Olivia Silva de la Lastra (graduate in journalism and international relations) tells us of her Erasmus+ Traineeship experience during academic year 2019-20: «Thanks to the Erasmus+ Traineeship program, I was able to have my placement abroad recognised academically. I was an intern at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a German political foundation which works closely with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party led by the German chancellor Angela Merkel. The foundation headquarters is in Berlin, and I formed part of the department responsible for projects in Latin America. Some of my duties included translating texts from Spanish and from English into German. I also received international delegations, such as the Venezuelan political party which forms part of the opposition led by Juan Guaidó, and I attended workshops and conferences such as that by Luis Almagro, Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States, invited by the Foundation. It was a truly enriching experience, as I was really able to learn what it means to form part of a team, improve my German, collaborate on projects and learn more about the world of international relations, whose objective is to promote cultural diversity. It is definitely an experience I would recommend to everybody. You won’t regret it!

For academic year 2020/2021, Francisco de Vitoria University offers 30 Erasmus+ Traineeship grants for all UFV students. The call will be open until 1 September 2020 and will remain so until the available places have been taken: these will be awarded in the order of arrival of applications.

Requirements

Undergraduate, master’s or doctoral students at Francisco de Vitoria University matriculated for academic year 2020/2021. Those who have concluded those official studies in academic year 2019/2020 are also eligible to apply. In such cases, it will not be necessary to matriculate at UFV formally for 2020/2021, but it will be mandatory for the grant application to be made before the student has closed their transcript and by 30 September 2020 in any case, without regard to the general deadline for this call. That is, the student must complete and send the application to participate before concluding their studies. From submission of the application, the student will be given 6 months in which to find a host institution for their traineeship and to present the full documentation for the Erasmus+ program.

Grant characteristics

The duration of the grant is between 2 and 12 months, of which the maximum duration financed shall be 3 months. The amount of assistance shall be around €300, €350 or €400 per month, depending on the destination country.

The countries attached to the program are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom*.

Similarly, the financial assistance for traineeship mobility at a company in Lebanon or Israel consists of a grant for housing and subsistence: €700 per month (for a maximum of 3 months) and travel assistance (€530).

This payment will be made in two instalments: 70% upon the incorporation of the student at the host organisation, and the remaining 30% once the exchange has finished.

Academic recognition of the traineeships shall be according to their nature:

• Curricular traineeships: These will be recognised academically for the number of credits stated in the Learning Agreement.
• Extracurricular traineeships: These will be recognised academically by a mention in the European Diploma Supplement (BOE 07/02/2015) or, if this is not possible, on the official academic certificate.

Students shall be responsible for taking out an insurance policy and they undertake to submit this to Francisco de Vitoria University before their mobility program starts. The mandatory coverage for this insurance policy shall be: healthcare (European Health Insurance Card or private medical insurance), civil liability, accidents and repatriation of remains.

* The viability of movements to the United Kingdom will depend on Brexit. More information on the SEPIE website here.

Any student interested in participating in the program who satisfies the requirements needs to be accepted by a host company or institution. Acceptance by the host institution shall be formalised through the “Acceptance Letter”. Once the student has received a favourable response from the institution interested in their candidacy, they should complete the online application form and attach the following documentation:

• • Copy of DNI.
  • Copy of academic transcript.
  • Acceptance letter from the host organisation.
  • CV in English (or in the working language of the host organisation).

The student can avail of the help of the Francisco de Vitoria University Traineeship and Employment Department when seeking the company where they wish to have their traineeship.

The Spanish Education International Relations Service (SEPIE) has facilitated two search engines for finding traineeship offers abroad. This information can be found here:

ERASMUSINTERN

This tool has been developed by the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), an international non-profit association of students. The platform allows companies to register their traineeship offers and for students and organisations to search for companies interested, with a series of filter options which make it possible to conduct searches matching the objectives of each institution.

• • Access to the

  platform

DROP’PIN @EURES

The European network for finding employment, EURES, has developed a specific portal: Drop’pin @EURES for unemployed young people, where it is possible to view different offers for traineeships, volunteering, etc.

Access to Drop’pin @EURES.

RECRUITING ERASMUS

The The Recruiting Erasmus Program facilitates the search for employment for Spanish and foreign students who participate in international exchange programs.

Access to: plataform.

More information from the Vice-Rectorate for International Relations: outgoing@ufv.es

Note: The Francisco de Vitoria University “Erasmus+ Traineeships” project is co-financed by the European Union Erasmus+ program. The information contained here is the exclusive responsibility of Francisco de Vitoria University and neither the European Commission nor the Spanish Education International Relations Service (SEPIE) are responsible for the use which may be made of it.