Erasmus+ grants for Studies

Conditions for Erasmus+ Applications

In order to qualify for a grant, you must at least comply with the following conditions:

• You must be registered in a study programme at Bachelor's or Master's level, or for a supplementary/doctorate programme, which culminates with a diploma from Utrecht University (pre-master not applicable).
• You have successfully completed a first year of higher education studies (and started the second year) when your Stay Abroad begins.
• You will register for and complete a full-time (see below) study/work load at the receiving institution. 
• You will be physically present at the receiving university and undertake your exchange abroad in another country than The Netherlands, and in another country than your current country of residence.
• If (during your exchange) your situation changes and you no longer meet these requirements, then you retroactively lose your right to the grant (see Grant Amount for further information).

Language assessment 

• Each Erasmus+ grantee must undertake an online language assessment both at the start and at the end of the mobility period if the language of instruction during studies abroad is one of the following: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Spanish or Swedish. Exceptions are made for native speakers in the language, but please know that the rules regarding exceptions are very strict.
• We will send you an invitation for the online test in due course. Your results do not influence whether you are eligible for the grant, but you do have to take the test as a requirement to complete your file. This is to see whether students' linguistic capacities improve during the exchange period, as this is an important pillar of the Erasmus+ programme. 

Restrictions

• Under Erasmus+ the same student may receive grants for mobility periods totalling up to 12 months maximum per study cycle (Bachelor, Master, PhD), irrespective of the number and type of mobility activities. 

Application deadlines 2022-2023

* Please note: if there are mistakes in your application/Learning Agreement that need to be corrected after your application, then we may not be able to give you a decision before the break.

Erasmus Office during the holidays
The Erasmus Office will be (partially) closed for Winter Break from December 17, 2022 to January 3, 2023. Please understand that we will not be able to process Grant Applications or e-mails which come in during that time. We will get back to you as soon as possible after the break. Payments may also be later than expected in December and January due to longer processing times at the UU Financial Department.

Deadlines report requirements at the end of your Exchange

Grant Amount

The grant is a contribution to cover additional travel and living costs abroad. The grant amounts per month have been determined by the National Agency Erasmus+. In the table below you will find the amounts per study month for each of the three country groups. 

TopUps and Special Needs Funding

Under some circumstances, students may receive additional funding for Green Travel, Fewer Opportunities, or Special Needs. Please see 'TopUps and Special Needs Funding'.

Erasmus+ TopUps

The Erasmus+ Programme aims to promote sustainable travel, as well as inclusive opportunities for international mobility. Under certain conditions, students can therefore receive an Erasmus+ TopUp, an extra amount on top of their normal Erasmus+ Grant (the TopUp cannot be applied for on its own without also applying for the Erasmus+ Grant). If you want to receive one of the two TopUps listed below: first make sure you are eligible, and then follow the necessary steps. 

1. Green TopUP

If you use an environmentally friendly means of transport to travel to and from your host country, you are eligible to receive a Green Travel TopUp.

• You will travel by train, bus, or ride-share to your exchange destination.
• You are willing to sign a Declaration of Honor to this effect.
• The Green TopUp is a one-time payment of € 50,- 
• It is not possible to receive this TopUp if you are going to the UK. 

To apply for the Green TopUp:

• In your Erasmus+ Grant application in Osiris, choose the option for the Green TopUp. 
• Upload your signed Declaration of Honor (download).
• We will inform you about the payment of the TopUp at a later stage.
• It does not matter if you also apply for/receive a Travel Green Grant. These are separate processes.

2. TopUp for Fewer Opportunities

Erasmus+ offers a TopUp for Students with Fewer Opportunities. The TopUp amount is € 250,- per month, based on the duration of your Erasmus+ Grant period. You are eligible if one of the following two situations applies to you:

1. You receive a supplementary grant (i.e. aanvullende beurs) from DUO.
2. You have a disability or a diagnosed (chronic) medical condition which may influence and complicate travel and/or studying abroad.

