International Office
Hefte, Stift und Sonnenbrille auf Tisch
Hefte, Stift und Sonnenbrille auf Tisch

What you need to know about the Erasmus internship

Erasmus+ supports internships abroad for students currently enrolled in higher education institutions in participating countries for a Bachelor, Master and PhD degree. On this page you will find all the information you need to know about Erasmus internships.

Eligibility requirements

All full-time students enrolled in one of Ruhr-Universität Bochum's degree programmes (Bachelor, Master, Diplom, Magister or Staatsexamen) from the first term on are eligible to participate in the Erasmus programme.

  • must be relevant for students' degree-related learning and personal development needs and, wherever possible, be integrated in students' study programmes
  • takes place at any organisation, institution or company
    • Exceptions: EU institutions, bodies and agencies. Students with German citizenship who wish to intern at international organisations might apply for a Carlo Schmid grant. Non-German nationals should contact their national education agencies and institutions for funding.
  • Erasmus particularly supports the development of digital skills and competencies because they become increasingly important in today's globalised labour markets. General costumer support, order transactions, data processing, and office tasks are not funded.

Read the Erasmus Student Charter and learn more about the conditions of participation.

To the Erasmus Charter

Erasmus grant benefits
  • a country- specific internship grant
    • The grant is paid in two instalments: 80 per cent before the stay and 20 per cent after the successful end of the stay.
  • linguistic, organisational and intercultural support by the International Office before, during and after the internship
  • if applicable: access to Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support (OLS) to learn the language used at the workplace
  • if applicable: extra financial support for students with special needs (parents, students with disabilities)
  • if applicable: extra financial support for "Green Travel"
  • if applicable: academic recognition
Erasmus programme participating countries

All 27 EU member states participate in the Erasmus programme, as well as Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Serbia and Northern Macedonia.

More information (only available in German)

Funding is also possible for the following partner countries:

  • Great Britain
  • Switzerland
    • RUB students have two possibilities to apply for internship funding in Switzerland:
      • Via individual funding from a Swiss RUB partner university as part of the Swiss-European Mobility Program. Students apply directly to the university in Switzerland.
      • via the Erasmus program

Erasmus grant rates 2023/24
  • For the academic year 2023/24, funding is limited to 4 months per half-year. The stay can last longer.
  • Group 1 (higher costs of living): €750/month
    Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Norway, Sweden, UK
  • Group 2 (average costs of living): €690/month
    Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain
  • Group 3 (lower costs of living): €640/month
    Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey
Erasmus grant rates 2024/25
  • Group 1 (higher costs of living):
    750 EUR/month
    Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK
  • Group 2 (average costs of living) and Group 3 (lower costs of living):
    EUR 690/month
    Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Cyprus;
    Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
Erasmus additional funding

Here you can find details about Erasmus additional funding.

Further information

Insurance

You must provide sufficient insurance coverage during your Erasmus internship.

Health insurance
You must have adequate health insurance coverage. Usually basic coverage is provided by the national health insurance as well during your stay in another EU country through the European health insurance card. However, the coverage of the European health insurance card or other private insurance companies may not be sufficient, especially if repatriation and specific medical intervention is required. In that case, a complementary private insurance might be useful. It is the responsibility of the internship organisation to ensure that you are aware of health insurance issues.

Liability insurance
You must have adequate liability insurance coverage (covering damages caused by you at the workplace). A liability insurance covers any damages you might inflict during your stay abroad (regardless of whether you are at work or not). Varying arrangements with respect to liability insurance are in place in different countries engaged in transnational learning mobility for traineeships. You therefore run the risk of not being covered. It is the responsibility of the internship organisation to ensure that there is liability insurance covering damages caused by you at the workplace.

Accident insurance
You must have adequate accident insurance coverage (covering at least accidents caused by you at the workplace). This insurance covers damages to employees resulting from accidents at work. In many countries employees are covered against such accidents at work. However, the extent to which you are covered within the same insurance may vary across the countries engaged in transnational learning mobility programmes.

DAAD group insurance
Participants might want to purchase the DAAD group insurance that includes a comprehensive health, liability, and accident insurance.

Duration
  • minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months (60-360 days)
    • **Exception: Students with Law and Medicine degrees (State Exam): minimum of 2 months to a maximum 24 months (60-720 days)
  • students' total time abroad (study abroad periods included) may not exceed 12 months (24 months respectively) within one cycle of study.

The respective minimum duration of stay must be observed for each stay abroad!

For the academic year 2023/24, funding is limited to 4 months per half year. The stay can last longer

Medical students

Medical students who wish to spend only half a tertial abroad have the alternative of applying for PROMOS funding.

Education students

For more information on study abroad during your teacher education program, click here.

Did you know that...

...you can combine an Erasmus internship aboard with an Erasmus study stay?

Since every student is entitled to 12 months of Erasmus funding in each of the Bachelor's, Master's and during the PhD, you can distribute this as you wish between Erasmus study stays and/or Erasmus internships.

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