Generic scholarships

The generic scholarship program aims to stimulate mobility complementary to the possibilities within the Erasmus+ program. Students from degree programs at level 5, 6 or 7 of the Flemish qualification structure are eligible for this program. The budget allocated for this action by the Ministerial Decree of December 2023 is €2 277 000.

• Any Flemish universtity of applied science or university can send students out through this program.
• The program does not restrict any disciplines. All academic fields are eligible.
• The student does not pay an enrollment fee in the receiving host institution.
• The mobility relates to study, internship or research in the context of a bachelor's or master's thesis and must be validated within the institution.
• In case of study mobility or research in the context of the bachelor's / master's thesis:
  • There is a signed Cooperation Agreement between the sending institution and the receiving host institution. In the absence of a signed Cooperation Agreement, a signed Letter of Intent will also be accepted at the time of the application. There is, however, a signed Cooperation Agreement required before the date that the student leaves for mobility.
  • The student has entered into a Learning Agreement with the receiving and sending institution: this indicates the program followed at the host institution. This document needs to be signed by the student, the receiving and sending institution before the date of the disbursement of the first installment of the scholarship. By signing this document, the sending institution validates the program.

• In the case of an internship:
  • There is a signed internship agreement between the sending institution and the receiving host institution (institution / organization / company). This document needs tob e signed by the student, the receiving and sending institution before the date of the disbursement of the first installment of the scholarship.

• The grants are awarded for use in the academic year 2024-2025.
• The credits obtained during the mobility are recognized by the sending higher education institution.
• Mobility starts from July 1, 2024.
• The mobility can go to all countries that are not EU Member States and third countries associated with the programme within Erasmus+. A list of all program countries included by Erasmus+ can be found here.
• Mobility lasts for a minimum of one month (minimum 5 ECTS) and a maximum of 12 months. A month is considered as 30 days, even if the month has 28, 29 or 31 days. The student will be awarded with a grant per full month of 30 days, with the exception of the last month of mobility which needs to be minimum 26 days.
  
  Eg: 15/02 - 11/05:
  • 15/02 - 14/03 = 30 days = 1 month
  • 15/03 - 14/04 = 30 days = 1 month 1
  • 5/4 - 11/5 = 30 days - 3 days = 27 days (sufficient for the last month)

• For the correct calculation of the number of months, there can be made use of the Excel templates that are sent with the call.
• The available budget per higher education institution (in euros) is divided among the Flemish higher education institutions based on the number of students enrolled in the courses at the Flemish colleges and universities that can make use of the mobility grants.
• In accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Decree of December 2023, the budget can no longer be transferred from one academic year to another and VLUHR will, if possible, apply redistributions of the remaining budget based on the second interim report.
• VLUHR will launch an interim call in December 2024 to give Flemish higher education institutions the opportunity to add additional reserve candidates to their list. After verification by AHOVOKS, these candidates will also be eligible for a generic scholarship.
• The amount of the mobility grant is € 700 / month. The students from the under-represented groups receive an extra grant of € 200 / month on top of the regular grant. Students from under-represented groups are:
  • students who receive a study grant from the Flemish government;
  • students with a disability, recognized by the VAPH: Persons with a disability can appeal to the VAPH for support. It is not always clear what is meant by the term disability. That is why the VAPH always uses the following definition:
    Any long-term and significant participation problem of a person that is due to the interplay between functional disorders of a mental, psychological, physical or sensory nature, limitations in performing activities, and personal and external factors.
    This definition makes it possible to examine the situation of each person who submits a request for support separately. If someone's situation meets the definition, the person concerned can be recognized by the VAPH as a person with a disability and receive approval for support;
  • working students in a work program, see the definition of the Flemish government:
    Working student: a student who meets all of the following conditions:
    1) he is in possession of a certificate of employment in an employment contract of at least 80 hours per month, or he is in possession of a jobseeker's certificate of unemployment and the training fits within the by a regional employment service of job placement proposed trajectory to work;
    2) he is not yet in possession of a second cycle diploma or master's degree;
    3) he is enrolled in a study pathway with specific teaching and learning methods and with specific modalities of supervision and offer, which is registered as such in the Higher Education Register. The separate registration in the Higher Education Register does not imply that this concerns a new study program.
    
