Student mobility
Are you looking for high quality studies and training? Are you looking for employability opportunities?
Discover & network the ATHENA Alliance with the financial support of the ERASMUS programme. Have the credits automatically recognized by your home institution with no extra tuition fees.
Study Abroad
You are looking for a way to improve your language, communication and intercultural skills? The Erasmus+ programme is made for you! With ATHENA and with Erasmus+, you have the opportunity to study abroad for a long-term study period, spanning from 2 to 12 months.
To learn the language that your courses will be in, you can use the Eramus+ Online Linguistic Support.
Who can benefit from long-term mobility?
Any student from Higher Education Institution belonging to the Erasmus+ programme and enrolled in a degree or tertiary-level qualification. You must be a Bachelor, Master or PhD to benefit from this programme. There needs to be an inter-institutional agreement between your home and your host institution for you to study there through Erasmus+. With ATHENA, most universities have such agreements.
You can apply through your local International Relations Office and get more information on what is available for you.
International Traineeships
You are a Bachelor, Master or PhD students from an ATHENA partner and want to complete a work placement or internship in a Programme Country? It is possible! Through the Erasmus Intern Traineeship Portal, you can find plenty of interesting traineeship opportunities.
You can receive Erasmus+ support from 2 to 12 months and apply through your local International Relations Office.
Global Case Study Challenge - Virtual Exchange 2023
The Global Case Study Challenge (GCSC) is an innovative, high-impact career-oriented teaching and learning virtual exchange (VE) project, providing educators and students with invaluable experience in intercultural, international and virtual interaction. Focusing on intercultural, digital communication and sustainability competencies, this virtual exchange program showcases how new virtual models of teaching and learning within real-world contexts can support the development of new global and future-oriented work competencies.
• Develop intercultural competencies: the ability to understand and manage intercultural information in the virtual space; demonstrate cultural empathy, i.e. understanding ideas, values, and cognitive patterns from different cultural environments;
• Develop digital communication competencies: demonstrate digital skills in the virtual environment; use tools, communicate effectively, and collaborate with other team members in the virtual space.
• Practice digital management and leadership skills: Hone organizational and leadership skills for team and project management in a multicultural environment (virtual teamwork/virtual project management);
• Learn about SDGs: Raise awareness about sustainability within different national realities and increase understanding of the role sustainable development goals play in an organizational context, and their wider impact on society.
PhD Students' short visits
From ATHENA partner to University of Siegen
With the help of the DAAD, two PhD students from any ATHENA partner university have the opportunity to spend a one-month research stay at the University of Siegen. This will help you support your research project by using additional laboratories and infrastructure.
The call for 2023 is currently closed, new opportunities coming soon.
From University of Siegen to ATHENA partner
With the help of the DAAD, two PhD students from the University of Siegen have the opportunity to spend a one-month research stay at an ATHENA partner university. This will help you support your research project by using additional laboratories and infrastructure.
The call for 2023 is currently closed, new opportunities coming soon.
Testimonies
PhD students' short visits
Through the DAAD programme aforementioned, several students from the University of Siegen had the opportunity to spend a one-month stay at several ATHENA partners.
Home institution: University of Siegen (Germany)
Host institution: Niccolò Cusano University (Italy)
- What were the main goals of your visit to Niccolò Cusano University?
The main goal of my stay was to get new international contacts and to establish international cooperation for future research projects and teaching exchanges.
- What was the most exciting or interesting moment of your visit?
For me, the most interesting moment was seeing how other institutions work, especially how a private university in Italy works.
- Would you recommend visiting Niccolò Cusano University to your colleagues? If yes, what would be the key advantages/points of interest?
Yes, I would recommend visiting Niccolo Cusano University as it is a quite familial environment. The Campus is not that big so you can get in contact with others quite easily. I also appreciated that I could organize my daily working routine how I wanted it. This was really good for me, as I had the time to work on my dissertation project. Another highlight was the canteen. Every day, they offered a selection of fresh Italian food for very fair prices. Last but not least, for all sport enthusiastic persons, there is a really well-equipped gym on the campus, which is open from Monday to Friday and freely accessible for Cusano members and associates. Since I do a lot of sports, this was perfect for me. After a day of working on my dissertation, I regularly trained and could clear my head.
