ERASMUS+ Lecturers' and staff mobility

As part of the Erasmus+ program of the European Union, KIT promotes guest lectureships and further education and training of academic and non-academic university staff at European partner universities (and companies).

The aim of this measure is to support the internationalization of universities through the exchange of experiences within the European Higher Education Area.

ERASMUS+ Lecturers' and staff mobility

The aim of this measure is to support the internationalization of universities through the exchange of experiences within the European Higher Education Area.

1. What is funded?

Mobility for teaching purposes / short visiting lectureships through the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program for Lecturers (STA)
Mobility for further education and training purposes for non-scientific staff and lecturers through the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Program for Training (STT):
- Work shadowing, individually organized training visits to colleagues with similar areas of responsibility at Erasmus universities
- Staff weeks, set program offer from Erasmus universities to exchange experiences and get to know other university systems
Stays abroad by lecturers and university staff for the purpose of continued training at companies, e.g. for the development or acquisition of new and innovative teaching and learning practices (to be planned individually)
Invitations issued towards of European business representatives for the purpose of instruction at KIT (to be planned individually)

Funding period:

Mobility measures have to comprise at least 2 working days / days of stay (excluding travel days), but a maximum of one week. For mobility measures of lecturers for teaching purposes at least 8 lecture periods per week are required. Due to the limited resources at KIT funding is determined individually.

Information on staff weeks currently available can be found here and via http://staffmobility.eu/ (trial phase IMOTION).

2. Who is eligible?

Permanent employees of KIT from administration and science

Mobility for teaching purposes (STA):
- Professors and lecturers with a contractual relationship with the university
- Instructors with work contracts
- Professors emeriti and retired teaching staff
- Scientific staff
Mobility for further education and training purposes (STT), staff from:
- General and technical administration
- Library
- Divisions/departments
- Financial Services
- International Affairs
- Public Relations
- Student Advisory Service
- Further Education and Training

Special support for employees with disabilities and employees who are single parents with children is possible.

3. What does funding comprise?

The mobility allowance granted by the program is intended to cover travel and subsistence expenses. It is calculated at KIT as specified by the Federal State Travel Expense Act (Landesreisekostengesetz). The maximum amount of the mobility grant is shown in the following tables. Participation fees cannot be covered by Erasmus.

Travel expenses

The amount of funding for travel expenses is determined using the EU distance calculator. More detailed information is provided in the following table. For the EU member states in the majority of cases the distance group 500-1,999 km is applicable. As far as possible, participants should travel less than 500 km by low-emission means of transport (green travel). Erasmus+ funded employees travelling to and/or from the Erasmus destination without a car or plane will receive additional financial support.

For stays from the academic year 2024/25 onwards, we will include additional travel days as days of stay in the funding for each environmentally friendly mobility. The number of these additional days depends on the distance of the partner university from KIT:

2 days up to a distance of 499 km
4 days up to 2999 km distance
6 days from 3000 km distance

One-way distance according to calculator	Amount(unit cost) per participant (= round trip)	Amount(unit cost) per participant (= round trip) - Green Travel
10 - 99 km	28 EUR	56 EUR + 2 days
100 - 499 km	211 EUR	285 EUR + 2 days
500 - 1.999 km	309 EUR	417 EUR + 4 days
2.000 - 2.999 km	395 EUR	535 EUR + 4 days
3.000 - 3.999 km	580 EUR	785 EUR+ 4 days
4.000 - 7.999 km	1.188 EUR + 2 days	1.188 EUR + 6 days
8.000 km und mehr	1.735 EUR + 2 days	1.735 EUR + 6 days

Subsistence costs

The unit cost per day of stay is calculated according to the country group in the table below.

Destination Country	Funding (per day)
Belgien, Dänemark, Finnland, Frankreich, Irland, Island, Italien Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Niederlande, Norwegen, Österreich Schweden partner countries region 13 and 14	180 EUR
Estland, Griechenland, Lettland, Malta, Portugal, Slowakei, Slowenien, Spanien, Tschechische Republik Zypern	160 EUR
Bulgarien, Kroatien, Litauen, Nordmazedonien, Polen, Rumänien, Serbien, Türkei, Ungarn	140 EUR
Non-associated partner countries region 1-12	190 EUR

Please note:
Depending on budgetary constraints, IStO reserves the right to cap payout. Under certain circumstances co-funding from institute or department is then required.

