You can study or do an internship in Europe by participating in the exchange programmes Erasmus+ or Nordplus. Both programmes offer a scholarship for your stay abroad. If you study abroad as an exchange student, you do not pay tuition fee to the host university and you can apply for student aid.
Students skiing in Svalbard
ImagePetter IdeströmAs an Erasmus student, you study full-time at a college or university in another European country, for a period of 3–12 months, on the same conditions as local students. You can study or do a traineeship within Erasmus+ totalling 12 months for each bachelor, master and doctoral level.
Through the Erasmus programme, you can get a scholarship for your studies abroad. Read more under "Apply for scholarship" at the bottom of this page.
On this page you will find information about exchange opportunities via the university-wide agreements that exist within Erasmus+, as well as Keele University in England. More university-wide places in Europe are also available via the Nordplus/Nordlys programme.
Conditions you need to meet in order to get an exchange place
You must be able to transfer the credits from your studies abroad, to Umeå University. Find out more here about the eligibility requirements when applying for a university-wide exchange.
Contact your International Contact Person or department for more information regarding the requirements for departemental exchange agreements.
Where you can go on exchange studies depends on what you study here at Umeå University. There are university-wide agreements that are open to all students and there are exchange agreements that are linked to a specific department, faculty or course.
You can see which exchange agreements exist with European universities on the Solemove database.
Department and Faculty linked exchange places
Many departments have their own exchange agreements within, for example, Erasmus+.
On the Solemove database, choose your institution or faculty, then click ‘Advanced search’ and choose ‘Erasmus’ under ‘Exchange program’.
If you want to go on an exchange to a partner university that your department or faculty has an agreement with, contact your international contact person to get information on how to apply and when the deadline is. Usually the application deadline is in the spring, from January to March, but it varies between departments.
University-wide exchange places
On the Solemove database, choose ‘Umeå University’ as ‘Your home unit’, then click ‘Advanced search’ and choose ‘Erasmus’ and ‘UNIWIDE’ under ‘Exchange program’.
These agreements are open for everyone at Umeå University to apply to, no matter which faculty or institution you study at.
Czechia – University of Pardubice
Places available: 10
Course catalogue: List of courses for Erasmus+/Exchange students | Univerzita Pardubice (upce.cz)
Please note that as a master’s student, you will need to provide proof of an undergraduate diploma to study courses at master’s level.
Finland – University of Lapland
Places available: 10
To study courses in Finnish, the university requires that you have studied B2 in Finnish.
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply.
Course catalogue: Courses for exchange students and courses in English
Guide for exchange students: Plan - Lapin yliopisto - University of Lapland - Lapplands universitet (ulapland.fi)
France – Université de Caen Normandie
Places available: 0
To study courses in French, the university recommends that you have studied B2 in French. They require that you have studied at least B1 in French.
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply.
Course catalogue: Pick your courses (unicaen.fr)
Germany – Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Places available: 9
To study courses in German, the university requires that you have studied at least B1 in German. Some institutions have higher language requirements, which can be found here: Language Proficiency & German Language Courses - International (uni-wuerzburg.de)
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply.
Course catalogue: Vorlesungsverzeichnis anzeigen - WueStudy (uni-wuerzburg.de)
Video tutorial on how to find courses: Students - WueStudy (uni-wuerzburg.de)
Italy – University of Siena
Places available: 0
To study courses in Italian, the university requires that you have studied at least B1 in Italian.
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply.
Course catalogue: Course catalouge Universitá di Siena
North Macedonia – Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Places available: 6
To study courses in Macedonian, the university requires that you have studied at least B1 in Macedonian.
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply.
Course catalogue: уким (ukim.edu.mk) (Choose the link ’Study Programs in English language’)
Please note that as a master’s student, you will need to provide proof of an undergraduate diploma to study courses at master’s level.
Spain – Universidad de Valladolid
Places available: 7
To study courses in Spanish, the university requires that you have studied at least B1 in Spanish.
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply.
Course catalogue: Welcome Guide – Relaciones Internacionales (uva.es) (Follow the link, then choose the ‘Language of Instruction’ section)
Switzerland – University of Fribourg
Places available: 1
To study courses in French and/or German, the university requires that you have studied B1 in the language of instruction.
There is also a course selection in English, where the regular language requirements apply. Please note that the majority of courses offered in English are offered at a master’s level.
Course catalogue: Timetable | University of Fribourg (unifr.ch)
UK – Keele University
Places available: 0
PLEASE NOTE: The UK is no longer a part of Erasmus+, which means you cannot receive an Erasmus scholarship via Umeå University if you go on exchange to the UK.
