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The exchange office has the ‘luxury problem’ of being loaded with Erasmus+ grants. They are mainly associated with the Erasmus exchange programme but they can also be applied for by students who want to do an internship or their thesis research in one of the Erasmus countries (EU countries plus Iceland, Lichtenstein, Macedonia, Norway and Turkey). ‘And a lot of students don’t know that because we don’t act as intermediaries for internships or theses,’ says Erasmus exchange administrator Brenda Brouwer.
The grant is available to Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students. ‘They can get 375 euros per month,’ says Brouwer. ‘So it doesn’t cover all the costs, but it is a very nice extra.’ The level of the grant varies per country and activity. For an exchange in Poland you get 171 euros a month, while for an internship or thesis research in Sweden you get 375 euros a month. So for five months of studying, working on an internship or research in an Erasmus+ country, a student can get between 855 and 1875 euros.
If the grants go unused, the chances are that fewer grants will be made available next year. And as a result, grant applications may be rejected. So it is not just good for your bank balance to apply for a grant; you would also be doing your fellow Wageningen students a favour.
Students from outside the EU have the right to an Erasmus+ grant, and even graduates can get one, as long as they apply while they are still registered as students. More information: www.wur.eu/studyabroad of erasmus.studentexchange@wur.nl.