Student Mobility for Traineeships (SMT)
Before the Mobility
All students selected and approved for participation in an Erasmus+ student mobility for placement are introduced to the Erasmus+ Student Charter and must sign the following required documents for participation in the programme:
Place of Departure and Place of Arrival
The students approved for participation in an Erasmus+ student mobility for placement are required to travel from the place of location of the sending organisation (VUM) and travel to the place of location of the receiving organisation. The return after the end of the mobility should be from the place of location of the receiving organisation to the place of the location of the sending organisation (VUM).
Learning Agreement for Traineeship
The Learning Agreement for Traineeship is signed prior to the mobility start (but after the receipt of a signed and stamped letter of intent from the host organisation) and represents a trilateral agreement between the student, VUM, and the host institution. It contains detailed information about the placement programme and the experience, knowledge, and skills the student will acquire during the mobility for placement. In addition, it stipulates the number of ECTS credits that the student will obtain upon successful completion of the mobility. The final content of the Agreement shall be agreed upon by all three parties: VUM, the student to participate in an Erasmus+ student mobility for placement at VUM as well as the sending institution. Guidelines on how to use the Learning Agreement for Traineeship could be found here. Another easy way to fill out the Learning Agreement for Traineeship could be found here. All credits obtained during the mobility are recognized by VUM as part of the student’s curriculum and are included in the student’s Diploma Supplement. The Learning Agreement for Traineeship is prepared by the VUM International Mobility Office in collaboration with VUM Career Center and the host institution. Changes in the Agreement should be agreed upon with the home and host institution and could be made only at the placement’s initial phase (within five weeks after the mobility start).
Training Agreements must be updated immediately if changes occur. Therefore, the regular contact with VUM International Cooperation Office staff via email is highly recommended.
Grant Agreement
The Grant Agreement is signed between the student and VUM, after having a Learning Agreement in place, signed by all three parties (the student, the sending and the receiving organisation) and stipulates the conditions for the financial support provided by the Erasmus+ programme. The minimum duration of a mobility for traineeship is 2 months (63 days), excluding the travel days.
For the preparation of the Grant Agreement, students shall provide:
– Information about their own bank account in a Bulgarian bank;
– A copy of a health insurance, covering 30.000 EUR, valid in the destination country during the mobility period and the days for travelling;
– OLS language test certificate.
In the Grant Agreement, the total amount of the eligible mobility grant (individual and travel support, when applicable) is calculated. Before the mobility start date, the student receives 70% of this total amount; the remaining part of the eligible grant is transferred to the student upon successful completion and reporting of their mobility.
Individual Support mobility grant
The financial support for the mobility period is determined by VUM by multiplying the actual mobility duration in days/months by the daily/monthly rate specified for the particular host country. In case of incomplete months, the financial support will be calculated by multiplying the number of days of the incomplete month by 1/30 of the unit rate per month. The following monthly grants apply depending on the country in which the mobility takes place:
| Host country | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden | 824 EUR |
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain | 824 EUR |
Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Republic of North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Türkiye | 756 EUR |
Travel support
In case the travel expenses of the students from the sending to the receiving organisation are not covered by other sources (e.g. paid or reimbursed by the receiving organisation), students can receive a Travel support grant. Its amount is based on the distance travelled from the Sending to the Receiving organisation as calculated by the Distance Calculator. Students must keep all their travel documents (boarding passes from the flights and bus/train tickets) for the travel from the Sending to the Receiving organisation and back to prove their eligibility for receiving the travel support grant.
| Travel distance | Green travel* | Non-Green travel |
|---|---|---|
10 – 99 km | 56 EUR | 28 EUR |
100 – 499 km | 285 EUR | 211 EUR |
500 – 1 999 km | 417 EUR | 309 EUR |
2 000 – 2 999 km | 535 EUR | 395 EUR |
3 000 – 3 999 km | 785 EUR | 580 EUR |
4 000 – 7 999 km | 1188 EUR | 1188 EUR |
8 000 + km | 1735 EUR | 1735 EUR |
Green travel
Students using sustainable means of transport to travel from the sending to the hosting country and back are entitled to receive additional top-up amount to their mobility grant. Sustainable means of transport (green travel) is defined as travel that uses low-emission means of transport, such as bus, train or car-pooling.
Students who wish to apply for travel support for Green travel shall fill in a Declaration of Honour and submit it to the Erasmus mobility office before signing their Grant agreement.
Additional support for students with fewer opportunities
In addition to the applicable Erasmus+ grant for student mobility, students with fewer opportunities are eligible to apply for additional financial support as follows:
- Top-up individual support is eligible for payment to students who are disabled of first or second category of disability, disabled in the wars, double orphans, or parents of three or more children.
- Actual costs related to the mobility are eligible for payment to cover special type of transportation, accommodation, personal assistant or medical tracking for students with physical, mental or health-related conditions.