Travel Green Grant

Who can apply?

1. Students who have been selected to study at a European partner university through an Exchange Programme.
2. Students who are going abroad for a traineeship/internship which is part of their study programme at UU.

When to apply?

EXCHANGE in Semester 2 of academic year 2022-2023

• Application round: November 11-30 (applications closed on November 30th, 23:59).
• If you missed the initial application round but would still like to apply, feel free to e-mail us at travelgreengrant@uu.nl and we will see what we can do for you. (It is however no longer possible to apply if your exchange has already started -- no exceptions.)

TRAINEESHIP in academic year 2022-2023 (start date before 1 August 2023)

• You should apply as soon as possible, and at least 6 weeks prior to your (estimated) travel date.
• We aim to give you a decision on your application within two weeks after application, but processing times may be longer in busy periods. 

EXCHANGE or TRAINEESHIP in academic year 2023-2024

• For exchanges/traineeships in the first semester of 2023-2024 (start date 1 August 2023 or later): applications take place in summer 2023
• For exchanges/traineeships in the second semester of 2023-2024 (start date 1 January 2024 of later): applications take place in fall 2023
• More information will follow soon, please keep an eye on this webpage. If you have been selected for an exchange in semester 1 of 2023-2024, we will also inform you through e-mail when applications are open.

Rules and conditions

• Your Stay Abroad request must be (conditionally) approved in Osiris before you can start the Travel Green Grant application.
• You are going to a European exchange/traineeship destination (UK, Switzerland and Turkey included).
• You wish to travel by train or bus as an alternative to flying. 
• The TGG covers only the way to your Stay Abroad destination, the grant does not cover the return ticket. 
• The Travel Green Grant will reimburse the actual cost of the bus/train tickets after your travel date.
• There is usually enough available budget to give all applicants a grant, so the success rate for applications is extremely high! However: in case of too many applications, allocation of grants will proceed by lottery. 
• Each student may receive the TGG no more than once per study cycle (Bachelor's or Master's).

Apply in Osiris 

• The application process is generally pretty quick and painless, but feel free to e-mail us if you run into any issues.
• Go to the Stay abroad (Buitenland) section in OSIRIS > Exchange > Grants > choose the Travel Green Grant (option is only visible when applications are open, see above).
• Fill in the application. Do not forget to click submit! 
• In your application, you need to estimate your travel costs. Please check ticket prices online using the tips from the Green Office and try to give a realistic amount. See below for Interrail option.
• If you have an international (non-Dutch) bank account, you must provide all the bank details asked for in Osiris.

Can I choose an Interrail Pass?

You may choose the Interrail Global Pass option (185 Euros) in the application instead of a normal ticket if:

• your journey will take 10 hours or more to complete AND/OR;
• your journey cannot be completed in one day due to limited travel options for (part of) your journey.
• If you have another good reason not listed here: feel free to e-mail us beforehand to ask permission to choose an Interrail Pass.

If your journey complies with the above then you may choose this option in your application at the question where you estimate your travel costs. We may adjust your choice if we find your journey is not eligible for the Interrail option.

Buy your tickets

Once you've received news that you have been awarded a Travel Green Grant, you can buy your tickets. 

• For tips and tricks about green travel, take a look at this page by the UU Green Office. 
• The most important tip is to buy your tickets as soon as possible, because ticket prices go up and options disappear closer to your travel date!
• If you are buying regular (non-Interrail tickets): stick to your personal TGG budget, which you can find above.
• If you have been allocated a personal budget of 135 Euros or more, then you may also still choose to buy an Interrail ticket instead of a normal ticket. (Which we will then reimburse up to 185 Euros.)
• If you have been awarded a budget of <135 then we cannot reimburse Interrail tickets. We can then only reimburse the actual cost of normal tickets.
• Only train and/or bus tickets will be reimbursed. 
• If your journey consists of multiple parts, you may buy multiple tickets. 
• If part of your journey has to be completed by boat or ferry, TGG only covers the train/bus part of the trip. 
• You may make (multi-day) stops along the way as long as you can do this within your ticket budget (see above).
• Extra travel costs (i.e. non-mandatory place reservations, 1st class upgrades, or additional luggage) will not be reimbursed. 
• The TGG does not cover (tram/metro/taxi) travel to or from the train station.
• You may start your trip from another country than the Netherlands, as long as this is not the same country as your destination.
• If you think there is a good reason why we should approve a higher budget than initially estimated, send us an e-mail. 

Upload the Proof of Payment

After you have arrived at your exchange destination, you will upload the Proof of Payment in Osiris. 

• You may upload multiple documents if necessary.
• The cost of your ticket(s), and any extra costs, should be clearly shown. 
• Your name should be visible on the tickets (if it is not, then also upload a receipt to show that you paid for them).
• Your travel date(s) should be visible on the ticket.
• The starting point of your trip and the end point of your trip should be visible (unless you bought an Interrail Pass).
• If anything is unclear, we may ask additional questions and/or ask you to upload additional documents.

Reimbursement

After you have uploaded your tickets, your costs (excluding reservation costs) will be calculated by us based on the price of your tickets, with a maximum of 185 Euros. 

• You will receive a Grant Agreement stating the Grant Amount, which you will sign and upload again in Osiris.
• Once we have checked your signed Grant Agreement in Osiris, we will send you a notification to confirm final approval of the grant.
• Payment-notices are sent to the Financial Department once a month, it may then take UU up to three weeks to further process your payment.

Covid-related travel restrictions

Please be aware that tickets will only be reimbursed after you've travelled to your exchange destination. This means that, should your Stay Abroad be cancelled due to covid-related travel restrictions, we can not reimburse your tickets. If you are uncertain whether your exchange will take place, wait with your purchase. In cases where a late booking (due to insecurities of this kind) results in higher ticket prices than anticipated, please e-mail us and we will see what we can do to help you out.

Travel Green Grant Report

A mandatory part of the Travel Green Grant process is the TGG Report. You will be asked to fill out a questionnaire about your experiences with the Travel Green Grant around the time of your return to the Netherlands, this is the TGG Report. The Report will help us to improve the TGG experience for future students, and to measure whether the goals of the Travel Green Grant programme are met. Your anonymised answers may be used for research purposes.