ONGOING CALLS:
HOW TO PROCEED?
Under the cash-based principle of the Income Tax Act, the scholarship is taxed based on the moment of payment. Therefore, the tax exemption applies only to students currently enrolled at EKA.
Despite the position of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, the EKA International Office believes that such taxation of the scholarship does not align with the objectives of the European Union’s ERASMUS+ program. Unequal treatment caused by taxing scholarships for recent graduates is not in the interest of the program’s developers. Unfortunately, no Estonian university can interpret the law differently. However, steps are being taken through the Rectors’ Conference to ensure that, in the future, this aligns with the program’s objectives.
ADDITIONALLY:
In EKA students can take part in two different mobility programmes – Erasmus+ and Nordplus. Normally students use Erasmus+ programme for mobility abroad as the scholarship rate within that programme is higher, yet Nordplus is a good option for students who have used up their Erasmus+ months or wish to do short-term mobility.
All students who are interested in going abroad should do research before submitting their application for a scholarship. Under the section “About” students can find information regarding Erasmus+ programme and its possibilities topic by topic. In case of interest regarding the Nordplus, please seek the section “Nordplus” above.
In general students have the following options for mobilities:
Students, who are interested in exchange studies, should select the host university among EKA partner universities, which are listed under the section “Find a university”. The list can be sorted by faculties and study levels, but keep in mind that the exact study programme to be applied for must be found from each university’s website separately.
For example, if a student studies Fashion Design in EKA, they should select the faculty of Design as an option in the list of partner universities. This selection does not sort out all the universities which offer Fashion Design programmes for exchange students, but a list of universities which might be. The student must now visit each university’s website and seek the programmes they offer for exchange students.
We advise students to choose at least 2-3 partner universities they would like to apply to. The selection must be listed in the application form starting with nr 1 as the highest priority and nr 3 as the least among the selected universities.
Please be noted that with most of the partner universities EKA has only 1-2 available positions for nominations per whole university!
When it comes to selecting a host institution for traineeship, EKA does not have a separate list of organisations who seek interns. Instead students should reach out to different organisations on their own based on their preference, host country etc.
All students are welcome to ask advice and suggestions regarding host institutions from their speciality department in EKA. Also, it is not forbidden to ask for information regarding study programmes and opportunities from partner universities. The contact details are listed in the section “Find a university”.
The International Office organises application rounds for outgoing exchange students twice a year:
In addition, there are separate calls for students, who are about to graduate and wish to apply for recent graduate traineeship. The calls are normally held prior to the end of semesters – January and June.
With the new addition to the Erasmus mobility options – global traineeships – the International Office is promoting it via separate calls. At the moment there is no certainty how often the calls will be held, but definitely not less often than once per academic year.
Each application call will be announced via a separate email, which consists of an application form and a deadline for submissions. The form will be also available on the present website under the section “Application form”.
In case of applying for exchange studies, students are requested to list a maximum of 3 partner universities and attach the links to their motivation letter and portfolio.The motivation letter should be directed to the EKA scholarship committee and open reasons behind the interest in going on exchange studies and explain the selection of partner universities.
Normally the results regarding applications will be announced within a month after the deadline.
All decisions regarding Erasmus+ mobilities are made by the EKA scholarship committee, which consists of all four Deans, Vice Rectors and the Head of the International Office. In addition, feedback will be asked from the Academic Affairs Office and speciality departments regarding applicants’ study results and tuition fee debts.
If the number of submitted applications exceeds available places in partner universities, the decision will be made by the scholarship committee. The committee will consider the portfolio and motivation letter, and preference is given to students that are further into their studies (i.e 3rd year students are preferred over 2nd year).
Please be noted that the applicant might not be selected for each desired partner university, but the EKA scholarship committee tries to do their best to offer the applicant a position for nomination in the partner university listed as nr 1!
Only when applicants have received an email with a confirmation of selected partner universities, can they start making preparations for applying to partner universities. Normally it means the International Office will nominate the student first aka starts the conversation with the selected partner university and then the applicant will submit their application.
In case of traineeships, the applicant has to receive a confirmation only to start preparing their upcoming Erasmus+ mobility.