I. General information from the Erasmus+ Higher Education Mobility Handbook

The new doctoral mobility feature of student mobility will help better link the world of (higher) education and the world of research and innovation.

In essence, Erasmus+ KA131 doctoral mobility focuses on education and training while Horizon Europe’s MSCA doctoral activities focus on research and innovation, while both may carry out activities of the other area to a limited extent: MSCA allows teaching and Erasmus+ allows research cooperation and skills development.

To boost skills development, doctoral candidates will have more opportunities in the new Erasmus+ programme to do student mobility in the form of short-term stays abroad, in addition to long-term mobility.

Under the new Erasmus+ programme, doctoral candidates have the option to undertake a short-term study or traineeship mobility abroad with or without a combined virtual component, giving them even more flexibility to tailor their mobility to their specific learning and training needs.

This means that any doctoral candidate will be treated equally independently of their status (student or staff) and will have the possibility of both long-term and short-term stays abroad.

In the case where doctoral candidates take part in a blended intensive programme - be it specifically targeted for the doctoral level or not - the mobility must be undertaken as a blended mobility. This means that in case of a doctoral candidates’ participation in such a programme, the virtual part is compulsory, as for any other learners (i.e., participants not involved in the delivery of the programme).

The details can be found in:

• Erasmus+ Higher Education Mobility Handbook 2021, V1, 31-32.o.
• Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2022 (Version 2)

II. ELTE specific regulations – outgoing students

Based on the call for applications for short-term doctoral mobility as a traineeship, the main regulations of ELTE are the following:

• The duration of the physical mobility must be min. 5 days, max. 30 days.
• If required, the academic cooperation can be extended with online, collaborative elements before or after the physical mobility. The virtual part of the mobility is optional. Please note that the Erasmus grant can only be paid for the physical part of the mobility.
• Eligible activities: receiving training for transversal skills and work/non-academic experience, research skills; thesis (dissertation) research. Participation in a conference is NOT eligible for funding. The planned activity of the student is approved of the student’s dissertation supervisor.
• Doctoral students independently seek a host institution. They are not nominated by the sending institution, application is via direct contact between the student and the host institution.
• An Erasmus+ partnership (inter-institutional agreement) between the sending and the host institutions is not required.
• Host institutions are not obligated to provide student status to the applicants for the period of the short-term mobility. However, the student status might be needed for certain services, e.g. access to the library, which must be agreed upon with the host institution.
• The students need the following documents from the host institution:
  • for their application: Letter of Acceptance / Letter of Admission (the host institution issues to the student): There is no form for this document, the minimum required information is the following:
    • name of the host institution
    • name, home institution and faculty of the student
    • dates of the approved mobility
    • short description of the activity
    • signature and stamp of the host institution
  • before the mobility: Learning Agreement Before the mobility section. The Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement, in which the Erasmus+ student agrees with their dissertation supervisor and the host institution on the planned activity. Until this document is not signed by all parties, the Grant Agreement of the student is not valid and they cannot start their mobility. The form is available here.
  • after the mobility:
    • Certificate of Attendance (certificate of the exact dates of the mobility, filled in and signed by the host institution): 
      • If the mobility has a virtual period, the following form should be used: Certificate of Attendance to confirm the dates of the realised mobility.
      • In other cases, the certificate can be substituted with the Learning Agreement After the Mobility section.
    • Learning Agreement After the mobility section: It contains the student's activity at the host institution, as well as the signature and stamp of the host institution. The form is available here.
  • during the mobility: If the student wishes to prolong the mobility, they need to fill out the Learning Agreement During the mobility section. It contains the changes to the student's activity at the host institution, as well as the signature of all parties. The form is available here.
• Awarded students will receive € 70 of Erasmus grant per day up to the 14th day of physical activity, and € 50 per day from the 15th day.

III. ELTE specific regulations – incoming students

The main regulations for incoming students, who apply for short-term doctoral mobility as a traineeship are the following:

• The duration of the physical mobility must be min. 5 days, max. 30 days.
• If required, the academic cooperation can be extended with online, collaborative elements before or after the physical mobility. The virtual part of the mobility is optional.
• Eligible activities: receiving training for transversal skills and work/non-academic experience, research skills; thesis (dissertation) research. Participation in a conference is NOT eligible for funding.
• Applicants independently seek and directly contact the host ELTE department, no nomination is needed from the sending institution.
• An Erasmus+ partnership (inter-institutional agreement) between the sending and the host institutions is not required.
• Incoming students applying for short-term doctoral mobility as a traineeship are not registered in Neptun, the electronic student administration system of ELTE.
• Incoming students apply for Erasmus+ funding at their sending institution (€ 79 of Erasmus grant per day up to the 14th day of physical activity, and € 56 per day from the 15th day).