How do I apply for an Erasmus+ place?

Erasmus code

Our university’s Erasmus code is D KONSTAN01. Our department’s Erasmus code is 0311 (ISCED).

Application process

1 February

For the Erasmus programme, applications to the partner universities are via the Department of Economics. The closing date for the coming winter semester, the entire academic year and the summer semester of the following year is always 1 February. If 1 February falls on a weekend, the closing date is postponed to the next working day. There is no 2nd closing date for applications.

You may participate in the Erasmus programme if you:

  • Are enrolled in a study programme at the University of Konstanz (this applies for international students too)
  • Bachelor's students: At the time you apply, you must have completed the first year of study in the subject which you want to study during the Erasmus exchange and have passed the orientation test.
  • Master’s students: At the time you apply, you must be at least in the first semester of study and take two of the three mandatory written exams in the first semester. (If we are able to nominate you, this nomination remains provisional until you have passed the two exams. If you fail an exam, we are obliged to withdraw your nomination.)
  • For France, Spain, Portugal, Italy: have adequate proficiency in the national language - insofar as this is the language of instruction
  • For all other countries: adequate proficiency in English
  • You must not yet have exhausted your maximum allowance of 12 months per study phase (bachelor, master, or doctoral research) on an Erasmus+ exchange

Please use the online application form and remember to include your letter of motivation. You don’t need to send a separate CV.

The Selection Committee meets in the 2-4 weeks after the closing date in the February of the calendar year for the academic year commencing in the following autumn.

Despite the Bologna Process and European integration, academic calendars in Europe are mostly not aligned. That’s why it can be difficult to go abroad in the summer semester.

Nomination

If we were able to nominate you, we will send you an email and ask you to accept the place. Of course we will notify you too if you cannot be allocated a place. Please contact us so that we can discuss other options.

You might now have to submit further documents to your host university, for example a language certificate, confirmation of your health insurance, etc.

Your host university will then send you your letter of admission.

In April/May there is a compulsory information session where you will get to know other Erasmus exchange students and find out about the next steps. You are sent an email.

Application and motivation

Candidates are selected by the department. All administrative matters related to the exchange are then handled jointly by the International Office (scholarships, experience reports) and the department (crediting of coursework). Please take note of the general advice provided in the International Office’s Erasmus+ Guide for Outgoing Students.

Please apply online. The application form also includes your letter of motivation.

  • The focus of the letter of motivation (written in English, aprox. 1.500 characters) lies solely on your first-choice university.
  • Please include any relevant aspects from your career or personal life in the letter of motivation; there is no need to submit a separate CV.
  • Please state any parallel applications via other departments or for a global exchange in your
  • letter of motivation; this will not have an adverse effect on your Erasmus+ chances.
     

Application process Erasmus+ for a period of study abroad starting in 2018/19

A. Some thoughts around benefits from being abroad during your studies (thoughts taken in part from 'Mit Auslandserfahrung punkten - Ergebnisse einer Arbeitgeberbefragung' (DAAD 2016) and translated into English)

Studying or doing an internship abroad lend itself to focused preparation for a professional life that is increasingly characterised by

  • ability to work in/lead mixed teams (whether this means working abroad, dealing with international teams in Germany, or working virtually in mixed teams),
  • knowledge of subject matter gained both at home and abroad (theory and application)
  • ability to communicate well and work independently as well as culturally sensitively
  • knowledge of markets and institutions in other countries as well as the legal frameworks they function in
  • need for foreign language competence (or the proven ability to learn the basics of a new language quickly),
  • having thought about your future work-life balance when more work will be done from back home or in virtual environments or what it really means to work in fast-changing work settings.

Practical experience is without doubt (and stated so by employers*) the most valued aspect when they consider employing a recent graduate – an internship is the obvious way to demonstrate that … but studies abroad can serve the same purpose if thought through.

Not going abroad, on the other hand, means

  • deciding against one effective means to sharpen your professional and personal competencies
  • forgoing the chance to set yourself apart from others looking for their first job (currently, Germany-wide, app 40% of the students go abroad during their studies)
  • forgoing the chance to prepare for a purposeful internationally-oriented career

* The other – not surprising – outcome is that studying more than the regular length of studies is either seen neutrally or even favorably IF it is because of a time spent abroad.

One of the main deficiencies mentioned again and again is the wide-spread lack of ability of job seekers to highlight the benefits and outcomes of their time abroad in their application letters and interviews. Or to create a connection between this time and the profile of the job they are applying for. This may also be due to students’ lack of instruments to develop and describe these aspects.

The department is now looking into feedback formats that will assist students in doing this. Your application is the start of this.

Conclusion: studying or interning abroad in itself has no automatic value but it does enable you to single out a period of your studies at an advanced stage of it and showcase everything you are about. And this is relevant even if the position or the company you are applying to has no apparent global business profile.

B. Writing about your motivation for going abroad:

Think back to the reasons you had for wanting to study economics (or was it something your parents wanted you to do? Then it may be time to re-evaluate your reasons …) and why you chose to study it at the University of Konstanz.