- Which expectations did you have prior to the visit? Does your experience differ from what you have expected? If so, how? To what extent?
To be very honest, I tried to reduce my expectations as much as possible as I wanted to approach this stay very open-minded. However, of course I expected Rome to be magnificent and that I make new contacts with my colleagues at the Cusano university. After my experience, I can say that Rome is magnificent and definitely worth visiting.
We have decided that we will try to establish a kind of a summer school for master students and that I can send my data set to them, so that they can look if we can do a joint research project in the future.
Home institution: University of Siegen (Germany)
Host institution: University of Orléans (France)
- What were the main goals of your visit to University of Orléans?
One of the main goals of my visit to the University of Orléans was to get more detailed insights into the French University system from the perspective of a researcher. Furthermore, I wanted to get in touch with experts in the field of my dissertation. It was especially beneficial for me that I could work with Céline Dugua who is a specialist in phonology and language acquisition working at the University of Orléans.
Moreover, I aimed at enlarging my research profile by working with the ESLO corpus which constitutes one of the largest databases for spoken French and which is hosted by the LLL (Ligerian Laboritory of Linguistics). During my stay, the colleagues in Orléans and me were able to advance the beforementioned project. I also learned how to use the TXM software to annotate oral corpora. All in all, the collaboration within the team was considerably facilitated and enriched during my stay.
- What was the most exciting or interesting moment of your visit?
The most exciting moment of my stay was probably when I presented my thesis project in front of numerous members of the LLL and master’s students. The feedback included some very useful questions and comments which I will take into account for my further research.
- Would you recommend visiting University of Orléans to your colleagues? If yes, what would be the key advantages/points of interest?
I would definitely recommend visiting the University of Orléans to my colleagues because I was warmly welcomed and immediately integrated into the research activities. A stay will be beneficial for everyone interested in the topics covered at the LLL.
- Which expectations did you have prior to the visit? Does your experience differ from what you have expected? If so, how? To what extent?
I only had vague ideas and expectations prior to my visit but during those four weeks I learned so much more than I thought. In particular, I am thankful for the support of the colleagues on site who made my stay a very pleasant and productive experience.
Your experience in a nutshell:
My research visit at the University of Orléans was highly beneficial for my dissertation project and other future research as I could work with experts in my field, got to know new methodologies and research perspectives and gained a deeper insight into the French research system.
Host institution: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania)
Home institution: University of Siegen (Germany)
Contents of the stay and benefits for the work
My visit to VILNIUS TECH was intended to serve three objectives: first, to prepare my upcoming disputation, second, to inspire new research ideas, and third, to gain insight into research and teaching at VILNIUS TECH. In Vilnius, I had the opportunity to experience individual program items of the summer school »ARCHITECTURE IN-BETWEEN HOMES«. A lecture on how Lithuania deals with migration and migrants at the EU’s external border with Belarus and the visit to the Naujininkai Refugees Camp in Vilnius were particularly interesting. Additionally, I attended the summer school`s final presentation.
As my dissertation is about mosques in Germany that were built by migrants from Turkey, I wanted to explore mosques in Lithuania as well. Therefore, I visited Vilnius Mosque and Islamic Center (the mosque rooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a multifunctional building), Nemėžis Mosque in a village near Vilnius (a wooden mosque with a minaret) and Kaunas Mosque (a stone mosque with a minaret ). The three very different buildings are essentially based on the migration of Tartars in the 15th century. These Baukultur testimonies of historical migration formed an interesting contrast to the impulses of the summer school, which addressed the current migration and accommodation situation.
To my colleagues, I would particularly recommend a stay at VILNIUS TECH in case their research has a specific connection to the city or country. Since there doesn’t seem to be non-professorial teaching staff (Mittelbau/wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter_innen) in the structure of VILNIUS TECH, it was difficult for me to find a connection at first. Hence, I would recommend a stay in Vilnius especially to students. In particular, the summer schools, which take place regularly in September, are an excellent opportunity for students to exchange ideas with fellow students and teachers. They are set up as design workshops at the interface between architecture and educational sciences, which are located in relevant contexts and specific scenarios.
