Erasmus+ Programme

Erasmus+ is the EU Programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2021 to 2027. Building on the success of the programme in the period 2014 to 2020, Erasmus+ strengthens its efforts to increase the opportunities offered to more participants and to a wider range of organisations, focusing on its qualitative impact and contributing to more inclusive and cohesive, greener and digitally fit societies. 

• Key action 1: Learning mobility of individuals,
• Key action 2: Cooperation among organisations and institutions,
• Key action 3: Support to policy development and cooperation.

The implementation of the Erasmus+ Programme is organised both in the form of decentralised projects run by National Agencies and through centralised activities managed by the European Commission’s Executive Agency. In the field of higher education in Germany, the DAAD National Agency, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), performs the tasks of a National Agency for Erasmus+.

The general objective of the programme is to support, through lifelong learning, the educational, professional and personal development of people in education, training, youth and sport, in Europe and beyond, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, quality jobs and social cohesion, to driving innovation, and to strengthening European identity and active citizenship. The programme thus constitutes a key instrument for establishing a common European Education Area, promoting and supporting the implementation of a European strategic cooperation in the field of education and training with its underlying sector-specific objectives. In addition, it is key in advancing youth policy cooperation under the European Union Youth Strategy 2019 to 2027 and developing the European dimension in sport.

The Erasmus+ Programme provides funding for cooperations with the following countries:

• Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
• Other European countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Northern Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Türkiye.

Please note: A stay in the country of the student's or staff members's primary residence is not eligible for funding.

"Environment and combating climate change". Under this heading, Erasmus+ would like to raise awareness among programme participants and institutions of climate change and environmental protection as well as of the ecological footprint that participants create through mobility. To support student mobility, a top-up amount of EUR 50 will be granted and a maximum of 4 additional travel days may be claimed if your trip takes longer because of the sustainable mode of transport. Travel expenses are increased for all mobilities if participants use sustainable means of transport.

In order to make student and staff access to mobility as easy as possible, in line with the principles of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE), higher education institutions must ensure equal and equitable access and equal opportunity for current and potential participants from all backgrounds. This means including students or staff with special needs, such as participants with a disability, chronic illness or other physical or mental health impairment, students with children, working students or professional athletes as well as students from all subjects that are underrepresented in mobility. Establishing internal selection procedures that take into account equal opportunity and inclusion and assess the applicants' performance and motivations in a holistic manner is essential for compliance with this principle.

In line with the principles of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE), higher education institutions should implement a digital management system for student mobility in accordance with the technical standards of the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI). This means that higher education institutions participating in the programme will need to join the Erasmus Without Paper Network to exchange mobility data and manage online learning agreements and digital inter-institutional agreements once these features are ready for use for the different mobility measures between Programme Countries and between Programme and Partner Countries.

These are short, intensive programmes using innovative learning and teaching methods, involving online collaboration. Programmes may include challenge-based learning, where multinational and interdisciplinary teams work together to address challenges, for example related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or other societal challenges identified by regions, cities or companies. The programmes should add value compared to existing courses or training offered by the participating higher education institutions and may run for several years. Blended intensive programmes allow for new and more flexible mobility formats combining physical mobility with a virtual component, thereby aiming to reach all types of students from any background, subject and study cycle.

Groups of higher education institutions have the opportunity to organise short blended intensive programmes comprising learning, teaching and training components for students and staff. During blended intensive programmes, groups of students or staff complete a short-term physical mobility abroad that is combined with a compulsory virtual component facilitating collaborative online learning and teamwork.The virtual component must be designed in a way that brings learners together online to work collaboratively and simultaneously on specific tasks that are integrated into the blended intensive programme and will contribute to the overall learning outcomes.

Blended intensive programmes must be developed and implemented by at least three higher education institutions holding an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) that are located in at least three Programme Countries. In addition, any other higher education institution or organisation based in a Programme Country may participate.

For detailed information, please see the homepage of the DAAD National Agency. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact the International Office.

Students of all degree programmes as well as doctoral students who are regularly enrolled at the University of Education Karlsruhe. 

Two months (or an academic semester or trimester) to 12 months. This may include an additional work placement period, where provided, and can be organised in different ways depending on the specific context, i.e., the activities may take place either one after another or at the same time. For combined stays abroad, the same funding regulations and minimum periods apply as for mobility periods for study purposes.

