Internationalization

Erasmus+

Erasmus+ is EU's programme for education, training, youth and sport, and supports mobility and collaborative projects throughout the educational pathway. The programme is funded by the European Commission. The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (Hkdir) is the national Erasmus+ office.

KHiO annualy apply for support from Erasmus+ in order to provide grants for staff mobility and students going on exchange. On this site you'll find described the possibilities we have for supported mobilities in Erasmus+, requirements and application forms for staff.

Staff Mobility

Through Erasmus+ employees can apply for support for stays abroad that relates to teaching or training. The subsidy is calculated on the basis of daily rates and travel support.

All employees at KHiO can apply for support for staff mobility for training. The stay can be at universities, companies, organisations, etc., mainly in Europe. The stay must be approved by your manager and be of relevance to your area of work.

Staff mobility for teaching is only available to academic staff in teaching positions and require that we have an Erasmus+ agreement with the institution where the teaching will take place.

Teacher Mobility

You must be an academic staff in a teaching position or a PhD candidate.
The teaching must take place by physical presence.
The minimum requirement for duration of stay is 2 days, maximum 60 days.
Support is normally provided for 3-5 working days, longer stays must be specifically justified.
Minimum requirements of teaching: 8 hours per week.
If it is a combined stay (teaching and training), the requirement is 4 hours of teaching per week.
Your manager must approve the stay and agree to cover the costs that exceed the Erasmus+ support amount.

Training Mobility

The scheme applies to all employees.
The stay must be of relevance to your field of work.
The minimum requirement for duration of stay is 2 days, maximum 60 days.
Stays beyond one working week (5 days) must be specially justified.
Participation in conferences is not supported.
Your manager must approve the stay and agree to cover costs that exceed the grant amount.
Approved activities: Various forms of international gatherings, job shadowing, seminars, workshops, observation, methodology courses, summer courses, language courses, etc.

The points below set out the framework for funding allocation, information about the application and what you must bear in mind before, during and after your stay. Read through the points before submitting your application.

Grant rates

The grant provides support for subsistence and travel, and is calculated based on rates determined by the European Commission and the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.
The subsistence grant is based on daily rates and the amount depends on which country you are going to (EUR 100/115/130).
Stays beyond 14 days receive 70% of the scholarship rate from day 15.
In addition to the daily grant you receive a travel support (EUR 211-1735). The travel support is based on the distance between the sending and receiving institution.

Before applying

Your manager must pre-approve your stay, and clarify the conditions of:
- Costs beyond the Erasmus+ support
- Travel expense management
Contact the unit you are going to; clarify possibilities and ask for a confirmation of the agreed visit/stay/participation.
- A confirmation can be a written invitation, e-mail correspondence, receipt of registration, etc.

Transfer of assigned Erasmus+ support

Normally, the subsidy is transferred to your department and you keep travel expenses. By this, it is your department that covers the gap between real costs and assigned support. You clarify this with your manager.
Alternatively, the grant can be transferred to you privately.
The subsidy is transferred to you after your stay, when the necessary documents have been submitted and you have answered the EU Survey.

Green mobility

If you travel green you will receive extra support, and extra travel days if needed.
Green travel applies if a minimum of 50% of the journey is completed by train, bus or car sharing.
Receipts for green travel must be handed in.

Documents

If funding is granted, you will automatically receive all necessary documents with instructions.
There are a total of four documents/reports in connection with staff mobility:
1) Staff Mobility agreement
2) Grant agreement
3) Confirmation of stay
4) EU Survey
Document 1 and 2 must be completed and signed well in advance of your stay, document 3 must be signed during or after your stay, and the Survey (4) will automatically be sent your email after the stay abroad.

About the application

In the application, you must explain the content, length and purpose of the stay, as well as whether your stay has been approved by the manager.
You must provide a contact person for the destination location.
You must state whether this will be done as a green travel, and whether you need extra travel days.
Extra travel days are days beyond the actual days for the agreed "activity" that may be necessary due to travel. A maximum of two days can be allocated (one day before the start of the stay and one day after). In the case of green travel, more days can be allocated (if needed).
Remember to enclose invitation/confirmation if you have received this before submitting your application, or program/information.

Application for staff mobility for teaching: Erasmus+ support for staff exchange for teaching

Application for staff mobility for training: Erasmus+ support for staff exchange for training

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Continuous, but you must calculate three weeks processing time and the application must be approved well in advance of departure.

Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA)

All exchanges in the Erasmus+ programme shall take place on the basis of formal agreements between KHiO and the foreign educational institution. The Erasmus+ agreement is called Inter-Institutional Agrement (IIA).

