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Approaching selection for traineeship abroad

Selection of doctoral students for traineeship mobility abroad

The deadline for application submission is the 10th day of each month (except for July, August and December).

Selections take place each month at the Erasmus+ doctoral academic mobility selection meeting.

If you have already found an “Erasmus+” traineeship place and received traineeship acceptance letter , complete an online application on the Mobility Online platform within the set deadline: 

  • Including all the specified appendices,  
  • Without the appendices (only in the case of the recent graduate traineeship if you have not found any traineeship place yet). 

There are four selections per year for “Erasmus+” traineeship scholarships. Applications for selections must be submitted by 1 September, 1 December, 1 March and 1 June. 

The students of all study cycles (bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral) can apply for a professional or additional traineeship. Bachelor’s can start this traineeship at the earliest only once their first study year is completed (in summer).   

Applications for recent graduate traineeship are restricted to students of all study cycles (bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral) in the final year of studies. Applications for this traineeship are open until the last day of studies (or dissertation defence) at the University.  

 

Selection criteria

  • grade point average of studies; 
  • the motivation for the traineeship abroad; 
  • compliance of the traineeship activities with the study programme (recent graduate traineeship) or a reasonable choice of other activities; 
  • additional experience of the candidate (work experience, participation in international conferences, fellowships, projects, etc.). 

The order of the selection criteria is not defined. Candidates will be informed of the outcome of the selection by personal email within 7 days of the deadline for receipt of applications. 

Important: 

  • Any academic failure has to be eliminated before the traineeship period starts. 
  • Students who are on study leave cannot go abroad for “Erasmus+” traineeship. 

 

Appeals

If you disagree with the result of the selection, you may lodge a reasoned appeal for clarification of the results of the selection within 5 working days of receipt of the results of the selection. The appeal has to be addressed to the “Erasmus+” institutional coordinator and sent to the IRD specialist, responsible for “Erasmus+” traineeship (IRD specialist).  

After examining the grounds for the appeal, a response is prepared within 10 working days and sent to the email address you have provided.  

If you still disagree with the decision of the “Erasmus+” institutional coordinator, you can submit a request within 3 working days to the Dispute Settlement Commission established by the order of KTU Rector. 

General information

“Erasmus+” traineeship abroad is available to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students registered in higher education institutions, who do not have any academic debts and recent graduates.  

This traineeship should be relevant to your needs in pursuit of a degree and personal development and be as integrated as possible into your study programme. During your traineeship abroad, you have the opportunity to do the following: 

  • acquire international professional experience; 
  • acquire digital skills; 
  • learn about the labour market requirements in another country; 
  • broaden your understanding of the economic, social and cultural conditions in a particular country; 
  • acquire social and emotional skills;  
  • acquire communication skills in a foreign language; 
  • make new acquaintances (business and personal); 
  • gain intercultural experience;  
  • become more entrepreneurial, etc. 

You can complete: 

  • additional traineeship; 
  • professional traineeship; 
  • recent graduate traineeship. 

You can only go on an additional traineeship when the study modules are not being taught (summer holidays, final semester), and on a professional traineeship when the professional traineeship semester is scheduled. The recent graduate traineeship can only be started after graduation from KTU and completed within 12 months from the date of graduation from KTU. The recent graduate traineeship can also be carried out during the summer before the beginning of the new studies, e.g. after the completion of the bachelor’s degree and before the beginning of the master’s/doctoral studies in the autumn. The plan for this traineeship must be closely related to the study programme completed at KTU.  

Important! Recent graduates are not allowed to study at higher education institutions during the traineeship. 

Traineeship search portals

To find a traineeship place abroad: 

  1. Consult the head of your study programme, lecturers, career mentors, alumni, family or friends, and search for the offers of traineeship places on the specific portals: 

2. Make a list of your preferred traineeship places (companies, organisations, universities). 

Eligible traineeship organisations (based in any country participating in the “Erasmus+” programme): higher education institutions, Lithuanian diplomatic missions, state-owned enterprises, research centres, companies, etc. 

Non-eligible traineeship organisations: EU institutions and agencies (see the list). 

 3. Prepare a good CV and motivation letter (tips on how to do this are available here or register for a consultation with a specialist at KTU Cooperation Development and Career Centre). 

4. Send your CV and motivation letter to the organisations where you would like to complete your traineeship.

5. Wait for an invitation to the traineeship or interview. 

6. Once you have received the invitation to the traineeship, coordinate the date and plan of the traineeship with KTU traineeship supervisor (contact the Faculty Study Centre to find a traineeship supervisor) and the host organisation. 

