Before Your Stay Abroad

Register in Mobility-Online, the portal for exchange programmes. When you do so, please read the registration guide carefully and follow the instructions in the emails you receive.

Once you have completed your online registration, your Erasmus Departmental Coordinator will confirm that you have been added for an Erasmus grant by checking the relevant box in the database. After your Departmental Coordinator confirmed your application in Mobility-Online, it will be passed on to the International Office for further processing.

• Registration guide for long-term traineeships (PDF) 
• Registration guide for short-term/blended mobilities (PDF)

The Erasmus checklist gives you an overview of the main organizational steps and deadlines.

• Long-term traineeships: checklist (DE/EN) (PDF)
• short-term/blended mobilities: checklist (DE/EN) (PDF)

For all participants:

• Overview on Erasmus-/ ISCED subject codes (PDF)
• Erasmus Student Charta (PDF)
• Instructions for using the OLS portal for language tests and courses (PDF
• Certificate of enrollment (from BASIS)

For traineeships lasting between 2 and 12 months:

• information sheet on Erasmus Traineeship grants (PDF)
• Learning Agreement for Traineeships (PDF)
• Instructions on completing the Learning Agreement (PDF)
• Information for employers (PDF)
• Information sheet on additional funding (PDF)
• Information sheet on "green" travel (PDF)

For short-term stays by doctoral students or Blended Mobilities:

• information sheet on Erasmus short-term grants (PDF)
• Learning Agreement for Traineeships (PDF)
• Instructions on completing the Learning Agreement for Traineeships (PDF)
• Information for employers for traineeships (PDF)
• Instructions on completing the Online Learning Agreement (OLA) for studies (PDF)
• Information sheet on additional funding short-term mobilities (PDF)
• Information sheet on "green" travel (PDF) 

Once your Learning Agreement for Traineeships has been completed in full and signed by all the parties, you will need to upload it to Mobility-Online at least four weeks before your traineeship abroad starts.

Please read our information on completing the Learning Agreement, the overview of Erasmus/ ISCED subject codes and the information for employers.

The International Office will then tell you more via email. The information sheet and Erasmus traineeship checklist will give you general information about the organizational steps involved in receiving your grant.

You can request changes to the traineeship programme that you originally agreed at any time. The information sheet contains details of what to do if you want to modify, shorten or extend your traineeship.

The Grant Agreement, which forms the contractual basis for receiving your Erasmus grant, will be sent to you around a month before your traineeship abroad starts. You will need to print it off, sign it and submit two original copies to the International Office well before your stay begins.

When the International Office has received the Grant Agreement and Learning Agreement, you will have done all you need in order to receive the first of two Erasmus installments (70% of your total funding). Payments will be made on an ongoing basis from when we have received the necessary documents. You will be paid the remainder (30%) after your Erasmus mobility has come to an end. More details are provided in the section entitled After Your Stay Abroad.

If you fail to submit the documents requested by the stated deadlines without good reason, you will be barred from receiving any more funding and will be required to return all of the mobility grant you have already been paid.

The Erasmus regulations state that only students who have submitted all required documents can receive a grant.

Students completing an Erasmus traineeship are obligated to have sufficient health, liability and accident insurance.

Find out whether and to what extent your health insurance will also cover you abroad before you leave. Students with statutory health insurance can obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) from their health insurer for stays in other EU member states and countries with which Germany has signed a social insurance treaty (only available in German). This card will usually ensure the same level of insurance cover in your European host country as is provided to students from that country, although this may differ from what you are used to in Germany.

If you hold private health insurance, you should obtain a health insurance certificate in the language of your host country, or at the very least in English (potentially in addition to an insurance card).

The cover provided by the EHIC or private insurance will often be insufficient, however, especially if repatriation or particular medical interventions become necessary. We therefore advise you to arrange for additional private insurance, especially for repatriation. You should also clarify your cover if you are traveling to areas subject to a travel warning or experiencing a pandemic.

It is therefore a good idea to ask your German health insurance provider about the benefits offered by their partners in your host country and to take out additional health insurance for your time abroad if you are in any doubt.