Who initiates an agreement?

It's the academic staff that best decide whether an exchange agreement is suitable for their students
A good agreement is based on professional cooperation or a mutural desire for professional cooperation
Agreements can be arranged either on the initiative of the staff at KHiO or from the partner institution
The Dean will be notified if an institution abroad wants to cooperate in a IIA

What do you have to think about before we agree on exchange cooperation?

Check out the institution!
Academic staff and teaching (corresponds)
Do they have courses in English?
Support system for international students/employees? How about housing and healthcare?
Semester start and end: Does it match ours?
If the agreement includes mobility at Ph.D. level, be clear on that these candidates are not considered students, but employees/guest researchers
The department must pre-approve courses/courses that students wish to take at the educational institution abroad and it's important to carefully consider whether the study programme fits before we commit
When establishing staff mobility agreements through Erasmus+, teaching must be included as an integrated part of the curriculum and meet the requirements for staff mobility for teaching

What are our commitments in an IIA/exchange agreement?

Be prepared to welcome students and staff from abroad
The teaching must most likely be in English, that also applies to information given to students and in emails
If the study porgramme only accept exchange students in a surten semester, either the Autumn semester or the Spring semester, please say so. It's important for the incoming exchange students to know about this

The first step in signing an agreement

The online form below is the first step in the process of signing a new agreement or terminate an existing one
It's the Dean who fills out the online form, or the staff (the staff must make sure that the Dean knows about the initiate)
The advisor for internationalization contacts the department after receiving the online form

Quality assurance

The advisor makes sure that the agreement is correctly handle and contains necessary information before signing

Signing the agreement

The agreement must be signed by both partner institutions
Rector signes the agreement for KHiO (administrated by the international advisor)

Administration, registration and archiving

Administration, registration and archiving are done by the advisor

Termination of an agreement

There are various reasons why an agreement is requested to be terminated
If only one of the partners wishes to terminate the agreement, the other partner must be informed well in advance
The agreement must stand for 12 months after termination to ensure that the students nominated for exchange can complete their stay

Online form: New agreement, termination or changes

Use this online form for registration of a new agreement, changes or termination

External web sites

Student exchange

Erasmus+ for higher education has three types of exchange abroad that qualify to apply for a grant: Semester exchange, traineeship and blended mobility (short term mobility). The exchanges have different requirements for duration and content/appropriateness. The requirements must be followed for funds to be released.

All student exchange for teaching in Erasmus+ must take place on the basis of formal agreements between KHiO and the educational institution abroad. In this context, the educational institution must be a higher education institution. Semester exchange and blended mobility have teaching requirements. For these two types of exchange, a formal institutional agreement is therefore required between KHiO and the institution where the exchange takes place. Traineeship can be carried out in companies, organisations, small enterprises, various types of institutions, and thus do not require a formal institutional agreement.

The exchange of students is coordinated by the exchange team at KHiO in collaboration with the study programmes, according to established routines locally, and legislation nationally/internationally.

Students can exchange a maximum of 12 months per cycle (per level of study: bachelor's, master's, PhD) with Erasmus+ support. Traineeship after graduation are included in a cycle, and any previous exchange months from the last completed degree, will be deducted from the maximum length of the internship when calculating support from Erasmus+.

Semester exchange

Semester exchange gives students the opportunity to study one semester abroad
KHiO has many agreements that provide benefits such as financial support, exemption from tuition fees and easier entry of the stay during the course of study
Read more about exchange on the students intranet

Traineeship

The students can do a traineeship with Erasmus+ as part of their degree at KHiO, or immediately after a completed degree
It's a practical training exchange and does not give ECTS, therefore every traineeship have to be arrange individually
Read more about traineeship on the students intranet

Blended mobility/Short term

Blended mobility, intend to provide new opportunities for learning, teaching and practice
The stay can be carried out as a separate short-term mobility or in the context of a BIP
The mobility must consist of a physical part (minimum 5 days) and a virtual part that is carried out before, during or after the stay (or in combinations)
5-30 days (minimum 5 days activity + one digital component)
The digital component must be of professional relevance (no otherwise requirements)
Minimum 3 ECTS
Erasmus+ support: Daily rate EUR 79 (per day/per student)
Requirement of an Inter-Institutional Agreement (Erasmus+ partner agreement) between the institutions
PhD's can carry out the mobility stay without a digital component
The department can apply on behalf of a student group/student via online application: Application for short-time mobility. PhD students apply themselves.

