Internship: ERASMUS placement

The ERASMUS+ Programme also supports internships/trainings in Europe for students and graduates of all disciplines.

By doing a traineeship abroad with ERASMUS+, trainees can improve not only their communication, language and inter-cultural skills, but also soft skills highly valued by future employers, as well as become more entrepreneurial.

Funding for internships for students/graduates of the University of Freiburg is coordinated by the central office KOOR. For further information and access to the application portal please visit the KOOR homepage directly.

Application deadline: One month before the internship starts (Your complete application documents must be uploaded to the KOOR portal).

Attention: Due to the corona pandemic, KOOR is currently reducing the deadline to two weeks for all internships. Please check with KOOR.

Due to the additional time required to apply for a visa, it is advisable to apply for internships in the UK three months before the start of the internship.

Note: Internships to the UK are now funded through Erasmus+ Worldwide. However, only a limited contingent is available here. Therefore, please contact the coordination office KOOR as early as possible!

Planning an internship in Europe?

University of Freiburg students can apply for a two to twelve-month ERASMUS+ internship in EU countries, in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey. There are very good possibilities of obtaining funding of several hundred euro monthly.
Since recently, internships can also take place at universities and public institutions, and only diplomatic missions and EU institutions are excluded. In addition, the traditional providers of internships in the fields of industry, banking, commerce, trades, churches, NGOs, foundations, chambers of commerce and associations and societies also offer many areas of activity. Students should seek an internship out and handle all the formalities for themselves.

Length of internship

Minimum two months, maximum twelve (min. 60 days, max. 360 days). Please note that shorter internships and study-related internships cannot be funded.

Internships to the UK

Internships to the UK are now funded through Erasmus+ Worldwide. However, only a limited contingent is available here. Therefore, please contact the coordination office KOOR as early as possible! Due to the additional time required to apply for a visa, it is advisable to apply for internships in the UK three months before the start of the internship.

Funding conditions for students and graduates

Students
Students who are registered at the University of Freiburg and taking a full degree can apply for an ERASMUS+ grant. Exchange students cannot receive ERASMUS+ grants. Internships can be funded from the first year of studies.
Students can benefit of an exchange abroad with ERASMUS+ multiple times, either as a student or as a trainee, but the total time abroad (study abroad periods included) may not exceed 12 months within one cycle of study (Bachelor/Master/PhD).
For "one-cycle" courses such as medicine, dentistry, law or pharmacy, you can go abroad with ERASMUS+ for as long as 24 months.

Graduates/post-graduates
Graduates can also be funded by the ERASMUS+ placement programme. In this case, the traineeship must occur within one year of graduation and the application process must be completed while still being enrolled at the University of Freiburg.
The duration of the internship is set at maximum 12 months per degree: for instance, if a foreign study visit of eight months was also completed on a Bachelor degree, then that leaves four months available for a graduate internship.
Attention: In order to enable graduates to undertake a graduate internship in one of the programme countries despite current mobility restrictions due to the corona pandemic, internships abroad can be taken up within 18 months instead of the usual 12 months after graduation.

Destination countries for which funding is available

• EU countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, United Kingdom, Cyprus),
• Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

Internships at universities are possible in Switzerland. Please ask your Swiss host organisation directly about possible funding.
Funding is not available for commuters.

Internships in these institutions are not possible

• all European institutions
• all institutions that administer EU programs
• national/diplomatic missions of the home country/country of origin of the grant recipient
• UN bodies and their sub-organizations

Special funding in the case of Special Needs

Students with disabilities are entitled to apply for additional funding. You can obtain the relevant documentation from the Ms Greta Matthis on request.

Funding

The mobility grant for the ERASMUS+ placement programme is graded by country group, which varies depending on the different costs of living in the destination countries. There are three country groups:

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

Funding rates for the academic year 2019/20

Students with disabilities or child(ren) are entitled to apply for additional funding.
Please note that there is no legal claim to the funding or a certain level of grant.

Students who are entitled to BAföG (Ausbildungsförderung) [education grants] can also receive BAföG during their ERASMUS+ stay abroad. Please ask the relevant foreign BAföG office about crediting the ERASMUS+ funding to your BAföG allowance. Also, students who do not receive domestic BAföG may possibly receive foreign BAföG.

Payment

The grants are basically paid in two tranches: the first payment is made at the start of the internship after receipt of confirmation of arrival (80% of the planned foreign visit grant). The second tranche is paid after completion of the internship, after all necessary documents have been submitted, on the basis of the actual length of the internship.

Important - please note

• In the event that an internship period will be reduced, extended or cancelled you should contact KOOR immediately, as otherwise it may be necessary to repay money that you have already received.
• Please note that there is no legal claim to the funding or a certain level of grant.
• The internship should be completed without interruption.

Information about insurance

ERASMUS+ interns are obliged to take out health insurance, professional liability insurance for claims caused by the intern in the workplace, as well as accident insurance which includes the workfloor.

The student union fee, which students of the University of Freiburg pay to the student union (Studierendenwerk, abbr. SWFR), also includes a number of insurances for study related accidents. Please consult the SWFR whether and to what extent you have liability, leisure time accident and theft insurance during your internship abroad.

Moreover, the DAAD in Bonn offers an insurance package, which covers health, accident and liability insurance.

The contact at SWFR is Ms Toth, sozialberatung@swfr.de, the contact at DAAD is Ms Palm, Phone +49 228 882-294/-400, palm@daad.de.         
You can find the registration forms and policy conditions on the Internet.

There are also a few special offerings on the insurance market, such as the one from online broker Mawista, contact via Phone +49 7024 469510 and/or info@mawista.com.  

Information about scope of German statutory accident insurance:
Information from the Unfallkasse Baden-Württemberg (UKBW) about German statutory accident insurance for students who undertake an internship abroad within the framework of the ERASMUS+ programme.

Contact

KOOR

Office Hours:
Mon-Thu 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Tue & Thu 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. by arrangement

Phone +49 721 925-2521, -2522, -2523, -2524, -2525, -2526
koor-praxis-bw@hs-karlsruhe.de
Website