Important! Traineeship cannot start or end on weekends or holidays. 

Once you agree on the traineeship, send the template of the traineeship acceptance letter to the traineeship organisation. 

Mobility stages

Before mobility

  1. Use the tips in the section Search for Traineeship Places to go on a traineeship abroad. 
  2. Complete your application in the Mobility Online platform by the deadline.
  3. After selection, before leaving for the traineeship place, submit the documents to the faculty’s international relations coordinator (IRC) and also upload in the Mobility Online platform as listed in the section Documents.
  4. Search for accommodation and plan your trip. How to do this and more useful information can be found in KTU Pre-departure Guide.
  5. Before the traineeship period, take the compulsory language assessment test in the OLS (Online Linguistic Support) system. The app can be download for iOS and Android operating systems.

Important! If the traineeship is in your mother tongue, you do not need to take this test. 

Additional opportunities

In this section, you can find information on various internship opportunities (with and without funding) in different countries around the world 

AIESEC  https://aiesec.org/ 
Baltic American Freedom Foundation  https://balticamericanfreedomfoundation.org/ 
BALTECH (training, conferences, summer/winter schools, etc.)  https://www.baltech.info/ 
Blue Book Traineeship  https://ec.europa.eu/stages/home_en 
Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU 

https://www.dbu.de/2600.html 

 

Fullbright Scholar Program  https://www.cies.org/ 
GO Overseas  https://www.gooverseas.com/traineeship-abroad 
IAESTE (The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience)  https://iaeste.org/ 
Lituanistics traineeship (in Lithuanian communities, Lithuanian schools and centres around the world) 

https://stipendijos.lt/galimybes/kvieciame-teikti-paraiskas-tarptautinems-praktikoms-lituanistinio-svietimo-istaigose-2022-2023-m-m-2/ 

 

NORDTEK (training, conferences, summer/winter schools, etc.)  http://nordtek.net/ 
Talentoteca (in Spanish)  https://www.talentoteca.es 
University Centre in Svalbard   https://www.unis.no/ 
Vulcanus in Japan  https://www.eu-japan.eu/events/vulcanus-japan 

Financial support

Every KTU student has the opportunity to receive an “Erasmus+” scholarship for a total of 12 months (24 months for students of integrated studies) of physical mobility for studies and/or traineeship (including recent graduate traineeship) at each study cycle (bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral studies). The scholarship covers part of the travel, living and insurance costs and also is as a supplement to university or other scholarships. Students are also required to pay fees to the institution of their home country or the country where they study and fulfill other conditions stipulated in the student’s study contract. 

The amount of the scholarship depends on the standard of living in the country of traineeship, the available individual support and, the duration of the physical mobility. 

Funding of short-term physical mobility:  

79 EUR per day up to 14 days of physical activities and 5š EUR per day for 15-30 days. 

Funding of long-term physical mobility: 

Group of countries  Amount of scholarship  Countries 
I  824 €/month 

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden

Third countries, not associated to the programme, from 14 region (Faroe Islands, Switzerland, United Kingdom)

II  824 €/month 

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain

Third countries, not associated to the programme, from 13 region (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City State)

III  756 €/month 

Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Turkey

 

IV   700 €/month

Third countries, not associated to the programme, from 1-12 regions

 

*Note. Funding of the mobility in the countries from the IV group from 1-12 regions and 13, 14 regions is very limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

If you are going to a country from the IV group, an additional travel allowance is allocated which depends on the travel distance (from KTU to the traineeship place): 

Distance  *Sum  Sum of green travelling 
From 10 to 99 km:  23 EUR per participant   
From 100 to 499 km:  180 EUR per participant  210 EUR per participant 
From 500 to 1999 km:  275 EUR per participant  320 EUR per participant 
From 2000 to 2999 km:  360 EUR per participant  410 EUR per participant 
From 3000 to 3999 km:  530 EUR per participant  610 EUR per participant 
From 4000 to 7999 km:  820 EUR per participant   
8000 km and more  1500 EUR per participant   

*Note: „sum“ is for travel allowance to and through traineeship place.  

Students and recent graduates who go to internships in the countries from I-III groups can also opt for green travel. In this case, they will receive a single contribution of 50 EUR as a top-up amount to the individual support and up to 4 days of additional individual support to cover travel days for a return trip, if relevant. 

