This is a higher education student and staff mobility project, please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

"The consortium of the University Fulda was founded in 2001 by four partners and consists of 11 partner organisations today. The number of Erasmus interns has steadily increased in recent years from 35 trainees in 2001 to round about 200 participants per year (before Corona). The consortium is coordinated jointly by the Fulda University of Applied Sciences and the institute Inter.research e.V., which have operated the central contact point of the consortium since 2001. In addition to these two institutions, the consortium currently includes 9 other universities (Evangelische Fachhochschule Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, Giessen University, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Hochschule Koblenz – RheinAhrCampus Remagen, Provadis School of International Management and Technology).The main objectives of the consortium are:- Optimal preparation of students for their internship abroad (content, organizational, intercultural)- Monitoring and ongoing support of the trainees to ensure good results- Further development of key competences of trainees, e.g. foreign language skills, intercultural, entrepreneurial and civic competences.The consortium enables cooperation and exchange between network partners on the one hand and central administration and management of mobility projects on the other. The tasks are divided among the partners as follows: The Fulda University of Applied Sciences is the coordinating institution. It is the host of the Regional Contact Point of the consortium as well as a sending institution. Together with the Institute inter.research eV, the University of Fulda is responsible for the administration of the project and provides electronic services such as databases, a learning platform, a virtual community of coordinators, a website with internship exchanges, tips on application, country information and a platform with the experiences of the alumni. All grant payments are carried out and checked by the finance department of the Fulda University of Applied Sciences. All decisions about granting students and graduates are transparent for every network partner.The regional contact point cooperates closely with the network partners. It provides the partners with information and know-how on the Erasmus program. At least once a year there are coordination meetings in which open questions are discussed, the implementation is evaluated and suggestions for improvement as well as further development possibilities of the project are discussed and decided.There is a contact person for the Erasmus program at each partner university. The local coordinators regularly organize information events (for example the European Week) or seminars for students to motivate them to do an internship abroad. In addition, each network partner offers weekly consultation hours for students and advises via email or telephone. The local coordinators also ensure that the formal criteria of the traineeships are met. In addition, the regional contact point is present on various social media channels. It provides a Facebook page to reach potential interns and inform them about recent internship offers. As part of the program, each participant will continue to receive an obligatory intercultural online training course ""Hands-On Learning - Practical preparation for an intercultural workplace"" to prepare for and support the stay abroad (www.practical-preparation.de). The course is tutored by intercultural trainers and uses key situations during the internship abroad to train intercultural, entrepreneurial and European citizenship skills. The training was developed within the framework of EU projects in cooperation with universities and companies. The course language is English. It is an important component of the quality of the mobility experience. The consortium received the Erasmus E-Quality award by the National Agency DAAD in 2011. The training is also available to other consortia and universities for a moderate fee. The consortium has already contributed to consultations, position papers on the mobility programs and the 2016 interim evaluation of Erasmus +. It took part in the stakeholder workshops with the European Commission in preparation for the new Erasmus + program generation, which were organized by the Leo-Net association (www.leo-net.org). The exchange of experience with other consortia in Europe takes place within the framework of networks such as Leo-Net and Europemobility."

"Promoting student and staff exchange is one of the priority objectives Fulda University has set itself in its internationalisation strategy. By providing our students with an international qualification, the University aims to significantly increase the number of outgoing students and staff by 2020. In this context, the Erasmus+ programme continues to be an important instrument for the University in its efforts to achieve this target: 52% of all students who spent a semester abroad (to study or for work placements) in the 2016/17 academic year remained in Europe. In the 2016 project year, a total of 123 mobilities were carried out with Erasmus+. 104 student mobilities for studies, 13 staff mobilities for teaching and 6 staff mobilities for training were supported with Erasmus+. All targets were achieved. The approved budget of € 150,858 was expended with the exception of a small remaining balance. This was due to short-notice cancellations by individual students. The Departments of Business (54%) and Social and Cultural Sciences (22%) accounted for the largest group of outgoing students. The Department of Nursing and Health Sciences (16%) followed in third place. The remaining 8% were distributed among three departments. Two departments (Applied Computer Science and Electrical Engineering) sent no students on an Erasmus semester abroad. The most popular destination was Spain with 19 outgoing students, followed by Turkey with 13 and Netherlands with 12. A statistical evaluation of all study-related mobilities at Fulda University in 2016/17 reveals that 41% of students completed their study period abroad with Erasmus+. A further 16% also remained in Europe, however as so-called ""free movers"" they studied primarily in Ireland and the UK. 43% studied at a university overseas. The International Office has repeatedly stressed the importance of decentralised coordinators in the departments. Alongside the departmental coordinators, seven out of eight departments now have international coordinators who offer incoming and outgoing students academic advice about the semester abroad. Cooperation between departments and the International Office is well established and carried out constructively and positively. The aim in the next few years is to continually increase the number of outgoing Erasmus students, although compliance with the criteria for selecting students must be guaranteed. Staff mobility for teaching decreased again slightly compared to the previous year with 13 mobility projects. This is attributable to a faculty turnover in the departments since many active professors have retired. In terms of lecturer mobility, the Department of Business was the most active department. New professors were recruited for teaching abroad, especially in the Department of Business. In terms of staff mobility for training, 6 members of staff took part in a mobility programme abroad. One individual participated in a job shadowing scheme at one of our partner universities, 5 members of staff used the programme to improve their language skills. Staff mobility has been promoted since the 2014/15 academic year together with the University's human resources development department. By involving the human resources office, further training courses in Europe can be officially recognised. Every personnel mobility activity is recorded in an SAP system and the employee's personnel file. Since the 2016/17 academic year, the International Office has issued Erasmus certificates for all participants. The departments were asked to provide information from all students about how credits gained abroad were recognised. This information was then included in the individual mobility categories of the final report. The International Office therefore has a list of recognised credits in the respective departments. The Erasmus+ procedures have been revised and documented in collaboration with Fulda University's quality management office. A uniform recognition procedure throughout the university for all mobilities is currently being finalised. Students are prepared for the semester abroad with language courses and intercultural training. Fulda University of Applied Sciences has continued to extend its range of supervisory and integration services for incomers. Alongside accommodation services and the orientation week for international students, intercultural training, free language courses and a buddy programme were offered. These services create ideal conditions to increase the number of incoming students according to strategic targets. In the reporting period, the number of incoming students increased. However, the critical key is to extend number of English taught courses in the near future. The Departments are aware of this and are currently working on new curricula. Conclusion: Fulda University has achieved all the targets it set itself in the period under review and created the conditions to further increase mobility in the future."

This is a project for higher education student and staff mobility between Programme Countries and Partner Countries. Please consult the website of the organisation to obtain additional details.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from/to third countries not associated to Erasmus+. Students in all study fields and cycles can take part in a study period or traineeship abroad. Higher education teaching and administrative staff can take part in professional development activities abroad, as well as staff from the field of work in order to teach and train students or staff at higher education institutions.