Activities

Activity types

The following activity types can be implemented and are available for selection from the Activity type drop-down list in the Mobility activity section. The remaining fields to fill in throughout the form will vary based on the selected activity type.

• Student mobility for studies (HE-SMS)
• Student mobility for traineeships (HE-SMT)
• Staff mobility for teaching (HE-STA)
• Staff mobility for training (HE-STT)

Activity flags

Various flags are displayed in accordance with the selected activity type. Certain flags are checked automatically, others can be checked manually, depending on the information you provide in the form and the specific circumstances of each mobility activity. The flags may also influence the type of details you are required to fill in.

• Long-term activity - This flag indicates if student mobility activities are organised as physical long-term mobility activities (if checked) or physical short-term mobility activities.
  • If the Activity Type is a staff mobility, the flag is automatically set to No and read-only.
• International Mobility activity - This flag indicates that the mobility activity is an international mobility activity, for example between a Programme Country and a Partner Country. See further details in the International mobility activities supported by internal policy funds section below.

  • Cannot be unchecked if the receiving country for the mobility activity is a partner country.

  • If the flag is not set, the mobility activity must be between programme countries.

• Blended Intensive Programme - All mobility activities with this flag checked will count towards the number of reported participants in the Blended Intensive Programmes section of the project where the blended intensive programme is defined. See further details in the Blended Intensive Programmes section below.
• Blended Mobility activity - This flag indicates that the mobility activity is carried out in a blended format (physical activity abroad combined with a virtual component). If this flag is checked, you must also provide details about the virtual components in the From-To section of the mobility activity screen
  • The flag is checked automatically in the case of blended intensive programmes and the activity type concerns learners (student mobility for studies abroad and staff mobility for training)
• Force majeure - See the Force majeure section below.
• Doctoral Mobility activity - Flag indicating that the Mobility activity is taking place at doctoral level (EQF level 8) or that the participant is a doctoral candidate or a post-doc.
  • If the Activity Type is a student mobility and the selected Level of Study/Teaching is ISCED-8, then the flag is automatically set to Yes.
• Combined Study and Traineeship Mobility activity - A flag indicating that the study Mobility activity is combined with a traineeship abroad as an overall study Mobility activity for the same student. This flag plays no role in terms of additional top-ups eligibility.
• Combined Teaching and Training Mobility activity - A flag indicating that the teaching Mobility activity is combined with training activities as an overall teaching Mobility activity for the same teaching staff member. Staff mobility for teaching only.

Participants

Participant flags

The specific participant flags vary according to the selected activity type. They may affect other fields in the participant and budget sections, as well as require additional data to be provided. 

Below are a few specifics to keep in mind:

• Participant with fewer opportunities
  • for each participant with fewer opportunities, you must fill in the Fewer Opportunities section of your project.
  • students with fewer opportunities may benefit from top-up amounts and specific travel support. See the Individual Support section further below for more details.
• Online language support (OLS)
  
  • this flag indicates that the person is entitled to Online Language Support.
  • once checked, the Provide access to OLS button becomes available. See the OLS section further below for more details. 
• Native Speaker or Duly Justified Exception
  • this flag indicates that the student is a native speaker of the Main Instruction/Work/Volunteering Language or has duly justified reasons to be exempted from language assessment.

From-To section

Sending and Receiving organisation 

For call years 2021 and 2022 and for all activity types, sending organisations must be from Programme Countries, including their outermost regions and associated Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT). See here the list of eligible countries.

Depending on the nature of the activities, the project can involve only higher education institutions (HEIs) or can also include other types of organisations.

The Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) is required for all higher education institutions from Programme Countries acting as sending and/or receiving organisations.

The ECHE accreditation is not required in the following cases:

1. Student mobility for traineeships: the receiving organisation does not need to hold a valid ECHE, unless it is a higher education institution
2. Staff mobility for training: the receiving organisation does not need to hold a valid ECHE, unless it is a higher education institution
3. Staff mobility for teaching: for Invited Staff from Enterprises, the sending organisation does not need to hold a valid ECHE

You have the option to select the Sending and/or Receiving organisation in the From-To section, using the available Select buttons. If an organisation is not available for selection, check that it is added by accessing the Organisations in your project. 

The Outer-most region flag indicates that the mobility activity participant is studying or working in a HEI in an outer-most region of a Programme Country or OCT (Overseas Countries and Territories) associated to a Programme Country (call 2021) or an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme (call 2022). 

If the selected Sending Country has an outer-most region/OCT (Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands) the Outer-most region flag can be checked to indicate if the mobility activity participant is coming from a HEI in an outer-most region (OCT).

Distance and Means of transport

As described on the page Add mobility activities to projects, you must select the Distance band, provide the Real distance in kilometers and select a Main means of transport. 

