About

Programme Overview

Erasmus+ is the new European Union programme for education, training, youth, and sport. Erasmus+ replaces the previous EU programmes in the areas of education, training, youth and sport, such as the Lifelong Learning programme and the Erasmus Mundus programme for cooperation among European universities.

The programme consists of three key actions:

  • Key action 1 – Learning mobility of individuals
  • Key action 2 – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
  • Key action 3 – Support for policy reform

Erasmus+ has a budget of € 14.7 billion and, by 2020, more than four million people will profit from this funding. The seven year programme will build skills and improve employability of participants. It will furthermore foster efforts to modernise education and career training for children and youth. You can find more information about Erasmus+ on the website of the European Commission.

The Erasmus+ budget will be primarily focused on mobility within Europe but, starting in 2015, it will also support individuals worldwide on a limited scale. Up until the year 2020, approximately 2 million students will profit from Erasmus+. This includes students in all phases of their study programmes, including doctoral students, who want to complete part of their studies or an internship (traineeship) abroad. For a first time grant, students working towards a Bachelor, Master, or Doctoral degree can receive funding for up to 12 months. In order to provide greater financial incentives for time spent abroad, the monthly mobility stipend for students will be increased, especially for host countries with higher living costs. Recent graduates can also receive funding for an internship abroad. Additionally, Erasmus+ will offer students wishing to complete a Master’s programme in Europe the option of receiving a low-interest loan to support their studies. The former Erasmus Mundus programme, which provides support for highly qualified students wishing to complete a Master’s degree in a European joint programme, will continue to be carried out within the new Erasmus+ programme.

Erasmus+ also supports the internationalisation of institutes of higher education by funding short-term teaching and training periods abroad for faculty and staff members. In addition, universities can invite representatives from various enterprises abroad to conduct guest lectures, and can participate in multilateral strategic partnerships in order to develop joint, innovative projects (for example, in the areas of curriculum development or other education-related topics). Funding for cooperative projects between universities and businesses is provided by the new Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances. Universities wishing to be involved in capacity-building projects in developing countries can do so at the international partner universities of the Erasmus+ programme.

Funding for most of the mobility programmes and strategic partnerships is organized by the national agencies of the 33 countries participating in our programme (28 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, FYR Macedonia, Norway, and Turkey). In Bulgaria, the Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC) promotes and implements the programme.

The following mobility programmes are supported by Erasmus+:

  • Student mobility: study abroad
  • Student mobility: traineeship
  • Staff mobility: teaching period
  • Staff mobility: training period

Every institute of higher education participating in the EU programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014-2020 (further referred to simply as the "programme") must have been awarded the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE). This charter is awarded by the European Commission as part of an accreditation procedure established to guarantee a quality framework for all participants in mobility activities. The charter as well as the European Policy Statement (EPS) must both be made available on the university website.

Further information and guidance regarding ERASMUS+ can be obtained at:

Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC)

15, Graf Ignatiev Street, 3th floor
1000, Sofia
Bulgaria
Tel: 00359 2 91 550 10
Web: www.hrdc.bg
eMail: hrdc@hrdc.bg


You can find the Earasmus Charter and the European Policy Statement (EPS) in the links below:

 

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