To apply for the Fewer Opportunities TopUp:

• You can apply for the Fewer Opportunities TopUp in Osiris. The application process for the TopUp is separate from your Erasmus+ Grant application.
• Go to Osiris > Stay Abroad > Grants, and select the TopUp process.
• In the TopUp application process, you will have to upload the official letter from DUO granting your supplementary grant (i.e. the DUO Toekenningsbericht - the date, your name, and the grant amount mus be clearly visible), OR a medical statement. A medical statement can be a statement from your doctor, or a copy of an official document which states that you have a diagnosed (i.e. recognised) condition. If you want to keep your condition private then you may upload a statement from a medical professional which makes it clear that you have a diagnosed condition which can impact travel/study abroad, but which does not explicitly name the condition.
• It is not possible to receive this TopUp twice, even if you fall under both categories. If you fall in both groups, then you may upload EITHER a DUO-statement, OR a medical statement, whichever is easiest for you.
• It is not possible to receive this TopUp if you are going to the UK. 

We will judge your application and inform you of the result in due course. Please note: the TopUp can only be officially awarded once the Erasmus+ Grant has been awarded to you. You cannot receive a Topup if you are not eligible for the Erasmus Grant. You can apply for the TopUp simultaneously, but note that we can not fully process your TopUp request before your Erasmus+ Grant application is complete and approved by the Erasmus Office.

If your application for the Fewer Opportunities TopUp is successful, then the total amount will be calculated (retroactively) based on the dates on your Learning Agreement and/or CoA.

Additional Special Needs Funding

Students who have a diagnosed medical condition or disability which makes it impossible to study abroad without additional financial support (i.e. who need to cover costs which cannot be covered by the regular Erasmus Grant and the Fewer Opportunities TopUp) may be eligible to apply for Special Needs Funding. Applications are based on an estimation of actual (expected) costs, so that the National Agency Erasmus+ may grant the student a specific personal budget in addition to the regular grant amount. 

This extra funding may cover, for example:

• Costs for specific housing-needs, such as wheelchair-accessible housing.
• Costs for renting medical equipment abroad.
• The travel costs of an additional person if the student cannot travel alone.

This is not an exhaustive list and other types of costs may be eligible as well. If you have any questions about this or if you believe you may be eligible to apply, please feel free to send an e-mail to erasmus{at}uu.nl.

Grant application step-by-step

1. Read the Conditions and Restrictions (see above) and the information about the TopUps (see above) carefully before applying for the grant.
    

2. Download the Learning agreement for Studies 2022-2023 (for all destinations except the UK) 
   Download the Learning agreement for Studies UK destinations 2022-2023 (for UK destinations only, see below for more information) 
   
   If you already have a completely signed Learning Agreement from the partner university then you can use this instead, but ONLY if it includes all the same information as the UU Learning agreement format. At minimum: contact information and Erasmus Codes, start- and end dates of your exchange in d/m/y format (so not just month and year!!), all courses and EC amounts, Table B filled out (see UU format for example), and the correct signatures. 
    

3. Complete the Learning agreement by filling out the general part, and the BEFORE THE MOBILITY part (including your signature).
   
   Table A: state course selection (and if applicable, thesis/research) at university abroad.
   Table B: state which part(s) of your UU study progamme will be replaced by the courses abroad. Read End note 6 in the Learning agreement for details!
   
   Important note on dates: Your start date is the first day on which you have to be present at your exchange university for an introduction activity or classes. The end date is not the date on which the semester ends, but (your best estimate of) your last mandatory activity abroad. For example: the last week of classes, or the end of the regular exam period. Resit exams are not included in the grant period. If you're not sure about these dates, check with your contact person at the receiving institution.
    

4. Get your Learning Agreement signed. For the sending institution this is your Exchange Coordinator at UU (i.e. your contact person at the International Office, not a faculty member). Have the receiving institution sign their part by sending the Learning Agreement to your contact person (at their International Office). Digital and scanned signatures are allowed, if necessary you can arrange all per e-mail. If the signatures are on different copies then all other information must be the same in both files.
    

5. Have your IBAN (International Bank Account Number) ready. You MUST enter your IBAN in the online application, we cannot disburse an Erasmus+ grant without your IBAN! Payments to foreign bank accounts take more time and require more bank details. If you have a non-Dutch account, you have to fill out the BIC/SWIFT and address for your bank (main branch), otherwise we cannot process the payment.
    

