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Which Types of Stay are Eligible for Erasmus+ Europe Funding?

1) Language courses at universities or external language schools – onsite

In principle, all language courses at European universities or language schools are eligible for funding, as long as they meet the minimum requirement of 25 hours of lessons per week. Only one-week language courses can be financed with Erasmus+ funds; however, you are welcome to extend your stay at your own expense (or it may be covered by your department if you are eligible).

Please note that – where possible – only language courses of the respective national language can be funded. For example, you can take English courses in Ireland or Malta, but not in Spain.

Freie Universität colleagues have had very good experiences with the following language schools for English courses - but of course there are plenty of other course providers with a very good offer:

Please check in any case the number of lessons of the desired course, since most course offers (also of the mentioned language schools) do not correspond with the minimum number of 25 lessons. Often a combination of 20 lessons of group course plus 5 individual lessons is offered.

Please note that the fee for the language course is not covered by Erasmus+. Please contact your department or office to find out whether the course fees can be covered. In some cases, the fees can be financed from the travel and accommodation allowances if the funding is managed sparingly.

2) Online language courses from home

In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, the European Commission is currently offering university staff the opportunity to undertake virtual mobility programs. This could be particularly useful for people wishing to participate in an online language course. We have compiled an overview of language course providers with whom colleagues have had good experiences in previous years and who currently offer online courses. Of course, you are free to choose another language school.

If you are interested in learning a language not mentioned here, you may either look for a suitable language school yourself or contact us – we will be happy to help.

Please note that an online language course must comprise at least 20 units of instruction to be eligible.

Since virtual mobility does not involve any costs for travel or accommodation, these Erasmus+ schemes are not supported financially. If you wish to attend a virtual language course and receive financial support, you are welcome to apply for a grant of up to 200 euros toward the course fee. In most of the courses mentioned here, this is sufficient to cover the fee in full. This means that you will not incur costs for attending the course.

3) Participation in “Staff Training Weeks”

Staff Training Weeks are available for different target groups, usually lasting 3 to 5 days. Some are offered free of charge, others charge a fee, mostly to cover catering or cultural activities.

You can find a good overview of Staff Training Weeks offered throughout Europe at http://staffmobility.eu/staff-week-search. This website has a filter function to make it easier to find a match for specific target groups (on the left-hand side of the screen).

Participation in Staff Weeks must be financed from the allocated grants for travel and stay (lump sum payments only).

4) Individually organized stays

If you are already in contact with colleagues or have identified an area of work that you would like to get to know better, you can of course also organize your own individual stay tailored to your needs. To do this, consult with your colleagues or get in touch with possible contacts to discuss what options are available, how long the stay could last, and what kind of activities it would involve. Once the host partner has approved your application, contact us with the grant applications documents listed below. Normally, individual stays are funded for a period of one week, but in exceptional cases longer stays of up to 60 days may be eligible for funding. In this case, please submit a separate document with your application showing your reasons for applying for a longer stay.