Study Abroad at a Partner University within Europe (ERASMUS Programme)

As part of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), ERASMUS funds cooperation between higher education institutions across Europe. In order to offer their students the opportunity to participate in the ERASMUS program, all partner universities must enter into a so called Bilateral Agreement. Among other things, this agreement regulates the number of students that each partner school can accept per academic year. This means that there are only a limited number of places available. In the Bilateral Agreement, it is also agreed that the receiving institution waives the tuition fees for all incoming students. Take a look at the ERASMUS Student Charter in order to familiarize yourself with the  rights and obligations of an ERASMUS student. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) acts as the National Agency for EU Higher Education Cooperation. Please note that SRH Hochschule Berlin is obliged by the DAAD/EU Commission to collect personal data from all ERASMUS participants in order to create source and disposition statements for the EU Commission. In doing so, we comply with the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). By signing the ERASMUS Annahmeerklärung, you acknowledge this procedure.

To be eligible for the ERASMUS program, you must be enrolled in a full-time degree program at SRH Hochschule Berlin.  Also, your study abroad program must be completed at one of the SRH partner universities within Europe and must take 3 to 12 consecutive months within the same academic year (June 1 until September 30 of the next year). Be aware that you will not be able to participate in the ERASMUS program again if you already received an ERASMUS stipend for a study period abroad once before. Furthermore, you may not apply for a second funding program that is sponsored by the European Union as long as you are participating in the ERASMUS program. Please check our ERASMUS page as well as the second page of the ERASMUS-Annahmeerklärung (available in Moodle) for further information and program requirements.

Bachelor students are able to study abroad for one semester during their 2nd year of their degree program (3rd or 4th semester). Depending on the agreement with our partner universities, SRH students may have the option to stay for two semesters. Be aware that, in order to stay for two semesters, you must start your studies abroad in the winter semester since your stay must be completed within the same academic year. If you begin your studies at the partner university in the summer semester, you will not be able to extend.

So what would you need to do if you started your stay abroad in the winter semester and would now like to extend your stay through the summer semester?

1. Contact the International Office at SRH to find out if this is even a possibility (whether or not the bilateral agreement between SRH Berlin and the host university allows extensions).

2. Contact the International Office at your host university to check with them and ask if they need additional documents from you.

3. Contact the SRH Bachelor Office to prepare a new Learning Agreement and a new application for the Examination Board.

If you plan to study at one of our ERASMUS partner universities in the upcoming academic year, you must submit all application documents by the end of March of the previous academic year. It does not matter whether you apply for the winter semester or the summer semester. The application deadline for the academic year 2012/2013 (winter semester 2012/2013 or summer semester 2013) is Friday, March 30, 2012. [See *Note below]

To apply, please prepare the following application documents and submit the original documents to the SRH International Office by the deadline:

• Copy of the picture page of your passport
• Copy of German residence permit (non-EU citizens only)
• Current SRH transcript in English
• CV in English
• Letter of motivation (in English, ca. 1 page)
• One photo
• Confirmation of receipt of the ERASMUS Charter
• ERASMUS Annahmeerklärung
• Learning Agreement (with the signature of your Study Program Director – Studiengangsleiter)
• Proof of valid health insurance (must be valid in the country you will study in for the entire period of your stay)
• Application to the Examination Board
• Complete application documents for your host university (consists of an application form and possibly other documents such as proof of language skills, proof of health, additional photos or other such documents)

All documents must be submitted in their original version. Application documents that are sent by fax or as email attachments cannot be accepted. Make sure that you make copies of all application documents for your own records before you submit them to the SRH International Office.

As soon as we receive your complete application documents, we will reserve a place at the partner university for you. Please note that the places in France, Spain and Ireland are especially popular among students. Should we receive more applications than spaces are available at one particular partner university, a selection procedure will take place. The following selection criteria will be considered in the following order:

1. Timely submission of application documents

2. Completeness of application documents

3. “Return to home country” priority (according to the ERASMUS guidelines, applications of students who plan to study abroad in their home country will be given lower priority)

4. Academic performance (grades)

5. Letter of motivation

6. Social commitment

Once selected, you will receive an official Nomination Letter from the SRH International Office and your application will be forwarded to the partner university. The partner universities will then review the documents to confirm the selection. Once the student has been accepted by the host university, an acceptance letter will be issued and sent to the SRH International Office who will then forward it to the student.