Conclusion
I am very grateful to ATHENA and DAAD for the great opportunity to visit VILNIUS TECH. I started my research stay relatively openly and had no specific expectations. However, I had hoped to be a little more involved in the university’s operations in the architecture faculty. I met many interesting people in Vilnius and could add valuable contacts to my academic network. Time will tell if this will result in future collaborations.
Your experience in a nutshell:
The research stay at VILNIUS TECH allowed me to gather a lot of new impressions and ideas. I got to know a modern and innovative Faculty of Architecture and many committed people. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to do that research stay and would do it again anytime.
BIP students
Since ATHENA started, several students attended Blended Intensive Programmes.
Home institution: University of Siegen (Germany)
BIP title: Organisation, Management and Society
Host institution: University of Maribor (Slovenia)
Your experience in a nutshell:
I would like to share with you my impressions about being in Slovenia for BIP Erasmus Program. The program was 2 days online and 6 days present in Slovenia in the city Kranj. In Kranj in faculty of Maribor we had 3 to 4 lections every day. All of them brought many insights and ideas so I felt really excited about the topics after the lectures. Some of them were modern communication, digital marketing, branding, programming on Java and visualization in Tableau. We had twice organised guide tours (in Kranj and in Ljubljaba – capital of Slovenia) and then dinner in really good restaurants. Every day we had paid lunch in student dormitory. After classes all students were going out together – this is, we say, one of the most important parts – socializing!
As the program was over I have stayed 2 days longer to travel a bit myself (the program is really intensive, so I didn’t really have time for seeing the city my own). Slovenia has wonderful nature, you see snowy mountains everywhere. People are really friendly and I have a feeling that everyone speaks English!
I really enjoyed this time and I will definitely love to go to another BIP Erasmus program. Thanks EU for such a great opportunities!
Home institution: University of Siegen (Germany)
BIP title: Solution Design
Host Institution: University of Maribor (Slovenia)
Your experience in a nutshell:
This summer, I had the opportunity to attend the ATHENA Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) “Solution Design Summer School” at the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Architecture in Maribor, Slovenia. The topic for this year was waste management. Erasmus+ provided full funding for this program. This was my first summer school, so I was quite enthusiastic. Many students from different countries have participated in this program. I was excited about this as I knew that I would get the opportunity to learn about different cultures and their lifestyles. I am happy that I got the chance to make friends from Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Finland, India, Poland Lithuania, and, of course, Slovenia. It was exciting and entertaining. Specially the cultural exchange. I was surprised to learn about how there are many cultural differences even though the countries are near to each other. Maribor was hosting more than one summer school at the same time, so there were also chances for us to meet and eat together as we all had lunch venue at the same restaurant. We also went on some trips together. The most beneficial experience was visiting many recycling and manufacturing facilities, including a research and development center looking at the viability of recycling textiles. We were split into groups and our tasks were to find creative solutions for waste management. My group chose disposable mask waste because we all realized how much it pollutes the environment after COVID. We had many ideas, but we had to find something creative. It was difficult to build a final solution. We finally came up with the idea of making a digital recycle bin which will collect the masks and, in return, will give you discount coupons in different shopping outlets and on its own website where it sells products made from recycled masks. It was enjoyable to work in an international environment together with my teammates. During this whole program, the University of Maribor professors who helped us were very kind and helpful. They became our friends so they could learn more about us.
Maribor is a very nice place to live. We also went to Ljubljana, which is Slovenia’s capital, and Bled Lake, which is its most popular tourist spot. I didn’t realize that two weeks had gone by. Time went by so quickly. When it was time to say goodbye, we all had tears in our eyes. We had no idea how close we all got in those two weeks. It was awful. Maybe it’s hard to say goodbye all the time. I’m glad I got to do this great thing. I am grateful for this fantastic opportunity and experience. I would really love to attend another international program like this.
