The Erasmus Traineeship

Eligibility

• During your degree programme/ doctorate: you must be properly enrolled at the University of Bonn and remain so for the duration of your stay abroad (does not apply to recent graduates; doctorates can also provide a letter of acceptance).
• If you have already completed your degree programme or doctorate, you can obtain funding for a traineeship over the following 12 months. You must still be enrolled when you apply but deregistered during your traineeship.
• Your nationality is irrelevant.
• Your traineeship must last between two and twelve months (at least 60 days).
• Short-term stays (5 to 30 days) are also possible; Students need to have a virtual component along with the mobility whereas this is optional for doctoral students.

To make your traineeship abroad both meaningful and successful, you should also have a good command of the language spoken in your host country. As a bare minimum, however, you should be proficient in the language used at the workplace where your traineeship will be based.

You are therefore advised to acquire the necessary language skills or consolidate your existing knowledge as early as possible. The University of Bonn runs a wide range of its own language courses.

You can find more information in the “Linguistic preparation” section of the website Organization and Planning.

Contact the Erasmus Departmental Coordinator responsible in your department to apply for an Erasmus grant for a traineeship abroad. They will tell you what criteria you need to meet in order to be eligible for funding.

General selection criteria

• Study achievements
• A knowledge of the language spoken in the destination country but at least of the language used at the workplace where your traineeship will be based
• Your reasons/ motivation for doing a traineeship abroad
• Quality of your traineeship placement and project
• Benefit to your studies of your subject

Since traineeships and short-term mobilities are not necessarily tied to semester dates, there are no set application deadlines. However, some departments have internal application deadlines for Erasmus trainees. Either way, you should apply to your Departmental Coordinator at least two to three months in advance.

Do not register online with the International Office until you have been accepted by your Departmental Coordinator.

Traineeship institutions
You will need to source your traineeship placement yourself. Your department may also be able to help you (e.g. for traineeships in schools or laboratories abroad). The International Office has put together some tips on finding a traineeship abroad.

Potential institutions for your Erasmus traineeship:

• Public- and private-sector companies (including public services)
• Vacancies advertised locally, regionally or nationally
• Chambers of commerce, craft or professional associations, and trade unions
• Research institutions
• Foundations
• Schools, universities, institutes, educational institutions (including Goethe Institutes)
• Charities, associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

EU institutions and institutions that manage EU programmes are not suitable options. Alternative grant programmes are available for traineeships here, such as short-term scholarships awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for traineeships abroad.

Traineeships can be undertaken in any Erasmus+ Programme country. Traineeships in the United Kingdom can still be funded, even after Brexit, provided that sufficient financial resources are available.

It is not currently possible to fund traineeships in Switzerland.

In order to undertake a short-term mobility for studies, your department needs to have an Erasmus-agreement.

The monthly grant installments are the same for all universities in Germany and are usually recalculated every year.

1. For long-term stays (2 tot 12 months)

• Country group 1: €750 per month (€25 per day)
  Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Country group 2: €690 per month (€23  per day)
  Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain
• Country group 3: €640 per month (€21,33 per day
  Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey

The mobility allowance is paid out in two installments, one at the start and one at the end of your traineeship abroad.

The International Office will tell all the Erasmus trainees who have been selected about the necessary formalities and is responsible for distributing the financial grants.

2. Short-term stay: 5 to 30 days as Blended Mobility for students or Physical Mobility for doctoral students:

• Standardized funding rate
  79 €/ day, for day 1 to14 of the mobility
  56 €/ day, from day15 to 30 of the mobility

Doctoral students who do not receive any other funding for their stay abroad (e.g. via BIGS or another structured doctoral programme) can apply for a travel allowance from the Bonn Graduate Centre.

Contact: Dr Robert Radu (e-mail)

Funding of “green travel”
If you discard planes and ferries and travel to your host country by train, bus, carsharing or bike instead, you will receive an extra lump-sum allowance of €50. You will also be able to obtain subsidies for any additional days’ travel.

BAföG recipients will receive the standard mobility allowance. However, any amount in excess of €300 per month will be taken into account when determining the BAföG. Even if you are not eligible for the BAföG for your degree programme in Germany, we still recommend finding out about the International BAföG on the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s “BAföG” web page.

You cannot claim a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and an Erasmus+ grant at the same time.

You cannot claim an Erasmus Mundus grant and an Erasmus allowance at the same time.

If you receive a scholarship from another institution (e.g. foundation, Deutschlandstipendium), you will still receive the standard amount of Erasmus funding. However, you should tell your scholarship provider about your Erasmus grant.

The following circumstances qualify you for additional funding:

1. You have a disability (starting at a disability level of 20) or you have a proven disability giving rise to additional financial requirements while abroad
2. You are suffering from a chronic condition or proven disability that will result in additional costs when abroad
3. You will be taking your child abroad: An extra subsidy for staying abroad can be obtained from the Office of Family Services, where you will also find guidelines on studying abroad with a child.
4. You are a student/ doctoral student and hold a job (not self-employment; earning you net monthly income above €450 and  below €850)
5. You are a student/doctoral student from a non-academic household (individuals whose parents or carers do not hold a degree from a university or university of applied sciences)

Long-Term Traineeships of 2 to 12 months:

A subsidy of 250,- € is paid monthly in case one or more aspects apply to you.

The following also applies to groups 1 to 3: if you will be facing additional costs of over €250 a month, you can alternatively submit an individual application up to two months before you go abroad (this can also be used for a preparatory trip).

You will find more details in the information sheet on additional funding (PDF).

Short-term mobilities of between 5 and 30 days:
One-off payment of €100–€150 plus advance on travel expenses (plus supplement for “green” travel).

You will find more details in the information sheet on additional funding (PDF). 

If participants are unable to undertake a full-time traineeship due to a disability, chronic condition or childcare commitments, they will be able to obtain funding for a part-time traineeship by providing justification for their circumstances.