Teaching abroad with Erasmus+

Erasmus+ Teaching Staff Mobility

The EU education program Erasmus+ has been promoting cross-border mobility of students and university academic and non-academic staff since 1987. In addition, diverse cooperation and partnership programs offer far-reaching opportunities for institutional exchange between universities in Europe and worldwide.

Teaching staff at TU Dortmund University can apply for an Erasmus+ mobility grant via the International Office. The prerequisite for teaching abroad is a valid Erasmus+ Inter-Institutional Agreement and consultation with the Erasmus+ Departmental Coordinator.

Well Informed

Who Can Apply?

Professors and lecturers with a contractual relationship with TU Dortmund University
Lecturers without endowment at TU Dortmund University
Adjunct lecturers at TU Dortmund University
Academic staff of TU Dortmund University

What Are the Program and Partner Countries?

Program Countries:

27 Member States of the European Union (EU)

6 Countries outside the EU

Partner Countries:

The partner countries are also clearly listed on the DAAD website. Here there is the possibility to apply for funds via Erasmus+ International Mobility in KA131.

United Kingdom

In the current Erasmus + program generation (2021-2027), the United Kingdom is eligible as a partner country. Due to the international opening of the funding line KA131, outgoing mobilities from Germany to the UK are eligible for both staff and students if TU Dortmund University receives sufficient funds in the corresponding Call.

Which Universities Do the Departments Cooperate with?

Each department has Erasmus+ Inter-Institutional Agreements that contractually stipulate student and/or teaching staff mobilities. Therefore, only mobilities for which a corresponding Erasmus+ Inter-Institutional Agreement exists can be funded.

Erasmus+ partner universities (teaching staff mobility)

Erasmus+ partner universities (student mobility)*

*On the linked page you can see who is the Erasmus+ Departmental Coordinator in your department and find out about the opportunities for teaching staff. Of course, the International Office can also provide information about the existing contracts.

What Are The Goals?

Guest lecturers can strengthen the European dimension of the host university through their Erasmus+ mobility, complement its range of courses and impart their specialist knowledge to students who do not want to or cannot study abroad.

Further goals may be:

Development of a joint study program
Exchange of teaching content and methods
Strengthen and develop links between faculties
Preparation of future cooperation projects

What Conditions Must Be Met for Funding?

Participants belong to the group of people mentioned (see "Who Can Apply?")
Only for teaching stays (not for conference participation!)
An Erasmus+ Inter-Institutional Agreement must exist for the relevant subject
At least two consecutive days (excluding travel days) | maximum six weeks or the number of days agreed upon in the Inter-Institutional Agreement
The stay must include at least 8 hours of lessons in one week or shorter (at least 2 days)
For each additional working day beyond one week (five working days), the minimum number of hours per additional day is calculated as follows: eight hours divided by five days multiplied by the number of additional days
If teaching activities and further education (Fort- und Weiterbildung) are combined, the teaching load is reduced to four hours per week

How Much Is the Mobility Grant?

Accommodation Expenses

Depending on the group of countries, the following uniform daily rates apply until the 14th funding day:

Group 1: 180 EUR
(Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Leichtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, (Partner Country: United Kingdom))
Group 2: 160 EUR
(Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain)
Group 3: 140 EUR
(Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey)

from the 15th to the 60th day of support, the support amounts to 70 percent of the daily rate:

Group 1: 126 EUR
(Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Leichtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, (Partner Country: United Kingdom))
Group 2: 112 EUR
(Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain)
Group 3: 98 EUR
(Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Turkey)

*Staff mobilities to the UK can still be funded as a partner country.

Travel grants for outward and return journey

In addition to the daily rates, travel costs are added depending on distances between the starting point and destination of the mobility, which are determined uniformly using the Distance Calculator. Reimbursment per stay and depending on the distance with the amounts listed below. Furthermore, additional funding is possible within the framework of individual support for sustainable travel in the course of "Green Travel". Eligible are all participants who need longer time for the trip due to the use of sustainable means of transport. You can also receive up to 4 additional days of funding under the individual support if you need longer time for the trip due to the use of sustainable means of transport.

10 - 99 km: 28 EUR (for "Green Travel": 56 EUR)
100 – 499 km: 211 EUR (for "Green Travel": 285 EUR)
500 – 1,999 km: 309 EUR (for "Green Travel": 417 EUR)
2,000 – 2,999 km: 395 EUR (for "Green Travel": 535 EUR)
3,000 – 3,999 km: 580 EUR (for "Green Travel": 785 EUR)
4,000 – 7,999 km: 1,188 EUR
8,000 km and more: 1,735 EUR

Important notes

The Erasmus+ Mobility Grant includes the subsistence and travel costs, which are subsidized by the EU Commission / DAAD as unit costs, as shown above. The recipient of the grant is obliged to pay personal tax on any positive differences between real costs and unit costs.