Sustainable means of transport (green travel) is defined as the travel that uses low-emissions means of transport for the main part of the travel, such as bus, train or car-pooling.
_{Source: Erasmus+ Programme Guide, Glossary}

Selecting a means of transport considered sustainable when updating mobility activities, events, participations or similar in your project, results in the Sustainable Means of Transport flag being automatically checked and the funded travel duration can be increased from maximum 2 to maximum 6 days.

Recognition Survey

Students taking part in Student mobility for studies and Student mobility for traineeships who have replied No to the question  Is the recognition process for your mobility period finalised? in the participant report are also invited to fill in a Report on Recognition in EU Survey. The invitation is sent automatically, 45 days after the reference date.

The beneficiary can resend a manual invitation as well as download the report filled in by the participant, in the Recognition report section of the mobility activity details screen. See the page Manage participant reports in projects for additional information. 

Certifications

Students involved in study or traineeship mobility activities can have their credits acquired during their mobility activity recognised by the sending higher education institution. The sending HEI will specify the number of credits (ECTS credits or any other comparable system) it recognised in the Certifications section of the screen.

Budget

Travel Grant

The travel support amount depends on the activity type, on whether or not the mobility activity is international, whether it involves a participant with fewer opportunities and other specific criteria. The travel support grant is calculated automatically based on the other details you provide, such as Distance Band.

In this section you must provide the Travel days (1) and have the option to flag the mobility activity as Travel support not required (conditionally available) or Request exceptional costs for expensive travel (2). 

Travel support not required

Check the Travel support not required flag, where available, if no travel support is required. If checked, the Travel Support field is set to zero.

Depending on the Sending country and the activity type, the flag may be checked automatically, for example for students from outer-most regions HEIs. The Travel support not required flag is not available for participants with fewer opportunities.

Exceptional costs for expensive travel

If the standard Travel Grant does not cover at least 70% of the eligible travel cost of the participant, you are entitled to request a grant to cover Exceptional costs for expensive travel instead of the standard travel grant.

Tick the relevant box for Request Exceptional Costs for Expensive Travel. Then type the Real Travel Cost in the relevant field. The Exceptional Cost for Expensive Travel Grant is calculated automatically as 80% of the Real Travel Cost. If you request the Exceptional costs for expensive travel grant, you must also fill in the additional field Exceptional cost for expensive travel description and justification.

Zero grant

You must check the Zero grant flag if the mobility activity is not covered by Erasmus+ funding. In such cases, all grant fields are set to zero.

Similarly, the Zero grant flag is checked automatically if all budget items for the mobility activity have a 0 (zero) amount, either because the automated calculations for those budget items resulted in the amount of 0 (zero) or because you have indicated that you do not require such grants.

In both cases, the total Mobility activity grant (calculated) will be zero.

Individual Support

The individual support grant is calculated automatically based on the daily grant or monthly base grant (according to the type of mobility activity) summed with any applicable top-ups.

Staff daily grants and Student monthly base grants vary based on the National Agency and the duration of the mobility activity. For most National Agencies, the amount is retrieved automatically and cannot be changed by the beneficiary. For other National Agencies, this amount must be specified by the user, within the allowed range which is displayed on the screen.

Top-ups are additional amounts granted by the National Agencies or automatically applied to support students in specific circumstances. 

• Traineeship Monthly Top-up Amount - for students involved in long-term traineeships to Programme Countries and Partner Countries of Regions 5 and 14 (call 2021) / 13 and 14 (call 2022).
• Green Travel Support Top-up - for students and recent graduates taking part in mobility activities for studies/traineeships using sustainable means of transport, but who do not benefit from a specific travel grant (who receive a contribution to travel costs as part of the individual support grant). The green travel support top-up cannot be granted if the Travel Support - Grant Not Required flag is checked.
• Participants with Fewer Opportunities Short-term Mobility Top-up Amounts or Participants with Fewer Opportunities Monthly Top-up Amount - for students taking part in short-term or long-term mobility activities for studies/traineeships and who qualify as participants with fewer opportunities according to the national criteria set by the National Agency. In such cases, you must first check the flag Participant with Fewer Opportunities in the Participant section of the mobility activity screen, and make sure the Participant with a Top-Up Amount for Fewer Opportunities flag is also checked in the Individual Support section.

Here is an example of the Individual Support section in a long-term mobility activity for a student traineeship. You must provide the Student monthly base amount. The related fields, such as Green travel top-up or Traineeship monthly top-up amount will be updated automatically. 

Inclusion support for participants

Inclusion support for participants is only available to participants with fewer opportunities in your projects, therefore the flag Participant with Fewer Opportunities must be checked if you request this grant. In Higher Education projects this grant item is, in particular, for participants with physical, mental and health related conditions.

