In any of the countries of the EU that is part of the program or, in certain situations, in a partner country. During the 1st or 2nd cycle or within one year once you’ve concluded either cycle (both cycles) – curricular and extracurricular – and in companies or in Higher Education Institutions depending on whether you are looking for professional traineeship in a company or doing research or project for your final thesis.

any public or private organisation active in the labour market or in the fields of education, training and youth. Such an organisation can be:

• a public or private, a small, medium or large enterprise (including social enterprises);
• a public body at local, regional or national level;
• a social partner or other representative of working life, including chambers of commerce, craft/professional associations and trade unions;
• a research institute;
• a foundation;
• a school/institute/educational centre (at any level, from pre-school to upper secondary education, and including vocational education and adult education);
• a non-profit organisation, association, NGO;
• a body providing career guidance, professional counseling and information services.

To study/train abroad, you must be registered in a higher education institution and you must be following studies leading to a recognized degree or other recognized tertiary level qualification, such as a Bachelor, a Master or a Doctorate. Your institution must be located in one of the countries participating in Erasmus+ mobility for higher education (see question 5). In addition, if your institution is located in a Program Country, it must have been awarded the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE). This Charter is part of an accreditation procedure established to guarantee a quality framework for all participants in mobility activities. You can check your institution’s website to know if it is an ECHE holder or see the full list of institutions here:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/funding/2014/call_he_charter_en.php
The selection criteria to study or train abroad with Erasmus+ are defined by your higher education institution.

Your traineeship abroad can last from a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months.
You can benefit of an exchange abroad with Erasmus+ multiple times, either as a student or as a trainee, but your total time abroad (study abroad periods included) may not exceed 12 months within one cycle of study.
“Cycle” refers to the level of study as defined by the European Qualifications Framework (EQF):
1. First cycle (Bachelor or equivalent) EQF 5/6
2. Second cycle (Master or equivalent) EQF 7
3. Third cycle (Doctoral or equivalent) EQF 8
You can also go for a traineeship abroad as a recent graduate. In this case, your traineeship must occur within one year of your graduation and you must apply while still being enrolled in your higher education institution.
So, the duration of a traineeship period is of a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months. In case of a combined study and traineeship, the minimum duration is 3 months and the maximum duration is 12 months, no matter how the time is shared between studies and traineeship. Nevertheless taking part in a Consortium, gives our Institution extra obligations- so the Polytechnic of Leiria allows only traineeships until 3 months in in the case of a CETESP, 4/5 months for 1st Cycle (Bachelor) and 6 months for 2nd Cycle (Master).

You can apply through the international or Erasmus+ office of your School:
ESECS- Alexandre Soares (asoares@Polytechnic of Leiria.pt)
ESTG- Eduardo Batalha (internacional.estg@Polytechnic of Leiria.pt)
ESAD.CR- António Horta (antonio.horta@Polytechnic of Leiria.pt)
ESSlei – Tânia Mota (tania-mota@Polytechnic of Leiria.pt)
ESTM- João Assis- (joaoassis@Polytechnic of Leiria.pt)

You can find the destination for your placement by:

1. choosing from the offers published on this site;
2. asking the help of your course coordination;
3. doing a research by yourself in the internet

In any of the above situations you should work on your CV and on a motivation letter in English (or any other language needed) to be sent to the institution that you will end up chosing.

Recent higher education graduates may participate in a traineeship. Recent graduates must be selected by their HEI during their last year of study and must carry out and complete their traineeship abroad within one year of their graduation.

Did you already get a positive reply from a Company/Higher Education Institution? Great! This is the first step to guarantee you traineeship. The main document is the traineeship program. It has to be signed by you, your tutor in your School and the tutor in the host institution. If you have any questions when filling the document, just ask your Coordinator to help you out.

You can turn in the training program to the the International Office if you study in Leiria or in the interface offices in ESAD.CR or ESTM. The deadline is May 30th of each year you are applying. The traineeship must be finished by September the 30th of each year. The Traineeship Agreement should be issued in 3 copies and signed by you, your tutor/coordinator in Leiria and the tutor in the host institution, who must also stamp it. Finally you should keep a copy, turn in one other to the host institution and turn in the remaining copy to the International Office.

Learning Agreement for Traineeships

All trainees have to sign a contract with Polytechnic of Leiria with the general conditions of the placement, grant and period of traineeship. A duplicate is issued after you turn in a copy of your ID card (both sides) and your IBAN code.

Special information you need to know

All trainees have to do an online linguistic assessment in the OLS platform. The Online Linguistic Support (OLS) supports language learning for Erasmus+ mobility participants. The OLS offers participants in Erasmus+ long-term mobility activities (Key Action 1) the opportunity to assess their skills in the foreign language(s) they will use to study, work or volunteer abroad. In addition, selected participants may need to follow an online language course to improve their competence

You need to do a test before the mobility and one other after the mobility. If the trainee has less than B2 in the first text he/she must do an online course using the same platform. This assessment is merely for information and to not exclude you from the program but they are mandatory (absolutely no exceptions).