Health insurance if your traineeship is paid
From the moment you start a job (even just a very small one) or receive a wage as part of your traineeship, you will be subject to the social insurance law of your host country. This means that you will need to take out health insurance in your new country.

Please ask your host company for information. Contact your (statutory) health insurance provider in Germany and tell the social security providers responsible for you in your country of residence that you have entered (self-)employment.

More information on statutory health insurance during your traineeship is available from the Deutsche Verbindungsstelle Krankenversicherung – Ausland, Germany’s liaison office for health insurance abroad (only available in German).

Turkey has special rules on health insurance, so please read this information on insurance in Turkey for Erasmus students.

Other types of insurance (liability and accident)
Please note that, for the duration of your stay abroad, you will not be covered via the University of Bonn for accidents that occur when traveling to your workplace from your accommodation and back or on your employer’s premises. Please ask your employer whether you have accident insurance cover there. If you do not have accident insurance via your employer, you will need to ensure sufficient insurance cover by taking out a personal policy.

Besides health insurance, you will also need the following cover:

• Liability insurance with cover abroad
• Accident insurance (with cover abroad or potentially via your traineeship provider)

As an Erasmus trainee, you will be able to take out a combined health, accident and personal liability insurance policy via the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), among others.

It may be advisable to take out additional insurance policies for your host country. In France, for instance, landlords usually require proof of contents insurance. The DAAD’s country information pages (only available in German) will tell you more about your host country.

To make it easier for you to find your feet when doing a traineeship abroad, you should devote regular attention to the language used at your workplace — and the language spoken in your destination country, if it is different — at least during the semester before your departure.

There are also various ways to learn foreign languages at the University of Bonn. You can find a list of options within and outside the University in the “Linguistic preparation and language certificates” section of the Organization and Planning page of its website.

You should also consider your own safety and security when planning a stay abroad, something that was important even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

You should therefore make sure to subscribe to the travel information provided by the Federal Foreign Office (only available in German) for your destination country or install the “Sicher Reisen” (“Safe Travels”) app (only available in German) on your smartphone.

Please also add yourself to the “Elefand” list (only available in German) of German nationals currently resident abroad. Don’t forget to deregister once you get back home!

Other useful tips

• List of German Missions abroad
• Information on medical care for travelers (only available in German)

Although you will have freedom of movement within the EU and EFTA as a basic principle, you must make sure that your personal ID is valid for at least the length of your planned stay abroad.

Turkey
Ask one of the Consulates-General of the Republic of Turkey in Germany and your host institution about the current entry requirements in good time.

United Kingdom
Now that the UK has left the EU, you will generally require a Temporary Work – Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) visa unless you are engaged on a “research stay” at a research institution or university. You can find more details on the Traineeships Abroad web page right at the bottom.

If you are a national of a non-EU/-EFTA member state, please note the following:

Traineeships in a university setting
Students from non-EU countries with a residence permit for Germany are granted a residence permit for traineeships in another European country (excluding Denmark, Ireland and the UK) under the EU’s so-called REST Directive. Please ask the international office at your host university for more details. If you are certain that you do not hold resident status under the REST Directive, make sure that you apply for a visa in good time.

Traineeships outside a university setting
Students embarking on a traineeship outside a university setting will still need to apply for a visa from the relevant embassy if they are a non-EU or non-EFTA national.

Please also ask the immigration office and embassy in your destination country about the rules that apply to you and the steps that you need to take.

Please note that, depending on your residence permit, you might also be required to notify the Immigration Office of your upcoming Erasmus placement abroad prior to your departure. Otherwise, your German residence permit will lapse if you are away for a lengthy period (more than six months). If you need confirmation of your place on the Erasmus Programme to submit to the Immigration Office, the International Office will be happy to issue it to you.

Besides the many organizational hoops you will need to jump through when getting ready, you should also devote sufficient time to learning about your host country. The DAAD’s country information pages (only available in German) are a good place to start. 

The “Intercultural preparation and follow-up” section under Organization and Planning lists other services available within and outside the University of Bonn.