Erasmus Grants for Work Placements in Europe in the Academic Year 2008 - 2009

The European Union programme Erasmus offers students a possibility to receive a grant for a work placement in Europe.

Application period: 27 October - 17 November 2008

You can now apply for a grant for a training period in the academic year 2008-2009.  The work placement may take place one of the following countries participating in the Erasmus programme:

1. EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Rumania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

2. EEA/EFTA states: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein and Turkey (EU candidate country).

All undergraduate and postgraduate degree students of the University of Tampere may apply for the Erasmus grant for a work placement. The applicants need to be nationals of one of the participating countries or hold a permanent residence permit in one of the EU member states. The applicants should also have completed their first year of study prior to the commencement of the training period. Moreover, the work placement should be credited and included in the degree awarded by the University of Tampere.

Grants of 1,500 Euros will be awarded in the academic year 2008-2009 for a training period of 3-6 months. It is possible to receive an Erasmus grant for a work placement only once. In addition to the Erasmus work placements, students may apply for an Erasmus study period. The students will be paid 80 per cent of the grant, i.e. 1200 Euros, prior to the commencement of the training period; 20 per cent, i.e. 300 Euros, is paid once a placement report has been duly submitted to the International Office. The training period should end on 30 September 2009 at the latest.

Once the student has been awarded a grant, she/he will start searching for a work placement independently. The host organisation offering the placement may be private or public, excluding the following: bodies of the European Union, organisations administering EU programmes, consulates and embassies of the student's country of origin. Work placement offers abroad are published e.g. on the following web portals:

• University of Tampere Career Centre
• Aarresaari - Academic Career Services
• EURES - the European Job Mobility Portal

For more job search tips and links for work abroad, please take a look at the website of the Aarresaari Academic Career Services.

The Centre for International Mobility in Finland lists country-specific websites and links to international organisations offering work placements (in Finnish).

To apply for the Erasmus grant for a work placement, please submit a free-form application to the International Office (Main Building, room A 129) on Monday 17 November 2008 at 15:00 at the latest, and enclose a transcript of records (in pdf format from NettiOpsu) as well as a Europass Curriculum Vitae. In addition to the enclosures mentioned above, students enrolled in Master's degree programmes (separate two-year Master's programmes, not ‘ordinary' Master's programmes) should enclose a statement from a supervisor of her/his Master's thesis in which the supervisor supports the student's application for the Erasmus grant for a work placement, in case the training period will take place during the teaching period of the academic year.

A Europass Curriculum Vitae can be downloaded from the website of Cedefop.

Please mention the following in your application

• What kind of a work placement do you intend to find and where?
• How would you benefit from a work placement with respect to your studies and future career?
• Do you intend to apply or have you already applied for funding for a work placement at your home department or elsewhere?
• Is it possible to include the work placement in your degree?
• Have you already completed a work placement included in your major/minor subject?
• Do you have previous experience from studying or working abroad?
• What kind of language skills do you have?

Priority is given to students in the final stages of their studies who have not completed a work placement before. It does not make a difference whether the work placement is a compulsory or an optional part of the degree. Attention is paid to the applicant's motivation and preparedness for a work placement abroad.