Mobilities for doctoral candidates:  5 days to 30 days.

The amount of financial support for Erasmus mobility measures for the purpose of studying depends on the specific costs of living in the respective destination countries ("Programme Countries"). There are standard monthly funding rates. Students experiencing additional needs, e.g., due to a disability or chronic illness, may be granted special funding in the form of top-up amounts. In addition, students using sustainable means of transport may apply for a Green Travel Grant. For more information on the current funding rates, please see the webpage of the DAAD National Agency (in German language).

Students of all degree programmes as well as doctoral students who are regularly enrolled at the University of Education Karlsruhe.

Graduates who have only recently completed their degree programme can take part in a mobility measure for traineeship (work placement) purposes. Recent graduates must have been selected by their respective higher education institution during their final year of study and must carry out and complete their traineeship abroad within one year of graduating.

2 months (60 calendar days) to 12 months.

Mobilities for doctoral candidates: 5 days to 30 days.

The amount of financial support for Erasmus mobility measures for traineeship purposes depends on the specific costs of living in the respective destination countries ("Programme Countries"). There are standard monthly funding rates. Students completing a traineeship or experiencing additional needs, e.g., due to a disability or chronic illness, may be granted special funding in the form of top-up amounts. In addition, students using sustainable means of transport may apply for a Green Travel Grant. For more information on the current funding rates, please see the webpage of the DAAD National Agency (in German language).

The following persons are eligible for STA funding:

• lecturers who have a contractual relationship with the sending higher education institution,
• lecturers without endowment,
• adjunct lecturers,
• professors emeriti and retired teaching staff who continue to be involved in teaching,
• academic staff members and
• incoming company staff from abroad (incoming mobility).

Courses can be held in various forms: As seminars, lectures, talks, tutorials, supervision of doctoral candidates, participation in doctoral vivas, etc. It is important, however, that the teacher is present in person on site (i.e., online courses are excluded).
At least eight hours of teaching per stay and per week are required for teaching mobilities. If the mobility measure lasts longer than one week, the minimum teaching load required for an incomplete week should be calculated proportionally to the duration of the incomplete week in question. The following exceptions apply:

1. There is no minimum teaching load for incoming company staff from abroad.
2. If the teaching activity is combined with a training activity during a single stay abroad, the minimum teaching load is reduced to four hours per week.

The amount of financial support for Erasmus mobility measures for teaching purposes depends on the specific costs of living in the respective destination countries ("Programme Countries"). For funding by German higher education institutions, standard daily rates apply. Travel expenses can also be subsidised. The amounts are uniformly determined using a cost calculator.Erasmus+ funding may be granted for a period of between 2 and 60 consecutive days. For more information on the current funding rates, please see the webpage of the DAAD National Agency (in German language).

Improved competencies in the respective person's field of activity, a better understanding of global methods, strategies and structures, improved capacity to promote the modernisation and international orientation of the home institution, a better understanding of the links between formal and non-formal education and the labour market, increased quality of work and activities for students, a better understanding of and responsiveness to social, linguistic and cultural diversity, increased ability to address the needs of disadvantaged people, support and promotion of student mobility, improved career prospects, advanced foreign language skills and increased motivation and satisfaction in day-to-day work.

• University staff from all areas (library, faculties, finance, International Office, human resources, public relations...),
• lecturers who have a contractual relationship with the sending higher education institution,
• lecturers without endowment,
• adjunct lecturers,
• professors emeriti and retired teaching staff who continue to be involved in teaching,
• academic staff members and
• trainees.

For training purposes, staff from any higher education institution in Germany that has been granted the ECHE accreditation may be sent to another higher education institution with ECHE accreditation or to any other institution based in another Programme Country that is active in the labour market or working in the fields of education, training or youth.

Possible staff mobility activities include

• continuing education (training) abroad,
• foreign language courses abroad,
• job shadowing / sitting in on classes,
• monitoring of Erasmus+ projects,
• monitoring activities associated with Erasmus+ mobility measures,
• participation in Staff Training Weeks or
• participation in tutorials, seminars or workshops.