4. Where can one go?

ERASMUS stays are possible in all countries mentioned in the table.

For lecturers' mobility (STA) the exchange should be contractually stipulated. This means there must be an agreement between KIT and the destination university. Click here for the partner institutions of KIT.

For staff mobility (STT) no such agreement has to be in place.

5. Where and when is the application submitted?

If you are interested in staff mobility, please contact IStO directly. We will of course try to assist you in contacting the partner university and where appropriate to supplement existing contracts. You must however establish contacts with companies yourself.

Applications are possible at any time and are served according to budgetary possibilities. Therefore, early planning and informing of IStO is recommended.

For the actual application, the following documents must be submitted:

Mobility agreement teaching (STA) / Mobility agreement further education and training purposes (STT)
Business travel authorization
Invitation by partner, specifying the period of stay (copy of the e-mail or informal letter is sufficient)
Teaching program (STA) / Work program (STT)

Please note that the mobility agreement must also be signed by the partner university. Submit a copy signed by all parties to IStO before your stay starts.
Once we have received your documents, we will check them for completeness and then send you the Grant Agreement. Please fill and sign two copies of the original Grant Agreements to the IStO (by "Hauspost").

6. Insurance during the stay

Participation in the ERASMUS programme is not associated with any insurance cover. Employees of the KIT are only insured against accidents during authorised business trips.

It is generally advisable to take out the following insurance policies for the duration of your stay abroad:

- Travel insurance (including repatriation from abroad),
- Liability insurance (if applicable Professional and personal liability),
- Insurance for accidents and serious illnesses (including full or partial incapacity for work),
- Life insurance (including repatriation from abroad)

All participants in the Erasmus+ programme have the opportunity to be included in the DAAD group insurance, which offers comprehensive insurance cover. Further information on this can be found at www.daad.de/versicherung.

You can find further information on accident insurance on the following websites, for example:
Unfallversicherung bei dienstlichen Auslandsaufenthalten | Die Techniker - Firmenkunden
Versicherungsschutz bei Dienstreisen - BG RCI

As soon as the dates for your Erasmus+ staff mobility have been finalised, please apply for an A1 certificate here https://my.scc.kit.edu/shib/a1.php.

The A1 certificate serves as proof that employees are only staying abroad temporarily and are still subject to German social security during this time. This is to avoid having to pay social security contributions in the host country as well.

The A1 certificate must also be carried on short business trips abroad. It is now strictly controlled in some countries and heavy fines are imposed.

7. What other obligations are there?

Please submit your travel documents to the travel expenses office with a reference to funding by IStO. At the latest 4 weeks after completion of travel, the following documents are to be submitted to the International Students Office:

Letter of confirmation/Confirmation of stay from hosting institution
Report
All original bills/invoices
Travel expenses claim
Fill in EU online questionnaire

For more detailed information about the process, please refer to our check list.

For more information, you can visit the DAAD program page or contact Verena Geißelmann.

Requirement for funding via Erasmus+

An agreement on the reimbursement of travel expenses remains valid only if the necessary documents are submitted in good time before the end of the project. The project year that applies to you is stated on the Grant Agreement (e.g. 2024-1-DE01-KA131-HED-000215665). Projects always have a duration of two years (e.g. for project 2024: 1 June 2024 to 31 July 2026). This means that the documents must be submitted by 1 May of the last year of the project at the latest, i.e. in the above example by 1 May 2026. The required documents include the Dienstreiseantrag (including the fully completed reverse side), the Dienstreiseabrechnung from Reisekostenstelle, and the extracts of all bookings from SAP BW relating to this trip. The latter includes both the booking of the Dienstreiseabrechnung and any payments made in advance directly by KIT (e.g. flight/train or hotel costs).