Incoming exchange students

We accept incoming exchange students in the same way we send out
This means that students who wish to come to us on a semester exchange or traineeship must follow application procedures for admission
This is important for to assure the students rights (Erasmus+ demands) for a well integrated exchange semester/traineeship, and for to collaborate professionally with our partners
Please note that we mainly accept incoming semester exchange students (traineeships on individually agreements)
Read more about routines for incoming exchange students here

Blended Intensive Program (BIP)

BIP are short intensive programs that utilize new ways of learning and teaching. The program/course format enables higher education institutions to join forces for to develop common curricula and activities for blended mobility aimed at students and staff. BIP should have added value to existing programs/courses/jobs and provide new learning opportunities/competence enhancement for the participants.

KHiO applies annually for funding to be able to organize BIP for students and staff at KHiO in collaboration with our partner institutions.

About BIP

Flexible course format combining collaborative international online learning with intensive on-campus program
Added value to existing programs/courses/job
Enables students and staff to gain new perspectives on the topic
Encourages interdisciplinary and multinational teaching and benefits from way of teaching that are not available in a single institution
Allows staff to develop teaching content and methods together with international colleagues
Should provide new learning opportunities/competence enhancement
Includes challenge-based learning where international and interdisciplinary teams work together
Learning outcomes should include subject-related competence as well as intercultural competences, and the content/learning outcomes are developed jointly with partners
Partners can choose to link the BIP with existing course or offer it as an add-on/elective
Credits, schedule and program are agreed up on between the partners

Requirements

A minimum of three cooperating institutions from three EU member states and/or associated third countries to the programme
Physical part of minimum 5 and maximum 30 days + a virtual component that can be completed before, during or/and after the physical part
The organizing unit hosts a minimum of 10 external participants
Participants can be students and employees (participants cannot be part of the organization of BIP)
Must provide a minimum of 3 ECTS for students, but do not have to be included as part of the students' study plan
Participants from the organizing institution ("internal") are not counted in the number of participants
Participants must attend the entire program (both virtual and physical part)
Visiting participants who qualify for Erasmus+ scholarships receive a grant from their home institution
The organizing unit applies for administrative funds EUR 400 per participant. The minimum requirement is 10 participants (EUR 4000) and the maximum is 20 (EUR 8000). (There may be multiple participants, but that doesn't trigger more funding.)
The administrative funds are intended to support/cover costs related to preparatory work, design, development, implementation and follow-up of the program and delivery of virtual/external component, as well as overall management and coordination
Costs may include the production of documents or teaching materials, rental of rooms, rental of equipment, excursions, communication activities, translation and interpretation, preparatory visits and administrative tasks

The departments can apply for administrative funds (EUR 4000 - 8000) for the organization of a BIP via the web form Application for administrative funds BIP

Grant and travel support Erasmus+

Grant rates are set by the European Commission and the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (Hkdir) for one academic year at a time. The size of the grant depends on the countries to which it is exchanged and is calculated on the basis of daily or monthly rates. In addition, travel support is granted, which is calculated on the basis of the distance between the sending institution and the receiving institution. The European Commission's distance calculator is used to calculate the distance.

The exchange rate for the payment of scholarships shall be dynamic and reflect the real value between EUR and NOK in each individual exchange. It has been decided by the European Commission that the final exchange rate shall be settled after the end of the stay via the European Central Bank's official rate and system tool for this. All disbursements and internal invoicing reflect Erasmus+ legislation for this, as well as KHiO's routines for disbursements/internal invoicing.

Grant: Group 1

Countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany (Norway)
Staff exchange: EUR 130 per day
Student exchange: EUR 530 per month
Blended mobility (short time mobility): EUR 79 per day

Grant: Group 2

Countries: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
Staff exchange: EUR 115 per day
Student exchange: EUR 470 per month
Blended mobility (short time mobility): EUR 79 per day

Grant: Group 3

Countries: Bulgaria, Krotia, Hungary, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
Staff exchange: EUR 100 per day
Student exchange: EUR 470 per day
Blended mobility (short time mobility): EUR 79 per day

Grant: Distance calculation

10-99 km: EUR 28
100-499 km: EUR 211
500-1999 km: EUR 309
2000-2999 km: EUR 395
3000-3999 km: EUR 580
4000-7999 km: EUR 1188
8000 km and over: EUR 1735

Erasmus+ guides

In Erasmus+ programme guide for 2024, you can read more about the mobilities (p. 44-77). (Student Exchange p. 50-51, Staff Exchange p.51-52, BIP p. 52) In July 2022, the Commission completed the guide for blended mobilities. In the guide they refer to examples of mobility courses and programs.