Erasmus studies

Conditions for Erasmus+ Applications

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

• You are registered in a study programme at Bachelor's or Master's level, or for a PhD, which culminates with a diploma from Utrecht University (pre-master not applicable).
• The minimum duration of your Exchange must be 2 months.
• 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 study/work load (see below) at the receiving institution.
• You will be physically present at the receiving university.
• You will undertake your exchange in a country other 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 the above requirements, you retroactively lose your right to the grant (see 'Grant Amount' below for further information).

Maximum grant period

• Under Erasmus+ rules, the same student may receive grants for mobility periods totaling up to 12 months maximum within the same study cycle (study cycle = Bachelor phase, Master phase, or PhD), irrespective of the number and type of mobility activities. 
• However, Utrecht University is not able to give Erasmus Grants to students for periods longer than one semester in Academic Year 2024-2025, unless it is mandatory within your study programme to go abroad for a longer period. This is because budget is limited, and we want to ensure that as many students as possible can receive an Erasmus Grant. 

Please note: Erasmus+ budgets differ greatly between institutions, so other universities may be able to give their students an Erasmus+ Grant for more than one semester (up to 12 months per study cycle). 

Application deadlines 2024-2025

* If you think you might not be able to make a deadline, contact your International Office as well as the Erasmus Office as soon as possible, and definitely before your application deadline! Otherwise, you may miss your chance to receive the grant.

Grant application step-by-step

1. Read the Conditions and Restrictions (see above) and the information about the Top-up For Fewer Opportunities (see below) carefully before applying for the grant.
    

2. Complete the online Learning Agreement in Osiris. (Click here for instructions.)
   
   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, such as the end of the regular exam period. Resit exams are not included in the grant period.
    

3. Submit your Learning Agreement and wait for your Sending Institution and your Receiving Institution to approve your Learning Agreement.
    

4. Before you start the Erasmus+ Grant application in Osiris, have your IBAN (International Bank Account Number) ready. Payments to foreign bank accounts take more time and require more bank details. If you have a non-Dutch account, you MUST fill out the BIC/SWIFT and address for your bank (main branch) as well, otherwise we cannot process the payment.
    

5. 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. Fill out all the questions and upload the correct documents. (For further information about the Top-up, see 'Top-up for Fewer Opportunities' below. For further information about Travel Allowance, and the Declaration of Honour for Green Travel, see 'Grant Amount' below.) Don't forget to press 'submit' when you are done.
    

6. If you want to apply for the Erasmus+ Top-up, you can do this now. See 'Top-up for Fewer Opportunities' below for further information. You may also complete the Top-up application at a later moment, but please note that the deadline for this is the same as the deadline for your regular Erasmus Grant application (see 'Application Deadlines' above).

After you have submitted your application

The UU Erasmus Office will judge your application and inform you if there are any mistakes that need to be rectified. Please be patient, as the Erasmus Office deals with many applications at the same time. If everything is in order, then your application will be conditionally awarded. This usually happens within 6 weeks after you submit your application. 

Basic Grant Amount

The Erasmus+ Grant is a contribution to cover additional travel and living costs associated with a semester abroad. Grant amounts have been determined by the National Agency Erasmus+. In the table below you will find the basic grant amounts per study month for each of the three country groups. The amounts below are per full month abroad, any additional days are calculated proportionally.

Travel Allowance

In addition to the basic grant amount, you will receive 'Travel Allowance'. This is a one-time amount (i.e. not per month) which is automatically added to your first Grant Payment (see: 'Grant Payments' below). Travel Allowance is based on:

• Distance to your destination, as calculated using the Erasmus+ Distance Calculator ('start' is always Utrecht, 'end' is the city where your host institution is based), and;
• The main mode of travel used for the majority of your round trip (in terms of distance travelled) as stated in your Erasmus Grant application in Osiris.
• In order to receive the amount for Green Travel, you have to upload a Declaration of Honour in your application, in which you promise to travel sustainably.

Green Travel According to Erasmus+

Below 500 km, you are in principle expected to travel sustainably. In your Erasmus Grant application in Osiris, you will have to specify your means of transportation. Erasmus+ sees the following options as Green Travel:

• train 
• bus
• cycling
• carpooling (i.e. sharing a ride with someone who was already going to your destination) 

Please note that hybrid/electric cars are not viewed as a sustainable option according to Erasmus+ rules (unless used for carpooling). If you want to travel by train, make sure you check out the new Interrail Pass for Erasmus+. This is an Interrail Pass with a longer validity period, so that you can use it at the beginning and at the end of your exchange semester.

