Erasmus-exchange in Europe

Apply for an Erasmus exchange:

• Søknadsweb does not operate with a queue sysyem. If you apply for an exchange spot, and decline, the exchange spot will not be offered to another student. We therefore recommend every student carefully consider which exchange agreements they wish to apply for. 
• Academic relevanse is important when considering the exchange period. Students who choose an exchange location based on the courses offered are generally more satisfied with the exchange. Include which courses you want to take while on exchange in the application, in addition to your language skills.

This is how you apply for an Erasmus Exchange at UiB

This is how you apply for an Erasmus Traineeship at UiB

Erasmus grant

The Erasmus grant the student is awarded is determined depending on the level of living costs of the host country.

The monthly rate is €530 for the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Netherlands and Sweden (new countries have been added from autumn 2024).

To all other Erasmus programme countries, the monthly rate is €470.

Please note that the Erasmus grant will be paid in Norwegian krones, calculated with the exchange rate of the day UiB received the Erasmus funding from EU (usually in June every year). The exchange rate may therefore differ slightly from year to year.

The Erasmus grant is financed by the EU and comes in addition to other loans or grants (not funded by EU). You don not pay tax of the Erasmus grant. The grant is calculated on a daily rate of your exchange period, and this must be confirmed by the host university towards the end of the exchange stay. 

All students must sign a grant agreement with UiB and complete an Online Learning Agreement before they receive the first payment of the Erasmus grant. 

Erasmus Travelgrant

In addition, all Erasmus students will receive a travel grant starting from autumn semester 2024, and there is an additional grant for green travel (traveling by train or bus):

The distance from UiB to the host insitution is calculated here, Distance Calculator | Erasmus+ (europa.eu)

More information about Green Erasmus Travelgrant can be found here.

Language, Language test, and Language course

Requirements for language skills 

In the information section of the Erasmus agreement, it is stated which language level the university requires of exchange students, either in English or in another language. Most universities demand level B1 or B2 on the CEFR scale which you can find here. 

Several universities require documentation of language skills in the application process, and the student is responsible for documenting that their language skills are sufficient. All Erasmus-students can take a free online language test (see below), and most universities accept this as documentation. If this is not the case, you can contact your study advisor or erasmus@uib.no to obtain documentation for language skills on the basis of your upper secondary school grades.  

Take a language test through the EU Academy 

For Erasmus students who travel for a study or internship, it is voluntary to take a language test before traveling on exchange. The test will measure the linguistic and professional benefits of an exchange stay. This test can often be attached when the host university asks for documentation of language skills.  

This is how you take the language test:

The test is called Placement test and there is available tests in all 24 EU-languages. You need to register and then follow these steps: 

1. Go to EU-Academy and logg in:  https://academy.europa.eu/
2. In search field "What do you want to learn today", enter "Placement test"
3. Select and click on your language test 
4. On the next page, click "Enroll" (yellow box to the right)
5. Then click "Attempt quiz now"
6. The test will normally take 30 - 45 minutes.
7. After answeing all questions, click "Finish attempt"
8. Overview of results. The last page will give you your language level and you may download the result.

Language course

There are many good opportunities to take a language course in the exchange country before the semester starts. The ordinary Erasmus scholarship does not cover the time you use on the language course. You can still apply for an extra scholarship: 

1. Lånekassen 

Lånekassen provides language scholarships for students who fulfill certain requirements. You can apply for a language scholarship from Lånekassen at the same time as you apply for regular loans and scholarships. Read more on Lånekassen’s website.  

2. Extra Erasmus Grant

If you cannot receive a language scholarship from Lånekassen, you can get an extra scholarship from Erasmus for language courses before the ordinary Erasmus exchange starts.  

• The extra grant is NOK 3500 (2-4 week long language course) or NOK 5000 (more than 4 week long language course). The language course cannot overlap with the period you receive an ordinary Erasmus grant (double funding is not allowed).
• You can apply for an extra Erasmus language grant to take a language course in the local language, even if you will complete courses taught in English. 
• If you would like to take a language course in Norway before you travel, it is also possible to apply for an Erasmus grant.

You apply for a language grant after the language course is completed, where you provide documentation of the course you have taken. The deadline for the fall semester is 15th of October, and the deadline for the spring semester is 15th of April.