ERASMUS+ study abroad

• Enrolment as a regular student  (Bachelor’s or Master’s degree course) or doctoral student at Hochschule Geisenheim University;
• Study at a partner higher education institution abroad with which the home institution has an ERASMUS cooperation agreement;
• The earliest date for participation in an Erasmus+ study program is after the second academic semester;
• The study period abroad must be a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 12 months’ duration.
• Language requirements: B1 level in the language of instruction. A language test must be taken prior to starting the semester abroad, as well as at the end.

With Erasmus+ you will be able to complete up to 12 months of study or internship abroad during each of your study cycles (Bachelor, Master and PhD). During these periods, your country of destination can vary.

This means that during a Bachelor’s degree course, for example, you could spend 5 months studying at a French higher education institution, complete a 3-month compulsory internship in Italy and then do two more 2-month internships with companies in, say, Portugal and Spain during and after your Bachelor’s degree.

• Exemption from tuition fees at the host institution;
• Mobility grant;
• Formal academic recognition of the coursework completed abroad;
• Support in preparing for your time abroad (culture, language, organisation);
• Extra funding for students with children;
• Extra funding for students with disabilities

ERASMUS students receive a grant for the time spent studying abroad. This grant is supposed to cover any additional costs students may be confronted with in a foreign country. The amount students receive is re-assessed every year.

The following scholarship amounts will be paid for an Erasmus study visit in the 2024/25 academic year:

€600/month for countries with a higher cost of living:
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden;
Partner countries from regions 13 (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City State) and 14 (Faroe Islands, Switzerland, United Kingdom)
 

€540/month for countries with a medium and low cost of living:
Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Cyprus;
Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, North-Macedonia, Turkey, Hungary.

700 EUR/month for selected partner universities outside Europe

Erasmus+ participants receive a mobility grant for a certain, approved period. This funding period is not necessarily identical with the actual period spent abroad. In accordance with the Erasmus+ guidelines, the mobility period is calculated as an exact number of days, therefore the possible mobility period can only be ascertained when you submit your Certificate of Attendance at the conclusion of your stay. The maximum funding period per semester is 5 months.

Special funding for sustainable travel
Participants who need more time to travel due to the use of sustainable means of transport can receive up to six additional travel days as part of individual funding to cover accommodation costs for the travel time before and after the mobility in accordance with the guidelines for individual funding.

The €250 additional grant can only be awarded once, even if several criteria apply to you:

Special funding for students with children
Students who take their child or children abroad with them can also receive an additional €250 per month. The prerequisite is that the child or children is/are taken along during the entire stay. The allowance is €250 per month per family, regardless of the number of children. The application is also possible if a caregiver (partner) travels along.

Special funding for students with chronic illnesses or special needs
If you have a chonic illness (proven by a medical certificate confirming the additional need abroad due to your illness) or have a disability (proven level of disability: 20 % or higher), you can apply for additional funding. Depending on your additional financial need, please apply for a fixed top-up or submit a separate application (a so-called long-term application).
1. Fixed top-up
Students with impairments or special needs will receive a fixed top-up of €250/month in addition to their Erasmus grant, irrespective of their chosen host country. A separate application is not required. Simply inform the International Office that you are eligible for special funding due to a medical condition and submit proof of your level of disability.
2. Individual application
Students with a level of disability of 20 % or more who have received a confirmation from their home university for an Erasmus-funded stay abroad may apply for special funding to cover the actual extra costs during their stay abroad (up to €15,000 per semester).
The extra funding will be calculated on the basis of your specific needs and paid in addition to the regular Erasmus grant. Please note that only the following additional costs can be taken into account:
a.) costs that are not covered by other national sources (integration offices, health insurance providers, social welfare, student unions)
b.) costs that will incur during your stay abroad, such as airfares, costs for barrier-free accommodation or for accompanying persons.

Since you have to prove the difference between the costs at home and abroad, please allow sufficient time for the application.
Please submit your application to the International Office at least two month before your departure. Your application will then be forwarded to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Unfortunately, any applications submitted after the start of the study period abroad cannot be considered.

The special funds are calculated on the basis of the real additional costs incurred and must be supported by appropriate attachments (internet research, correspondence with national offices, etc.) If you want to apply, please contact the International Office first for assistance with the application process. If you apply for services that are excluded from funding (e.g. acquisition of new technical equipment), the DAAD reserves the right to reduce the application amount accordingly (after consultation with your home university).

Special funding for students from a non-academic background
Studies have shown that students whose parents have not already studied themselves are less likely to consider a stay abroad. With additional funding, the Erasmus program aims to encourage these students to take the step abroad. In this case, students whose parents or caregivers do not have a degree from a university or university of applied sciences are considered first-time academics. Here, too, €250 are available in addition to the regular monthly Erasmus grant.
A degree from a university-like university of cooperative education is considered an academic degree. Likewise, courses of study completed abroad count as academic degrees, even if they are not recognized in Germany. A master craftsman's diploma is not considered an academic degree.

Special funding for working students
Students who earn a significant amount of their own living may be reluctant to embark on a stay abroad, as they are often unable to continue working while abroad and earnings are lost. To alleviate this problem, there is now a top-up amount of €250 if the following criteria apply:

• employment subject to social insurance
• with net earnings of more than €450 and less than €850 in any month
• continuously employed for at least 10 months during the year prior to the stay abroad

Bilateral cooperation agreements between Hochschule Geisenheim University and its partner higher education institutions form the basis for student exchanges within the framework of Erasmus+.

