Deliverable n. 6 Report on Financing and Co- Finacing of Internships

Transcription

1 TRANSNATIONAL PLACEMENT SCHEME FOR TRANSLATION STUDENTS Agreement Number: / Project Number: LLP IT- ERASMUS- ECUE Deliverable n. 6 Report on Financing and Co- Finacing of Internships Work Package WP2 Building of the networks of enterprises and testing the internship WP Leader University of Alcala Document Title Report on Financing and Co- financing of Internships Delivery date expected June 2015 Date of delivery 15 June 2015 Nature Report Dissemination level Public Version Final Description from the project The report should formalize economic issues connected to the improvement of the internship flow between universities and enterprises. Problems and solutions will be identified both on the local and international level. Among the solutions the document will contain suggestions for the sustainability of international internships even after the project is completed.

2 TRANSNATIONAL PLACEMENT SCHEME FOR TRANSLATION STUDENTS Report on Financing and co- financing of internships Work Package This project has been funded with support from the European Commission - Lifelong Learning Programme. This document reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 2

3 Table of Contents: 1. Introduction Financial issues identified by partners 4 3. Conclusions 7 3

4 1. Introduction The present report formalizes economic issues connected to the improvement of the internship flow between universities and LSPs. Problems and tentative solutions have been identified both on the local and international level. This report deals with economic issues connected to the improvement of the internship flow between universities and enterprises. Problems and solutions are identified both on the local and international level as well as some suggestions for the sustainability of international internships even after the project is completed. The partners and the company partners of the AGORA consortium have provided information about specifically financial issues and how they went along with this matter. A summery follows. 2. Financial issues identified by partners BOLOGNA UNIVERSITY (Project coordinator) As for the implementation of international programmes and internships, financial coverage of the internship has been identified as a key issue for the functioning of the system. One student from Bologna University had to give up his internship placement because his University Institution was not able to provide a grant to cover part of his travel and subsistence costs. Timing was the critical variable and a major issue in this case as well. In order for students to apply for Erasmus Plus grants, they need to apply within a time span of days, which is not always sufficient to find an internship that matches with the applicants language combinations, expectations and requirements. BABES- BOLYAI UNIVERSITY (UBB) Management paperwork was particularly complex in comparison with other EU- funded projects UBB has been involved in (e.g. reporting documents, especially those justifying the staff costs). 4

5 More flexibility/adaptability regarding the internal rules that prevail within each university. BME (BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS) Hungary is in a specific situation because a) it is not a member of the eurozone, b) the financial situation of the students is not very rosy (many of them have to work besides the training in order to finance it), so the Erasmus funding helped a bit but even so not all the students could have afforded it. At the beginning it was not easy to find Hungarian companies willing to join the project and offer placement to foreign students not having Hungarian in their language combinations. When the students could (or should) have started applying for the offers, there were none suitable for their language combinations (with Hungarian); the suitable offers appeared later. But because of the organisation of the two semesters of our training, the students could not leave later than the middle of January, so very little time was left for them to organise their travel and financing. UNINT Because of time constraints it was not possible to access ERASMUS funding before the starting of the Pilot round. Unfortunately, because this would have been an additional support to both trainees, and in particular to the one receiving a lump sum payment from the company. We will definitely arrange things for future AGORA trainees to be awarded an EU grant. Companies based in Rome and surroundings showed little interest, if any at all, in joining the AGORA consortium. Possible reasons for this: small dimensions of some of them, little inclination to provide trainees a grant of any kind (reimbursement, lump sum payment, etc.). More work shall be done to find companies willing to join the consortium. UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA An option for making this clear could be the creation of an extra button on the web application so that students could send an allover application together with the internship application. Another possibility could be to mention explicitly this option 5

6 in the students guide. On the other hand, it is fundamental that companies meet the requirements regarding the payment: an unpaid internship can only last 2 months, as we decided one year ago. For any longer internship a payment should be provided. UNIVERSITY OF ALCALÁ As for the second point, internships or work placements are compulsory in both programs undergraduate and graduate. They can be remunerated or not, depending on the company/agency. But there is still another opportunity- what we call extra- curricular internships. That is, once the students have completed their studies they he can add to his curriculum some more ECTS, which is positive for their CV as it implies some more practice for them. Thus, three of our recent graduates chose that option. One has even also been offered contract for some more months. DUHRAM UNIVERSITY Our students often have to commit to twelve- month accommodation contracts (October- September) and this affects their willingness to spend two to three months away from Durham- UNIVERSITY OF GHENT For the future of AGORA, I believe it was a good decision to involve post- graduates. They are more flexible in their availability and they could be offered an employment contract if the internship is successful and the company has a vacancy. EUROSCRIPT The two other students who cancelled, did so because of the eligibility of the internship as part of the curriculum for the university. Matters such as contracts and recognition within universities should be solved as soon as possible. For the future of AGORA, I believe it was a good decision to involve post- graduates. They are more flexible in their availability and they could be offered an employment contract if the internship is successful and the company has a vacancy. TRADUCCIONES POLÍGLOTA 6

7 We have offered her a position as Junior Project Manager in Políglota once she finishes her internship. Carmen has accepted and will sign a permanent contract to start working on 14 July. 3. Conclusions In order for the placement platform to become fully functioning and effective, financial issues on how to cover student mobility need to be systemically addressed. Companies are reluctant to cover all the costs of the interns mobility and they ask for a cooperative effort on the part of universities as well. Most LSPs agree to offer a form of compensation, a lump sum reimbursement for travelling and accommodation costs, or they agree to provide other forms of financial coverage. A co- financing of internships through the ERASMUS+ GRANT is seen very positively but as a concrete possibility also by many of the University parties, although timing is not very convenient and does not always match AGORA internship timing. A lot can be done by University partners and EU institutions to sustain transnational mobility and to make the ERASMUS+ timing for the grant application more flexible and appetizing also to AGORA interns. 7