*Note: Should there still be spaces left at our partner universities even after the application deadline has passed, you may still apply within a timely manner. In this case, please consider the following consequences:

• spaces at the university of your choice may no longer be available
• ERASMUS funds may no longer be available
• the university of your choice may no longer accept applications
• you may not be able to receive a visa in time for the start of the semester
• the deadlines to apply for addition funding (such as Auslands-BAföG or scholarships from foundations) may have already passed

These documents are available in the International Office folder in Moodle. Please note that most of the information that is available in Moodle was provided by our partner universities. SRH Hochschule Berlin is not responsible for the content. Information provided by our partner universities is subject to change without notice.  Please be aware that insufficient information in Moodle does NOT justify a late and/or incomplete submission of your application. Should any of the partner university information be insufficient, you are advised to contact the contact person from the partner university which is listed in the Info Sheet of the respective partner university. The Info Sheets are available in Moodle. Please note that some of the ERASMUS documents are available only in German.

During the application process you will need to choose the classes that you wish to attend at the host university. You must enter these classes on the first page of the Learning Agreement, which is one of the application documents. In general, the courses which you will take at the university abroad must match the classes that you would take during that same semester at SRH. This applies to the content of the courses as well as the credit points which you will earn. Compare the curriculum of the host university to the curriculum of SRH to identify eligible classes. Once you arrive at your host university, you will meet with the Academic Coordinator there in order to confirm your courses. Very often it is necessary to make changes to your class choices. All changes must be noted on the second page of the Learning Agreement, which must be signed by your host university and then returned to the SRH Bachelor Office within 4 weeks of your arrival at your host university. Contact the SRH Bachelor Office for assistance with your class choices and the creation of your Learning Agreement.

The Learning Agreement that you complete during the application process includes a list of the courses that you choose to attend at the partner university. This Learning Agreement will be signed by you and by your host university, but also by the SRH Departmental Coordinator as well as the SRH Institutional Coordinator. With these signatures, we guarantee that the courses listed on the Learning Agreement will be recognized by SRH University Berlin as long as you successfully complete them.

You will need to continue to pay your tuition fees to SRH. However, as an exchange student in the ERASMUS program, the tuition fees at your host university are waived. (Please note that insurance payments, material fees and similar costs are not considered tuition fees.) The SRH International Office applies for the ERASMUS funds through the DAAD. The amount of the ERASMUS stipend awarded to each student depends on the amount of funds approved by the DAAD as well as the number of students participating in the ERASMUS program each academic year. In general, ERASMUS students can expect to receive between 0 Euro and 300 Euro per month. However, the stipend will not be paid monthly, but rather in two installments. You will receive the first installment at the beginning of your semester abroad once you submitted your original learning agreement (including the signatures of your host university) to the SRH International Office. The second installment will be paid at the end of your stay abroad after you submitted the original versions of your final ERASMUS documents to the SRH International Office). Please note that ERASMUS stipends may only be transferred to German bank accounts.

Within 2 weeks of your return, all ERASMUS participants must contact the SRH International Office to submit the originals of the final ERASMUS documents.

• Official transcript with the classes you took and the credit points and grades you received at the university abroad
• Completed form Studierendenbericht – Auslandsstudium (V.4)
• A written report about your study abroad experience, including information about your preparations, finding a place to stay, courses at your host university, life in the country you stayed in as well as general feedback about your experiences (in German or English, ca. 2-4 pages, photos may be included)
• The Letter of Confirmation for Student Stay Abroad (VI.D1-SMS) – signed by your host university at the end of your stay
• As an ERASMUS student, you should also be willing to share your experiences with other SRH students after your return.

With your signature on the ERASMUS Annahmeerklärung and your acceptance of the ERASMUS funds, you agree to submit the above named documents in a timely manner (no later than 2 weeks after your return). The remaining ERASMUS funds may be deposited into your bank account only after the SRH International Office received the original documents from you.