ERASMUS+ CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR TRAINEESHIP PROGRAMMES 2017/2018
Traineeships in Companies or Institutions based in one of the Countries participating in the Programme.

Submission deadline for applications:
Friday 1st December at 1pm

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Erasmus+ Programme promotes activities to the benefit of education, young people and sports, also including initiatives that give students the opportunity to participate in traineeship programmes abroad. More specifically, the initiative known as “Erasmus+ mobility for Traineeship” and the subject-matter of this call for applications is aimed at fostering the mobility of students and future graduates by giving them the opportunity to spend a traineeship period (2-month minimum stay, to be completed by 30th September 2018) in an institution/company based in one of the countries participating in the Programme, namely the 28 Member States of the European Union, the countries of the European Economic Area, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.
Students will have the opportunity to acquire specific and cross skills in the subjects of their study programme, as well as social and cultural knowledge of the host country. They will also improve their language skills and gain the professional skills required to integrate the theoretical knowledge learnt during their academic training, thus enhancing their soft skills.

For the academic year 2017/2018, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia offers its students a total of 447 months of mobility funded through grants - financed by the European Commission, Unimore and the Directorate General of International Affairs of MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research), through the Ministry of Economy and Finance – National part-financing of the Erasmus Programme pursuant to Law 183/1987.
Grants/monthly allowances will be awarded for traineeships of a 2-month minimum duration, period after which the financing is not guaranteed (for additional monthly allowances the sole status of Erasmus student is ensured) and they will be assigned to the Departments/Schools and Doctoral research programmes/Specialisation schools based on applications and historic data, as well as their trend. 

With the objective of enhancing the international mobility for the “structured mobility” international degree programmes, as provided for in the Three-year University Plan 2016-2018, ERASMUS+ for Traineeship mobility grants are offered for the academic year 2017/2018, which will cover the entire traineeship mobility period, to Unimore students enrolled in the following degree programmes: Master’s degree in Economics and Public Policies, Master’s degree in Chemical Sciences, Master’s degree in Science and Geological Technologies, Master’s degree in Engineering for environmental sustainability, Master’s degree in Materials Engineering, Master’s degree in Industrial Biotechnologies, Master’s degree in Medical Biotechnologies, Master’s degree in Information Technology, Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy. Students enrolled in the above-mentioned degree programmes will also be awarded a one-off subsidy of 400 euros – from the Provisions of the Three-Year University Plan 2016-18 – provided that at the end of their mobility period they obtain at least 12 CFUs (university credits), as a result of their mobility period.

Traineeships shall start not before 15th January 2018 and shall be completed by 30th September 2018

Grants shall be considered as a subsidy to cover extraordinary expenses that the student may have to bear abroad. 

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Unless otherwise specified in the educational systems of the degree programmes, students are eligible to apply if they meet at least one of the following requirements:

REQUIREMENTS	GENERAL CONDITIONS
(Note: To specify in annex 2)

•	Students of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia who are OFFICIALLY ENROLLED AT THE TIME OF THE APPLICATION, EVEN BEYOND THE TIME PRESCRIBED FOR GRADUATION, for the year 2017/2018 in first, second or third-level degree programmes (Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and PhD respectively); postgraduates who are officially enrolled in the specialisation schools of the medical and non-medical area (students enrolled in certain Specialisation Schools are admitted if they are enrolled in years previous to the issuing of the call for applications, due to the scheduling of corresponding ministerial announcements)	

•	students who are GRADUATING BY THE EXTRAORDINARY SESSIONS OF ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017 AND STARTING THE PLANNED TRAINEESHIP PERIOD AS NEW GRADUATES. In that case, at the time of application, students must be still enrolled in the academic year 2016/2017 (without having obtained the degree yet).	
In this event, the traineeship period shall take place after obtaining the university degree (obtaining the graduation is required before leaving) and anyway by 30th September 2018. In addition, students participating in structured mobility programmes are subject to the same conditions of the other students (as credits are not assigned, under this mobility they will not benefit from the financial conditions provided for the structured mobility programmes). 	

•	students who are GRADUATING BY THE EXTRAORDINARY SESSIONS OF ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017 AND STARTING THE PLANNED TRAINEESHIP PERIOD BEFORE GRADUATION, in line with the timeframe set for the selection, awarding, and acceptance procedures, as well as the submission of the required documents	
In this case, only students enrolled in the structured mobility study programmes are eligible, provided that they graduate only after completing the minimum mobility period provided, and it is instrumental to the obtainment of the 12 CFU credits required. Students not graduating in the extraordinary session of the academic year 2016/2017 shall return any allowances received unless they pay the university fees for the year 2017/2018.

