What is Erasmus+?

ALL students at the University of Würzburg can take part. Students with citizenship of non-EU countries and stateless persons can also receive an Erasmus place with funding. Stays by foreign students in their home country are also possible, but they can only be given lower priority than other applicants in the selection process.

Applicants must have studied at least two semesters in the contractually agreed subject area at the beginning of their stay abroad (i.e. not at the time of application). Bachelor's periods are recognised so that you can go abroad in your first Master's semester. However, some programme places may require you to complete your intermediate diploma, intermediate examination or similar before your stay abroad. Information can be found in the announcements of the programme coordinators. The relevant subject coordinator or the homepage of the host university (usually under ‘International Affairs’ or ‘Erasmus’) will provide information about the host universities, the enrolment procedure, the duration of the stay and the type and deadline of the documents to be submitted.

As a general rule, the period of study at the host university must last at least two months and a maximum of twelve months. Make sure that the duration of your stay is not too short and plan a certain buffer for unforeseen events, e.g. strikes.

It is not possible to participate in the Erasmus programme as a non-subject, e.g. as a medical student in economics. However, students can apply for programme places in their minor subjects. It is also possible to participate in higher-level programmes (e.g. as a biomedical scientist in biology, as a nanostructure technician in physics or as a teacher candidate in the educational sciences programmes).

How often can I participate in Erasmus+?

You can participate for up to twelve months per study phase (Bachelor's, Master's, doctorate) and up to 24 months for state examinations. Periods from previous EU mobility programmes (e.g. Comenius or LLP Erasmus) are taken into account. Erasmus studies and internships are also counted together. For example, you can go abroad for 10 months for an Erasmus programme and then do a two-month internship.

The requirements regarding application documents, deadlines and the application process may vary depending on the subject coordinator. You should therefore enquire in good time!

The application documents for Erasmus places awarded by the Service Centre InterNational Transfer and all important information can be found here. Fewer documents are usually required in the subject areas.

The selection of participants is at the discretion of the subject coordinators. As a rule, the following criteria are taken into account in the selection process.
1. motivation (academic justification, so please familiarise yourself with the range of courses offered by your chosen university in good time)
2. academic achievements
3. language skills (if the language of instruction is different from the national language, the language of instruction is decisive, but candidates who also have knowledge of the national language usually have priority).
4. commitment (university and non-university commitment)

Please also note the information on the pages of your department and remember to submit a complete application in good time to avoid being formally excluded.

• Waiver of tuition fees at the host university (insurance costs, student social contributions and costs for the use of teaching materials do not count as tuition fees)Financial grant (mobility allowance): 
• A stay of between two and twelve months is eligible for funding.
• Exclusive support from the host university
• Free online language courses to prepare for the stay and parallel to the stay abroad (see below)
• Funding for additional travel days: up to 2 days when travelling by non-sustainable means of transport (car, motorbike, plane, ship), up to 6 days when travelling by sustainable means of transport and prior application (‘Green Travel’, bus, train, bicycle, carpooling with at least 2 Erasmus students from JMU)
• Special funding for students with fewer opportunities: first-generation students (so-called ‘first-time academics’), working students, students with children, students with chronic illness/disability from G Disease/disability from GdB 20

The monthly funding depends on the cost of living in the host country and the EU funds made available to the university. The standard funding amounts to:

Country group 1 (BE, DK, DE, FR, IT, NL, AT, FI, IE, IS, LI, LUX, NO, SE): € 600.00
Country group 2 (CZ, CY, ES, GR, EE, LT; MLT, SK, PT, RS, SL): € 540.00
Country group 3 (BG, HR, HU, LT, MK, PL, RO, SI, TR): € 540.00

English-language seminars and lectures are offered at many universities. This is particularly common in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Central European countries such as Poland, Hungary or Slovenia, in South-East Europe, e.g. in Romania, and in Northern Italy. For details, please visit the websites of the International Offices.

The online placement test is made available to all Erasmus students who have already been selected to test their language skills in the language of instruction.

The online language support is available to Erasmus participants for three years. During this time, they have the opportunity to improve their language skills in currently 24 languages at different learning levels and to exchange ideas in the OLS forums (also known as communities) and discuss their own language learning experiences. (The language test result has no influence on Erasmus+ funding).

Erasmus students can access the Online Language Support (OLS) via the EU login and this hyperlink takes students directly to the core area of OLS.

A quick guide to using the Online Language Support is provided here. Completion of the OLS language test is currently no longer compulsory according to Erasmus regulations. However, we still recommend that you make use of the offer to improve your language skills free of charge.

Following the online placement test, an online language course (adapted to the corresponding language level) will be made available. (The placement test and language course are currently available for the following languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish).

Further information on the website of DAAD.

The Erasmus mobility grant is only deducted from the BAföG abroad from €300 per month, i.e. if you are eligible, you will receive both grants without any deductions. If the monthly funding rate exceeds €300.00, the BAföG office will make a corresponding deduction.

It is advisable to submit an application for funding abroad to the relevant education funding office in good time.

Further information on the website of BAFöG.

Almost all host universities offer accommodation - in student residences or privately. Always check the International Offices' websites for information on accommodation for exchange students/incomings. Deposits, and in some cases also rental payments, must sometimes be paid with the reservation application. For reservations in halls of residence, it is recommended that you have the reservation confirmed, e.g. by telephone.

