ERASMUS STAFF MOBILITY

Important information for successful candidates

Training for university staff at enterprises and HEIs abroad - General Information

The Erasmus Programme now contains provision for short visits by university staff to enterprises or Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in other participating countries (i.e. EU member states, Croatia, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey) for the purposes of training.  This scheme is open not only to academic staff, but to all categories of staff employed by the University.

The objective of this type of staff mobility is to allow staff of HEIs to acquire knowledge or specific know-how from experiences and good practices abroad, as well as practical skills relevant for their current job and their professional development.  The stay in the partner organisation can be termed a short secondment period, job-shadowing scheme, study visit or workshop. 

With the funding that NUI Galway has received for such visits in the 2012/13 academic year, it is anticipated that up to eight visits can be supported.  Four awards have already been made, and further applications are now being invited for visits that would take place in the period up to the end of September 2013.  

Applications must reach the International Affairs Office by 5pm on Tuesday, 21st May, and should take the form of a  Draft Work Plan (see below for more details).

The onus would be on the individual staff member to 

• identify a suitable host enterprise or HEI (the HEI must hold an Erasmus University Charter; this is not necessary in the case of an enterprise),
• secure provisional approval by the host organisation, and
• obtain the consent of their own Head of Department/Section here at NUI Galway if applicable. 

Selection:

Persons to be awarded a grant for undergoing training will be selected on the basis of a "work plan" submitted by the applicant.  The essential elements should be:

• overall aim and objectives
• expected results in terms of the additional expertise/competences to be acquired
• activities to be carried out and, if possible, a programme of the period

The following are guidelines set down by the HEA, the Irish National Agency for Erasmus, in relation to Erasmus Staff Mobility for Training:

Objectives and Content of the Training:

·       The objectives and expected results of the visit should be clear and realistic, and the work programme appropriate to achieving the objectives.

·       The training activity abroad will have a greater potential value than similar training in the applicant’s home country, and it is clearly demonstrated that the applicant will benefit from this experience in terms of professional and personal development. 

·       There should be a clear match between the training envisaged and the applicant’s training needs. The envisaged training should appear likely to have a positive impact on the applicant’s professional development and his/her higher education institution/enterprise, and to strengthen the links between the higher education institutions or between the higher education institution and the enterprise concerned.

Nationality: Teaching and non-teaching staff participating in staff mobility shall be nationals of a country participating in the LLP or a national of another country employed or living in the participating country, under the conditions fixed by the participating country, taking into account the nature of the programme.

Other related activities: Language training and attendance of seminars, workshops and conferences may be considered for staff training mobility.  However, for each HEI, these training activities should not represent the majority of training days of all staff participating in the staff training.   Approval from the HEA would be necessary before the awarding of a staff training grant for a visit that includes any of the above activities.

Academic Staff should note that the purpose of these visits is strictly TRAINING, the acquisition of skills/technical know-how, etc, and not research collaboration with colleagues abroad, for which other funding schemes are available.  The HEA have asked us to make this very clear to candidates: a detailed programme of training activities must be put forward and signed off by the host institution.

Duration: Please note that due to funding limitations, the maximum visit duration for any member of NUI Galway staff will be 5 working days.   Applicants will be expected to submit a five-day programme of activites, and funding for shorter visits will only be approved in exceptional circumstances where a clear justification has been provided, and approval will be subject to review by the National Agency.

If you wish to apply to take part in the scheme, you should complete the Draft Work Plan (use this version for applications only; successful candidates will be asked to update this to a final version) and send it to Mary Lyons, International Affairs Office, to arrive no later than Tuesday, 21st May, at 5pm.

Paperwork and Procedures for Successful Candidates

Successful candidates are notified soon after the deadline, and they should read the Guidelines for Staff Training Visits. 

IMPORTANT - BEFORE THE VISIT
If you have been approved to go on an Erasmus Staff Training Visit, we will need to set up a bilateral agreement between NUI Galway and the host institution abroad if one is not already in place.  The International Affairs Office will contact you in relation to this - you will be asked to provide details of the institutional and academic contact persons for the host institution, and the agreement will then be handled by the International Affairs Officer.

Then you will need to get your WORK PLAN endorsed (i.e. signed and stamped) by a representative of the host institution.  This will be similar to the form you submitted with your original application, but please now use the Work Plan Final Version, which will be the definitive version approved by the host institution.
 
You will need to complete and sign two copies of the institution-staff agreement, which is a contract between you and NUI Galway. This document will be sent to you by the International Affairs Office; you should keep one completed copy for your own records and return the other to the International Affairs Office as soon as possible.

Please don't forget to read the Guidelines!

You will also need to complete a Bank Details form.

DURING/AFTER THE VISIT

You should download the Certificate of Attendance and the Final Report form.  These documents, along with flight tickets, etc, should be submitted to the International Affairs Office as soon as possible after the visit. As soon as you can confirm receipt of your grant, please fill in the Grant Acknowledgement Form and return it to this office.

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