•	Students enrolled in Bachelor’s Degree Programmes for the academic year 2016/2017 AND GRADUATING BY DECEMBER 2017	
In this case, they are eligible for the mobility programme provided that at the time of leaving they are enrolled for the academic year 2017/2018 in a Master’s degree programme. Students who are enrolled in a Structured Mobility Master’s Degree Programme will benefit from the conditions provided for such specific courses, as specified in the “General Information”	

Students not included:

•	students already awarded with a Traineeship mobility allowance, selected based on the “Erasmus + Call for Applications for Traineeship 2017/2018 for structured mobility programmes”
•	students enrolled to Individual Courses;
•	students not officially enrolled at UNIMORE. 

Students who are not officially enrolled at UniMORE may not apply. Please also note that the administrative office of the programmes must be UniMORE. 
Note: candidates must possess all the above-mentioned requirements when submitting the application. Applications stating declarations that are non compliant with the participation requirements shall be considered void.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Students must have a proper knowledge of the language spoken in the country where they would like to spend the traineeship period and/or the common language required/accepted by the host institution. 
Candidates shall state their knowledge of a common language (English, French, Spanish and German) not lower than the B2 level (Europass Language Passport). The language knowledge may also be proven by submitting one of the certificates listed at the following website: http://www.clamore.unimore.it/it/certifications/info. If the level of language knowledge stated in the application is lower than B2, students shall commit to reach the required level before they leave for the traineeship period.
Before they leave, students who are awarded the grant shall take a free language test on the OLS (Online Linguistic Support) European portal. The result of the initial test will allow students to access an online language course for the same number of months as the mobility programme. The course may be started even before leaving for the traineeship (and anyway after signing the finance agreement) and students will commit themselves according to their individual learning needs and time availability. The OLS portal also provides for a final compulsory test aimed at assessing students and monitoring their progresses during their staying abroad. 
At present, OLS is available in the following languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Danish, Greek, Portuguese, Swedish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian and Slovakian. It will progressively be made available in more languages. Please also note that Erasmus students may obtain the licence for one language only as set at the time of the assignment. The modes and times for the OLS licence assignments shall be communicated by the International Relations Office.

TRAINEESHIP DURATION
Allowances shall be assigned only to traineeships lasting for a minimum of 2 actual months (60 days). Traineeships shall start not before 15th January 2018 and shall be completed by 30th September 2018
Start and end dates shall be previously agreed with the host company and the International Relations Office.
The length shall be accounted for based on a 360-day business year; hence each month will have a 30-day duration regardless of its actual length. If the mobility period is not a number of full months (e.g. 2 months and 5 days), the allowance shall be calculated by multiplying the number of days of the incomplete month by 1/30 of the monthly unit cost. 
Note: The Erasmus+ programme allows each student to be eligible for the Study or Traineeship mobility programme abroad more than once. Each student or graduate may spend a maximum mobility period of 12 months for each cycle of studies, regardless of the number and types of mobility programmes carried out, except for those students who are enrolled in single-cycle degree programmes, who can spend a maximum of 24 months abroad. Note: The study mobility programme must be completed before starting the subsequent traineeship mobility programme.
Except for structured mobility programmes, financing is guaranteed for 2-month traineeships, whereas for any additional month the sole status of Erasmus student is ensured. The allowance amount shall be based on the residual provisions available and/or any funding reallocations by the Erasmus+ Indire National Agency, for the duration of the mobility. A time extension may be requested by submitting the specific form at least one month before the initial end date of the mobility period (the form will be made available by the International Relations Office). If the request is accepted, the status of Erasmus student is extended whereas the EU allowance for the additional months will vary according to the fund availability.

FINDING THE HOST COMPANY
Students shall choose the host company independently, also relying on the support of the Department traineeship Offices, where possible. To help finding a traineeship programme, the International Relations Office has activated a specific “Internship Board”, on which any traineeship offer that the office is aware of are posted (http://www.internationalrelations.unimore.it/site/it/home/programmi-di-mobilita/cardCattirocini-estero.750002424.1.100.1.html).  
The details of the traineeships proposed can be viewed only by logging in with UNIMORE username and password.
Note: The traineeship grant is subject to the acceptance of the application by the host institution.
After finding the host company, the applicant/selected student shall submit a letter of acceptance written by the company in compliance with the layout enclosed (Annex 3). 
Traineeships can start only after the learning agreement for traineeship has been formalised and the financing agreement has been signed.
If students are citizens of one of the countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme other than Italy, and are temporary residents and enrolled at an Italian higher education institution, they are eligible for mobility in a company of their country of origin/citizenship, even though they shall not be given priority in the selection process.