The amount of financial support for Erasmus mobility measures for the purpose of continuing education and training depends on the specific costs of living in the respective destination countries ("Programme Countries").For funding by German higher education institutions, standard daily rates apply. Travel expenses can also be subsidised. The amounts are uniformly determined using a cost calculator. Erasmus+ funding may be granted for a period of between 2 and 60 consecutive days. For more information on the current funding rates, please see the homepage of the DAAD National Agency.

This activity promotes the professional development of teaching staff and other university staff members through training abroad (except for research projects directly related to research and conferences) as well as through job shadowing or sitting in on classes at a partner university or equivalent institution abroad.

Project partner: Savannakhet University
Deepening and strengthening exchange under the project title "Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship".

The following mobilities can be funded by the project:

SMS - outgoing doctoral candidates exclusively
STA
STT

Participating departments:

Department of Multilingualism (English Studies); project manager: Professor Isabel Martin
Department of Biology and School Gardening
Department of Informatics and Digital Education
Department of Physics and Technical Education

Project partner: Kharkiv University of Humanities
Deepening and strengthening exchange and collaboration.

The following mobilities can be funded by the project:

SMS
STA
STT

Participating departments:

Department of Economics and its Didactics (project manager: Professor Claudia Wiepcke)

Project goals: Through the mobilities, both universities strengthen their ties and the mutual exchange of knowledge in accordance with their respective internationalisation strategies: On the one hand, students can acquire labour market and career-relevant skills so that they can actively contribute to processes in an ever-changing society. On the other hand, they help to initiate further development processes both in teaching and administration. In general, the exchange of teaching staff and students establishes manifold starting points for German-Ukrainian business and cultural contacts beyond the participating higher education institutions and may lead to stronger networking in the long term, for example between the two participating regions.

Project partner: Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv

Deepening and strengthening exchange and collaboration.

The following mobilities can be funded by the project:

SMS
STA
STT

Participating departments:

Department of Multilingualism (English Studies)
Department of General and Historic Educational Sciences
Department of Physical Education and Sports
Department for Research Methods in Educational Sciences
Department of German Studies
Department of Protestant Theology and Religious Education
Departmen tof Mathematics
Department of Trans-disciplinary Social Sciences (History)

Project partner: Savannakhet University

Deepening and strengthening exchange under the project title "Bi-directional teaching and learning".

The following mobilities can be funded by the project:

SMS - outgoing doctoral candidates exclusively
STA
STT

Participating departments:

Department of Multilingualism (English Studies); project manager: Professor Isabel Martin),
Department of Biology and School Gardening,
Department of Informatics and Digital Education,
Department of Physics and Technical Education.

The project has been successfully completed. A total of 12 people, including students and lecturers, were funded in order to be able to carry out a stay abroad at the respective host institution.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no further physical mobility was possible. 

Project partner: Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv

Deepening and strengthening the exchange and collaboration of lecturers. This first project exclusively involved ST mobility. The project enabled lecturers from the two universities to exchange ideas and get to know each other better, and at the same time laid the foundation for a long-term, continuously expanding collaboration between the two universities.

The project aimed to establish a sound and sustainable collaboration in the field of Teacher Education between a higher education institution in Israel and a higher education institution in Germany, the Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, Tel Aviv, and the University of Education Karlsruhe. Besides teaching staff mobility in the field of teaching, mobility in the field of continuing education (training) was funded. The initiative aimed to strengthen and intensify the collaboration between the two universities, the participating institutes, and their staff members. Furthermore, it was intended to reach the signing of an official agreement to enable student mobility, joint research projects or conferences. In order for the collaboration to become sustainable, the project initially focused on a selected sub-area of applied linguistics and foreign language didactics. As part of the project, and especially during the funded mobility measures, a joint online teaching and seminar format ("telecollaboration') was developed and implemented, which entered its 4th round in autumn 2018. However, the mobilities did not only result in the qualitative development of an online-based joint seminar concept, which was successfully implemented with German and Israeli students at the two participating universities. In addition, several joint publications were produced by the participants who had received funding and the results were transferred to two larger Erasmus+ KA2 projects. During the mobilities, the future development of the collaboration between the two participating universities was discussed with interested university members from other departments. First positive examples include the subject of History, where first steps towards a collaboration have been taken.