Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility/ Outgoing Student
The mobility activity is the internship of a student of a higher education institution at an enterprise abroad. “Traineeship” is the process by which a beneficiary acquires vocational training and/or work experience within an enterprise or organization in another country participating in the programme. Traineeship mobility activity cannot be used to carry out studies such as research assignments and analysis studies related to academic studies within the scope of a certain curriculum, but it is aimed at providing practical work experience for the students in the field of vocational education.
Students can perform traineeship activities in an enterprise, a research institute, a laboratory, an organization or any other relevant workplace abroad. Traineeships abroad are encouraged for studies at all levels of education and for new graduates. Traineeship mobility includes teaching internships of prospective teachers, research assistants and related research activities of PhD candidates. The traineeship activity should be an integral part of the student’s learning program. Studies, scientific research and projects carried out by students to complete or support their own scientific studies are not considered as internship activities.
Internship activity is not expected to be compulsory for the student’s diploma program. However, the economic sector where the internship will take place should be a sector related to the student’s current vocational education program. Regardless of whether the students have a compulsory internship responsibility in their department, the students of all departments have the right to benefit from the Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility.
Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility Period
Mobility period can last from a minimum of 2 months to maximum of 12 months for different academic levels. Internship activity can be carried out at any time during the education period as well as recent graduates who are within 12 months after graduation. For the internship activity to be carried out after graduation, the student application must be submitted before the student graduates (while they are still an associate, undergraduate or graduate student). Graduated students are not eligible to apply.
Prerequisites of Application
- GPA:
2.20/4.00 (58/100) for Associate Degree and Undergraduate Degree students
2.50/4.00 for Master’s Degree and PhD students.
Terms regarding the students whose transcript is not yet available during the application process:
- Students who are enrolled to a bachelor’s degree programme through vertical transfer must have a GPA of at least 2.20/4.00
- For first-year students who have a high school graduation score of at least 75/100
- Candidate students are required to get a “Successful” grade in the Erasmus + Foreign Language Exam to be held by Istanbul Galata University.
Application and Erasmus+ Foreign Language Exam dates are announced by the Erasmus+ Coordination Office. We recommend our students to check the announcements on our website and their university e-mail addresses.
General Information
Examples of Suitable Participant Organizations/Institutions
It can be any public institution/organization or private institution/organization operating in the fields of education/training. The following organizations include, but are not limited to, examples of suitable internship options:
- Small, medium or large-scale private or public institution or organization
- A public institution/organization at the local, regional or national level
- Embassies or consulates of the sending country
- All kinds of entities/unions belonging to the business world such as chambers of commerce, tradesmen/professional associations and unions
- Research institutes
- Foundations
- School/institute/education center (institutions/organizations operating at any level, from pre-school to high school and post-secondary education -including vocational education and adult education-)
- Non-profit institution/organization, association, NGO
- Institutions/organizations providing career guidance, vocational counseling and information services
- Higher education institutions (All the involved higher education institutions from Programme Countries must hold an ECHE).
Important Notice: Our students are required to find an internship place with their own connections. The internship you find must be related to your department. You have to prepare a letter of intent to the institution you want to do your internship and notify them that you would like to participate in the Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility. If you get an acceptance, you should request an invitation letter.
The following organizations are not eligible for Erasmus+ Traineeship activity:
- European Union institutions and EU agencies(see. https://europa.eu/european-union/abouteu/institutions-bodies_en )
- Institutions carrying out EU programmes such as the National Agency
There are three steps (Before the Mobility, During the Mobility and After the Mobility) to be followed by our students who are entitled to participate in Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility:
Documents to be submitted to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office Before the Mobility
- Invitation Letter
A signed and sealed invitation letter, written on the letterhead of the institution to be taken from the institution where the internship will be held, stating the subject of the internship, the scope, the dates of the internship and the contributions of the internship to the student, should be submitted to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office.
- Academic Record (Transcript)
- Language Proficiency Certificate (You can request a letter stating that you have successfully passed the Erasmus+ Language Proficiency Exam)
- 2 photos
- Learning Agreement for Traineeship Mobility
It must be signed and sealed by the student, the host institution and Istanbul Galata University.
- Grant Agreement for Traineeship Mobility
The Grant Agreement is signed by the student and Istanbul Galata University before the mobility. The agreement indicates the duration of the mobility and the total amount of the grant for the personal and travel expenses of the student. On the day that the student completes all the above-mentioned documents, they will sign the Grant Agreement in two copies at the Erasmus+ Coordination Office.
