The European Union offers financial support for European students who want to do an internship within the European Union. Any public or private organisations active in the labour market can be the receiving bodies. The Open Dialog Foundation, as an NGO, active in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law promotion, offers a possibility to international students to carry out a specialised and professionally oriented internship, under the Erasmus+ programme, in one of its three offices. The traineeships focus on the areas of activity of the organisation, as well as on individual interests of the students. Traineeships under the Erasmus+ programme are financially subsidised from the grant and should not be additionally remunerated.
As a student, you can go abroad for a period raging from 2 to 12 months. You can receive grants for studying or being trained abroad totalling up to 12 months maximum per cycle of study. Two separate periods of 6 months abroad is thus also a possibility. A student can for example complete an Erasmus semester abroad during the Bachelor’s program and decide during the Master’s degree to complete an internship abroad for 6 months as well. The Erasmus+ EU grant will help cover the travel and subsistence costs incurred in connection with the student’s traineeship abroad. The payment of any national grant or loan to outgoing students should be maintained during the traineeship abroad. In reality, due to administrative delay, a part of the grant is usually disbursed only after the completion of the internship.
To receive the grant, you must be registered in a higher education institution and enrolled in studies leading to a recognised degree or other recognised tertiary level qualification (up to and including the level of doctorate). Your own sending institution (mostly your University) will select you in a fair and transparent way. The selection process is different for every sending institution. Most universities or faculties have a good international office that will provide all necessary information on deadlines and application processes. In general, the deadline for application is 6-8 months before the start of the internship.
Prior to the departure the Erasmus+ student should be provided with:
- A grant agreement covering the mobility period and signed between the student and his or her sending higher education institution;
- A “Learning Agreement” regarding the specific programme for the traineeship, approved by the student, the sending institution and the receiving organisation. Not all universities call this a learning agreement, but your international office will provide you with a similar agreement in that case.
- The “Erasmus+ Student Charter” setting out the student’s rights and obligations with respect to his/her period of training/work experience abroad.
At the end of the period abroad:
- For a traineeship that is an integral part of the curriculum, the sending institution must give full academic recognition for the period spent abroad, by using ECTS credits or an equivalent system. Recognition shall be based on the Learning Agreement approved by all parties before the period of mobility starts;
- In the particular case of a traineeship that is not part of the curriculum of the student, the sending institution shall provide recognition at least by recording this period in the Diploma Supplement or, in the case of recent graduates, by providing a traineeship certificate. In this case, you should contact the international office of your faculty, since not all universities provide this option to their students.
Usually, students are also asked to complete a language test before and after their time abroad. In this way, the European Union tries to gather information on the contribution of time abroad to the knowledge of English (or other languages).
The FAQ form is available on this link and should answer any of your additional questions. The European Commission provides more useful information and links regarding this program as well. The Erasmus+ program also has its own website with all the detailed information about the program.
Should you be interested in a traineeship opportunity with the Open Dialog Foundation, please contact us at [email protected] or by addressing a person responsible for one of our offices, at which you would like to carry out your traineeship.