Erasmus + Traineeship

Özyeğin University was awarded the EUCX (Extended Erasmus University Charter) by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission in the 2009 round. Based on this Charter, starting from the 2009-10 academic year, Özyeğin students qualified for Erasmus mobility. In line with the application and evaluation procedures of the 2021- 27 project phase, Özyeğin University's Erasmus Charter for Higher Education has been renewed. 

An Erasmus student traineeship is a period of time that a student can spend in an enterprise or organization in another participating country, with a view to help students to adapt to the requirements of the labour market and acquire specific skills and to improve work experience. The traineeship period assists the students in their future professional lives.

You may click on the following headings to scroll down to the related section.

• Eligibility Criteria
• General Information
• Application Process
• Turkish National Agency - Additional Criteria
• Necessary Documents
• EU Academy - Online Linguistic Support (OLS)
• Mobility Grants
• Inclusion Support for Students with Special Needs
• Additional Grant Support for Disadvantaged Students
• Green Travel Support
• Short-Term Blended Mobility
• Travel Support

Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility Eligibility Criteria

The International Exchange and Partnership Programs Office (IEPP) generally welcomes applications to participate in the Erasmus+ program at the end of each Fall semester. The minimum criteria:

• 2.20/4.00 CGPA for undergraduate students,
• 3.00/4.00 CGPA for graduate students,
• 60/100 points from Erasmus Language Exam (ELE).
  
  

General Information

• Traineeship duration should be min. 2 months and could be max. 12 months. (minimum 60 calendar days - not working days)
• Students can benefit from the traineeship opportunity within 12 months upon graduation with the condition of applying before graduation in their final year.
• Students who have benefitted from the Erasmus mobility activities may participate in traineeship mobility as long as the total mobility period does not exceed 12 months.
• EU institutions, EU funded projects  and  EU agencies are not acceptable as host institutions. 
• The host institutions and must be compatible with the Erasmus+ Program Guide. The receiving organization can be any  public  or  private  organization  active  in  the  labor  market  or  in  the  fields  of  education, training and youth. For example, such organization can be:
  • public or private, a small, medium  or  large  enterprise  (including  social enterprises);
  • public body at local, regional or national level;
  • social  partner  or  other  representative  of  working  life,  including  chambers  of commerce, craft/professional associations and trade unions;
  • research institute;
  • foundation;
  • school/institute/educational  center  (at  any  level,  from  pre-school  to  upper secondary education, and including vocational education and adult education);
  • non - profit organization, association, NGO;
  • body providing career guidance, professional counselling and information services;
  • Program Country HEI awarded with an ECHE.

 
Application Process 

• The 2024 applications announcement has been published on MyOzU. 
• Since there is no partner institutions for the Erasmus+ traineeship mobility, students must create contacts with enterprises/organizations in order to find their own internship places. You may start your search by visiting the following links: ErasmusIntern, Digital Opportunity Traineeship, GlobalPlacement, EURASMUS
• Students must submit an Acceptance Letter (Letter of Intent/Invitation)  with the signed approval for your OzU Faculty Program Coordinator (advisor for graduate students) to the OzU IEP to apply.        
• Students will take the Erasmus Language Exam (ELE).

Evaluation is based on the Erasmus score. Erasmus Score = CGPA 50% + ELE Score 50% + if applicable, additional Turkish National Agency Additional Criteria. Students will be ranked within their faculty/school according to the Erasmus Score.   

Turkish National Agency - Additional Criteria

(-) Students who have previously participated in the Erasmus+ program and students who withdrew in the previous years after the given deadline will have 10 points deducted from their Erasmus score.

(-) Students who wish to participate to the program in their countries of citizenship will have 10 points deducted from their Erasmus score.

(-) Placed students who do not attend the meetings/orientation sessions, without a valid excuse will have 5 points deducted from their Erasmus score if they apply to the Erasmus program again.

(+) Students who submit an acceptance/invitation letter at the time of the application period will be given 10 points extra. 

(+) Students who will do a traineeship including digital skills will receive extra 5 points for their Erasmus Score.