Top-ups and special needs funding

Under some circumstances, students may receive extra funding in addition to the grant amounts listed above. Please see 'Erasmus+ Top-up for Fewer Opportunities' and 'Students with special needs'.

Top-up for Fewer Opportunities

The Erasmus+ Programme aims to promote inclusive opportunities for international mobility. Under certain conditions you can therefore receive an Erasmus+ Top-up for students with fewer opportunities.

The Top-up amount is € 250,- per month, based on the duration of your Erasmus+ Grant period. You are eligible if:

• you experience economic barriers and therefore receive (or have received, see below) a supplementary grant (i.e. aanvullende beurs) from DUO, and/or;
• you have a disability or a diagnosed (chronic) medical condition which may influence and complicate travel and/or studying abroad.

Top-up Application Process

Due to privacy reasons, the application process for the Fewer Opportunities Top-up is a separate application process in Osiris. 

The deadline for the Fewer Opportunities Top-up application is the same as the deadline of your regular Erasmus+ Grant application (see 'Application Deadlines' above).

1. Go to Osiris > Stay Abroad > Grants, and select the Top-up process.
2. Upload one of the following:

• Official letter from DUO - The official letter granting your supplementary grant, i.e. the DUO Toekenningsbericht (the date, your name, and the grant amount must be clearly visible). If you do not receive a supplementary grant at this time but have received one in recent years, please send us an email. 
• 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 also 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.

If you fall in both groups, then you may upload EITHER a DUO-statement, OR a medical statement, whichever is preferable for you. If you believe you should receive the Top-up because you experience financial or medical barriers, but you cannot provide the above documentation, please contact the UU Erasmus Office well before your application deadline to explain your situation. If your situation indeed qualifies for the Top-up, we will provide an alternative type of document for you to upload.

Please note: Although you apply separately for the Fewer Opportunities Top-up in Osiris, the Top-up is part of your Erasmus+ Grant. This means you cannot receive a Top-up if you are not (or no longer) eligible for the Erasmus Grant. 

Erasmus+ Grant Payments

The Erasmus Grant is not paid per month, but in two instalments. You will receive one larger payment at the beginning of your exchange, and one smaller payment once you have returned home.

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 a combination of the basic grant amount, Travel Allowance, and in some cases the Top-up. (See 'Grant Amount' above for more information.) The first payment will be made out to you once you have received the notification that your grant has been conditionally approved.

Please note: in some cases, 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*

If the dates on your Certificate of Attendance differ from the dates on your Grant Agreement, your final payment may or may not be recalculated based on the following:

• If the duration of your stay abroad is longer than indicated on your Grant Agreement, your final payment will not be recalculated unless you have informed the Erasmus+ Office of this at least 2 months prior to your end date. Consult the Checklist part 1 for further information.
• If the duration of your stay abroad is shorter than indicated on your Grant Agreement by 5 days or less, your final payment will not be recalculated.
• If the duration of your stay abroad is shorter than indicated on your Grant Agreement by more than 5 days, your final payment will be adjusted accordingly. Please be aware that if the advance payment you received exceeds the definitive grant award, you will receive an invoice to pay back the surplus amount.

*Please note: these are the recalculation rules for 2024-2025. Students returning from Exchange in Semester 2 of 2023-2024 have received different information.

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 Erasmus Grant Checklist 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 Checklist Part 2 (download)

• Please read the instructions carefully.
• Check the various deadlines.
• Please be aware that you will receive the invitation for the Participant Report not from UU, but as an e-mail from the European Commission's Erasmus+ system.
• The UU format for the Certificate of Attendance can be found below. Do not use other formats!

Report documents 

Certificate of attendance - Studies 

Deadlines report requirements at the end of your Exchange*

Extra help during your application

If you need extra help during the application process for the Erasmus+ Grant, and you feel comfortable sharing this information: please make sure your Exchange Coordinator knows about your situation in advance so that they can give you extra guidance. This may be the case, for example, if you have a medical condition which impairs your visual abilities. 

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 plus the Fewer Opportunities Top-up) 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. 

Special Needs 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.
• Costs for travelling with a support animal.

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@uu.nl.

Email

You can contact the Erasmus+ Office for questions about your grant through erasmus@uu.nl.

Teams

It is also possible to make an appointment with the Erasmus+ Office via Teams. If you have a question, please use the calendar below to make an appointment.

When you are unable to make it to your appointment, please don't forget to cancel.