Erasmus+ ICM

Participation and Financial Conditions

Participation Conditions:

• Mobilities are offered for one semester (5 months) or two semesters (10 months) – see details in the online application.
• The total length of the stay under the Erasmus+ ICM programme cannot exceed 12 months within one study cycle.
• These are exchange studies only - no full-degree mobilities are available.
• You must be a student on bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral studies throughout the whole of the placement, and in the event of interruption or ending of studies then your foreign placement also comes to an end.
• You have presented evidence of proficiency in English which must correspond to B2 level on the CEFR or higher.
• You have chosen courses giving a minimum of at least 20 ECTS credits in each semester.

Financial Conditions:

• The scholarship for non-EU students is set at 800 EUR/month.
• The programme covers your travel costs (flight or bus ticket) partially or in the whole amount.
• No tuition fees are required within the Erasmus+ ICM scheme.
• The grant is paid in three instalments:
  • First – 50 % of total amount, paid immediately on arrival after opening the bank account.
  • Second – 30 % of total amount, paid halfway through the mobility.
  • Third – 20 % of total amount, paid after fulfilment of all study requirements (gaining at least 20 ECTS) and responding to the automatically sent EU Survey.

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Application Process

While applying for the Erasmus+ ICM scholarship, first check if you need to apply directly (see the process below) or through nomination by the international office of your home university. To apply directly, please make sure you go through all the steps below:

1. Go to our ONLINE APPLICATION
2. Choose “Erasmus+ ICM”.
3. Select your “Level of study/cooperation”.
4. Select your “Country”.
5. Find your home institution in the field “Partner institution”.
6. Select the correct “Agreement”.
7. Click on “Create a new application” button.
8. Fill in all the required data and upload all the necessary documents (no hard copies are required, electronic version only).
9. Submit the online application.

That is it. You will be informed of the results by official e-mail once the evaluation process is over. Please check it regularly.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

For successful submission of the online application (both directly and via nomination) you will need to prepare the following documents in English language:

• Motivation letter: addressed to the selection committee of Masaryk University. The letter should answer following questions:
  • Why did you choose Masaryk University for your study / research mobility – please give your academic, professional, or personal reasons of your choice
  • What are your academic objectives or goals you would like to achieve through the mobility at Masaryk University
• Confirmation of English language skills (see details below)
• Transcript of Records: has to be translated into English!
• Structured CV: please list your extracurricular activities related to your study field
• A copy of the photo page of your passport (because of travel arrangements)
• If applicable: Please upload to Other documents any other specific files that your home university may require for the application

Ph.D. students must additionally upload:

• Detailed Research Plan (see the section Documents for a template)
• Letter of Pre-acceptance (see details below)

A few essential things to bear in mind when preparing the documents for an application:

Course Selection

For your successful application you will need to make a preliminary choice of courses you would like to attend at MU. To explore the courses in English available for international students see our Course Catalogue. Make a note of the course codes; you will need to insert them in the online application.

Also be aware that the minimum mandatory requirement of credits is 20 ECTS per semester. Certainly do discuss your selection with your home university coordinator as well in order to get credit recognition after your return.

Minimum language requirements

Confirmation of English language skills at least at B2 level is needed.

We prefer internationally recognised language certificates but you can use confirmation from your home institution if you do not have one. Table below shows the English Exam Equivalency chart which you can use to make sure your level of English corresponds to the minimum level of proficiency.

You can also use the Language Proficiency Report Form and have your language skills assessed and confirmed by your English teacher at your home university.

In the case your mother tongue is English, please just upload a short explanation instead. For more information on language requirements at Masaryk University see this webpage.

Letter of Pre-acceptance & Supervisor for Ph.D. students

In order to receive a Letter of Pre-acceptance, please send us your CV and Research Proposal (you can use the template in the Documents section). We will then send it to the appropriate department. The process of finding a supervisor can even take a few weeks, so please do not leave it until the last few days before the deadline.

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Evaluation Process and Criteria

Once your application is successfully submitted and the deadline of call for applications is over the evaluation phase starts. It usually takes a few weeks so please be patient. Here the process and evaluation criteria are explained.

Both Masaryk University and the home institution assess the application with regard to eligibility. Applications which do not fulfil formal requirements (e.g. are lacking some documents or are not submitted properly) may be excluded from the assessment.

MU evaluates each of the applications according to the criteria below. Each of the criteria has been assigned a specific point value. According to the points earned, the best applicants are granted by the scholarship:

• Motivation: 40 %
• Language skills: 30 %
• Academic performance: 20 %
• Previous experience & extracurricular activities: 10 %            

Note that additional criteria may be taken into consideration during the evaluation phase, especially when deciding between equally ranked applicants. These are:

• Equal gender distribution of scholarships
• Disadvantaged groups or disabled people
• Equal study field distribution

Once the assessment is done, you will be informed of the results of your application by an official e-mail.

