Before trainee exchange

Purpose of the instructions

Outgoing orientation material 

Preparations for trainee exchange 

Grant application 

Important documents and links

Purpose of the instructions

These instructions guide students to follow the correct procedure when applying for a training period abroad and whilst there. Well planned training abroad brings about the best results and will enhance students' professional and personal skills. 

NB! Students of health care (Nursing, Physiotherapy, Radiography and Radiotherapy, and Biomedical Laboratory Science) must follow the student exchange process as all training placements are organised through a partner university!

If you have questions about applying, you can contact International Office outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi).

Outgoing orientation material for 2024-2025

Please note! Before buying flights or making other travel arrangements, paying deposit for accommodation, etc. make sure you have

• training agreement signed by all three parties
• necessary documents to enter the country of exchange (residence permit/visa, if it is required)

If you have, for example, bought the flights and your visa is delayed or rejected, you may not get the money back!

Preparations for trainee exchange 

1. Acquiring a training placement

There is no set deadline for acquiring a training placement abroad but Student Mobility Services recommends securing a place (contract / agreement) at least two months before commencement date. Available training places and tips for job hunting can be found in the tamk.jobteaser.com service. All announcements of training placements in Finland and abroad are placed in the Jobiili (for Nursing, Physiotherapy, Radiography and Radiotherapy, and Biomedical Laboratory Science students). If you are interested in trainee exchange in Nordic countries, you can also see job openings at  Nordjobb website (available in Finnish and Swedish). Students are free to acquire a placement themselves as well and can ask for more information from their international coordinator or placement supervisors in the degree programme.

Far Away but Still So Near - exchange postcard blog

2. Approval by degree programme

Before signing any binding documents, students must get approval for the training placement from the person(s) responsible for training in their degree programme. The training must be a part of the student's degree programme at TAMK and must yield full credits upon successful completion.

3. Signing a contract/agreement

Minimum requirements for support for training abroad:

Minimum length: 2 months (60 days)

Minimum credits: 5 cr/month

After confirmation from the degree programme, the student must fill in a contract/agreement, which will be signed by all three parties (student, employer, TAMK).

Students should first get the signatures from the receiving end by sending a filled document to the employer as an email attachment (filled in as far as possible) and ask them to send it back with the appropriate signatures. The TAMK supervisor's signature should be the last one gathered.

Make sure you fill in the correct document (only one of the following):

1) For Erasmus+ countries:

2) For non-Erasmus+ countries:

If your internship is paid, your employer is responsible for insuring you during working hours. Read more about insurance below. In addition, in paid internships, we recommend that you also make separate contract of employment with your employer in addition to the Learning Agreement/internship agreement.

4. Application in SoleMOVE

After you have all the required signatures in the completed training agreement, you must log into the SoleMOVE system and fill in the application. In SoleMOVE, select the "Normal Exchange" application type, do not fill in the "Short Exchange" application. Find the instructions below:

Please confirm your exchange in SoleMOVE after your application is approved. 

Note! If you are studying social services or health care and have obtained your internship yourself outside of TAMK’s partner university: 

TAMK also makes its own agreement for self-acquired internships for social services. This does not require any action from you, but your exchange application will not be finalized until this agreement is concluded. So please note that your acceptance of SoleMOVE is conditional and we will notify you separately by e-mail once your training is confirmed.

5. OLS (Erasmus+ Online Language Support, Erasmus+ exchanges only)

OLS is an excellent opportunity for testing and developing language skills. Language training is not limited to the working language of the exchange or the duration of the mobility, but on the OLS platform you can study and test your language skills in all 29 languages ​​there!

You will be invited via e-mail to participate to OLS. Read more here!

6. Mandatory "International Experiences and Competences" course

All students heading abroad from TAMK complete a compulsory online course "International Experiences and Competences". The fundamental purpose of the course is to help you to enjoy your experience abroad as much as possible and to give you tools for getting all the possible benefits from it. The contents include cultural orientation, setting objectives for the period abroad, and personal evaluation. The international period during your studies is valuable capital while considering your future careers, so an open and ambitious attitude towards this period will be an asset.

1. Enroll yourself to the course NN00CU60-3010 Intercultural Experiences and Competences in PAKKI and Moodle

https://moodle.tuni.fi/course/view.php?id=51340

Enrolment key is "iec2025"

Please remember that there are tasks in three sections in the course:

1. Before the take-off
2. During the exchange
3. After the return

You should do the first section before heading abroad.

7. Insurances

All students going abroad for practical training must have a broad insurance cover. Here you can see which insurances are required and whose responsibility they are:

You can print these insurance documents if the receiving organisation requires to see them:

All students must acquire a travel and health care insurance for free-time activities, this is also one condition of the grant. The grant will not be paid unless you fill in the insurance number and the name of the insurance company to the grant agreement (Additional information box on the Grant information tab).

For practical training in the EU/EEA or Switzerland you need:

• Travel and health care insurance for free-time activities (including medical costs and repatriation)
• European Health Insurance Card, which completes but does not replace the travel and health care insurance. The European Health Insurance Card is available to everyone covered under the Finnish health insurance system.

For practical training outside the EU you need:

• Travel and health care insurance for free-time activities (including medical costs and repatriation)

Grant application

There are different grants available for TAMK student going for a trainee exchange, depending on the destination country.

• Erasmus+ grant for exchanges in other Erasmus+ countries
• TAMK foundation grant for exchanges to countries outside the EU

Students going for an exchange can receive only one of these grants, not multiple grants for the same exchange.