ELIGIBLE COMPANIES
“Company” refers to “all undertakings in the public or private sector whatever their size, legal status or the economic sector in which they operate, and all types of economic activities, including the social economy” (decision no. 170/2006/EC). This definition includes companies, training centres, research centres and other organisations.
In the event of a traineeship in higher education institutions (e.g. laboratories, libraries, etc.) the mobility will be considered to be carried out in a company, hence eligible, provided that the training activity planned during the traineeship is clearly indicated in the work plan of the student and not already included in other EU programmes, in order to avoid any possible conflict of interest and/or double financing. (Circular Letter from the LLP National Agency of 12/04/2010)
Branches of Italian companies abroad must be established with “foreign Articles of Association” in order to be eligible. EUROPEDIRECT offices and NGOs are eligible.
International Relations Offices of Higher Education Institutions are eligible as institutions hosting traineeship mobility programmes as long as the training programme provided for during the traineeship is clearly indicated in the Learning Agreement For Traineeship and not already part-financed within other EU programmes; 
Traineeship programmes in the following institutions are not eligible:
- organisations managing EU programmes
- EU institutions and entities, including European Agencies 
- National diplomatic representations of the country of enrolment of the student, or country of origin/citizenship of the student and located in the host country (Embassies, Consulates...)
However, other representation offices or public institutions such as cultural institutions, schools, etc. shall be considered eligible for traineeship programmes provided that they guarantee the transnationality principle (e.g.: students acquire a know how differing from the one acquired through a traineeship in their own country). (Circular Letter from the LLP National Agency of 12/04/2010)

GRANTS

The grant amount is set based on the destination country of the mobility student and on the months/days of the actual stay abroad. More specifically, the grant amount shall vary according to distinct groups of countries, which have been classified based on the cost of living:

Monthly Allowance	Destination countries	
480.00 € Group 1 (high cost of living)	Denmark, Ireland, France, Austria, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, Norway, 	
430.00 € Group 2 (medium cost of living) and Group 3 (low cost of living)
	Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Island, Turkey, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	

Once all monthly allowances have been paid, any residual provisions left on the National Part-financing may be allocated to integrate the scholarships awarded. 
Students with special needs may request an EU ad hoc grant to the Erasmus+ Indire National Agency for the main expenses strictly connected with the disability status. In this case, please contact the International Relations Office  or the Welcome Office for Disabled Students – Mr. Giacomo Guaraldi (disabilita@unimore.it) who will notify the relevant Office.
The insurance policy (civil liability and personal accident in institutional activities) shall be borne by the university (Circular Letter from the LLP National Agency of 11/12/2008).
Grants are assigned for full-time traineeship activities.

HOW TO APPLY
Applications must be submitted exclusively by filling out the online application form at the following web sitehttps://www.esse3.unimore.it/LoginInfo.do, following the instructions provided in the “Guide to filling out and submitting the online application” by Friday 1st December 2017 at 1pm.
Applications that are incomplete or submitted after the deadline, not filled out properly or not meeting the requisites set in the call for applications shall be discarded.
The following documents are an integral part of this call for application: “Guide to filling out and submitting the online application”, Annex 2 (compulsory) and the CV in the Europass format.
NO HARD COPY OF THE APPLICATION FORM IS REQUIRED

For further information please contact: International Relations Office
studentmobility@unimore.it
Opening hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 10:30am to 1pm
Call centre opening hours:
059/2058389 (Modena) – 0522/522212 (Reggio Emilia):
Mondays - Wednesdays - Fridays: 9:30am to 11:30am
Tuesdays - Thursdays : 9:30am to 10:30am

APPLICATION SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT

The applications received will be assessed, even after an individual interview if necessary, by delegates to International Relations of the applicants’ Departments, or by the Director of the programme concerned for students enrolled in Doctoral Research/Specialisation Programmes/School, based on the following parameters: 
•	motivation and objectives; 
•	previous experience abroad; 
•	language skills; 
•	feasibility analysis of the mobility professional project - if already defined
•	university career assessment/curriculum vitae