You may receive additional support if you have special needs, belong to a disadvantaged group of KTU students or use a green travelling to and through traineeship place. In all these cases, you need to provide documentation to support your additional needs as described in the section Additional Financial Support. 

If you are going on a professional or additional traineeship and you have uploaded to the Mobility Online all the required documents for the mobility (see section Documents), and you have passed the OLS test, the first instalment of the scholarship (90% of the total scholarship) will be paid within 30 days from the date of signing of the financial agreement.  

If you are going on a recent graduate traineeship, once you arrive at the “Erasmus+” traineeship place, ask your traineeship supervisor of the host organisation to send the Confirmation of Arrival to the IRD specialist from the business email within 5 working days to receive the first payment of the scholarship. 

The balance of the scholarship (10%) will only be paid after full settlement for the completed traineeship (see section Documents). If the traineeship is shortened by more than 5 days, the sholarship is recalculated according to the actual period of your stay. 

Some of the selected students may only be granted “Erasmus+” student or recent graduate status (and related opportunities and responsibilities), but the “Erasmus+” scholarship is not awarded (“zero grant”). They may receive a non-Erasmus+ EU fund (ESF, etc.) or national, regional or other type of grant to contribute to their mobility costs.  

Documents

F.A.Q.

Until you have used up the 12 months limit of the “Erasmus+” programme (combined with the mobility of studies). This period is recalculated at each cycle of studies. 

The student can have academic debts at the time he/she submits an application but they have to be cancelled until the beginning of the “Erasmus+” traineeship. 

It is possible, but the student must have returned from an academic leave of absence before the beginning of the traineeship. 

Yes. In this case, you can go on an additional traineeship in the summer, during your final semester or on a recent graduate traineeship after graduation. 

You can. Students who have completed their third (second) year of studies can do their mandatory traineeship in advance (in the summer) if they agree with the vice-dean for studies that the planned “Erasmus+” traineeship programme meets the requirements for a mandatory traineeship. 

If you wish to apply for KTU Talent Scholarship, the completed “Erasmus+” traineeship will add 0.4 points for physical mobility and 0.2 points for virtual mobility. 

We recommend choosing your traineeship based on where you can gain the most experience instead of the country. 

“Erasmus+” traineeship scholarship is intended to cover part of the mobility costs (travel, insurance and subsistence), but it may not be enough to cover all the costs, so you need to have extra funds. 

Most students say that the scholarship is sufficient, but this depends on the standard of living in the country and the personal habits and needs of each student. Possible budgeting example: Living costs in Kaunas + “Erasmus+” traineeship scholarship = All funds during Erasmus+ traineeship. 

Yes. The “Erasmus+” programme allows you to receive both the traineeship scholarship and the company’s remuneration. 

You need to make your own travel arrangements. You need to plan your journey from your home door to the traineeship place. The host organisations may offer an airport pick-up service or a transfer service to your place of residence. A lot of useful information is available in KTU Pre-departure Guide. 

You need to arrange your own accommodation. Begin by asking the host organisation about this, but we also recommend that you look for student accommodation offers through the ESN of the host university/city or on specialised websites.  

Be careful when paying your deposit as scams do occur! More information and advice are available in KTU Pre-departure Guide. 

You will not have to pay for the extra credits, awarded during the “Erasmus+” additional traineeship. 

According to the University’s procedure, you can return until 1 September, and with the dean’s permission until 15 September. 

Applications can be submitted at any time during the final year, but no later than the end of the studies at KTU (the last day before the diploma collection). 

The period of this traineeship is calculated together with the “Erasmus+” mobility period of the completed studies (e.g., if a student has already used 12 months in the completed studies, he/she is not allowed to go on a recent graduate traineeship; if he/she has used only 8 months of the “Erasmus+” mobility period, the following remains for the recent graduate traineeship: 12 – 8 = 4 months, etc.). 

As every recent graduate can complete his/her traineeship within 12 months of the end of his/her studies at KTU, it is possible to find an traineeship place even after graduation. In this case, the recent graduate‘s application can be submitted without the company’s acceptance letter. Such an application is placed on the Reserve List and will be considered at the next selection after the recent graduate submits the company’s acceptance letter and a motivation letter. 

Contacts

Student Info Centre 

Rūta Jankauskienė
International Student Exchange Specialist
erasmus@ktu.lt
(I-IV 13:00 – 17:00)
Studentų St. 50, LT-51368, Kaunas