We thus suggest that you first find out about the available exchange cooperations. If you are interested in a higher education institution with which we have not yet signed a cooperation agreement, the International Office will endeavour to establish contact with that institution.

Deadline for applications for Erasmus+ is March 1 for the following academic year (e.g. March 1, 2024 for semester abroad in winter semester 2024/2025 or summer semester 2025).

A nomination from the partner university may also be possible in Fall for the following summer semester, if there are still places free.

It is therefore important that you start planning your semester abroad as early as possible!

If you want to study successfully abroad, you need a good linguistic preparation. Erasmus+ supports students in developing their language skills. The language support OLS is divided into two components: a compulsory language test before and at the end of Erasmus+ mobility and, if necessary, a language course.

The European Commission now provides an online language assessment for 24 languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish. All students/graduates must take this test both before the start and after the end of their stay in the main teaching language/main working language. However, it is not a selection criterion for the Erasmus+ programme and does not apply to native speakers. The OLS language test is mandatory and a component of the concluded Grant Agreement. In the case of multiple funding, multiple tests must be proven.

The language test serves to document the current language level. The test should take place both before and at the end of the respective stay abroad in order to obtain comparable results and to be able to record any progress made by the sponsored participants in language acquisition.

The systematic, Europe-wide review of the development of individual language competence makes it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of Erasmus+.

The agreements reached between partner universities/institutions in Inter-Institutional Agreements (IIA) and Learning Agreements (LA) on specific language levels should therefore not be confused with the online test. These language skills must be backed up by other proofs when selecting the participants.

NEW: If the 1st test already achieved a result at C2 level, no final 2nd test is required anymore.

If you missed the deadline for the initial language test, please contact us immediately. If you missed the deadline for the final language test (when returning from your mobility period), proceed as follows: Register on the Erasmus+ OLS website. Check at the bottom of the page whether the "Start language test" button is still available. If this is the case, you can still take the language test. If not, then set the date of the end of your mobility in your OLS profile to the current month. If it has already been set to the current month, then save your profile. It should now be possible for you to perform the test.

Top-up for Green Travel
“Green travelling” means choosing low-emission modes of transport for the majority of the trip, e.g. travelling by bus, rail, or car-pooling. There is a one-time contribution for sustainable travel of €50 and additionally a maximum of 4 travel days can be claimed. The travel days on which you have traveled sustainably count as additional days of stay and will be financially supported with the valid daily rate of the corresponding country rate

Combinability of the additional subsidies
The following special grants can all be combined with the Green Travel grant. However, the €250 additional grant can only be awarded once, even if several criteria apply to you.

Special funding for students with children
Students who take their child or children abroad with them can also receive an additional €250 per month. The prerequisite is that the child or children is/are taken along during the entire stay. The allowance is €250 per month per family, regardless of the number of children. The application is also possible if a caregiver (partner) travels along.

Special funding for students with chronic illnesses or special needs
If you have a chonic illness (proven by a medical certificate confirming the additional need abroad due to your illness) or have a disability (proven level of disability: 20 % or higher), you can apply for additional funding. Depending on your additional financial need, please apply for a fixed top-up or submit a separate application (a so-called long-term application).
1. Fixed top-up
Students with impairments or special needs will receive a fixed top-up of €250/month in addition to their Erasmus grant, irrespective of their chosen host country. A separate application is not required. Simply inform the International Office that you are eligible for special funding due to a medical condition and submit proof of your level of disability.
2. Individual application
Students with a level of disability of 20 % or more who have received a confirmation from their home university for an Erasmus-funded stay abroad may apply for special funding to cover the actual extra costs during their stay abroad (up to €15,000 per semester).
The extra funding will be calculated on the basis of your specific needs and paid in addition to the regular Erasmus grant. Please note that only the following additional costs can be taken into account:
a.) costs that are not covered by other national sources (integration offices, health insurance providers, social welfare, student unions)
b.) costs that will incur during your stay abroad, such as airfares, costs for barrier-free accommodation or for accompanying persons.

Since you have to prove the difference between the costs at home and abroad, please allow sufficient time for the application.
Please submit your application to the International Office at least two month before your departure. Your application will then be forwarded to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Unfortunately, any applications submitted after the start of the study period abroad cannot be considered.

The special funds are calculated on the basis of the real additional costs incurred and must be supported by appropriate attachments (internet research, correspondence with national offices, etc.) If you want to apply, please contact the International Office first for assistance with the application process. If you apply for services that are excluded from funding (e.g. acquisition of new technical equipment), the DAAD reserves the right to reduce the application amount accordingly (after consultation with your home university).

Special funding for students from a non-academic background
Studies have shown that students whose parents have not already studied themselves are less likely to consider a stay abroad. With additional funding, the Erasmus program aims to encourage these students to take the step abroad. In this case, students whose parents or caregivers do not have a degree from a university or university of applied sciences are considered first-time academics. Here, too, €250 are available in addition to the regular monthly Erasmus grant.
A degree from a university-like university of cooperative education is considered an academic degree. Likewise, courses of study completed abroad count as academic degrees, even if they are not recognized in Germany. A master craftsman's diploma is not considered an academic degree.

Special funding for working students
Students who earn a significant amount of their own living may be reluctant to embark on a stay abroad, as they are often unable to continue working while abroad and earnings are lost. To alleviate this problem, there is now a top-up amount of €250 if the following criteria apply:

• employment subject to social insurance
• with net earnings of more than €450 and less than €850 in any month
• continuously employed for at least 10 months during the year prior to the stay abroad