(+) Students who submit their Invitation Letter at the time of the online application period will be given 10 points extra. 

(+) Students with disabilities will be given 10 points extra. You must submit a “Disabled Identity Card” at the time of application.

(+) Students who are the children of Veterans/Martyrs will be given 15 points extra. You must submit a “Veteran/Martyr Identity Card” at the time of application.

(+) Extra 10 points will be given to the students who are under protection, care, and shelter by Act No. 2828 Social Services and 5395 Child Protection Law if they submit necessary documents.

• Applicants must submit their acceptance/invitation letters provided by the companies before the deadline announced by the OzU International Exchange and Partnership Programs Office. The applicants should contact their faculty program coordinator to get signed approval on their acceptance letter. Graduate students should get signed approval on their invitation letter from their advisor.
• Erasmus traineeship mobility grant eligibility will be based on the budget allocated by the Turkish National Agency. Not all students are eligible and students can participate in the program as zero-grant students. Zero – grant students must fulfill all student mobility criteria to benefit from all advantages of being an Erasmus+ student.
• Students who have benefitted from the Erasmus mobility activities may once again participate in the program as long as the total mobility period does not exceed 12 months.
• Graduate students must submit the approval of their academic advisors.

Erasmus applicants must complete the official documentation such as Learning Agreement for Traineeship, Visa copy, Erasmus Grant Agreement, Certificate of Attendance and a Participant's Report. For academic recognition, applicants must fill out the Learning Agreement for Traineeship signed both by the receiving institution and Özyeğin University. 

Necessary Documents for Erasmus+ Traineeship

Before the Traineeship:

• Online Application for Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility via TURNAPortal
• Invitation/Acceptance Letter from the host company approved by OzU Program Coordinator
• Learning Agreement for Traineeships - before the mobility part
• Visa Copy
• Erasmus+ Grant Agreement
• Copy of insurance policies: Health insurance, liability insurance and accident insurance coverage related to the student's tasks.
• Traineeship Approval Form - before the mobility
• Read the Erasmus+ Student Charter

 
After the Traineeship:

• Learning Agreement for Traineeship - After the Mobility part
• Certificate of Attendance
• EU Participant's Report
• Passport copy (entry-exit stamps)
• Evaluation Form
  
  

EU Academy - Online Linguistic Support (OLS)
 
The Online Linguistic Support by EU Academy is a free online support tool made available by the European Commission to view and assess their competence in the language they will use to study or carry out their traineeships abroad. This tool will also offer them, where necessary, the possibility to improve the knowledge of the language before and/or during the mobility period with various online language courses. Therefore, students are encouraged to benefit from this platform to get maximum efficiency about their language competency. For more information on language assessments and courses click here. 

Mobility Grants

Students who qualify for mobility grants have to sign an agreement and agree to undertake the responsibilities that are mentioned in the agreement. Mobility grants will be provided for 2 months to be able to support more students. 80% of the mobility grant will be paid to eligible students in the beginning of the traineeship. After the mobility, students who fulfill all the requirements (relevant documentation, academic success etc.) will be considered for the remaining 20% of the mobility grant. If the participants do not fulfill the minimum criteria and do not submit the mandatory documents on time; they may not receive the remaining grant or may be asked to pay back a portion of the first installment.

Please refer to the table below showing the regional mobility grant amount. The allocation varies from year to year and is dependent on the EUC and Turkish National Agency's budget proposal.

Inclusion Support for Students with Special Needs

To ensure that a person whose individual physical, mental or health-related conditions are such that his/her participation in Erasmus+ would not be possible without extra financial support can take full advantage of European mobility arrangements, Erasmus+ pays particular attention to guidance, reception, physical accessibility, pedagogical and technical support services, and, especially, financing the extra costs.

Students who plan to apply special needs support must submit their applicaiton to the International Exchange and Partnership Programs Office before their mobility. The applications must include a statement from an official authority confirming the disability or health condition, its severity, the impact on the Erasmus+ mobility, additional requirements and additional costs. Students must submit a doctor's report (not older than 3 months) or a photocopy of the disability card, which includes information on the disability and its level, and a doctor's report for chronic diseases. Estimated costs are required at the time of application. The additional support grant is a contribution based on real costs. As such, the costs must be directly related to participants’ disability.  