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Visa

In most of the cases, your exciting journey to Masaryk University will start with a less exciting journey of paperwork. The visa will be your foremost concern and it is very important to start the process of visa application as early as possible. The reason? The process can take up to two months.

Once your selection is successfully confirmed, you should check the availability of the Czech embassies where are you going to apply for visa and make an appointment by e-mail. Your goal now is to get the long-term visa for studies which could be given for up to one year. The exact length depends on your nomination.

There are several documents that have to be prepared for the visa application. Some of them will be sent by Masaryk University:

• Confirmation of Studies / Mobility Acceptance in Czech
• Confirmation of Accommodation in Czech
• Confirmation of Scholarship in Czech
• Invitation Letter in English (not mandatory for visa application)

Additionally, you have to prepare the Extract from the Penal Register (or “criminal record”) and have it officially translated into Czech language. See details about this document here.

It is recommended to always check the specifics and mandatory documents with the individual embassy. You will also find all the necessary details on the website of the Czech Ministry of the Interior.

Medical insurance valid in the Czech Republic

• Every Erasmus+ grantee is required to have adequate travel medical insurance which covers the whole period of the placement (including travel). The cost of insurance is not covered by the programme. Please see further information (required coverage, recommended companies) here.
• Erasmus+ grantees have an exception from submitting this insurance together with the visa application. However, you might be required to show the insurance certificate at the time of visa issuance!

Remember that there is always someone from the Erasmus+ ICM team willing to help you if any issues occur. Most of the issues, however, can be avoided by paying careful attention to the information given or a solution can be found in our International Student Guide. This can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. 

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Learning Agreement

The Learning Agreement is the basic document that, along with the Transcript of Records, ensures the recognition of the period of studies abroad by the home institution. It is basically a formal contract collaboratively developed by three parties – the student, home institution coordinators and host institution coordinators. 

You have chosen courses giving a minimum of at least 20 ECTS credits in each semester.

The Learning Agreement includes the learning activities/courses the student is expected to accomplish during his/her studies at the host institution. It is a list of courses which has to be approved and signed by the three parties (two signatures per university + student).

Please only use the Learning Agreement form (see the Documents section) or which you receive from us. Always only a copy is needed; you can keep the original.

Before arrival at Masaryk University the student is obliged:

• To fill in the header
  • Name: MASARYK UNIVERSITY
  • Erasmus code: CZ BRNO05
  • Faculty: check in your online application which faculty at MU you were nominated to
  • Department: check in your online application which department at the faculty you were nominated to (Faculty of Economics and Administration, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Law do not have the departments for exchange students – leave it empty)
  • Address: Žerotínovo nám. 9, 601 77, Brno, Czech Republic
  • Country: Czech Republic
• to fill in the Learning Agreement with courses offered to international students at Masaryk University (Table A)
• do not forget to fill in the part Recognition at the Sending Institution (Table B) in the Learning Agreement
• to sign it
• to get the signatures and approval from both home university coordinators
• to upload it to the MU online application and wait for the approval from Masaryk University coordinators

After your arrival at Masaryk University, you will bring your Learning Agreement to the department coordinator before submitting it to the Erasmus+ ICM coordinator.

REGISTRATION AND ENROLLMENT IN COURSES ONLINE

Masaryk University uses the Information System for registration and enrolment in courses online. The dates and deadlines of the registration period, enrolment period and seminar group enrolment period are mentioned in the detailed Academic Calendar. The periods may differ at each faculty. You MUST register courses in the IS online as mentioned in your Learning Agreement. How do you register and enrol? See our IS Guidelines.

Extent and Intensity of Courses

When you click on the code or name of the course, you can see its detailed description, for example three numbers for intensity. The first is the number of hours for lectures, the second one is for class exercises/seminars and last one is for other types of teaching methods such as labs, etc.

• Example: 2/0/0 (lectures 2, class exercises 0, select another 0)

According to number of credits gained, you can find two numbers. The first number is the amount of credits gained by completion and the second is a number of possible extra credits.

• Example: 1+1 (plus extra credits for completion). This means that the student can gain a specific amount of extra credits if he/she completes the course with a colloquium/examination or any other type of completion.

For detailed information please contact the teacher of a particular course or your departmental coordinator.

PROBLEMS WITH REGISTRATION AND ENROLLMENT

It may happen that you encounter some problems during registration and enrolment such as “not available”, “no more vacancies”, “not meeting the prerequisites”, etc. See the instructions on how to cope with the problems in our IS Guidelines or see the VIDEO TUTORIAL.

It is usual that international students have these problems and unfortunately, there is only one solution: ASK FOR AN EXCEPTION in the IS. The teacher then decides. Either (s)he grants you the exception and enrols you, or not, and they might write you an e-mail with an explanation. In that case, you must choose another course.

ADVICE FOR YOU: You can discuss your courses with your MU departmental coordinator (his/her name is mentioned in your application online or in your folder given to you during Admission after arrival). If you were not accepted onto a course which has been approved in the Learning Agreement and you really need this course, we recommend you to go for the first lecture/seminar and talk to the teacher personally. Bring your approved Learning Agreement with you.