Other EU-grant

If the mobility activity is supported via a non-Erasmus+ grant from the EU budget, the amount must be specified in the dedicated field. This field is located under Total calculations, at the bottom of the Budget section of the mobility activity screen.

Additional non-EU grants

If funding from other, non-EU, programmes has been used to support a mobility activity, the total amount from such sources must be declared in the dedicated field. This field is located under Total calculations, at the bottom of the Budget section of the mobility activity screen. 

Force Majeure

Force majeure is:

An unforeseeable exceptional situation or event beyond the participant's control and not attributable to error or negligence on his/her part.

_{Source: Erasmus+/European Solidarity Corps programme guides 2022, Glossary}

Force majeure situations can arise anywhere and at any time, and include factors such as sudden disease, accidents, death, earthquakes and other causes.

In a project, check the Force majeure flag to indicate that a project activity (i.e. mobility activity, group activity, participations, events, transnational project meetings, etc.) is considered as a case of force majeure.

When you check this flag (tick box), certain fields and grants for the activity may be affected and must be checked and/or updated.

In addition, you must fill in the additional Force majeure explanations field, describing the facts that prove the activity should be accepted as a case of force majeure.

If the Force Majeure flag is set, the following duration and grant fields are affected: 

• Duration of the Mobility activity Period (days) - the business rule checking the minimum duration will no longer apply in case of Force Majeure.
• Number of Teaching Hours (Staff mobility for teaching only) - the business rule checking the minimum of 8 hours per week will no longer apply in case of Force Majeure.
• Travel support - the field becomes editable. If any values were already present they are preserved.
• Individual support - the field becomes editable. If any values were already present they are preserved.
• Inclusion support for participants - the field becomes editable. If any values were already present they are preserved.
• Participant report - participant reports are not required for mobility activities flagged as force majeure and having a duration of 1 day (i.e. cancelled mobility activities, for which the start and end date are the same). 

Online language support (OLS) - Provide access to OLS

In beneficiary projects, when providing information for participants in, for example, individual mobility activities or participations, the OLS flag (check box) may be available. Checking this flag will indicate the person is entitled for the Online Language Support.

The Online Language Support (OLS) is designed to help Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps participants improve their knowledge of the language in which they will work, study or volunteer abroad so that they can make the most out of this experience.

_{Source: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/online-language-support}

For KA121, KA122, KA131, KA152, KA153, KA154, KA171 and ESC51 projects of call year 2021 and 2022 it will be possible to provide access to OLS in the EU Academy directly from the beneficiary project, by using the Provide access to OLS button.

It will be possible to provide access to OLS as OLS Learner for participants in, for example, individual mobility activities or participations, as well as for OLS Administrators, meaning for contact persons of participating organisations in a project. 

See the page Provide access to OLS for details and further instructions. 

International mobility activities supported by internal policy funds

For projects carried out under call years 2021 and 2022, the International mobility activity flag is checked automatically if the Receiving Country you specify in the From-To section of the mobility activity screen is a non-associated country as defined in the Programme Guide.

In such cases, the following fields are impacted:

1. In the From-To section, you must select the applicable travel Distance Band.
2. The Individual Support grant is calculated automatically based on the applicable rates for international mobility activities.
3. The Travel Support for International Mobility activity flag is checked automatically, but can be unchecked if the beneficiary opts out of providing travel support for students on international mobility who are not participants with fewer opportunities. For Partner Country Regions 5/13 and 14, this flag is determined automatically and cannot be changed
4. The budget used (reported) for international activities is displayed in a dedicated tab in the Budget summary section of the project and indicates the share of the reported  international mobility budget in relation  to the awarded  project grant.
   
5. Grant beneficiaries may use up to 20% of the last awarded grant (from which the inclusion support for participants and the exceptional costs for expensive travel have been deducted first) for outgoing mobility activities to non-associated countries all over the world (Regions 1-14). 

Blended intensive programmes

Blended intensive programmes are short, intensive programmes that use innovative ways of learning, teaching and training for students and staff including the use of online cooperation. They are developed and implemented by at least three higher education institutions (HEIs) coming from at least three EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme (called a blended intensive programme partnership).

During blended intensive programmes, groups of students or staff will undertake a short-term physical mobility abroad combined with a compulsory virtual component facilitating collaborative online learning exchange and teamwork. The duration of the physical component is between 5 and 30 days, but there is no limitation on the duration of the virtual component.

For full eligibility criteria please refer to the Erasmus+ Programme Guide.

