Erasmus+ teachers exchange

Erasmus+ is an education and training programme funded by the EU. The programme gives you as a teacher at Umeå University the opportunity to participate in various forms of exchanges. You can apply for compensation for an exchange for a period of two days up to two months. Teachers who go on exchange for purposes other than teaching can also apply for funding for staff mobility.

What you can do on the exchange

All types of teaching of students count, such as lectures, seminars, individual supervision of joint doctoral students or examinations.

Teaching exchange as a pedagogical merit
A teacher exchange can be an important pedagogical merit. Teachers who have gone on exchange talk about how they have developed their pedagogy in teaching contexts and that they have gained valuable experience of teaching different student groups and as a result found new methods for student learning. The exchange can also be used as a way to establish valuable contacts with partner universities. 

You can go here

The countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme are: All EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey.

EUs list of Overseas countries and territories

How much financial compensation?

The compensation is a lump sum that is intended to cover some of the expenses you have in regard with the teacher exchange, such as travel costs and increased living costs, in order to enable the exchange. The length of your stay, physical distance and the country you have visited determine the amount of compensation.

You will receive compensation for the trip as well as compensation for each day you are away on your exchange. If the travel to/from the exchange takes place the day before or after the exchange itself, you can also receive compensation for up to 2 travel days. In the case of green travel (travel by sustainable means of transport such as: bus, train or carpooling) that takes longer, you can also receive compensation for up to 4 extra travel days. 

Example

If you go on a 5-day teacher exchange to a university in Rome, which includes transport by air the day before and the day after the exchange, the department will receive 1480 EUR in reimbursement from the Erasmus programme. 360 EUR for the trip and 160 EUR/day for 7 days.

In the table below, you can calculate approximately how much compensation you can receive for your exchange.

Application process

You contact the university, company or organisation you want to visit and make arrangements for the trip by yourself. 

Conditions for applying

You must fulfil these conditions in order to apply for funding for teacher exchange through the Erasmus+ programme:

• You are employed at Umeå University.
• Your manager approves your exchange period.
• The exchange takes place within the framework of your employment.
• The duration of the exchange shall be a minimum of two working days and a maximum of two months. Full-time is expected.
• The exchange must be carried out in one place over a continuous period.
• Teacher exchange must include at least 8 teaching hours/week (for exchanges 2-7 days). If the mobility lasts longer than one week, the minimum number of teaching hours for an incomplete week should be proportional to the duration of that week (1.6 h/day).
  
  Keep in mind that time for, for example, teacher seminars, research and professional development cannot be included in teaching time.
• There is an agreement between the department where you are employed and the receiving university.
• You attach an education program, Work Plan, to your application. It can, for example, contain a schedule that describes the exchange.You are welcome to include information about how you will spread your future gained experiences or knowledge when you return.
• The mobility cannot be financed with other EU funds (double funded) 

Submit your application

The application is made digitally in our system support Solemove. We need to receive your application no later than one month before your planned staff exchange. The application needs to be complete with all appendices uploaded well in advance of departure. You can submit your application at any time during the year.

[The application portal is temporarily closed due to system updates 240205]

1. Read and follow the instructions on how to apply for teacher exchange via Solemove to fill out your application.

Three documents are mandatory to complete the application. Two documents will be generated automatically by Solemove (Mobility Agreement and Grant Agreement). The document work plan needs to be written by you/the host organization, it should describe the exchange, for example, as a schedule or similar.

Exchange agreements

An Erasmus+ exchange agreement is required to go on a teacher exchange. You can go on an exchange through your departments own agreements or another department's agreements. If you want to go on an exchange through another department's agreement, contact that department to get consent. 

Our Erasmus+ agreements can be found in the the exchange agreement database Solemove. Some of the agreements only apply to student exchange. If you want to go on a an exchange through a student exchange agreement, please contact the international contact person at your department. They can send a request to the partner university to ask if the exchange also can include teacher exchange.

Selection process

The funds that Umeå University receives from the Erasmus+ programme are limited and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If a selection situation arises, a selection among the applications received will be made based on the criteria in the document below.

Priority staff exchange.pdf

Book your travel

We recommend that you use the university's travel agency when going on an exchange. Read more about how to book business travel through the university's travel agency

Insurance

If you are employed by the university or work on behalf of the university, you are covered by the business travel insurance. The insurance applies to all business trips you make on behalf of the university in Sweden and abroad.

Read more about business travel insurance

Processing times after submission of the application

Once your complete application before the exchange has been submitted, it will be processed within 2 working weeks. During the holiday periods, applications are processed if officers are present, this refers to the following times:

1 July–10 August

15 December–10 January.

Should we have any questions, we will contact you. Otherwise you will receive a message from the application system that the application is complete through an email containing the Certificate of Attendance, which you need to get signed during your exchange of the receiving organisation. The document can also be found in the 'Documents' information on this page.

After your exchange

We hope and believe that you will come back from your exchange full of inspiration and new perspectives and be able to apply what you have learned in your work.

There are a few things you need to do after your exchange in order for us to be able to finalize your application.

Upload documents after the exchange

After your exchange, you need to upload the following in Solemove:

• a copy of the travel expense report from PASS 
• a signed certificate (Certificate of Attendance) from the foreign higher education institution stating that you have visited them and during which period.

Instructions on how to complete your application in Solemove kan be found in the end of this manual: Application for Erasmus teacher

Respond to the survey from the Erasmus+ programme

A report regarding your exchange will be sent by email, you need to answer this as soon as possible after the end of the exchange.

Payment 

When your application is completed after the exchange, we will process it. You will receive a payment decision by e-mail that you need to submit to your financial officer or equivalent at the department/unit. Your department/unit will be reimbursed by the Erasmus+ programme based on the information in the tables above. No grants are paid directly to you as an employee.

If the actual cost is lower than the reimbursement, the surplus accrues to the institution and if the cost exceeds the reimbursement, the department must pay the difference.

Other international opportunities

STINT Teaching Sabbatical

Nordplus for teachers