SEMINAR GROUP ENROLLMENT

Some courses have not only lectures but also seminars. This means you have to enrol in seminar groups. There are always more options so you can choose which day and hour suit you best. See the IS Guidelines with more details on how to enrol in seminar groups or the VIDEO TUTORIAL.

CHANGES TO LEARNING AGREEMENT

After trying to register and enrol online in the courses mentioned in your Learning Agreement you will probably find out that some courses have to be changed, either NEW courses ADDED or PREVIOUS courses DELETED. You have to make changes to the Learning Agreement afterwards:

1. Make the changes in the IS online.
2. After you finish changes in the IS online, make the changes in the paper form of Changes to Learning Agreement – DURING MOBILITY section (for the Erasmus+ ICM Learning Agreement form please see the Documents section).
3. Write there ALL DELETED and ALL NEW courses compared to the original Learning Agreement. Please fill in all the required information and all columns. The list of courses in the IS has to be equal to the list of courses in your Learning Agreement/Changes to Learning Agreement.
4. Sign it.
5. Get signatures from (all the administration documents can be processed by e-mail):
   1. your departmental coordinator at your home institution,
   2. your Erasmus+ ICM coordinator at your home institution,
   3. your MU departmental coordinator 
6. Upload the signed document (with 4 signatures) to your MU online application or bring/send the hard copy to the Centre for International Cooperation.
7. With the last signature from the MU Erasmus+ ICM coordinator, your changes to the Learning Agreement are done.

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After Arrival

We wish you a smooth start to your placement at MU! We would like to invite you to participate in our Orientation Week where you can meet your new international friends and see how Masaryk University works. We will help you with arrangements during your first days at MU together with students from ESN MUNI Brno. If you are afraid how you will handle these hectic times at the beginning of the semester ask for their help and apply for a buddy, a fellow student who can pick you up after your arrival or who will personally help you with practical arrangements.

When it comes to Erasmus+ ICM responsibilities, we will ask you for a few things:

• Keep all of your boarding passes and receipts from your journey, you will submit them later on to our office together with the Request for Reimbursement (see the Documents section)
• Attend the compulsory meeting during Admission – there you will receive important mobility documents from us, especially:
  • Grant Agreement
  • Confirmation of Arrival
• In order to receive your scholarship, you must open a bank account in the Czech Republic (we will help you with that)

Scholarship Payment

Since we want your start to be easy, we will help you with arranging the appointments at a bank after your arrival to Brno. The sooner you have your account available the sooner you can receive your first payment of the scholarship. Please note that singing the documents from both sides, opening a bank account and inserting it into Information System of MU are necessary pre-requirements for transferring the scholarship.

The payment is made in three transfers during your studies (50% at the beginning, 30 % in the middle and 20% at the end of your placement).

Learning Agreement

Remember that when you applied to MU you had to choose a preliminary list of your courses? The Learning Agreement signed by all parties is the next step in order have your credits recognised after your studies. Please use only the form which you download here (see the Documents section) or which you receive from us. This is done along with the official Transcript of Records, which you will receive at the end of your placement. 

You have chosen courses giving a minimum of at least 20 ECTS credits in each semester.

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Pre-departure Instructions

You have passed all the exams and moreover had a beautiful time at our university. Before your departure (and remember, it is never “good bye” but “see you again soon”) you need to complete few steps:

• Return borrowed books to the library
• Clean up you dorm room
• Close your bank account – we recommend closing it several weeks before your departure
• Stop by at our office and
• submit the Check-out Confirmation (see the Documents section)
• sign your Leaving Certificate and receive the Transcript of Records

Keep us informed about your course recognition once you are back home via the last part of the Learning Agreement (the “after mobility” part). The explanation of the MU Grading System will surely help you. Last but not least, upload a scan of your boarding passes to your online application.

And, of course … stay in touch as an alumnus and a proud member of the Masaryk University family!

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FAQ

Can I apply for Erasmus+ ICM scholarship if I study at the university which is not a Partner Institution?

Unfortunately, no. The application is strictly limited to the inter-institutional agreements between partner universities. But this does not mean you will not be able to apply in future. The offer of scholarships is dynamic and may change every year a little bit.

I have not been selected, do I still have a chance to study at Masaryk University?

Sure thing, do not give up. If you met all the eligibility criteria and have not been selected, there are still some opportunities you can try. Either you may consider to apply through our other scholarship programmes, then browse the available agreements according to your country, or you can try it next semester/year. Since you are now familiar with the whole process, it will be way easier for you to apply for the second time.

I am not sure if I should choose Masaryk University for my studies. What should I do?

If your answer to the question “Do I want to spend some time in the middle of Europe studying at a modern university with world-class research, live in a city full of students and not spend much for such a living” is yes, then we are pretty sure you will find Masaryk University a place to go! See some good reasons why to come and fill in the application form.

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