Erasmus+, the new EU programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport, brings together seven previous EU programmes in the fields of Education, Training and Youth (e.g. Lifelong Learning Programme as well as Youth in Action, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, etc.); for the first time it provides support for Sport. The programme foresees three main actions:
This Key Action supports:
- Mobility of learners and staff: opportunities for students, trainees and young people, as well as for professors, teachers, trainers, youth workers, staff of education institutions and civil society organisations to undertake a learning and/or professional experience in another country;
- Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees: high-level integrated international study programmes delivered by consortia of higher education institutions that award full degree scholarships to the best master students worldwide;
- Erasmus+ Master Loans: higher education students from Programme Countries can apply for a loan backed up by the Programme to go abroad for a full Master Degree. Students should address themselves to national banks or student loan agencies participating in the scheme.
The mobility projects can comprise one or more of the following activities:
- Student mobility:
Student mobility can be in any subject area/academic discipline. To ensure high-quality mobility activities with maximum impact on the students, the mobility activity has to be compatible with the student’s degree-related learning and personal development needs. Students may carry out either one or a combination of the activities described below:
- a study period abroad at a partner higher education institution (HEI); The study period abroad must be part of the student's study programme to complete a degree at a short cycle, first cycle (Bachelor or equivalent), second cycle (Master or equivalent) and third or doctoral cycle.
A study period abroad may include a traineeship period as well. Such a combination creates synergies between the academic and professional experience abroad and may be organised in different ways depending on the context: either one activity after the other or both at the same time. The combination follows the funding rules and minimum duration of study mobility.
- a traineeship (work placement) abroad in an enterprise or any other relevant workplace24. Traineeships abroad at a workplace are supported during short cycle, first, second, third cycle studies and, in the case of mobility within Programme Countries, within a maximum of one year after the student’s graduation. This also includes the 'assistantships' for student teachers.
- Staff mobility:
- teaching periods: this activity allows HEI teaching staff or staff from enterprises to teach at a partner HEI abroad. Staff mobility for teaching can be in any subject area/academic discipline.
- training periods: this activity supports the professional development of HEI teaching and non-teaching staff as well as the development of involved institutions. It may take the form of training events abroad (excluding conferences) and job shadowing/observation periods/training at a partner HEI, or at another relevant organisation abroad.
A period abroad can combine teaching and training activities.
In the grant allocation for mobility of staff between Programme Countries, emphasis will be put on training periods for HEI teaching staff that allow them to develop pedagogical and curriculum design skills.
This Key Action supports:
- Transnational Strategic Partnerships aimed to develop initiatives addressing one or more fields of education training and youth and promote innovation, exchange of experience and know-how between different types of organizations involved in education, training and youth or in other relevant fields. Certain mobility activities are supported in so far as they contribute to the objectives of the project;
- Knowledge Alliances between higher education institutions and enterprises which aim to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, employability, knowledge exchange and/or multidisciplinary teaching and learning;
- Sector Skills Alliances supporting the design and delivery of joint vocational training curricula, programmes and teaching and training methodologies, drawing on evidence of trends in a specific economic sector and skills needed in order to perform in one or more professional fields;
- Capacity-building projects supporting cooperation with Partner Countries in the fields of higher education and youth. Capacity-building projects aim to support organizations/institutions and systems in their modernization and internationalization process. Certain types of capacity-building projects support mobility activities in so far as they contribute to the objectives of the project;
- IT support platforms, such as eTwinning, the School Education Gateway, the European Platform for Adult Learning (EPALE) and the European Youth Portal, offering virtual collaboration spaces, databases of opportunities, communities of practice and other online services for teachers, trainers and practitioners in the field of school and adult education as well as for young people, volunteers and youth workers across Europe and beyond. In addition, since 2018, the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange initiative offers intercultural learning experiences between young people in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean countries.
This Key Action supports:
- Knowledge in the fields of education, training and youth for evidence-based policy making and monitoring, in particular:
- country-specific and thematic analysis, including through cooperation with academic networks;
- peer learning and peer reviews through the Open Method of Coordination in education, training and youth.
- Initiatives for policy innovation to stimulate innovative policy development among stakeholders and to enable public authorities to test the effectiveness of innovative policies through field trials based on sound evaluation methodologies.