Next briefly evaluate how you feel about the subject matter ‘economics’ and the location ‘university of Konstanz’ at this stage.

And now think about how some months away from Konstanz can reshape whatever you want both economics and the University of Konstanz to mean for you professionally, academically and personally.

C. Now answer how you are planning on developing in the following areas**

This is the core of your application. Please be concrete and give examples. You will find these areas in the online application:

1. Personal Development

Which concrete aims around self-confidence and awareness, maturity, world view and friendships/connections are you planning on realizing – and how? Please state at least 3 and at most 5 aims.

2. Academic Development

How are you planning to increase or broaden your academic study, how may this shape further educational plans and to which extent and how you will be learning which language(s)?

3. Intercultural Development

Which of your own cultural values and prejudices are you planning to think about and act upon, how will interacting with local and global people shape your attitude towards diversity and tolerance?

4. Career development

Which professional skills are you planning to acquire? If you are interested in an internationally-focused career, how are you concretely planning on using your time abroad towards that aim?

** in parts taken from ‘Transitions Abroad’

D. Upon return you will be asked to hand in a statement referring to your comments in 1-4 as a mandatory component of your application for recognition of courses from abroad.

Applications by bachelor students of Business and Economics Education (Spec. B)

  • If you mainly want to attend economics courses, please apply via our department in the normal way.
  • If you mainly want to attend courses in politics and public administration, please contact Thomas Duttle during office hours and discuss it with him. Preference is given to applications from the department’s own students, but you might nevertheless stand a good chance in some cases. If you are submitting more than one application, please inform both us and Thomas Duttle.
  • If you mainly want to study languages, you can also apply directly via the Erasmus Programme of the Faculty of Humanities. You will be treated in the selection procedure in the same way as the department’s own applicants. If you are submitting more than one application, please inform both us and Melanie Hochstätter.

If you choose the second option, please note the following:

  • At some universities, you are only allowed to attend courses within the faculty.
  • At some universities, 50-60% of your courses must be in the respective department. You may then attend the remaining courses either just within the faculty or at another faculty too.
  • If you are submitting more than one application and you are offered a place by the Department of Economics first, please note that this offer expires after 3 days.

Selection criteria

Letter of motivation - 50%

Grades - 40%

Language skills for first priority country - 5%

Participation in the IO’s Buddy Programme - 5%

Applications via other departments

Our students may also apply for an Erasmus exchange place of the Department of Politics and Public Administration. There are, however, a number of restrictions:

  • You must inform the Department of Economics by email of your plans BEFORE you apply.
  • The department has bilateral agreements with the political science departments of the respective partner universities. Many partners have strict rules regarding Erasmus students’ choice of courses. In some cases, you may only choose courses in the field of political science. In other cases, you may only attend a limited number of courses in another subject.
  • If more students apply for a partner university than the number of places available, the department’s own candidates are given priority. Those students follow who have politics or public administration as their minor. Only then are candidates with another subject taken into consideration to whom any remaining places can be allocated.
  • The application process should be agreed with both the Erasmus coordinator at the Department of Politics and Public Administration as well as the coordinator in the candidate’s own department.

Erasmus+ in the summer semester

Despite the Bologna Process and European integration, academic calendars in Europe are mostly not aligned. Whilst the winter semester in Germany doesn’t start until mid October, in Scandinavia it already starts at the end of August, in Great Britain at the end of September and in Italy at the beginning of October. That’s why some semesters are longer than others and the start of the summer semester varies greatly.

As the winter semester at the University of Konstanz lasts until mid February but the summer semester at some of our partner universities already starts at the end of January, it is very difficult to start an Erasmus exchange in these countries (e.g. France, Scandinavia, Spain) in the summer semester. One option could be to do an internship in the winter semester first.

For this reason, students who wish to start their Erasmus visit in the summer semester can only choose from a limited number of partner universities. Universities in the following countries, amongst others, are suitable:

  • Italy
  • Austria
  • Poland
  • Czech Republic

The closing date for applications for an exchange in the summer semester is also 1 February. Should you have any questions, please contact the department’s Erasmus Coordinator.

Finance

  • Erasmus scholarship (applications and amount)
  • Other sources of finance (DAAD, Baden-Württemberg Foundation, etc.)
  • Auslands-BAföG (German grant for studies abroad): As the cost of studying abroad is sometimes higher than in Germany, students may, under certain circumstances, be eligible for “Auslands-BAföG” (a German grant for studies abroad) who are otherwise not entitled to such funding at home. Applying for such a grant is conditional on part of your coursework completed abroad being creditable to your studies commenced here in Germany. The grants for studying abroad are awarded on the same conditions as normal grants under the Federal Training Assistance Act, i.e. they must be repaid later. The only exception is the subsidy for tuition fees which is always awarded in full and does not have to be paid back later. When applying for such a subsidy, you must state that you have been awarded an Erasmus Mobility Grant. The International Office or the department’s coordinator issues corresponding certificates.
  • Many US-American students have developed creative fund-raising ideas - we might be able to use some of them:
    GoFundMe
    Creative fund-raising ideas from Salisbury University
    MIUSA