Erasmus+ Europe
Masaryk University staff members have the chance to gain a grant for training abroad through the Erasmus+ programme. The content of the placement can be job-shadowing, practical/expert straining, a study visit, workshop or seminars at universities or other organisations (companies, non-profits, any organisation active in the labour market or in education, professional preparation and youth work).
The activity supports the professional development of teaching and non-teaching staff at Masaryk University as well as the development of the institutions involved. It is not possible to cover a conference from this programme.
Training can be undertaken in these countries:
- in the 28 member states of the European Union (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and in ac. year 2020/2021 also the United Kingdom)
- in the countries of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein)
- in Turkey and Macedonia
- in Serbia (departures possible from the second half of August 2019)
Participation Conditions
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Financial Conditions
- The staff member is sent by the faculty/economic unit in accordance with the MU directive on travel expenses on the basis of a CZS confirmation of the amount of the grant for the agreed training. The CZS then refunds the expenses retrospectively to the faculty/economic unit up to the limit set. After accounting for the trip the faculty/economic unit sends an internal invoice to the CZS and requests refunding of the travel and placement expenses.
- Travel time is not included in the length of training. In addition, the CZS may allocate a grant for 1 day for the outward journey and 1 day for the return journey if the journey is immediately connected to the training and if the employee needs days for the journey. Interruption of the travel order is possible with the consent of the sending faculty/economic unit.
- It is strongly recommended to arrange cancellation insurance and, due to the ongoing pandemic, not to pay non-refundable amounts in advance if possible. Force majeure must be reported to the CZS immediately and any costs must be documented; those approved by the grant provider will be reimbursed.
- Limits per day you can find in the Documents section. Remaining expenses can be paid by the faculty from its own resources.
- Staff members with special needs can apply for a special grant (contact the CZS immediately after a successful selection process). The applications are submitted before the start of the summer and winter semesters and approved by the steering committee of the Erasmus programme. Documentation of the increased costs must be submitted on return.
- Placements after 10 December must be consulted in advance with the coordinator at CZS. Because of the financial closure at the end of the calendar year, these placements will not be approved, with a few exceptions.
- Those going on placement are governed by the rules of the Erasmus programme, as well as the internal MU rules, which are drawn from the Labour Code. You can find these rules in the MU Directive for Travel Expenses. You can find the amount of allowances in individual countries and other appendices here.
- Travel expenses include expenses for the journey to the place of the training and back including local transport. They are paid in full provided the economic means of transport are used.
- Please check whether your travel expenses for the journey there and back are within the limit set according to the distance from Brno to the target city as calculated by the calculator on the website of the Euopean commission.
- The maximum rates for the journey are given in the document Limits on placements and journeys (which you can find in the Documents section).
- In justified and previously agreed cases where it is not possible to buy an air ticket which would fall within the given limit, the CZS will make up the difference.
- Keep all the documents including boarding passes and account them in the travel order.
- If it is cheaper to use a private car than going by air, train or bus, this car use must be approved in the travel order in accordance with the valid directive. If the cost of using the car is the same or lower than the limit for travel costs according to the document Limits on Accommodation and Travel Expenses, there is no need to contact the CZS. Should the car journey cross that limit, it is necessary before the journey to request the consent of the CZS coordinator. When accounting for the travel order the use of the car must then be justified in the report on the business trip.
- If the trip by private car is paid in the amount for approved means of travel (train or bus) and falls within the limit, there is no need to contact the CZS. Expenses above the limit must be consulted in advance with the CZS coordinator.
- In general, it is the case that if the limit is crossed and a car or taxi is used, this must always be justified in the report on a business trip.
- Placement expenses include accommodation, food allowances, local transport during the placement, cancellation fees, insurance, possible registration fees and pocket money.
- Placement expenses are limited: in the calculation of the limit the number of days on which the participant trains (usually without weekends and state holidays) is used as well as one day for the travel abroad and one for the journey back, if the staff member needs extra days. You can calculate the approximate amount of the grant according to the equation limit = limit per day x number of days.
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Application
It is necessary to follow this approach:
1) In the open call apply electronically to the selection process in the ISOIS database here:
- You can find the Guide to Completion of the Application in the Documents section.
- You can find the exact dates that application open from the contact person for your faculty/unit of MU, through which you plan to travel (List of Contact Persons can be found in the Documents section).
- The selection procedure for placements in the following academic year always takes place in the spring, approximately in the end of February/beginning of March to April, and an additional selection procedure may be announced (usually in October). It is the applicant's responsibility to secure admission to a foreign institution.
- The faculty/unit of MU is responsible for publication of the criteria for the selection of employees and the nomination of reserves. The final approval of selected employees is the responsibility of the CZS.
- The applicants must themselves arrange acceptance by the foreign institution.
2) Selected employees complete and submit to the Centre for International Cooperation the signed Mobility Agreement – Staff Mobility for Training, (which can be found in the Documents section) agreed by the receiving enterprise/institution and the line manager at MU. The agreement contains the overall plan and objectives, anticipated results of training or study visit and detailed programme which must correspond to the job description of the employee at MU.
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Before Departure
1) FILL IN THE MOBILITY AGREEMENT
After approval of the placement agree with the foreign party on the exact dates and detailed programme of the training and fill in the three-page form Mobility Agreement – Staff Mobility for Training (which you can find in the Documents section).
