Internship Abroad

Erasmus Traineeship

Erasmus+ is an EU-funded programme that is administered by the Swedish Council for Higher Education. Students can receive a traineeship scholarship for a period of 2 to 12 months if they are planning on carrying out their traineeship in another EU country.

The aim of the traineeship is to better equip students for a European labour market, hence, increasing their chances of receiving employment. It is a remarkable opportunity to utilize the theoretical skills you have acquired, but also to gather new experience that is valuable for when you later seek employment.

The Swedish Council for Higher Education defines the Erasmus Traineeship as follows: Spending a period of time in an enterprise or organisation in another Member State, supported as appropriate by preparatory or refresher courses in the host language or working language, with a view to helping individuals to adapt to the requirements of the Community-wide labour market, to acquiring a specific skill and to improving understanding of the economic and social culture of the country concerned in the context of acquiring work experience.

Please note that an application for an Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship is not an application for a traineeship, but only an application for the scholarship. Before you submit an application, you must have contacted a traineeship placement and received confirmation that you are welcome as a trainee.

Who can apply

Who can apply?

To be eligible for an Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship, you must fulfill the following requirements:

At the time you make your application be registered for fulltime studies in a programme or free-standing course at Linnaeus University.
At the time you make your application intend to get your degree at Linnaeus University. Students who only study one or a few individual courses without the aim of obtaining a degree cannot be granted an Erasmus Traineeship scholarship.
At the time you make your application had your traineeship approved by your faculty at Linnaeus University.
At the time you make your application had your Letter of Intent (included in the application) signed by the intended traineeship placement.
Carry out the traineeship at the same traineeship placement for a continuous period.
Not at the same time receive another EU-funded grant or SIDA’s resestipendium.
Be physically present at the traineeship placement during the traineeship period. If you start your traineeship remotely from Sweden and then switch to an on-site traineeship, you can apply for a scholarship for the days you are physically on site at your traineeship. However, that period must be at least 60 days.
The traineeship should be full-time and cannot be combined with other fulltime studies.
Before you begin your traineeship, you must have been awarded at least 45 credits at Linnaeus University, unless it is otherwise stated in your programme.

Duration of the traineeship

The traineeship should be no less than 2 months and no more than 12 months in order to qualify for a scholarship.

Legitimate traineeship

Your traineeship should be full-time and carried out at an enterprise or organization that is deemed qualified to receive Erasmus Traineeship students (see Approved Traineeship Positions). A traineeship can for example also mean collecting data for an essay or doing fieldwork.The traineeship can be included in your study programme and give credits, but can also be done during the summer months in between semesters.The traineeship cannot be combined with other fulltime studies.

Your traineeship should be recognized by your education at Linnaeus University; at the very least by being mentioned in your Diploma Supplement when you apply for your degree. This is the reason why your traineeship must be approved by your faculty at Linnaeus University, and be deemed appropriate for your education, before you begin.

When can you apply for a scholarship

You can apply for a scholarship no earlier than 3 months and no later than 30 days before the start date of the traineeship.
The traineeship must begin no later than 3 months after you have been granted the scholarship.

Erasmus period in your home country

If your place of residence is in another country participating in the programme, but you are currently studying in Sweden, you are entitled to apply for an Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship to carry out your traineeship in your home country. However, such applications will be given least priority during the evaluation process.

Please note, "place of residence" means the country from which you travelled to Sweden shortly before you began your studies. It does not mean the country in which you have your possible ethnic roots, if you already lived in Sweden before you began your studies.

If you are currently studying at Linnaeus University as an exchange student, you are not allowed to apply for an Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship. On the other hand, international students outside of agreements are free to apply for the scholarship.

Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship for recent graduates

There is a possibility to be granted an Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship for a traineeship that is carried out after you have completed your studies at Linnaeus University. However, you must make your application while you still are registered as a fulltime student at Linnaeus University, and you must not have applied for, or have been issued your degree certificate. Afterwards, when you have been issued your degree certificate, you have the possibility of carrying out and complete a traineeship for up to 12 months. However, the traineeship must start no later than 3 months after completing your education. Recent graduates do not need to have their traineeship approved by the faculty. Otherwise, the same rules apply for approved trainee positions, country and period of time.

Approved traineeship positions

The host enterprise or organization at which you have chosen to carry out your traineeship must correspond to the Swedish Council for Higher Education's definition of "enterprise" in order to be considered qualified to receive students:

All enterprises that are engaged in economic activity within the public or private sector, regardless of size, legal status or the economic sector within which they are active, including the social economy.

Organisations that have not been approved for receiving Swedish students are:

EU institutions and other EU bodies (see https://europa.eu/european-union/contact/institutions-bodies_en#agencies for lists of such institutions). However, the offices of political parties in the EU Parliament are eligible as hosts.
Organisations that manage EU programmes, for example, national offices such as the Swedish Council for Higher Education (so as to avoid possible conflicts of interest and/or dubble funding).