If students are selected as eligible for Inclusion Support, the final additional grant will be awarded based on the actual amount of the expenses documented. Invoices regarding the use of the additional grant given at the end of the activity must be provided to our office for evaluation. Undocumented expenses and expenses above the Inclusion Support amount agreed on the grant agreement before the mobility are not considered eligible for Inclusion Support, even if the expenses are made.

Additional grant requests can be made within the mobility period, but in any case, up to 60 days before the mobility ends.     

You may review the details by clicking Financial Support for Special Needs. You may also check out the LINK Network, supported by the European Comission, for more about studying abroad with disabilities.

If you have any questions or would like apply for this grant, please contact us: international.relations@ozu.edu.tr 

Additional Grant Support for Disadvantaged Students

A granted exchange student who is also economically disadvantaged may receive an additional grant (monthly 250 EUR) during their exchange term. In order to benefit from this additional grant, students must submit the required document(s) from the official authorities.

Eligible applicants are:

• Students who are subject to the decision of protection, care, and shelter based on Act No. 2828 and 5395
• Students who do not have other parent income and receive an orphan's pension
• Students who are Veterans/Martyrs Identity Card holders
• Students who themselves or their families receive neediness pension
• Students who themselves or their first-degree relatives receive AFAD disaster victim aid
• Students whose parents or guardians receive a disabled or neediness pension within the scope of the Law No. 2022: "Law on Pensions to the Needy, Powerless and Orphan Turkish Citizens and Disabled Persons Over 65", dated 01.07.1976
• Students with disabilities

Students must submit the official document provided by Municipalities, Public Institutions or Official Public Organizations (such as Ministries, Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations, General Directorate of Foundations, Turkish Red Crescent, AFAD, etc.) attesting that they benefit from the official financial support at the time of the application.

Receiving the KYK Scholarship or Loan is not acceptable to apply for the additional grant. 

Green Travel Support

Students who do not receive travel support, if they prefer green travel, can be given an additional one-time grant of 50 Euros. Green travel is defined as travel that uses low-emissions means of transport for the main part of the travel, such as bus, train, or car-pooling. In case of only one direction of the travel for exchange term, the student cannot benefit from the green travel support. Please note that electric car use is not considered green travel unless shared with another participant.

The student needs to submit proof of green travel documents. In cases where it is not possible to submit a ticket indicating that the travel is made by a sustainable transportation vehicle (car sharing), the student must present a signed statement and an e-government document or passport showing that the said persons entered and exited on the same day.

Since this process is newly included in the Erasmus+ program, all green travel support requests will be evaluated individually and support can only be provided after the approval of the Turkish National Agency.

Short-Term Blended Mobility

Students who cannot participate in long-term physical mobility primarily are able to carry out a short-term physical mobility by combining it with a compulsory virtual component.

This is a blended type of mobility which includes a physical mobility period completed for a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 30 days abroad the completion of a compulsory virtual period before or after the physical mobility. 

Internship activity should be completed uninterrupted. It should be scheduled to complete a minimum of 5 days in case of a break (the time when the organization is closed, public holidays, etc.). In order to ensure the minimum and maximum activity period, the dates when the internship will be closed should be investigated in advance, and it should be ensured that the minimum period is provided even after the vacation period included. Weekend holidays are excluded from these criteria.

In case of a blended mobility, the dates of the physical and virtual periods of the mobility must be specified separately on the Acceptance Letter received from the host company/institution. If not, the mobility period stated on the letter will be considered as “physical” duration.

Students receive daily grant for the physical period they complete abroad for a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 30 days.

 Travel Support

Students who participate to short-term blended mobility with fewer opportunities according to the criteria for “Additional Grant for Disadvantaged Students” may receive travel support. Amounts differ if students prefer green travel.

The travel support amount is based on the travel distance per participant. Travel distances must be calculated using the distance calculator provided by the European Commission (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/distance-calculator)