Course catalogue: Module catalogue - Keele University
This is how you apply for exchange studies within Europe
Read the manual how to apply for exchange studies
Submit your application through Solemove
Mandatory enclosures required with your application:
If you are assigned an Erasmus+ exchange place, you can apply for a grant through the International Office. The sum differs depending on which country you go to and how ong you are away on your exchange.
Apply for Erasmus+ scholarship
The international contact person at your department or study programme must inform the International Office that you have been assigned an exchange place.
You will then receive an invitation by e-mail to Umeå University's Canvas page for Erasmus grants. On the Canvas page you will find more information about how to submit your grant application.
Your application must be complete before you begin your exchange. For students who are going on an exchange during the autumn semester, the application for an Erasmus scholarship usually opens at the beginning of June, while for students who are going on an exchange during a spring semester, the application usually opens in the end of November/beginning of December.
Grant amount and payment
The grant amount differs depending on which country you are doing your exchange in. The grant amounts to a sum between 510-560 EUR/month.
About 70 percent of the total amount will be disbursed in the beginning of the exchange period. The remaining funds is paid out after you have completed your exchange and fulfilled the requirements as stated in Canvas.
The payments are made on the 25th of every month and are in accordance with the exchange rate that existed when the university received the funds.
If you choose to cancel your exchange or if you do not fulfil the requirements you may have to pay back the full amount, or part, of your scholarship.
The cost of living in countries differs greatly between large and small cities. To make your scholarship amount last longer, you can spend your internship in smaller cities rather than the larger cities where the rent can be several times higher.
Conditions
If you apply for an Erasmus+ grant you cannot uphold another scholarship during your studies abroad from EU or the Swedish Council for Higher Education. You can also not be awarded a grant if you have been on Erasmus exchange or training for 12 months in the same level of study, including the study period you are applying for.
For applicants with disabilities
All individuals, regardless of circumstances, shall be able to participate and develop themselves through Erasmus+. If you have a permanent or long-term disability including disability caused by physical or mental illness, you can apply for an extra top-up in addition to the regular scholarship amount to cover costs such as transportation, adapted housing, preparatory sign language course, adaption of teaching materials or such. There are different extra funding that you can apply for:
Top-up
The Top-up is currently 250 EUR/month.
Certificate: for example the NAIS-decision from the coordinator for pedagogical support at the university or from e.g. the municipality that provides support to the student today or other confirmation documents.
For more information and to submit certificates (at the same time as traineeship application), contact erasmusstipendium@umu.se
Students who have both a disability and children are only granted one top-up.
Inclusion support - actual costs (from autumn 24)
In addition to the grant described above, you can apply for inclusion support for actual costs if they exceed the top-up of 250EUR/month. This is intended to cover major costs that may arise for you during your stay abroad.
If you are in need of applying for extra inclusion support, we recommend that you start with your application well in advance. Start by talking to the person in charge at your department as soon as possible, preferably 6 months before you plan to go on your exchange. The department contacts erasmusstipendium@umu.se to begin the process of applying for actual costs. You will receive information about what you need to do before applying.
The application for inclusion support for actual costs must be approved before the mobility begins. The grant cannot be applied for retroactively. It is the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) that makes the assessment and decides which costs can be reimbursed.
For applicants with children
Students with children, regardless of whether the child accompanies mobility or not can apply for top-up. Top-up is 250 EUR/month.
Certificate: Family Certificate from the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) showing that the student has children or equivalent for international students.
For more information and to submit certificates (at the same time as traineeship application), contact erasmusstipendium@umu.se
Students who have both a disability and children are only granted one top-up.
Inclusion support - actual costs (from autumn 24)
In addition to the grant described above, you can apply for inclusion support for actual costs if they exceed the top-up of 250EUR/month. This is intended to cover major costs that may arise for you during your stay abroad.
If you are in need of applying for extra inclusion support, we recommend that you start with your application well in advance. Start by talking to the person in charge at your department as soon as possible, preferably 6 months before you plan to go on your exchange. The department contacts erasmusstipendium@umu.se to begin the process of applying for actual costs. You will receive information about what you need to do before applying.
The application for inclusion support for actual costs must be approved before the mobility begins. The grant cannot be applied for retroactively. It is the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) that makes the assessment and decides which costs can be reimbursed.
Travel contribution (from autumn 2024)
If you go on an exchange within Erasmus+, you can apply for extra funds and compensation for travel days during your exchange (from autumn 24). You will receive a lump sum of EUR 28 and up depending on the distance between the place of departure and the exchange destination. You can see the exact amount for you, in Canvas when you complete your application for an Erasmus+ scholarship. If you make more than half of your journey with green travel; i.e., sustainable transport, such as buses, trains, carpools or other sustainable modes of transport, you can receive higher compensation.
You can also get funded for extra travel days; 2 if you travel non-green and up to 6 travel days if you travel green. The amount for travel days is linked to the country where you do your traineship and is calculated per day.