In some countries, students are eligible for housing benefit (e.g. in France), which covers part of the rent.

The mobility grant does not include insurance cover. Participants in an Erasmus programme must ensure that they have sufficient insurance cover (e.g. liability and health insurance) for the duration of their stay abroad. It is possible to participate in the DAAD group insurance programme at your own expense, which includes health/accident and liability insurance. For further information please contact DAAD.

People with statutory health insurance are generally insured throughout Europe - please contact your insurance company for more information.

The European Union programme is designed to enable students to gain credits during their stay abroad that can be recognised at their home university.

Study achievements in Würzburg

Semesters in which a leave of absence has been granted do not count as semesters, which is why the number of semesters is not counted and therefore no examinations can be taken at the University of Würzburg. Exceptions to this are catch-up examinations and other academic achievements that are officially recorded in the previous semester.

Study achievements during your stay at an ERASMUS partner university

You can add 29 ECTS credits from abroad to your Würzburg degree programme without the number of semesters being counted retrospectively. Officially, you can then study faster than if you had not gone abroad. If you earn more than 29 credits in one semester during a leave of absence, the number of semesters will be increased by one (up to and including 59 credits). Even if you are studying according to the old study regulations, you can generally bring credits and other achievements from abroad into your degree programme without the number of semesters being counted. However, achieving 30 or 60 points does not represent any disadvantages.

At least 20 ECTS points per semester (at least 50% from the exchange subject) must be recorded in the Learning Agreement. Of these, 10 ECTS must be passed per semester, of which at least 1 ECTS must be from the subject in which the mobility takes place. If less than 10 ECTS or less than 1 ECTS from the subject is achieved, this must be justified in a written statement.

Every applicant is personally responsible for clarifying the recognition of academic achievements with their academic advisors at the University of Würzburg before studying abroad. To this end, each participant must conclude a Learning Agreement with the University of Würzburg and the host university prior to the start of their stay abroad. This provides you with legal certainty that your academic achievements will be recognized by the University of Würzburg as agreed in the Learning Agreement. In addition, equivalent academic achievements are generally required to be recognized by the respective department.

Since most universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland have only one examination trimester per year, participation in the ERASMUS exchange and the recognition of academic achievements are usually only possible for full-year stays. Exceptions may be possible in certain cases (e.g., in Bristol).

As social inclusion and diversity are the guiding themes of the new Erasmus+ programme generation (2021-2027), participants with fewer opportunities will receive an additional monthly grant of €250.00 per month. 

The following groups belong to participants with fewer opportunities

• Students with a chronic illness
• Students with a disability (GdB from 20)
• Students with a child
• First-time graduates 
• Students in employment

You can find further information on the topic of special funding.

Another key focus of the 2021-2027 Erasmus+ program generation is sustainability and reducing the ecological footprint of the Erasmus+ program.

Therefore, the use of sustainable means of transportation by students ("Green Travel") is encouraged, with the possibility of receiving additional travel days. If necessary, up to six travel days can be funded.

"Green Travel" refers to journeys where low-emission modes of transportation, such as buses, trains, or carpooling, are used for the majority of the trip. More information on this topic can be found on the website.

Learning Agreement

As the European Union co-finances a part of your studies with the Erasmus programme, the Learning Agreement is part of the contractual agreement with you.

An overview of the responsible persons from the departments who can approve a Learning Agreement can be found  on our website.

Duty to inform

Please inform yourself about your university of choice before applying. You are obliged to obtain information on your own responsibility about the study programme, language requirements and accommodation options. This will also help you to avoid false expectations and to find convincing arguments for your application. To do this, you should always use the website of the host university and, in particular, the information for exchange students provided by the International Office there. You should also ask the subject coordinator at the University of Wü for information sent to you by the host university as well as experience reports.

Obligation to report

All recipients of funding who have taken part in an ERASMUS+ mobility programme are obliged to prepare and submit a report via the Mobility Tool Plus at the end of the programme.

Funding amount

Depending on the project, the scholarship rates and therefore the amount of funding may vary. Due to overlapping projects, Erasmus participants are sometimes funded from different projects. Example: The NA DAAD encourages us to finance stays abroad in the academic year 2022/23 from the funds of the 2021 project, as programme funds from older projects that will soon end should be used as a priority. If older project funds are returned to the EU, this will have a negative impact on the receipt of future funds, i.e. we will receive less scholarship funding for subsequent years than would be necessary to promote the mobility of our students. 

As all measures financed from the funds of a project are tied to the specifications of the respective project, this means that innovations (e.g. increasing the funding amount) are not implemented at the start of the respective project, but only after older project funds have been exhausted.

Extension

After consultation, it is possible to extend your stay abroad by one semester (only possible within one academic year: winter semester to summer semester). To do this, you must first obtain permission from JMU and then the consent of the partner university. Students must submit an informal application for an extension to Department 1.2 (Erasmus) no later than one month before the originally planned end of their studies (iso-erasmus@uni-wuerzburg.de).

Whether a mobility grant can also be paid for the second semester if the study abroad programme is extended within the Erasmus+ programme must be checked separately internally. Depending on the budget, the second semester can be funded (max. 110 days in 2024/25), or take place without funding, as a so-called zero grant stay.

FAQs for already selected participants with stays in the academic year 24/25.

Important documents and downloads can be found here.