Approved countries

In order to be able to apply for an Erasmus traineeship scholarship, the country to which you are applying must be approved. Approved countries are all EU members as well as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia.

Certain areas and colonies outside of Europe that are a part of, or are connected to, the EU are approved for studies and traineeships (for example, Reunion, Martinique, the Azores, Greenland, French Polynesia, Aruba and so on).

Scholarship

Size of the scholarship

The idea with the Erasmus + traineeship scholarship is that it should act as an allowance towards travel, accommodation and other expenses that can arise in connection with your traineeship. The size of the scholarship is determined by the total number of days of your traineeship as well as the allowance rate that applies to the country in which your traineeship is to be carried out.

National rates applicable from June, 2024:

Country	National Scholarship Amount (Euro)
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Norway	710 /month
Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Netherlands, Malta, Portugal	660 /month
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Turkey	660 /month

The funds that can be distributed for Erasmus internships are limited, which means that you are not guaranteed an traineeship scholarship if you apply.

Extra scholarship funds for students with disabilities

If you have a disability, you can receive special support during your traineeship. Linnaeus University will pay for the support you need in order to be able to carry out your traineeship. You can also apply for an extra Erasmus scholarship to cover possible additional costs that may arise as a result of your disability. The support that is offered to out-going exchange students with disabilities is also offered to Erasmus Traineeship students.

Top-up and inclusion support

Students who have children accompanying them during the traineeship can receive extra scholarship funds within Erasmus+. If that support does not cover incurred costs, you can also apply for Erasmus inclusion support.

"Green Travel"

If you have the opportunity to "travel green" to your traineeship placement, you can apply for an extra scholarship from the EU. You will then receive a lump sum of 50 euros extra. If the green journey also extends your journey, you can receive compensation for up to a maximum of two days in each direction. The green journey is only valid from Sweden and to the country of your traineeship and from the country of your traineeship and back to Sweden. To be able to get the extra scholarship, the main part of your trip to and from the country of your traineeship must be considered as green travel. "Green travel" includes traveling by train, bus, bicycle or car if you travel with at least one other student in the same car.

Application

In the link below, you can download the application form for the Erasmus Traineeship Scholarship. Along with your application form, you should attach a Letter of Intent from the enterprise or organization you have chosen where it states that they have the possibility of taking you on for the period of time you have specified in your application. A template for Letter of Intent is included in the application documents.

Complete your application digitally, print it and sign it, then send it, along with any supplements, to the International Office at the Office of Student Affairs. You can send your application by post, submit it personally to our offices or scan it and send it via e-mail. You can find addresses and other contact information in the application documents.

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis as long as fundings are secured. You can submit your application at any time during the year, but not during the period 1 July - 31 August. It is therefore important that you apply in good time if you plan to do an internship during the summer. It is not possible to apply for the scholarship when the internship has already started. It is a requirement from the European Commission that you have an approved Learning Agreement before your traineeship begins, so submit your application in good time.

The funds for the Erasmus traineeship are limited, which means that you are not guaranteed a scholarship if you apply.

Link to Erasmus+ Scholarship Application for traineeship

Approved applications

Before embarking upon your Erasmus Traineeship, a Learning Agreement must first be completed. A learning agreement is an agreement between you, Linnaeus University and the enterprise or organization explaining what is expected of you during your traineeship as well as how it will be recognized at Linnaeus University. Without a learning agreement, the scholarship cannot be paid. The learning agreement will be sent to you by the International Office once your application has been approved.

You will also be required to complete and sign a Grant Agreement that regulates the scholarship payment.

The EU Commission has established a language support for Erasmus + students, called Online Linguistic Support (OLS). We recommend that you take a language test as a preparation for your traineeship. The language test is free of charged and is recommended to be done in the language that you will practice at your traineeship placement.

Link to the language test invitation

Payment of the scholarship

The payment of the Erasmus+ scholarship takes place in two payments. The first payment is made when you have arrived at the traineeship placement and completed:

Learning Agreement.
Grant Agreement.
Certificate of Arrival where your traineeship placement certifies the date you started your internship.

The second payment will be made after your itraineeship has ended and when you have completed:

Evaluation. This is generated from the European Commission's database and is automatically sent to you when the end date for your traineeship has passed.
The Traineeship Certificate must be filled in and signed by your traineeship placement.
The Certificate of Departure (CoD) must be signed by your traineeship placement when your exchange ends. This certificate confirms the exact end date of your traineeship.

Certificate of Arrival
Certificate of Departure

Insurance

During the course of your traineeship, you will be covered by Kammarkollegiets Student UT insurance for exchange students from Swedish seats of learning. This insurance is free of charge. Please read the terms and conditions on Kammarkollegiet’s website

The insurance Student UT applies during your internship, as well as two weeks before the internship starts and two weeks after it ends. The cover applies only in the host country and during direct travel between this country and Sweden. This means that you will need to buy additional insurance if you wish to travel outside your host country, e.g. during weekends or holidays, or if you wish to travel to other countries near your host country before or after your internship period. If you wish to travel to your host country earlier than two weeks before the start of your internship, or stay longer than two weeks after it ends, you will also have to buy additional insurance.

