Study at Partner Universities in Europe with Erasmus+

Eligibility

• You must be properly enrolled as a student or doctoral candidate at the University of Bonn and remain so for the duration of your stay abroad (as doctoral candidate you can alternatively submit proof of your doctorate).
• Your nationality is irrelevant.
• Your stay can last between 2 and 12 months
• You may participate in the Erasmus program for a maximum of 12 months per study phase (Bachelor, Master, doctorate) (including Erasmus internships and short-term stays)
• You must have a good enough knowledge of the language of instruction.
• Please find out about any additional subject-specific requirements from the web page of your Erasmus Departmental Coordinator.

To make your time studying 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 of instruction—which may not be the same as the national language at many partner universities.

Since some departments and/or partner universities require evidence of language skills to be submitted together with an application for an Erasmus mobility, make sure to find out about this in good time. You can find the relevant information on your Departmental Coordinator’s web pages or the websites of your partner universities.

Either way, it is a good idea 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 Organizing a Stay Abroad web page.

Once you have been selected, your Departmental Coordinator will nominate you at the partner university.

In addition, you must provide further information in your Mobility-Online account that is important for Erasmus funding. The International Office will inform you accordingly..

The monthly grant installments are the same for all universities in Germany and may be recalculated every year. The mobility allowance is paid out in two installments, one at the start and one at the end of your stay abroad.

For the academic year 2024/25:

Funding is available for up to 120 days for a semester or 255 days for a year.

• Country group 1: €600 per month (€20 per day)
  Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Country group 2: €540 per month (€18 per day)
  Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
• Country group 3: €540 per month (€18 per day)
  Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey

There is also the chance to receive a one-off grant of €500, which Santander Bank awards annually in spring to 40 Erasmus students in the current academic year. All participants can apply for this at the beginning of the year. The grant is awarded by lottery in early summer.

Although Switzerland is not an Erasmus+ Programme country, it provides financial support to German exchange students out of its own funds. More information on the Swiss-European Mobility Programme (SEMP) is available from your Erasmus Departmental Coordinator or your chosen university in Switzerland.

The following circumstances qualify you for additional funding:

1. Long-term mobility s of 1–2 semesters (2–12 months)—€250 a month:

1. You have a disability (starting at a degree of disability of 20)
2. You have a proven disability giving rise to additional financial requirements while abroad
3. You have a chronic condition giving rise to additional financial requirements while abroad
4. You will be taking your child abroad
   An extra subsidy for studying abroad can be obtained from the Office of Family Services, where you will also find guidelines on studying abroad with a child.
5. You are a student/doctoral student and hold a job (not self-employment) earning you net monthly income of more than €450 but less than €850
6. Students who are the first from their household to enter higher education: you are a student/doctoral student whose parents or carers do not hold a degree from a university or university of applied sciences

The following also applies to groups a–d: 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 if you have a disability).

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

If you eschew planes and travel to your host country by train, bus, carsharing or bike instead, you will be able to obtain subsidies for any additional days’ travel.

In addition, all 2024/25 participants can win prizes worth a total of €1,000 in the “green on the road” competition. You will receive further information by e-mail and be inspired by last year's award-winning entries.

From the 2025/26 academic year, you can receive an increased travel allowance for “green” 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. Exception: additional funding for equal opportunities of €250 per month in the event of disability, chronic illness or studying abroad with a child (does not apply to working students and first-time graduates).

Even if you are not eligible for the BAföG for your degree program in Germany, we still recommend finding out about the International BAföG on the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s BAföG website (only available in German).

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.

Recognition is a very important part of the Erasmus+ Programme and is governed by the Learning Agreement and transcript of records.

The Learning Agreement is the key document that you are required to fill in together with the person responsible in your department in Bonn and at your partner university before you start studying abroad. You should enter the courses that you would like to take at your partner university as well as the modules from Bonn that these courses are intended to replace.

Once you return home, you can request recognition for your study achievements earned abroad from the examination office/ examination board responsible for you by submitting your Learning Agreement and the transcript of records (certificate) from the partner university. The examination office will then record your recognized achievements in BASIS.

Although doctoral candidates are also required to prepare a Learning Agreement, the requirements are more flexible and, unsually, no formal recognition takes place.

The question of getting your achievements at the partner university recognized should be a key criterion right from when you are choosing a suitable destination.

Now what do I have to do?

• Find out as early as possible what degree programs your host university offers.
• Compare these against the courses that you would still need to do at the University of Bonn and would like to complete while you are abroad.
• Liaise with your Erasmus Departmental Coordinator, your subject advisor or the competent examination office to clarify the recognition situation.

Details on the recognition procedure can be found either on the web pages of your department/institute or by asking your Departmental Coordinator.