    The data included in the AHOVOKS database is considered the correct data. The reference date is the moment of submission of the application, i.e; 12 May 2023. The final decision of AHOVOKS is awaiting for files that are still being processed on this date. If a file is approved late by AHOVOKS, the student will still be awarded the extra allowance of € 200 / month.
    

• An additional reimbursement for travel expenses is provided according to rules related to the distance to the host country.
  
  • between 100 and 499 km: € 180
  • between 500 and 1999 km: € 275
  • between 2000 and 2999 km: € 360
  • between 3000 and 3999 km: € 530
  • between 4000 and 7999 km: € 820
  • more than or equal to 8000 km: € 1,500

• Partial zero-grant: for mobility longer than one month, there must be paid out at least one month.
  For students from under-represented groups, there can be applied a zero scholarship can from the fourth month. Thus, In case of mobility longer than three months, there must be paid out a minimum of three months.
• A prerequisite for the payout of the grant is that the Learning or Training agreement must be signed by all parties: the student, the sending and the receiving institution.
• The student may not cumulate this grant with another Flemish or VLIR-UOS grant.
• Registration of the mobility must be done via the Higher Education Database by the sending institution.
• There is a regular reporting to VLUHR, according to the following topics:
  • the number of students selected in this context (effective and reserve students);
  • the purpose of the mobility (study / internship / research for bachelor's / master's thesis);
  • the number of students who will receive / have received a scholarship (divided by students from under-represented groups and others);
  • the country of destination of the mobility;
  • the duration of the mobility.
• Based on mid-term reports to VLUHR, resources between the institutions can be redistributed during the course of the program.

Students within the higher education institution are selected, based on suitability, competence and available budget. The higher education institution has a transparent selection procedure with clearly defined selection criteria and deadlines.

Selection criteria in addition to the criteria imposed by the program can be established within the institution.

Minimum 25% of the number of students receiving a Generic scolarship, are students from under-represented groups. Students from under-represented groups are:

• students who receive a scolarship from the Flemish government;
• students with a disability, recognized by the VAPH.
  People with disabilities can appeal to the VAPH for support. It is not always clear what is meant by the term disability. That is why the VAPH always uses the following definition:
  Any long-term and significant participation problem of a person that is due to the interplay between functional disorders of a mental, psychological, physical or sensory nature, limitations in performing activities, and personal and external factors.
  This definition makes it possible to examine the situation of each person who submits a request for support separately. If someone's situation meets the definition, the person concerned can be recognized by the VAPH as a person with a disability and receive approval for support;

• working students in a work program, see the definition of the Flemish government:
  Working student: a student who meets all of the following conditions:
  1) he is in possession of a certificate of employment in an employment contract of at least 80 hours per month, or he is in possession of a jobseeker's certificate of unemployment and the training fits within the by a regional employment service of job placement proposed trajectory to work;
  2) he is not yet in possession of a second cycle diploma or master's degree;
  3) he is enrolled in a study pathway with specific teaching and learning methods and with specific modalities of supervision and offer, which is registered as such in the Higher Education Register. The separate registration in the Higher Education Register does not imply that this concerns a new study program.
  
  The data included in the AHOVOKS database is considered the correct data.
  
  Each institution must achieve the standard of 25%. If necessary, the total number of students sent out must be adjusted to meet this standard. VLUHR checks both the application and the first mid-term report against the 25% standard.

• Call: December 2023
• Selection of students: to be determined within the institution
• Deadline for submitting the application electronically to the VLUHR: no later than 5 June 2024. The application means that the list of selected students is submitted, with on the one hand the actual candidates within the available budget, and on the other hand the reserve candidates in case of cancellations arise or additional funding is made available. The application is submitted with the application form attached.
• Drawing up contracts with higher education institutions: July 2024
• Allocation of subsidies: academic year 2024-2025
• Deadline for submitting the first interim report: 6 November 2024
• Deadline to add names to the reserve list: 16 December 2024
• Deadline for submitting the second interim report: 10 February 2025
• Deadline for submitting the final report: 1 October 2025

The budget can no longer be transferred from one academic year to another and VLUHR will, if possible, apply redistributions of the remaining budget based on the second interim report.

Call and attachments (only in Dutch):

• Call 2024-2025 Generieke Beurzen
• Call 2024-2025 Generieke Beurzen - Aanvraagformulier