Erasmus+ for internships

Funding is available for internships abroad of between 60 and 360 days, regardless of whether they are mandatory or voluntary.

As soon as an internship position is available and the department approves the internship, a scholarship can be applied for at the International Office.

In principle, all students who complete a full course of study at Fachhochschule Dortmund - University of Applied Sciences and Arts with a recognized degree are eligible for Erasmus+ funding.

The internship can be completed during the studies, but also within one year after a degree (so-called graduate internship).

Important:

• Students must be enrolled at Fachhochschule Dortmund at the time of application for an Erasmus+ scholarship.
• Students who complete their internship after their studies must also still be enrolled at the time of application; however, they must already be exmatriculated during the internship.
• Students must have already found an internship position and have a firm commitment at the time of their application for an Erasmus+ grant.
• Students must not have exhausted their maximum Erasmus+ grant during the relevant period of study.
• Students whose monthly remuneration during their internship is above € 1,000 are unfortunately not eligible to apply for an Erasmus+ Internship Grant.
• It is not possible to receive funding for internships completed in EU institutions, diplomatic missions of the home country and organizations managing EU programs.
• There is no age limit.
• ERASMUS funding can be granted to all students regardless of their citizenship.
• Your internship must be a full-time internship with standard working hours in each country.
• There must be sufficient health, accident and liability insurance coverage at the workplace.

Primarily, acceptance for funding depends on the number and order of receipt of grant applications and the number of grants available.

Additional Selection Criteria:
Due to high demand and in order to provide funding to as many students as possible, who offen receive little or no salary, we ask interns with salarys of €1,000 and above to refrain from applying for funding.

Subject to changes

1) Inform yourself in your department.

Before applying, you should ask your department who is responsible for recognizing your Erasmus+ internship.

2) Search for an internship

Once you know the conditions for recognition, you can look for an internship position. Internship funding will not be granted if the internship is to be completed in one of the following institutions:

• European Union (EU) institutions and organizations.
• Institutions and organizations that administer EU programs
• National and diplomatic representations of your home country

Assistance in finding a job and other useful information can be obtained from the internsip Office (Praxisbüro) of your department.

3) Online application via Mobility Online

The application for ERASMUS+ can only be done online. Register in the portal and fill in the application form in the online portal.

4) Create a Learning Agreement for Traineeship

Print the Learning Agreemnt from the portal and fill in the traineeship agreement ("Learning Agreement for Traineeship").
Fill in table A. Here, in particular, the description of your activities must be detailed - complete on an extra sheet if necessary - and send the document to your internship employer.
The internship employer provides additional information in Table A and fills out Table C, signs it and returns the agreement back to you.
You submit the internship agreement, signed by you and your future internship employer, to the internship coordinator, departemental coordinator, or internship office (responsible person) in your department and have them complete Table B and sign the document.
You have to upload the signed document in the portal.
All signatures (including your own) must be present!
Do not forget that you also have to upload an internship contract/letter of acceptance.

5) Submit your application documents.

The application deadline is 4 weeks before the start of the internship.

Please note that timely submission of all documents is your responsibility. Your application is not effective until all documents have been uploaded to the portal. Delays - even if caused by third parties - cannot be considered.

As soon as all documents are complete, you will receive a notification of funding. The grant agreement has to be signed by you and the International Office. This agreement serves as a contract between you and Fachhochschule Dortmund. By signing it, you automatically agree to the general terms and conditions of funding.
Together with the grant agreement you will receive the Erasmus+ Charter for Students.

6) Retroactive funding is not possible.
I.e. a registration/application in the portal after the start of the internship will not be accepted.

7) Payment of scholarship

According to the agreement, the first scholarship installment (70% of the total funding amount) will be transferred to your German account. You will receive the second installment after the completion of the internship.

Subject to changes

The decision as to whether you would like to take a leave of absence for the duration of your internship abroad is entirely up to you.

In order to be able to complete your studies within the standard period of study, it is often advisable to apply for a leave of absence semester for the duration of your stay abroad. Semesters of leave are not counted towards the standard period of study. Please contact the study office for the application.

Due to the budget provided and the national requirements of the DAAD and the associated funding levels, the maximum funding duration of an ERASMUS internship in the academic year 2023/24 is 4 months (130 days)/semester.

The total amount of funding will continue to be calculated to the day at the end of the stay and basically only includes the proven stay at the institution/company.
The funding amount depends on the destination country; there are three different country groups, divided into countries with higher, medium and lower cost of living.

Subject to changes

Please note that there is no legal claim for funding or a specific grant amount. 

Erasmus+ aims to promote equal opportunities and inclusion. For this reason, access to the program is facilitated for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds (in Germany, this applies to students who are single parents during their study abroad in the Erasmus+ program) and with special needs.

Special support for students with disabilities

Useful information on universities with disabilities from the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education: www.european-agency.org.

Special support for students with a child as a lump sum.

Students who take their child/children with them to the Erasmus+ study visit in a Programme Country and who are single parents there during the Erasmus+ mobility can receive special funding as a lump sum. The maximum monthly funding amount is given by three country groups.

The funding application for students with special needs/child must be submitted to the International Office before the start of the stay abroad.

The funding application for students with severe disabilities must be submitted to the DAAD via the International Office at least 2 months before the start of the stay abroad.

