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Do you think it sounds appealing to do a traineeship abroad? As a student at Umeå University, you can apply for an Erasmus scholarship for a traineeship, essay writing or data collection at a company or organization. It's an opportunity to give your degree a unique profile!
Within the Erasmus+ programme, you have the opportunity to go on a study or traineeship for a total of 12 months per education level
(bachelor, master and doctoral level). It's an opportunity to gain new experiences, meet new people and take a step further in your future career!
Student activities that count as traineeship: full-time traineeship abroad at companies, organizations or educational and research
centers, data collection for a thesis or dissertation and, in some cases, thesis writing.
As part of a traineeship course
You spend your traineeship/internship at a company, a university, or an organisation in Europe. You are assessed, and receive your grade, by Umeå University.
As part of a thesis/degree project
A traineeship is about learning a job in a workplace and being involved there. If it is possible to combine collecting data for a thesis and at the same time carrying out a traineeship for an organisation/company, it may be possible to apply for an Erasmus+ traineeship grant.
You are registered for a thesis/degree project at Umeå University, and examined in Umeå, but conduct data collection, a field study, or similar at a company, a university, or an organisation in Europe. Your supervisor at Umeå University need to approve the traineeship. If you do a traineeship at a university, you may not register for any courses at that university.
The internship takes place within the framework of the thesis. The focus is on the traineeship needed for your thesis to be possible to complete. The thesis must be related to the traineeship, i.e. the thesis is not possible without the traineeship as, for example, the data collection that you do during the internship constitutes the basis for the thesis.
Outside/after your ordinary studies
During your studies: You carry out the traineeship while you are a registered student at Umeå University, for example between terms. The traineeship will not award you credits, but will upon your request, be recorded in your Diploma Supplement (an appendix to your degree certificate).
After completion of your studies:
You can apply for the grant to do a traineeship once your studies has finished, as a so called 'recent graduate'. You will not be awarded credits nor have the traineeship recorded in a Diploma Supplement.
Applicant requirements
As an applicant you must:
Not approved traineeships
Erasmus+ aims to promote international mobility and to help students gain international experience. You are therefore not eligible for an Erasmus+ grant:
As a student, you will find your own traineeship. You can do a traineeship at a company, research institute, laboratory or any other relevant organisation. You need to find your traineeship before applying for the scholarship. You can directly contact the workplaces you are interested in doing your traineeship at, there is also the opportunity to turn to organizations or companies that can help mediate traineeships.
Your traineeship must:
Which organisations are approved?
Companies and organisations involved in economic activities in the public or private sectors are approved.
Organisations that are not approved to be host for trainee students from Sweden are:
Eligible countries for Erasmus+ traineeship
The United Kingdom left the EU 1 February 2020, therefore United Kingdom will not participate in the Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027.
Submit application
When you have your traineeship host organized, you need to fill out an online application form (the application includes a letter of motivation):
Submit your Erasmus traineeship application here.
Within 10 working days after your online application you will receive an e-mail invite to Umeå University's Canvas page for Erasmus Traineeship. When you have gained access to the page you will find more information about how to proceed to complete your application.
Your application must be complete no later than 30 days before you start your traineeship. It is therefore important that you submit your online application in good time, preferably no later then two months prior to the traineeship start date. Applications send in after the traineeship has started will not be administred.
You can submit your application any time during the year, but we do not process any applications between the following dates:
1 July–10 August
15 December–10 January
If you submit your application between those days we will process it once we're open again. If you plan to commence your traineeship in August/September, or in January/February, it is particularly important that you plan to submit your application in time.
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 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
All individuals, regardless of circumstances, shall be able to participate and develop themselves through Erasmus+. Students with children, regardless of whether the child accompanies mobility or not can apply for extra funding. There are two different fundings:
Top-up
The 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.
Order of priority 'first come, first served'
A limited number of grants are available and are allocated according to the principle "first come, first served" as long as there are still funds. You must therefore complete your application 30 days after you have gained access to Canvas at the latest. If there are more applicants than funds a selection is made based on the criteria stated in:
Order of priority
Grant amount and payment
The grant amount differs depending on which country you are to do your traineeship in. It is between 660-710 EUR/month
About 70 percent of the total amount will be disbursed in the beginning of the traineeship period. The remaining funds is paid out after you have completed your traineeship 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 traineeship 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.
You are insured by Student UT
As an Erasmus trainee you are insured by he The Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency's insurance Student UT. If your traineeship is transferred as credits to your study programme you will receive the insurance certificate from your study advisor or departmental coordinator.
If your traineeship is not transferred as credits you request your insurance certificate from the International Office by sending an e-mail to: erasmusstipendium@umu.se
It is your responsibility to review your insurance coverage and assess your insurance needs.