6. Start your online grant application in Osiris Student. Go to the Stay Abroad (Buitenland) section in Osiris and you will find the Grant option behind your (conditionally) approved Stay Abroad request. (If you are going to a UK destination, make sure you choose the grant process for UK destinations.) Fill out all the questions and upload the correct documents. All uploads in Osiris have to be in a commonly used format (.docx, .pdf, .jpeg). ZIP files cannot be opened. Don't forget to press submit.
    

Going to a UK destination?

Despite the consequences of Brexit, it is still be possible to apply for an Erasmus+ grant if you are going to the UK in academic year 2022-2023. But there are a few points to take into account:

• You need to use a different Learning Agreement (see point 1 above).
• For UK destinations, the Stay Abroad needs to last at least 3 months.
• Please note that the start date of your Exchange cannot be later than February 28. 
• Please note that the end date of your Grant Period cannot be later than May 31 (i.e. if your Stay Abroad ends after that date, your Erasmus+ Grant cannot cover the last part of your stay).
• When you get to point 6 (see above) choose the grant application for UK destinations in Osiris.
• Students who are going to the UK can not apply for any Erasmus+ TopUps (exceptions are not possible).
   

Are you a CHARM EU student?

• You can use the Learning Agreement format that was sent to you by your CHARM EU contact person at UU.
• Make sure to list the start- and end dates on the LA in day/month/year format (not just month/year), otherwise the UU Erasmus Office cannot calculate your Grant Period.
• Your contact person for the sending institution is not an International Officer, but your UU contact person for CHARM EU.

When will I receive a decision?

Once you have submitted your application, please wait for us to inform you about your application. Sometimes, one or two things need to be adjusted in your application or Learning Agreement before we can process your file further, but we will contact you if this is the case. If everything is in order, we will e-mail you in due course to inform you that your application has been (conditionally) approved. Please be patient, as the Erasmus Office deals with many files at once, so it may take a while before you hear from us. 

Conditional grant award

Once you have received the e-mail that your application has been conditionally approved, read the Erasmus+ STUDIES timeline and instructions (which we will send to you by e-mail). This document will guide you through the Erasmus+ process and help you to complete all the necessary steps so that you do not lose the right to your Erasmus+ grant. For each stage in the procedure a new question or upload option will be opened in Osiris in due course.

Take the OLS language test

Take the (first) online language test as soon as you receive the invitation by e-mail. You can read more about the mandatory language assessment under Conditions and Restrictions and in the Erasmus+ STUDIES timeline and instructions (see above).

First payment

The first payment will consist of 80% of the total grant amount, as calculated based on your Learning Agreement. The total grant amount is the monthly amount for each full month abroad, plus 1/30 of the stated amount for each additional day. The first payment will be made out to you once you have received the notification that your grant has been conditionally approved.

Please note: the first payment may arrive some weeks after your start date. The timing is dependent on when your application is complete, processing times at the Erasmus Office, and processing times at the UU Financial Department.

Final payment

The second and final payment will be transferred after your exchange, and only once your file is complete and everything has been processed. 

Calculation of final payment

Please note that if the actual dates of your Stay Abroad turn out to be different from the dates initially stated on your Learning Agreement, the total Grant Amount will be recalculated and the final payment will be adjusted accordingly. If it turns out that your actual grant period is shorter than initially stated on your Learning Agreement then you will receive a smaller final payment than initially expected. If your grant period is much shorter than initially stated then you may have to pay back part of the already received Grant Amount to the university.

Complete your Erasmus+ file

Your Erasmus+ grant has been awarded conditionally and will only be definitively awarded after you have completed your entire file. This means you have to complete/upload the required report documents and assessments before the appropriate deadlines (see above).

The Timeline and Instructions document will guide you through all steps you must take to have your Erasmus+ grant awarded definitively, including the Report Requirements at the end of your Stay Abroad. You have received this document by e-mail when your grant was provisionally awarded, but it can also be find below for reference:

Erasmus+ STUDIES Timeline and Instructions (download)

• Please read the instructions carefully.
• Check the various deadlines.
• Be aware that some requirements are online reports or assessments, for which you will receive the invitation, link, and deadline directly from the European Commission by e-mail.
• UU formats for the other obligatory report documents at the end of your exchange can be found below. Do NOT use other formats than the ones provided here!

Report documents 

Certificate of attendance - Studies 
UU Report Erasmus+