"The mission statement of the TU Ilmenau fundamentally describes how internationalisation as a key component of the development strategy can be found in a wide range of activities: ""The TU Ilmenau - Thuringia's technical university - maintains an intensive academic and cultural dialogue with partner institutions abroad.academic and cultural dialogue with partner institutions at home and abroad. With its actions, it sets impulses for responsible social, economic and cultural development of the city, the region, the Free State of Thuringia and the Federal Republic of Germany. Supported by appropriate programmes, the TU Ilmenau promotes the international exchange of its students, professors and staff and regards scientific cooperation as one of its main tasks. With a variety of measures, it creates study and working conditions that are characterised by joint intercultural thinking and action and build bridges between nations.""Promoting the mobility of students, scientists and university staff is thus an essential part of the strategic orientation of the TU Ilmenau.All measures of the present project took place within this consensus. Mobility for 63 participants took place with a total of 10 universities from 3 partner countries (Russia, Ukraine and Moldova). Compared to the contractually agreed number of 65 participants, a total of 62 mobilities were funded within the approved budget. Unfortunately, the project funds could not be fully spent.On the one hand, this resulted from the partnership with Moldova. The cooperation partner in the subject area on the German side was only available for this cooperation to a limited extent. The realisation of the interim student mobilities was only possible with great difficulty. The unreliability of almost all students was reason enough not to focus on further new cooperation. In addition, initiating a new university cooperation with this partner country would have aroused desires that we were unable to fulfil.With the other partner countries, the planned number of participants was only partially achieved. One of the biggest factors for the unrealisable goals was the emergence of the Corona pandemic at the beginning of 2020. Even the extension of the project by 1 year only resulted in a partially realisable number of mobilities. Blended learning was poorly accepted, if at all, and thus not implemented. The interest in face-to-face stays is still high. In addition, some of our partner countries have not issued any visas since spring 2020, so that SM outgoing mobilities could not take place either. The suspension of international business travel opportunities by the university management from March 2020 to mid-July 2021 no longer allowed any outgoing SM activities. Only one trip was still possible in 2021. Since then, only a few incoming STs could be realised, as quarantine periods and multiple rebookings of flights etc. prevented them from being carried out and would have caused high costs that could not be refinanced.As a result, it can be seen that a large part of the activities planned for 2020/2021 had to be cancelled due to the Corona pandemic, although they had already been preceded by organisational activities.All qualitative objectives of the project were achieved under the given circumstances. The cooperations could be supported and further strengthened and thus form an excellent starting position for further international cooperation in studies, research and teaching. In this context, however, we consider the cooperation with Moldova to be terminated.The creation of the new website of the TU Ilmenau and especially the Erasmus+ pages, the advancement of the digitisation tasks and the related process chains and, last but not least, the now better functioning coordination between project coordination and project managers through the introduction of application guidelines and deadlines should be mentioned positively."

The Thuringian Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have applied for this project as a consortium to support placements for students and graduates within ERASMUS+ program. The realization of the project is the responsibility of the office of the consortium - the LEONARDO Office Thuringia. The office is headed by the Managing Director Dr. Frank March; the project is coordinated by Mrs. Elfriede Thron regarding students and Mrs. Sigrid Wille regarding graduates. The LEONARDO Office Thuringia is based at Technische Universität Ilmenau, which acts as contract partner to the German National Agency DAAD. The office takes responsibility for the complete application, execution and for work out the project.The project application has been submitted for 130 participants and 650 months along with the application for accreditation of the consortium HEI in Thuringia in 2014. Due to the high demand - especially from students - two applications for additional funding have been approved. An increased budget of € 307,123 was available for a total of 158 placements and 744 months. During the contract period a total of 155 internships with 729 months and 9 additional days were realized, including 131 student placements and 24 placements of graduates. In this project, students / graduates were sent from eight HEI.Especially female students / graduates (101) took part in this project, there were 54 male participants supported. Access to the project as was possible for all applicants, the realization of the project was carried out in compliance with the equal treatment. Students / graduates almost all fields of study were supported, this reflects their interests and the labor market situation. Particular preferred were placements in the UK (33), Austria (20), Spain and the Netherlands (both 19) and Sweden (13), in total participants were sent to 21 countries.In the project, the participants were funded in average for 4 months and 21 days. Six students completed their internships with a period of 8 to 12 months. The demand of students/graduates of HEI in Thuringia for placements was met with this first project in the ERASMUS+ program due to the restrictive calculated amount of funding and the budget increases.Extensive information activities to motivate students were conducted for project realization - for example: • information events on the program Erasmus + at the Thuringian universities in cooperation with the International Offices • presentation and advertising of the program on http://www.tu-ilmenau.de/leonardo/erasmusplus/ with specific project information and flyers, postersThe planned results have been achieved with success. Beside the quantity especially the quality of the placements has been in focus. The preparation of the learning agreement was supported by the Leonardo Office Thuringia for each placement. It has actively coordinated the preparation of this document between participant, host organization / company and the sending HEI (faculty). For example the agreed ECTS were easily recognized already at the time of completing the EU Survey - or the full academic recognition is expected by the students.Due to active cooperation with the host organizations/companies there is interest in further cooperation. They offer again internships - this also ensures the long-term perspective of other successful projects in the program Erasmus+.The realization of placements in the program ERASMUS+ by the LEONARDO Office Thuringia is for sending Thuringian HEI (in the case of compulsory placements) an essential part of academic training and also an important aspect of its own strategy of internationalization.This project contributes to bring the Erasmus+ program among students/future graduates in the focus for their individual mobility. The funding helps to support the interest of the applicants and the nominating HEI in Thuringia and ensures that the LEONARDO Office Thuringia is continuously active and can help to promote the common interests.

