The internship must last at least two months and be completed in another Erasmus+ programme country. You look for your internship place yourself in companies, vocational training institutions, research centres and other organisations (e.g. also Goethe Institutes).

You can start the internship at any time, regardless of semester times. It must either be compulsory or recommended in the study regulations or be classified as qualifying for a profession.

In addition, graduates/postgraduates can be funded for an internship abroad up to twelve months after graduation. You must still be enrolled at the time of application. Furthermore, the same regulations (application, selection, mobility grant) apply as for students.

The following institutions cannot act as host institutions for internship placements in order to avoid conflicts of interest and double funding:

• EU institutions and other EU bodies including specialised agencies (complete list).
• Institutions managing EU programmes

Therefore, internships at DAAD field offices and in European offices of Members of the European Parliament are also excluded from funding.

You apply for an internship grant from Erasmus+ funds directly to the ZIB Jura.

Please apply for an internship in the winter semester (incl. the following lecture-free period) by 15 June of the respective year and for an internship in the summer semester (incl. the following lecture-free period) by 15 January. After that, there will be a remaining place allocation.

For the allocation of remaining places, the application must be submitted at the latest two months before the start of the internship in order to comply with all administrative steps in due time.

Early application is recommended due to limited funding. Please submit your application as a PDF document to the following email address: exchange-law(at)uni-koeln.de. Postal submission is also possible.

Application documents:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae
• Certificate of study (copy)
• Overview of academic achievements (Transcript of Records from KLIPS 2.0)
• Job description of the internship (self-written)
• Confirmation of the internship position (e.g. email correspondence) with details of the exact internship period

Selection criteria:

• Motivation
• Connection to the course of study
• Academic achievements
• Quality of the internship and the internship project

The funding amount is between €450 and €600 per month, depending on the country group. If the internship is remunerated, the funding does still apply. Information on the current funding rates can be found on the website of the International Office.

Erasmus+ aims to promote equal opportunities and inclusion, which is why special funding is available for students with disabilities. We will be happy to advise you on this.

When you start the scholarship, you agree to sign a Grant Agreement and a Learning Agreement for Traineeships. Furthermore, you must take an online language test in the working language before the start of the internship.

After the internship abroad, you are required to submit a report and participate in an online survey (EU Survey) of the EU Commission.

Internships abroad funded by Erasmus+ should always have a recognisable connection to your studies. However, there is no legal entitlement to Erasmus funding.

The online language test is available for the five major languages (DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, NL). However, it is not a selection criterion for funding in the Erasmus+ programme and does not apply to native speakers. Once the participants to be funded in Erasmus+ have been selected, the language test should serve as a placement test to document their current language level. It should take place both before their stay abroad and at the end of the respective stay abroad in order to obtain comparable results and, if necessary, to be able to record progress made by the funded participants in language acquisition. The systematic, Europe-wide review of the development of individual language competence enables an evaluation of the effectiveness of Erasmus+.

If you are interested in an internship abroad, you have probably made it your goal to increase your intercultural skills and improve your language skills. You should start by making a list of what you can bring to the table, your interests and areas of study. And you should draw up a picture of the industry and work environment in which you want to work and learn so that the internship abroad can be a success for you. The more specific your own ideas are, the easier it will be for your employers.

If you are funded by Erasmus+, the Learning Agreement for Traineeships, which must be signed by you, the host institution and the University of Cologne as soon as you have been accepted for Erasmus funding, will help you to do this. A detailed work description is also an orientation for you in advance.

After completion of the internship, you are required to enter a field report on http://eu-community.daad.de and send a printout to us within one month. This experience report will not be posted online automatically, but only at your express request.

Important information that should be included in the experience report are:

• Your procedure: How did you find the internship, which criteria were important?
• Characterisation of the company
• Was there a project description in advance?
• Activities
• Qualifications, new knowledge, feedback from the employer
• Comparison of expectations - experiences
• Practical tips for organisation and implementation

We would like to point out that you must have health, accident and liability insurance for the duration of the internship abroad! If you do not have insurance cover through the internship institution, you must ensure that you have sufficient insurance cover yourself. The DAAD has a very good offer that combines all three insurances. You can find the application form here.