The dates of the selection interviews that may be arranged will be communicated by the relevant teachers who are in charge of the Department/Faculty mobility programmes - usually by posting notices on the Department/teacher bulletin boards websites - and by the International Relations Office, only after receiving the official notification by email. 
In any event, students are expected to check the details of the interview with their teachers.
Priority shall be given to students enrolled in the last years of university programmes, also considering any credits obtained, as well as to students who have not previously carried out a traineeship with the assignment of learning credits, and to PhD students with no grant within the limits of ministerial financing. 
A list of students eligible for the grants shall be drawn up, including a waiting list of students who will be given the right to take over in the proposed order in the event of winners’ withdrawal, until all monthly allowances have been accepted. 

SELECTION RESULTS 
Ranking lists will be posted exclusively on the University WEBSITE: http://www.unimore.it/bandi/StuLau-gradinternaz.html, by 20th December 2017.
The Office will send an email communicating that the list has been posted only to the official email address (@students.unimore.it), and shall not be responsible for any reception failure - for instance if the email goes into the spam folder. Therefore, students are responsible for monitoring the above-mentioned website.

ACCEPTANCE 
By the terms indicated when the lists are posted, under penalty of forfeiture, the awarded students must send an email accepting the grant assigned to them to the university email address: studentmobility@unimore.it - following the instructions provided when the lists are posted. 
The eligible students on the waiting list may only accept the Erasmus student status. This gives students the opportunity to participate in an Erasmus+ traineeship programme without being assigned any grant - unless some awarded students in the list give up their assignment.
Please note that in this case it is the assigned student who must find a company for the traineeship, also confirming his/her acceptance of the Erasmus Status by sending an e-mail from their university official address to the university e-mail address studentmobility@unimore.it - following the instructions provided when the lists are posted. 
Once the grant has been accepted, the financing agreement shall be signed both if students are assigned the grant and if they are given the Erasmus Status, before they leave and anyway by 16 July 2018. After that date, students who have not signed the Financial Agreement will be deemed to have withdrawn and lose their Erasmus+ student status.

GRANT OR STATUS ASSIGNMENT
The assignment of the grant or status is subject to:
•	the student’s acceptance - based on the instructions provided above;
•	the host company’s acceptance (stated in a letter of acceptance - see Annex 3)
•	the signature of the Traineeship Mobility Agreement and the Learning Agreement for Traineeship at least 15 days before the start date (after submitting the letter of acceptance), based on the instructions provided by the International Relations Office.
The grant or status will be assigned exclusively for traineeships starting after the completion of the selection procedures and consequent assignment and acceptance. Traineeships shall start not before 15th January 2018.

Note: the Learning Agreement For Traineeship must be duly filled out and signed before the leaving date for each Erasmus student selected, also defining a tailored working plan. Such document may be filled out after submitting the letter of acceptance written by the company.

RENOUNCIATION
Students giving up the grant must send a written notification to the International Relations Office and return any amount of the grant received in advance. 
Students interrupting their stay - except for force majeure cases that have been authorised by the office - shall return the amount relating to the period of stay that has not been spent abroad, calculated according to the statement of the host institution.

LIST PROCESSING
List are processed based on the list order, regardless of the fact that students may have indicated or not their intention to benefit from the sole Erasmus+ for Traineeship status. 
The Office shall be responsible for contacting the newly awarded students following to the list processing by e-mail indicating the terms and modes for accepting the grant. The Office will process the lists until 30/05/2018.               

CHECKS
Please note that pursuant to Art. 71 of Presidential Decree no. 455 of 28/12/2000, the Administration will perform any suitable or random checks, as well as any checks required in the event that reasonable doubts arise about the truthfulness of self-certification statements.

PERSON IN CHARGE OF THE PROCEDURE
Pursuant to Art. 4 of Law no. 241 of 7th August 1990 “New rules on administrative procedures and on access to administrative documents”, the person in charge of the procedure is Ms. Rosa Altamura, International Relations Office - Tel.: 0522/522212, e-mail: studentmobility@unimore.it .

PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING
Personal data submitted by the applicants shall be processed for purposes of selection management and subsequent phases of the project, within the scope and institutional purposes of the Public Administration (Leg. Decree 196/2003).

Modena, ……………

The General Director
Stefano Ronchetti
Signed Stefano Ronchetti