This action supports physical and blended mobility of higher education students and staff from EU Member States and third countries associated to Erasmus+ to any country in the world. 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.

In the example of the Technische Universität Ilmenau is clearly anchored that internationalisation is a key component of the developing strategy: „The Technische Universität Ilmenau - the technological university of Thuringia - maintains an intensive academic and cultural dialogue with partners at home and abroad. It puts with its action impulses for a responsible social, economic and cultural development of the town, the region, the Free State Thuringia and the Federal Republic of Germany. The Technische Universität Ilmenau (TU IL) promotes, supported by suitable programmes, the international exchange of her students, professors, employees and looks at the scientific cooperation as one of its main duties. With varied measures it creates study terms and terms of employment which are marked by common intercultural thinking and action and builds bridges between the nations. In addition, it supports initiatives that support the general esteem and tolerance of the world population.“ Thus it is consistent that the TU IL has signed the „National Codex for the foreign study“ at an early stage. It protects an equal participation of disabled persons and the same chances for women and men and will do everything to offer no space to racism and xenophobia.In the internationalisation strategy of the TU IL the support of the mobility is firmly anchored by students, scientists and university staff. The TU IL helps itself of several instruments to increase the foreign mobility of own students and employees.The target regions defined by the university (Russia and CIS; South America, above all Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico; Asia, above all China and Vietnam; South-East Asia, above all Indonesia; Central Europe and East Europe, above all Romania) are examined in the TU IL by so-called target region representatives. They maintain the narrowest contact with the partner universities there, advertise in Ilmenau to this and are the first contact for students who would like to go to these regions. Besides, under its care the double degree programmes offered by TU IL is developed and promoted.The TU IL has currently students from 91 nations (portion approx. 18.8%), maintains 185 university partnerships worldwide, is involved in 9 double degree projects and three strategic partnership projects as well as numerous other initiatives in apprenticeship and research.The TU IL has concluded Interinstitutional agreements with more than 70 partners in 21 countries.Erasmus+-Programme offers to our students a very good possibility to spend a study period abroad. Also our scientists and our university staff use this possibility.Erasmus+-Partnerships are agreed by the initiative of university teachers. The direct contact of professors makes sure a good specific supervision of the exchange student. This specific contact is a good precondition for the realisation of the lecturer's and staff mobility.In the area of the student's mobility SMS the TU IL has got funding of 54,264 EUR for 48 mobilities. All together we could support 36 students in her plan to finish a study period abroad within Erasmus+. This corresponds to a fulfilment rate of 75%.The TU IL is involved in various projects which also contain teaching obligations in the partner universities. This causes a lack of teaching capacity in the home university.In the area of the staff mobility for apprentices, advanced training and continuing education a funding of 17,280 EUR for 15 mobilities in STA and 4 mobilities in STT was part of the project. In the area STA we could register 6 mobilities.Fortunately, twice as many exchange measures (8) could be realised in the staff mobility STT as initially calculated (4).