Erasmus+ grant

Students going on Erasmus+ trainee exchange can apply for Erasmus+ grant through the SoleGRANT system. You can apply for a grant as soon as you have

• training agreement signed by all three parties
• confirmed exchange application in SoleMOVE
• purchased a travel insurance (see section Insurances below)

SoleGrant application instructions (MP4 video)

Important

• The first installment of the grant (80 %) will be paid no earlier than 1 month before departure date.
• The second installment of the grant will be paid after the exchange. The final grant amount will be calculated once Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi) receives a copy of the student's certificate of arrival/departure or other verification of actual exchange dates. After final calculations the student will be either awarded the remaining grant or sent an invoice for the outstanding amount.

By submitting the Erasmus+ grant application, you agree to the grant terms and conditions set out in the Grant agreement. 

Annexes to grant agreement (for Erasmus+ only) :

• Annex I :  Learning Agreement for Student mobility for studies or for traineeship
• Annex II : Erasmus+ Student Charter

ERASMUS+ GRANTS FOR EXCHANGE STUDIES / TRAINING ABROAD 2025-26:

* UK: Erasmus+ grant available only for study exchange to the following universities in 2025-26:

• Edge Hill University
• Edinburgh Napier University
• Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)
• Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• University of Derby
• University of Reading
• University of Salford

TAMK Foundation grant

Tampere University of Applied Sciences Foundation annually awards 20 grants of 1400 - 2500 € for international practical training outside the EU.

Grant criteria:

• The applicant must have the endorsement of a supervising teacher or another academic advisor familiar with their studies, confirming the suitability of the exchange for their studies.
• Practical training must take place outside the EU countries.
• Practical training must be confirmed.
• Practical training must last for a minimum of two months.
• The grant is intended to cover travel and accommodation expenses.
• It is not possible to apply for the grant afterwards or during the practical training.
• It is not possible to apply for the grant for practical training in the student’s home country.

The grant is open for continuous applications, and decisions are made monthly (excluding July). Grant applications can be submitted via the link  https://tamktukisaatio.apurahat.net.

In all questions concerning the application, please contact 

Foundation Coordinator Johanna Niemonen, johanna.niemonen [at] tuni.fi (johanna[dot]niemonen[at]tuni[dot]fi), tel. 050 431 6767

Erasmus + travel grant and green travel 

From autumn 2024 onwards, all Erasmus+ exchange students are entitled to a travel grant. The grant sum is defined by the length of the distance from home city (home institution city) to exchange destination, according to the table below. The distance is calculated using the European Commission's Distance calculator. If you travel in non-green ways, you can be paid daily grant for 0-2 days.

If you choose a green way of travel, you are entitled to a higher travel grant. In addition, you can be paid daily grant for up to 6 days. Green travel means travelling in which the journey or part of the journey is made using low-emissions means of transport (such as bus, train, car-pooling. Note that ferry does not count as green travel). You are entitled to the green travel grant when the main part of the travel (in km) or at least one direction of the round trip has been made using low-emissions means of transport.

Travel grant for student exchange is paid according to the table below.

Students do not need to apply for the travel grant separately, it is calculated automatically in to their Erasmus+ grant. However, if you want to receive the green travel top-up, that needs to be proven with a declaration on honour signed by both the student and TAMK Student Mobility Services. The scanned form can be sent via email to the Student Mobility Services outgoing.tamk [at] tuni.fi (outgoing[dot]tamk[at]tuni[dot]fi). 

Application forms:

Fixed additional grants in Erasmus+ programme (fewer opportunities top up)

 As of the academic year 2022 - 2023 students who

• have families (with minor children),
• are family carers,
• have disabilities,
• suffer from a severe or chronic health condition, or
• have received international protection

and who go on short- or long-term mobilities within the Erasmus+ programme are entitled to a fixed-fee additional grant on top of the ordinary Erasmus+ mobility grant. The student has to only prove belonging to one of the aforementioned groups in order to get the grant. The supplement is available for both studies and traineeship abroad.

The right to the fewer opportunities top up grant is proven with a declaration on honour signed by both the student and TAMK Student Mobility Services.

Application forms:

Kela

If you are eligible for Kela support in Finland, you are also eligible for support while abroad. Apply online, you can find more information here.

Please remember that you have to be registered for attendance at TAMK during your exchange studies!

Health and safety issues

FSHS offers nothing else but a certificate only for mandatory exchanges. For voluntary exchanges, the student must apply for certificates from either private or welfare area operators. Laboratory/X-ray examinations required for exchanges - that is, also for mandatory exchanges - should always be obtained from private or welfare sector operators, as they are not part of the FSHS services.

Other health and safety measures you should undertake

• File a travel notification to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Finnish / in English).
• Check the travel destination information for your destination country (by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only in Finnish).
• Check the vaccination guide for your destination country (only in Finnish).
• Tuberculosis screening: Students going abroad to work or study in the health care field or social services, please check Guidelines for students and educational institutions on tuberculosis screening
• If you are taking regular prescription medication, make sure to bring the medicine prescriptions with you and enough medication for your exchange duration. For further information about travel and medicine, see Kanta, Kela and Choosehealthcare.
• Make sure any electronic devices you take with you are secure, in case you lose them or they are stolen. Keep copies of your files in multiple places (a cloud, USB-drives) to avoid losing important documentation and material.

Important documents and links

SoleMOVE system

SoleGrant application instructions (MP4 video)