Instructions for completion:
- Planned Period of the Training Activity: write here the beginning and end of training (without days when only travelling)
- Duration (number of days) – excluding travel days: number of days on which you will train (without days travelling there and back and without weekends)
- The Receiving Institution/Enterprise:
- Name: give here the official name of the target university/institution/enterprise in the original language or in English, and in the column Department/unit the name off the receiving faculty and department.
- Size of enterprise is filled in only in companies and enterprises, i.e. never in the case of tertiary education institutions.
- Erasmus Code: to be filled in if you are going to a university or other tertiary education institution. You can ask the partner school to fill in the Erasmus Code or you can find it on the European Commission website here.
- I. Proposed Mobility Programme:
- Overall aim and objectives of the mobility: main aims and outcomes of the training.
- Added value of the mobility (both for the institutions involved and for the staff member).
- Activities to be carried out. If you have a previously set or agreed programme, attach it.
- Expected outcomes and impact (i.e. what significance the training will have for your professional development and for both institutions).
- II. Commitment of the three parties: signatures of thee 3 parties:
- 1. The Staff Member: date and signature of the participant going for training in the Erasmus+ programme.
- 2. The Sending Institution: name, position, date and signature of direct superior.
- 3. The Receiving Institution: name, position, date and signature of the foreign coordinator/partner. All the signatures must precede the first days of training. It can be sent for signing by e-mail, a scanned document is sufficient.
Send/hand over the completed and signed document to the CZS coordinator at least month before departure, before filling in the travel order. In order to purchase cheaper air tickets we recommend that you produce the document as soon as possible.
2) SIGN THE PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT
- On the basis of this document, the CZS will prepare the participation agreement which you will be sent by the internal post to your workplace (unless you agree otherwise). The agreement must be signed before the beginning of the placement. The CZS then confirms the maximum amount of financial support by e-mail to the economic department of the sending faculty/economic centre with a copy to the staff member.
3) TRAVEL ORDER AND INSURANCE
- Fill in the travel order after receiving confirmation of the amount of the grant. Possible interruption of the business trip should be agreed on in advance with your superior.
- After approval of the travel order you can pay the costs (air ticket, accommodation, ...), pre-financed by your faculty or MU economic unit.
- As part of the travel order you can request an advance, which you will pick up at the foreign exchange cash-desk of the rectorate. The approved travel order must be uploaded to INET at least 7 days before picking up the advance.
When buying air tickets we recommend arranging cancellation insurance (for example from health reasons).
Health insurance: as part of the travel order each staff member gets travel insurance (you can find the parameters in the Documents section). If you fill in the travel order in INET, you will be able to print a card with information.
Current statement (as of 5 August 2020) of the Allianz insurance company on the travel insurance of outgoing MU employees: “Travel insurance in general will always work for necessary and urgent care, and subsequently the insured person is always transported back to the Czech Republic where care is already covered by statutory insurance. This means if someone is diagnosed with COVID abroad, the first aid will be provided abroad, but as soon as possible they will have to return to the Czech Republic and continue treatment there (or stay abroad without the right to reimbursement of treatment from insurance). It continues to apply that the insurance does not cover such cases where the insured person travels to places where the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic has not recommended traveling or if they do not respect the government's calls to return to the Czech Republic and remains abroad."
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While Abroad
- During the placement the staff member will follow the previously approved programme for the training and the number of days.
- It is the responsibility of the staff member to arrange for confirmation of training completion. The confirmation must be issued at the end of the placement or after its completion at the foreign institution where the training took place, and must contain the name of the participant, the date of the start and end of training, the number of days in which training took place, the purpose of the placement/activity and the signature of the employee of the foreign institution (is it possible to use the form Model Final Confirmation, which you can find in the Documents section).
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After Return
- Within 10 days you must account for the travel order, i.e. you print the guide and submit receipts from accommodation, tickets, boarding passes, etc. You hand this over to the economic department at your workplace.
- Within 10 days you send the CZS coordinator the evidence of participation in foreign mobility/training (you can find the content in the section While Abroad).
- Within 30 days complete the electronic final report in the “Mobility Tool” database (you will be automatically invited to do so by e-mail).
Most frequent errors when completing the final report
- Be aware of the difference between the activities “teaching mobility” and “training – staff training” (teaching mobility is a different activity in which you complete different documents than for training and the teacher has an obligation to teach at the foreign university a minimum of 8 hours). If you are being trained or attending a course, select “Staff Training”.
- Untruthful answers to the question of whether the staff member participated in Erasmus “training” activities for the first time (it is meant overall and not just within the academic year).
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"IMOTION" University Training Offers Database
- The IMOTION Database contains the offers of universities involved in the Erasmus+ programme. Here training is also offered by universities with which we do not have an agreement. It is possible for you to be accepted by these institutions but probably you will have lower priority.
- Courses: it is possible to participate also in paid courses, however course fees can be paid from the Erasmus+ programme only up to the limit of placement expenses (if you do not use the entire amount on accommodation and food).
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Offers of Training in Partner Schools
These offers are not automatically linked with the provision of financial support, since staff members must ask for this at the sending school - see above. The programme of the foreign school will provided for free or a participation fee will be requested, which normally it is possible to cover from the Erasmus programme.
Find more information here.
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