Erasmus+ enables students to study or train abroad more than once as Erasmus students as long as the minimum duration for each activity and a total maximum of 12 months per study cycle is respected. Students who follow long cycle or one-cycle study programs can be mobile for up to 24 months during their studies.
This means that you could apply, for example, to study abroad for a period of 6 months and, later on, do a traineeship for 6 months within the same study cycle. You could also combine both types of activities. Splits of 4+8 months, or 3+3+6 etc. are possible, but in all cases the minimum set for each kind of activity (i.e. 2 months for traineeships,
3 months or an academic term or trimester for studies) have to be respected.

It is possible to do a mobility period (study or training) in your country of
origin as an Erasmus+ student, provided that your country of origin is not the
country you normally study and live in.

You are selected by your sending higher education institution in a fair and transparent way and you’ll find some rules below.
To participate in Erasmus+ credit mobility, you need to fulfil the eligibility
criteria listed by our Institution:
Being already in the second year, except for Master students;
Having the tuition fees regularly paid;
Not having disciplinary questions with the School;
Having at least a B1/B2 level of English or other needed Language;
Being extrovert and resourceful;
In addition, you need to fulfil the selection criteria defined by your higher
education institution, if the School has a defined criteria further to the one already mentioned. Your institution may include selection criteria such as the academic performance of the candidate, previous mobility experience, motivation, experience in the receiving country, etc.
The selection of students – as well as the procedure for awarding them a grant must be fair, transparent, coherent and documented, and shall be made available to all parties involved in the selection process.
For more information, you are kindly invited to visit your higher education
institution’s website or contact its international relations office.

Before the traineeship abroad:
1. You, your home Higher Education tutor and the receiving organization must sign a Learning Agreement for Traineeships to ensure a transparent and efficient preparation of the exchange abroad. This document sets out rights and responsibilities of the various parties, a detailed program of the traineeship, information on insurance, and how your traineeship will be recognized upon successful completion.
2. You will receive the Erasmus+ Student Charter, explaining your rights and obligations with respect to your traineeship abroad.
After the traineeship abroad:
3. The receiving organization/enterprise should send you and your higher education institution a Traineeship Certificate, normally upon your return after successful completion of the traineeship.
4. Your higher education institution must recognize your traineeship abroad, according to the commitments agreed upon in the learning agreement and without any further requirements.
5. If your higher education institution is in a Program country, the information contained in the Traineeship Certificate should also be included in the Diploma Supplement, except if you are a recent graduate. In this case, it is recommended to record the traineeship in the trainee’s Europass Mobility Document.

You may receive an Erasmus+ grant through the Consortium Erasmus Centro as a contribution to your travel and subsistence costs and extra funding is available for traineeships. It may vary according to differences in living costs between your country and the destination country, the number of students applying for a grant, the distance between countries and the availability of other grants.
Grant levels and fixed rates for exchanges between Program and Partner countries are published in here:
Irrespective whether you receive an Erasmus+ grant or are an Erasmus+-zero-grant student, you will sign a grant agreement specifying the duration of your mobility, the amount of the grant and other rights and obligations.
If your traineeship is in another Program country, your sending institution will sign your grant agreement and it will be responsible for making all payments.
You may be eligible for additional grants from your institution, government or other sources. Check the European Funding Guide.

A person with special needs is a potential participant whose individual physical, mental, health-related situation or economic condition are such that his/her participation in the project / mobility Action would not be possible without extra financial support. .Higher education institutions that have selected students and/or staff with special needs can apply for additional grant support to the National Agency in order to cover the supplementary costs for their participation in the mobility activities. For those with special needs, the grant support may therefore be higher than the set maximum individual grants. Higher education institutions describe on their websites how students and staff with special needs can request such additional grant support. This grant normally takes a little longer to be processed than the mobility grant.

Before completing the application, 3 criteria must be fulfilled:

1. You must be currently attending at least the 2nd year of a Bachelor degree, in the 1st or 2nd year of the Master degree or in the last year before your graduation.
2. You cannot have unpaid tuition fees;
3. You cannot have an ongoing or completed disciplinary process.

Should you decide to drop the traineeship, you need to communicate your decision immediately to the GMCI and before the mobility program starts. If the mobility program has already started and your reasons are personal, you must return any grant money that you have received up to that date.

If it is duly justified to the National Agency, you may be able to keep the part of the grant corresponding to the mobility period that you have undertaken.

Yes. If the Host institution makes a negative evaluation of your traineeship

You need to bring a signed and stamped participation certificate and the traineeship evaluation. These documents should be turned in by you no longer than 15 days after your return. Moreover, you’ll receive an email for the assessment report and for the language assessment.