Please contact Andrea Schöne if you have special needs, as the International Office may be able to apply for additional grants.

There will be no reimbursement of travel expenses within the framework of the LRKG NRW!

Due to the limited funds available, if several lecturers of one department travel to a host university for the same period of time, only one person may be eligible for support as described above. Each additional person would then possibly receive 50% of the accommodation and travel costs. However, if sufficient budget is available, multiple trips to a host university can be made at the same time period. Please contact Andrea Schöne.

Which Administrative Steps Have to Be Followed for a Grant?

Before the mobility

The planned teaching staff mobility must be applied for by e-mail through the International Office (Andrea Schöne) at least six weeks before the planned stay. Please state the planned working days abroad, date of arrival and departure, actual place of arrival and departure and name of the host university.

Once you have received confirmation that the mobility is eligible for Erasmus+ funding, please submit the following documents to Andrea Schöne:

Invitation from the host university
Online Acceptance Form and Mobility Agreement
Request for a business trip via SAP (you will receive the relevant information from the International Office / Andrea Schöne!)

If all documents are complete, the lecturer will receive a Grant Agreement with the funding guidelines, which must be signed and returned to the International Office / Andrea Schöne.

For your mobility, Department 3.2 will automatically apply for an A1 Certificate (within the EU) / Secondment Certificate (outside the EU) from the health insurance fund after you have submitted your SAP business trip application. You can carry this with you during your stay abroad or present it later if you are asked for it during your trip.

Travel safety: The decision to travel to risk areas lies with you and TU Dortmund University, taking into account the regulations of the Erasmus+ program, the institution's internal strategies and the respective crisis management. This also means that you must inform yourself about the current situation in the host country on the website of the Federal Foreign Office and consult with the International Office before you begin your stay abroad.

During the mobility

Certificate of Attendance be issued by the host institution at the end of the Erasmus+ mobility period

After the mobility

Send copies of the travel documents (flight/train + hotel) together with the original Certificate of Attendance to the International Office (within two weeks after the end of the business trip)
The link to the EU online survey will be sent directly to you by the EU Commission via e-mail

How Does Teaching Staff Mobility to a Partner Country Work?

The Erasmus+ program is also open for mobilities with selected universities in Erasmus+ partner countries. Here, departments can apply for Erasmus+ mobility grants in the framework of existing Departmental Cooperations until March 31 for the following academic year. This line is called Erasmus+ International Mobility.

Teaching Staff Mobilities in a partner country are only possible through the contact person in the department responsible for the relevant cooperation and who has submitted and received approval of an application for funds in International Mobility in KA131.

The administrative procedures hardly differ from the administrative steps mentioned here. Participants will be informed individually by the International Office about the procedures via e-mail.

If you have any questions, please contact Silke Viol directly.

Testimonials

Dr. Manuela Vida-Mannl

A blonde woman with a backpack on her back and sunglasses in her hair takes a Selfie

Temporary Academic Councillor at the Chair of Linguistics of English (Multilingualism) at the Department of Language, Literature and Culture of Faculty 15

In March 2025, I had the opportunity to teach for a week at the Erasmus+ partner university University of Central Lancashire Cyprus through the Erasmus+ Lecturer Mobility program. Thanks to the great cooperation of the staff of the International Office of TU Dortmund University, the Erasmus Officer of Faculty 15 and the university in Cyprus, I was able to

teach 4 multi-hour units on various topics in sociolinguistics. Getting to know my colleagues and Cypriot and international students on site was incredibly enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to adapt and develop my teaching.

During my mobility, I was not only able to have an excellent exchange with my Cypriot colleagues in terms of research and teaching; the great cooperation has also prompted us to develop an Erasmus+ mobility agreement for students, so that the partnership between TU Dortmund University and the University of Central Lancashire Cyprus continues to grow. The Erasmus+ Lecturer Mobility is an excellent opportunity to gain international experience and expand TU Dortmund University's international network and, thanks to the great support from our International Office, I can recommend every colleague to apply.

Dr. Karina Maldonado-Mariscal

Senior Researcher, Sociology and Innovation, Social Research Center (sfs), Department of Social Sciences

Thanks to the Erasmus+ teaching staff mobility and the support of the international teams from our universities in Germany and Spain, I taught at the International Summer School 2023 at the Universidade da Coruña in Spain. I had an amazing teaching and learning experience there. I taught there Innovation in the Social Sciences. I really enjoyed working with very dedicated students.

Dr. Karina Maldonado-Mariscal standing in a white T-Shirt at the edge of a cliff by the ocean on a sunny day

In addition, I am still in contact with researchers and deans from different places and we have managed to get another TUDO faculty to sign an exchange cooperation agreement with Universidade da Coruña. So I am glad that I had the opportunity to be there and contribute to the internationalisation of our university. Thank you to everyone involved: TUDO colleagues, students and teachers, we all had a great experience and we even appeared in the local news.

You can find further impressions on LinkedIn.