It is up to each individual student to choose their own insurance. A number of insurance companies offer specific international student insurance. Please contact different insurance companies and check the terms and conditions and premiums for their international student insurance. This insurance should cover some type of indemnity insurance.

An Erasmus traineeship student tells her story

Anna Blomberg

International exchange is not only about studies. Anna Blomberg's exchange semester involved a traineeship in Amsterdam.

"I study tourism in Kalmar and was really happy when I was given the opportunity to carry out my traineeship at Visit Sweden; a little office in Holland where I got to work with almost everything. The traineeship gave me a greater understanding of what I had already studied and when I returned home, I had a totally new frame of reference for my studies. Very rewarding!

What is more, I now know a great deal more about Sweden than what I did before my traineeship.

I am very satisfied and strongly urge others to broaden their horizons in this way."

Contact details

International Office

International Office has the administrative responsability for the exchange.

Visit us

Drop-in visits at the Student Lounge or booked appointments through outexchange@lnu.se.

International coordinators at the faculties

You also have an academic support throughout the exchange process. International Coordinators at the faculties can help you with questions about for example your Learning Agreement.

Tips on how to find a traineeship position

Before you apply for the Erasmus+ Traineeship Scholarship you need to have found a traineeship placement. If you do not know how to start your search, we advise you to first contact your programme coordinator and ask for tips on where previous students have been on internships.

You can contact ogranizations of your interest on your own and ask for traineeship positions. You can also find advertised traineeship offers on the Erasmus Student Networks homepage for internhip offers.

You may also find internship offers sent to us from our partner universities or other European oganizations listed below (if any):

Call for Trainees at Juvenia Youth Research and Development Centre, Finland

In Juvenia - the Youth Research and Development Centre combine youth research and youth development. Juvenia is part of the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) and has been operating since 2008. They carry out local, national and international research and develop-ment projects in the field of youth, especially in the fields of youth and sport, citizenship, migration, digital and rural youth. They are also engaged in the national development and internationalization in the field of youth in collaboration with other actors in the field.

Juvenia now offfers a 2-4 months practical training in spring 2024 for Bachelor´s or Master´s level students. Juvenia will provide to you a working space, personal guidance from our staff and a unique introduction to Finnish youth work as well as to high-level youth research and development work.

Las day of application September 22, 2024.

Please also contact the International Office on outexchange@lnu.se if you are intersted in applying for the traineeship placement.

Trainee at the International Office at Universidade de Vigo, Spain

The Universidade de Vigo is a young public academic institution officially founded in 1990 which is organized in three Campuses, placed in three different cities, Vigo, Pontevedra and Ourense- all of them in the South of Galicia, Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It has around 21,000 students in 121 official Bachelor and Master’s Degrees and 42 PhD programmes. Our institution leads a Campus of International Excellence, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education in 2010, a Campus of the Sea which gathers the teaching and researching efforts of seven public universities in Galicia and North of Portugal, as well as those of two national research organisms. The International Office is looking for an intern (up to 12 months) who will help with the following tasks:

- Support to international students and staff (registration, general information, internal procedures, volunteering, etc.)

- Support to international activities (international weeks)

- Linguistic support in English and translation of documents to English.

- Support in Spanish to national students and staff willing to participate in international programmes.

Last day to apply for the internship is November 30, 2024.

Find out more about the internship and apply!

Intern Abroad via ISEP

Students have the possibility to apply for an internship through our Consortia ISEP. Their programme !Intern Abroad" offers several full-time and part time internship programmes all over the world. They offer internship in countries like Tokyo, New York, Bangkok, London and Madrid. You may find further information about "Intern Abroad" and how it works here.

Please note that the Internship process via ISEP is different to our usual application process for applying to an exchange semester via ISEP. You apply on your own for the internship via ISEP. The International Office can't help you with that process.

You may contact ISEP if you have further questions concerning the "Intern Abroad" programme. If you are curious about exchange studies via ISEP then please do not hesitate to contact the International Office for further information.

Internship abroad via IAESTE

IAESTE (The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) is a global exchange program that offers paid internships abroad in over 80 countries primarily for students in the fields of natural science, engineering and architecture. But internship opportunities for students of e.g. business and social sciences are also available albeit to a lesser degree.

Most internships last between 2-3 months and typically take place during the summer, though longer placements of up to one year are also available. The internships are usually paid based on the living expenses in the host country and the local IAESTE committee assists the interns with all necessary formalities such as visa and work permit, and often arranges accommodation.

You can find more information about IAESTE, the application process, and explore available internship opportunities on the IAESTE websites (International website; Swedish website; Explore Internships).