Students who choose not to travel abroad by plane or their own car will receive a Green Travel Bonus of € 50 and up to 4 extra travel days, which will be additionally funded. Travel by train, bus, ship or carpool is accepted. This must be guaranteed by a sworn insurance, it is not necessary to submit separate evidence.

Students whose parents or guardians do not have a degree from a university or university of applied sciences will receive a Top Up of 8.33 € per sponsored day (130 x 8.33 = 1082.9 €).

This must be guaranteed via a sworn insurance, it is not necessary to submit separate proof.

The Top Ups for first-time graduates and working students cannot be combined, you will only receive one of the two!

All Top Ups are applied for in Mobility Online via the workflow steps.

Students who were employed before starting the mobility can receive a monthly Top Up of €8.33/day under the following conditions:

- The employment must have been carried out continuously for at least six months with a time reference to the mobility. Temporal reference means here, between 6 months before the application and the start of the mobility.

- The activity in the sending country is not continued during the stay abroad. Termination is not a requirement, the employment contract can also be paused.

- During the minimum period of exercise, the monthly earnings must be above 450 EUR and below 850 EUR (net earnings of all activities per month added up).

- The employment is subject to social security contributions.

The employment must be guaranteed via a sworn insurance and extra proof like payrolls and a working contract. They should be submitted via erasmusfh-dortmundde.

First-time graduates and employed students cannot be combined, you will only receive one of the two!

All Top Ups are applied for in Mobility Online via the workflow steps.

1) First language test

You must take a language test before starting your internship abroad. You will receive the link from the EU.

2) You update your internship agreement if necessary.

If the content or duration of the internship changes during the course of the internship, inform the International Office immediately after consultation with your internship institution and your department. Changes may need to be recorded in writing in a new internship agreement.

3) You will conduct your internship.

Carry out your internship according to the internship agreement. If you terminate your ERASMUS internship prematurely, any scholarship installments already paid out must be repaid immediately upon request by the International Office.

4) You submit your certificate of completion/qualified reference.

After completion of your internship (funding period)your internship provider must confirm the exact period and the successful completion of your internship by means of the completion certificate. The certificate must be uploaded in the Mobility Online Portal within 4 weeks after the end of the internship.

5) EU Questionnaire

After your internship, you will receive an email from the EU asking you to fill in a questionnaire.

6) Progress report

Within 4 weeks after the end of the funding period you will upload a field report in the Mobility Online Portal.

Only when all required documents are available you will receive the second installment of your ERASMUS grant (30%) to your German account.

The European Commission has provided an online language test for the five major languages (DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, NL) since October 2014.

This test is mandatory for all students/graduates after selection/before the start of the mobility in the working language. However, it is not a selection criterion for funding in the Erasmus+ program and does not apply to native speakers.

Once the participants to be funded in Erasmus+ have been selected, the language test is for documentation of their current language level.

The systematic, Europe-wide review of the development of individual language competence enables an evaluation of the effectiveness of Erasmus+.

All grantees who have participated in an Erasmus+ mobility action are required to prepare a Mobility Tool Plus report after the end of the action and submit it together with relevant evidence (e.g. duration of stay). The link to the Mobility Tool Plus will be sent automatically to the scholarship holders.

In addition, you create a field report for the International Office.
(For information see www.fh-dortmund.de/report)

The reports must be prepared within 4 weeks after the end of the internship.

Please note that you are not covered by accident insurance through the university during your internship abroad.

The Erasmus+ - Internship Program is a pure funding program. No insurance coverage is associated with participation in this program. For the duration of your internship abroad, you must therefore ensure sufficient insurance coverage on your own.

Sufficient health, accident and liability insurance coverage at the workplace is a prerequisite for Erasmus+ - Internship Funding.

Students doing an Erasmus+ (SMP) internship abroad must have sufficient insurance coverage in these three areas:

1) Health insurance
The participant's national health insurance generally provides basic health insurance coverage with the European Health Insurance Card, even for the stay in another EU country. However, coverage through the European Health Insurance Card or private insurance may be insufficient, especially if repatriation or special medical procedures are needed. For such cases, supplementary private insurance may be useful.

2) Liability insurance
Liability insurance covers damage caused by the participant during the stay abroad (regardless of whether the participant is at work or not). Since different countries have different liability regulations, interns run the risk of not being covered.

 3) Accident insurance

Accident insurance covers damages caused to employees by accidents at work. In many countries, employees are insured for accidents at work. However, the extent of coverage may vary from country to country.

All participants of the ERASMUS+ program have the possibility to join the group insurance of the DAAD, which offers comprehensive insurance coverage. You can find further information on the wensite of the DAAD(Opens in a new tab) .

• There is no legal claim for funding and therefore cannot be asserted against the university. The International Office reserves the right to reject applications if deadlines have not been met and/or the budget has been spent.
• Retrospective funding is not possible for internships.
• Forms have to be completed online
• All necessary application documents must be uploaded to the Mobiilty Online Portal at least 4 weeks before the start of the internship.

Neither the EU Commission, nor the National Agency for Erasmus+ in Germany (DAAD), nor Fachhochschule Dortmund are liable for damages resulting from illness, death, accident, injury to persons, loss or damage to property in connection with Erasmus+ stays abroad.