It is a program aimed at facilitating the mutual exchange of students and staff between higher education institutions in Turkey and those abroad.
The KA131 project allows mobility between EU member countries and non-EU program countries. These countries include:
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greek Cypriot Administration, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey.
Currently, the KA131 project allows for student and staff internships in countries outside the program countries, with a limit of up to 20% of the allocated university budget for such activities. The university announces the percentage of its budget allocated to this mobility for each new project application. Since these percentages may change with each new project period, it is important to consult the Erasmus office.
Application requirements are announced in detail on the official website of our university. Students wishing to benefit from Erasmus mobility can apply through the system by logging in via E-Government at https://turnaportal.ua.gov.tr/ during the dates announced by the Erasmus Office, and by uploading the required documents for the relevant project year.
Erasmus applications are made once a year. The applications generally start between February and March; however, since the dates may vary depending on the conditions of the relevant project year, announcements on the official website of our university should be followed regularly.
Students in their final year cannot apply for study mobility, but they can apply for internship mobility. Students who apply for an internship mobility while still registered as students before graduation can carry out their internships within the first 12 months after graduation.
Students who have the minimum required General Weighted Average (GPA) for the respective project year can apply for the Erasmus mobility program. Since the GPA is the basis for eligibility, students in preparatory classes or those enrolled in programs with annual courses, such as Dentistry or Medicine, cannot apply until they have completed their first year.
Students whose applications are accepted must take an English language proficiency exam and must achieve a score above the established threshold.
The final score of a student is created by taking 50% of their GPA and 50% of their English Language Proficiency exam score. Additionally, applications are evaluated based on the plus and minus point criteria determined by the National Agency for each year. For example, students with disabilities can receive additional points if they prove their disability status.
There are two types of mobility within the KA131 program:
- Student Study Mobility
- Student Internship Mobility
It is when a student actively enrolled in full-time education at our university takes part in one or two semesters of education at one of the partner universities abroad
It refers to the mobility of a student, who gains professional experience related to their field of study at a higher education institution or other institutions abroad.
A budget is allocated to our university by the Turkish National Agency for each project. Specific amounts are designated for study and internship mobility. The allocated budget is determined by certain criteria set by the National Agency to distribute grants to universities, regardless of how many students our university sends for Erasmus each year. Therefore, the allocated grant may not be enough for all students who wish to go on Erasmus.
Since different grant rates are allocated to our university each year and the number of students applying each year varies, our grant distribution method varies according to the conditions of the relevant project year. In case we cannot provide grants to all our students participating in Erasmus, the general method we follow is to first provide grants to the top students of each department. If it is not possible to provide grants to the top students of each department, all the top students of each department are ranked among themselves and the winner and substitute students are determined. The grant distribution is made starting from the top student of the department with the highest score. If any of our students who are on the grant list waive their grants, the grant is transferred to the top student of the department with the highest score in the next row. In case of additional payment to our university, the grant is distributed first to the top students of the department who went to Erasmus without grants, then to the second students of the department...
For example; We have 500 students who passed the exam. When we sorted these students according to their departments, we saw that there were 30 top students from different departments. However, our university was allocated enough grants to cover 10 students. In this case, we can rank these 30 top students among themselves and grant the first 10 students with the highest scores. The other 20 top students will be on the list as reserves.
In study mobility, each department has partner universities. Students who pass the exam can choose the university and country they will go to from among the universities partnered with their department. You can find the list of universities partnered with Istanbul Medipol University here:
https://mebis.medipol.edu.tr/erasmus/anlasmaliuniversitelerlistesi
In internship mobility, students are responsible for finding the institution where they will do their internship.
No. You can only participate in student and staff mobility activities through the higher education institution where you are enrolled. If your registration is canceled or if you leave your job, the mobility rights will be terminated.
Students wishing to participate in study mobility must specify the semester(s) they want to go abroad during the application process through https://turnaportal.ua.gov.tr/.
Students can choose either Fall, Spring, or the entire year (two semesters) if the partner university accepts it. Erasmus agreements usually cover one semester of student mobility, so it is up to the partner institution whether to accept students for a full year.