Within each blended intensive programme partnership there must be one coordinating HEI and receiving HEI (typically the same HEI combining the coordinating and receiving role) and minimum two partner HEIs. A coordinating HEI can be a sending or receiving organisation in a mobility activity. Blended intensive programmes can be open to students and staff from sending higher education institutions outside the partnership, but the receiving HEI must be one of the partnership organisations. The participating HEIs must hold a valid ECHE.

The following mobility activity types can be organised to take part in a blended intensive programme:

• Student mobility for studies
• Staff mobility for teaching
• Staff mobility for training

In your project, you will see all the blended intensive programmes defined in the beneficiary grant agreement and transferred automatically from the National Agency project management system. It is not possible to manually add more blended intensive programmes directly in your project.

To indicate a mobility activity as being part of a blended intensive programme, you must take the following steps in the mobility activity screen (Mobility Activities section of the project) for the selected participant:

1. Check the Blended intensive programme flag in the Activity section of the mobility screen.
2. Select the relevant Blended intensive programme ID in the From-To section. Make sure the mobility activity Start Date and End Date are correctly filled in before you attempt to link it to a specific blended intensive programme. Clicking on the Select button for the Blended intensive programme ID, opens a pop-up window containing a list of blended intensive programmes:
   • from your project for which the start date and end date of the physical period overlap with the dates of the participant's mobility activity physical period, and/or
   • Blended intensive programmes where the beneficiary of the current project is added as a partner organisation for which the start date and end date of the physical period overlap with the dates of the participant's mobility activity physical period.

If the mobility activity is linked to a Draft blended intensive programme (i.e., the mandatory blended intensive programme details have not been filled in, in the beneficiary project), the mobility activity will also keep the Draft status, even if all other mandatory information has been filled in. The blended intensive programme status must be Complete for the mobility activity to be Complete.

Once the status of the mobility activity is Complete, it will be displayed in the participants list for the selected blended intensive programme in the beneficiary project. Complete learner mobility activities are taken into account in the reported number of participants and the reported organisational support for the selected blended intensive programme in the beneficiary project. These amounts can be viewed both in the blended intensive programme details and in a dedicated section in the budget overview.

Sending organisations can have an overview of their participants enroled in blended intensive programmes by exporting the mobility activity list. Those participants are counted in the reported number of mobility activities in the budget overview of the sending organisation project.

As a result, in the Blended intensive programmes section of the project, the mobility activity will be taken into account in the number of reported participants for the selected blended intensive programme and will be listed in the programme details, at the bottom of the screen.

For details on how to manage blended intensive programmes, see the page Blended Intensive Programmes in KA131 Higher Education projects.

Flag the mobility activity as Blended intensive programme

Select the flag for Blended intensive programme. 

In the From-To section, click on the "Select" button below "Blended intensive programme ID"

In the From-To section of the mobility activity, the Blended intensive programme ID field and specific fields regarding the Virtual component of the activity become available and must be completed.

To link the mobility activity to the relevant Blended intensive programme, click on the Select button.

Select the Blended intensive programme from the list and click on "Select"

Clicking on the Select button for the Blended intensive programme ID opens a pop-up containing a list of blended intensive programmes to choose from:

• Blended intensive programmes from your project for which the start date and end date of the physical period overlap with the dates of the participant's mobility activity physical period, and/or
• Blended intensive programmes where the beneficiary of the current project is added as a partner organisation for which the start date and end date of the physical period overlap with the dates of the participant's mobility activity physical period.

Click on the Blended Intensive Programme in the list to link the mobility activity to and click on the Select button. The Blended Intensive Programme ID field in the From-To section will be updated as per your selection. If multiple Blended intensive programmes are listed, you can use the Search functionality to narrow down the results.

In this example, only one Blended Intensive Programme is displayed in the list. 

Blended intensive programme linked to the mobility activity

The Blended intensive programme ID field is updated. The information for Sending and Receiving organisations is updated automatically as per the information provided in the linked Blended intensive programme. 

After a Blended Intensive Programme is linked, the Long-term mobility activity flag in the mobility activity is automatically set to No and read-only and, in the case of Student mobility for studies, the Blended mobility activity flag is set to Yes.

Search the list of Blended intensive programmes

Here is an example where multiple Blended intensive programmes from different projects are available for selection in the list. You can use the Search field to filter down the list of results, if required. 

The list also provides the standard options to adjust the items displayed per page and page browsing.

Using the Search field displayed on top of the table allows you to filter the list by providing a (partial) Blended intensive programme ID, Title, OID of a partner organisation or Erasmus Code of a partner organisation in a Blended intensive programme.

Provide your search criterion and click on the Search button. The list is updated as per your search criteria. 

For further details on how to manage blended intensive programmes, see the page Blended Intensive Programmes in KA131 Higher Education projects.