Students who will benefit from the mobility without a grant should sign a “0 grant” contract.
- Copy of Passport
- Copy of Visa
As soon as the invitation letter of the student is received, the Erasmus+ Coordination Office will prepare a consular letter (a document confirming the student’s participation in the Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility, the amount of the grant, if applicable, and the university information). As soon as the student receives the consular letter, they should contact the consulate of the destination country to make an appointment and apply for a visa. After receiving the visa, the student is obliged to submit a copy of the visa page to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office. The Erasmus+ Coordination Office does not have any control or authority over the consulates during the visa application process of the students.
- General Health Insurance for Exchange Students
Students who will participate in Erasmus+ Traineeship mobility are required to have a full coverage health insurance that includes liability insurance (which covers the damages they may cause at the workplace) and accident insurance for the students’ duties (at least that covers the losses incurred by the student at the workplace).
- Euro Account
Students who will participate in the mobility with a grant must open a Euro account and submit their account information to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office in order to receive their grants. Students who will attend the programme without a grant (“0 grant”) do not have to open a EURO account, however, they are recommended to open an account in case a grant may be provided in the future.
- OLS/Online Linguistic Support:
OLS assesses the participant’s reading, writing and listening skills within the scope of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students selected to carry out traineeship mobility are required to take an English exam through the OLS system, separately before starting their activities and after completing their activities. Exams do not affect the selection status of the students. Exams before and after the activity are held to observe the change in language proficiency of the students during the mobility activities. Participation in both exams is mandatory. After the first OLS, the student will have a chance to take a free online language course according to their level. The OLS exam link will be sent to the student’s e-mail address.
- During the Mobility
During the mobility, the student can change the duties and responsibilities related to the internship by stating the changes on the Learning Agreement for Traineeship Mobility. Students who will make changes must notify the Erasmus+ Coordination Office and the Erasmus+ Unit Coordinator.
Students participating in Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility can extend the mobility period up to 12 months (in accordance with the rules). In order to extend it, it is necessary to write a petition to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office regarding the request to extend the traineeship mobility. If the extension request is evaluated and approved, it is necessary to get approval from the internship institution and this approval should be forwarded to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office. If there is enough amount left from the grant allocated to our university, the student is also provided with a grant during the extension period. If there is no grant for the extension, the student can extend the Erasmus+ activity with “0 grants”, provided that all the obligations of the Erasmus+ program are fulfilled.
After the Mobility
- Traineeship Certificate/After Mobility
- Copy of passport (copy of the entry and exit stamps)
- Online EU Survey
The EU Survey regarding the mobility period will be sent to your e-mail address on the end date of the mobility activity specified in your Certificate of Attendance.
- OLS/Online Linguistic Support
Grant:
Grant allocations vary from year to year. EU member countries were divided into 3 different groups according to their living standards and cost of living indices, and it was found appropriate to give different grant amounts for countries in each category.
The table of individual grant support amounts to be allocated to students who will perform mobility within the scope of Erasmus+ is as follows:
Country Groups | Host Countries | Monthly Amount of Grant- Learning (Euro) | Monthly Amount of Grant- Training (Euro) |
1st and 2nd Group Countries | Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Greece |
600 |
750 |
3rd Group Countries | Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey | 450 | 600 |
Students who are entitled to participate in mobility with a grant within the scope of the Erasmus+ Programme can receive an Erasmus+ grant to cover their living expenses during the mobility period. Payments are made to selected students in two installments. After the students receive their visa, 70% of the total grants calculated according to the stipulated period of stay are deposited into the EURO accounts they will open. The second installment is paid according to the certificate of attendance that our students will receive from the host institution after completing their education period. Mobility grants are not paid to students who do not receive a visa.
If the responsibilities are not fulfilled and the documents proving participation in the mobility (certificate of attendance) are not submitted, the mobility will be deemed invalid and the student will not be paid a grant; the grant paid at the beginning will be collected.
Students can participate in mobility activities without receiving a grant if they choose to do so. Students without a grant (“0 grant”) are also subject to general assessment along with the other applicants and go through the same process as students receiving a grant. The difference between the students without a grant (“0 grant”) and the others is that the students without a grant (“0 grant”) are not included in the budgeting process and are not paid.
Waiver Notice:
Students who are entitled to benefit from the Erasmus+ Programme and want to waive their rights without deduction of points must fill in the “Erasmus+ Cancellation Form” and submit it to the Erasmus+ Coordination Office within 7 (seven) days from the announcement of their Erasmus exam results.