary insurance, as not all insured events are covered in all cases. You should also check the validity of your accident and liability insurance cover (which you may already possess) abroad and, if necessary, take out supplementary insurance cover. Participants in the Erasmus program have the option of taking out "DAAD Group Insurance" (health/accident/liability insurance cover) at their own expense.

Problems during your stay abroad: Please contact us in good time if you experience problems during your stay (e.g. accommodation, finances, illness, etc.). Only if we know about existing problems early enough we can provide you with support as far as we are able.

Erasmus Online Linguistic Support

The European Commission has made available an online language test for Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish Gaelic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.

It is compulsory for all students/graduates both after selection/before the start of mobility and at the end of their stay to take this test in their working language. However, it is not a selection criterion for funding under the Erasmus+ program and does not apply to native speakers. The language test, once the participants to be funded under Erasmus+ have been selected, serves as a placement test to establish their current language proficiency. It should be carried out both before and at the end of their stay abroad in order to obtain comparable results and to record any progress the funded participants might have made in their foreign language acquisition. Systematic monitoring of the development of individual language skills throughout Europe will make it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of Erasmus+.

Further Information for Participation in the Erasmus Program:

The rights and obligations of students in the Erasmus+ program are set out in the „Erasmus+ Student Charter (PDF, 1.58 MB)“, which is given to each student before they start their stay abroad.

All students who have participated in the Erasmus+ Mobility program are required to draw up a report on the Mobility Tool Plus at the end of their stay abroad and to submit it together with any appropriate supporting documents (e.g. on the duration of their stay).

Read more on this topic

eu.daad.de

The mobility fund has been set up with the generous financial support of the Felicitas and Werner Egerland Foundation, the Sievert Foundation and the University Society of Osnabrück. Students and PhD candidates of Osnabrück University have the possiblity to receive funding for their worldwide studies or traineeships abroad.

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The Program for Increasing the Mobility of German Students (PROMOS) offered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is targeted at all German students (including non-German students who are enrolled full-time at a German university) and is intended to support students who wish to spend short periods of time abroad. These include short periods of study and traineeships including language training and specialist courses.

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Traineeships Abroad for Student Teachers: Students enrolled in a program of teacher training from their first semester onwards can apply for scholarships for 1-6 months of traineeships at school and university institutions abroad which they organize themselves. Applicants must be enrolled at the university both at the time of application and during the entire traineeship period. It can be a compulsory traineeship or a voluntary traineeship.

Traineeships Abroad for Graduate Teachers: Graduates from teacher training courses can apply for scholarships for 3-12 months of traineeships at school and university institutions abroad which they organize themselves. The traineeship must take place before the teaching practice placement in the teacher training program, i.e. after completing a Master's degree.

Travel Grants for traineeships overseas. These funds are primarily intended for students who are placed directly by the DAAD or by one of the following exchange organizations: IAESTE, AIESEC and ZAD

Short-Term Scholarships for traineeships for study programs with an overseas focus/ self-procured traineeships in international organizations/internships in German missions abroad and German schools.

Carlo-Schmid-Programm for traineeships in international organizations and EU institutions

Special Placements IAESTE for students of the Natural Sciences (application forms provided by the International Office)

Short-Term Scholarships for young German students of the Natural Sciences and Engineering in Taiwan (Taiwan Summer Institute Program)

NRF- Short-Term Scholarships for German graduates

Rise Research internships across the world for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Geo-Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Cognitive Science or related disciplines

More Information

DAAD Scholarship Databank

Students who have so far not exceeded the BAföG income thresholds also have a chance of receiving a BAföG overseas maintenance grant. This is because higher costs can be claimed for training and education abroad.
It is important to know that the BAföG office in Osnabrück is not responsible for this type of funding, but rather the different state offices depending on the target country. Addresses and the names of contact persons can be found in the leaflet "Overseas BAföG", which is available from the International Office.

Further Information

BAföG

DAAD