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
• Student mobility for traineeships
• Staff mobility for teaching
• Staff mobility for training

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.

Here are a few examples:

• 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.
• International mobility activity
  • this flag is checked automatically if the mobility activity takes part between a Programme Country and a Partner Country (i.e. a third country not associated to the Programme). See further details in the International mobility activities supported by internal policy funds section below.
• Blended intensive programme
  • all mobility activities having 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.

Participating organisations

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

Participants

Participant flags

The 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.
• OLS
  • this flag indicates that the person is entitled for Online Language Support.
• 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.

Participant Report on Recognition

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. 

Credit recognition 

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.

Grants (Budget section)

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 (meaning 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 for  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.

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.

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.

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

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). 

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.

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, and in total two partner HEIs. A coordinating HEI can be a sending or receiving organisation in a mobility. Blended intensive programmes can be open to students and staff from higher education institutions outside the partnership, but the receiving HEI must be one of the partnership organisations. The receiving HEI must hold a valid ECHE.

The following activity types can be organised in the format of an intensive blended 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 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 from the respective drop-down list 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. 
   1. If you are implementing blended intensive programmes in your project, clicking in the Blended intensive programme ID drop-down field opens the 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.
   2. If you do not have any blended intensive programmes in your project or if the participant is enrolled in a blended intensive programme implemented within a different project, type the partial or full project code or programme name in the Blended intensive programme ID field, then select the desired programme from the list of items matching you search criteria.
      

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 cannot be completed and 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 enrolled 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 further details on how to manage blended intensive programmes, see the page Blended Intensive Programmes in Higher Education projects (KA131-HED).