Hosting an international intern means that a student from another country gets to try out what it's like to work for you under supervision. Sometimes the internship is included in the degree programme, but a student can also apply for an internship on their own initiative and then transfer it to their education.
When hosting a trainee, a supervisor must be appointed well in advance. This person should be present at the workplace throughout the traineeship period. If this is not possible, a replacement shall be appointed. A trainee should not be regarded as an employee and therefore the same requirements cannot be imposed as on an employed employee. The trainee shall also not replace a permanent employee.
It is the student's own responsibility to find a traineeship, which means that they contact the department or unit they want to do the internship at directly.
There is no central coordination at Umeå University of incoming students on traineeships. The department decides whether or not to accept a student on traineeship.
However, International Office has created some recommendations and documents how to receive trainees within Erasmus+. The documents can also be used for trainees outside of Erasmus+.
Being a traineeship host
As an traineeship host, you are responsible for:
- Appointing a supervisor.
- Arranging a workplace, access card and keys.
- Ensuring that premises, tools, work methods, handling of hazardous substances meet certain basic requirements from a work environment point of view.
- Signing documents from the trainee. The documents are provided by the student's home university but needs to be signed by the host university for the student to receive their scholarship.
Financing
A trainee is not regarded as a student. This means that the trainee should not be registered in Ladok and thus will not have access to student discounts. If the trainee conducts the traineeship within the Erasmus+ programme, the grant for the traineeship is higher than for studies, among other things to compensate for the lack of discounts. As a traineeship host, you have no obligation to pay any salary, but if you want to, it can be combined with the Erasmus scholarship.
Insurance
Incoming trainees are covered by collective insurance for foreign visitors. The insurance is provided by the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Agency (Kammarkollegiet). The insurance applies automatically - no need to make a manual order for an individual person. If the student needs a certificate of the insurance, an HR person or manager can write one.
More information about Insurance for international employees and guests
European students should be asked to bring their European health insurance card, which entitles them to necessary medical and dental care on the same terms and costs as those insured in the country.
Residence
The department/unit is not required to arrange accommodation for the trainee. If you wish, you can investigate the possibility of housing via Housing Office.
If the student arranges housing on their own, please refer to more information at: Housing in Umeå
Residence permit
Residence permit EU/EES citizens
Have the right to stay in Sweden for up to three months.
For trainees who stay for 3–12 months, it is important to ensure that they meet the requirements for staying in Sweden. Trainees are not regarded as workers or students.
Read more about the right of residence on this page. (in Swedish)
For citizens outside the EU/EES
Here you can read more about what applies to residence permits for trainees at a university who are citizens outside the EU/EEA. (In Swedish)
Link to the Swedish Migration Agency's website
The processing time at the Swedish Migration Agency for these cases is often several months.
During the traineeship
During the traineeship it is important that the contact information of the trainee is available at the department/the unit, for example the trainee's phone number and postal address in Umeå, in case you need to reach the trainee with short notice. This is especially important if the traineeship runs though the summer, when the department's/unit's regular staff are not always on site.
Trainees are more then welcome to join the Buddy Programme, please provide this information to your trainee.
After the traineeship
When the traineeship is completed, the supervisor might be asked to sign a document called Traineeship Certificate. The student receives this document from his/her home university. It is entirely up to the home university to assess, and credit, any points that the traineeship corresponds to.