Internship mobility lasts from a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months. Students can plan their internship for any duration between 2 and 12 months.
Students applying for study and internship mobility will be listed separately. For study mobility, placements are made by starting with the highest score in each department. Students are ranked as primary and substitute. For internships, students find the institution they will intern at on their own; no placement is made.
After the student's preferences are determined, the Erasmus Office sends a nomination to the university via email. The dates for nominations differ for each university. The nomination dates for our partner universities are listed on our university's website. After the nomination, the Erasmus Office of the chosen university will send an email to the student with further information on the next steps.
After the Erasmus Office nominates the student, the receiving institution's Erasmus Office will request certain documents from the nominated student for final acceptance. If the student provides the requested documents on time and in full, the partner university will issue an acceptance letter. Once the student receives the acceptance letter, their application is finalized. However, the preferred institution may still reject the application based on its current conditions.
The four main documents that a student must have during the Erasmus mobility process are:
- Acceptance Letter
- Learning Agreement
- Attendance Certificate
- Transcript (not applicable for students doing voluntary internships that do not count for ECTS)
A Learning Agreement is a document that outlines the courses a student will take at the host institution and whether the courses will be accepted upon return. The student fills out the Learning Agreement together with the Erasmus department coordinator. It must be signed by the student, the home university erasmus coordinator, and the host university erasmus coordinator
Under the Paperless Erasmus Project (EWP), the European Commission has initiated the online submission of the Learning Agreement and Interinstitutional Agreements.
Students can fill out their course selections online via the OLA platform at https://learning-agreement.eu/ .All course selections and document signature processes are completed online.
After preparing all the required documents, the student begins the visa process.
Visa procedures are the responsibility of the beneficiaries. Students can contact the visa consultancy office or the consulate of the country they are going to. It is important to ensure that all documents required by the consulate/embassy are completed before submitting the visa application. To facilitate the process, students who receive a grant may request an official letter from their university confirming their Erasmus status.
Once the visa is approved, the student must inform the Erasmus Office.
All students, whether receiving a grant or not, must sign the grant agreement at the Erasmus Office before leaving. Afterward, they can depart for their mobility on the scheduled date.
The Erasmus Office does not arrange accommodation for participants, as this is not the responsibility of the National Agency or our university. However, the Erasmus offices of the sending and receiving institutions will provide information about accommodation options and suggestions in the host country or university. Students should decide on their housing before departure.
The extension of study mobility to the second semester can be granted if the student requests it, the higher education institution approves it, and there is enough budget for the activity in the institution’s allocated funds. If there is no grant available for the extension, the university may allow the student to stay for the second semester without a grant, provided that the institution agrees and all program rules are followed. However, the extension of the period is only valid if the student stays at the same higher education institution. If the student wants to benefit from study mobility in a different country in the second semester, a new application and selection process must be carried out.
An internship planned for two months must begin and end at the same institution; it cannot be carried out at different institutions. It is not possible to change institutions after the internship has started.
For students receiving grants, if they wish to return before the minimum two-month period, they will be required to return the grant they received. In order to avoid returning the grant, the student must prove that their early return was due to an unavoidable reason. The student should report this to the Erasmus Office, which will forward it to the National Agency for evaluation. If the National Agency deems the reason valid, the student will not have to return the grant.
After completing the Erasmus mobility, the student should submit their transcript and participation certificate to the Erasmus Office.
The transcript provided by the student is sent to the Erasmus Department Coordinators along with the ECTS conversion table. The department coordinators then list the courses, as determined with the student in the Learning Agreement (study agreement), on this table and forward it to the faculty secretariat. The secretariat is responsible for processing and adding the recognized courses to the student’s transcript.The courses taken during the Erasmus program may be fully recognized, partially recognized, or not recognized at all. Before leaving for the exchange, the student is informed about how many courses will be recognized, based on the Learning Agreement they signed. Once the credit transfer process is completed, the student's Erasmus experience is considered finalized.