Short-term mobility

You can also study abroad on a short-term basis, for example during the summer. Different short-term courses offer a good opportunity to deepen your academic knowledge and language skills intensively. Usually there are fees for short-term courses.

You can go on short-term mobility through different programmes or independently. Universities offer intensive courses, often in summer schools that last from a week to a few weeks.

Read below about the various possibilities.

NB! It is not possible to go on student mobility abroad while being employed by JYU (concerns contracts for full-time-, part-time- and hourly-paid employment).

Short-term mobility is an easy way to get international experience in a short period of time.

FORTHEM alliance short-term mobilities

JYU participates in an alliance of nine European universities which organises annually several collective short-term mobility possibilities for students of various fields. The mobility programmes last around 5 days and they are organised in the following universities:

University of Burgundy (Dijon, France)
Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Mainz, Germany)
University of Jyväskylä (Jyväskylä, Finland)
University of Latvia (Riga, Latvia)
University of Opole (Opole, Poland)
University of Palermo (Palermo, Italy)
University of Valencia (Valencia, Spain)
University of Agder, (Agder, Norway)
The Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (Sibiu, Romania)

Students admitted to mobilities that take place outside of Finland will receive a grant. Approximately three JYU students can be selected for each programme. It is possible to get credits for the FORTHEM short-term mobility courses. Applicants who have not participated in FORTHEM short-term mobilities previously have priority in getting selected.

Additionally, students may also apply for support for individual short-term mobility periods of 5 days in the FORTHEM universities. Students admitted to the programme will receive a travel grant and a grant for accommodation and meals.

How to apply

The application round is open for FORTHEM collective and individual short-term mobilities that take place between September 2024 and February 2025. Deadline for the application is 8 April 2024.

Detailed information on the short-term mobility and an online application form can be found from the FORTHEM Alliance webpage.

Further information and application form

Erasmus+ blended short-term mobilities

Note: The University of Jyväskylä does not have grants for Erasmus+ blended short-term mobilities that are organised during the academic year 2023-2024.

Within the Erasmus+ programme you can participate in blended short-term mobilities organized by the partner universities of JYU. This is a great option for students to whom a semester or a year-long exchange is not possible or to those who have fewer opportunities to participate in long-term mobilities.

Blended short-term mobility combines physical and virtual learning periods. The length of the physical mobility is 5 to 30 days. For the virtual part there is no minimum duration, and it can take place before or after the physical mobility. The virtual learning part should contain collaborative learning and online team working – just attending the online session or doing an individual assignment isn’t enough for the Erasmus+ mobility. The minimum scope of the mobility (both virtual and physical) is 3 ECTS credits. Before applying, the student must make sure that the course can be recognized as a part of their studies. Students must apply themselves for recognition of the course after the mobility. Note that the Erasmus+ short-term mobility is counted towards your total Erasmus+ months (a maximum of 12 months per study cycle).

NOTE! It is not possible to apply for short mobility periods freely on the Mobility-Online application portal, although some short-term mobilities are displayed there. The courses will be advertised by other means and they are added into Mobility-Online for students who have been selected to participate in them.

Erasmus+ blended short-term mobilities can be organised also as Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) by JYU's Erasmus partner universities. In addition to JYU, at least two other European universities are involved in organising a BIP. Typically, a group of students from each participating university attend the BIP, and often a teacher from JYU will accompany the students as well. The student selection is done by the course teacher or the organizing university. Students are responsible for arranging their trip to the destination once their participation is confirmed.

BIPs are also organized by JYU which is a great way of internationalizing at home.

The grant can be used for paying for the trip, the accommodation, and travel insurance to the destination. The mobility grant is paid only for the duration of the physical mobility. Two travel days can be added to the short-term mobility (one before and one after the physical mobility) and the grant is paid also for these days.

In addition to the daily grant, it is also possible to get a top-up for green travel, as well as a grant for students with fewer opportunities.

The Erasmus+ blended mobility/short mobility grant is the same for all programme countries: 79 € / day for the first 5-14 days and thereafter 56 € / day for days 15-30.

The organizing university of the course must be an Erasmus+ partner of JYU
The course consists of a 5 to 30 day-long physical mobility and an obligatory virtual part
The course scope is minimum 3 ECTS credits
The student must make sure that the course can be recognized as a part of their degree prior to the mobility
The student must apply for the recognition of the course after the mobility
You cannot get an Erasmus+ grant for courses that you have to pay for (e.g. registration fee, participation fee etc.)
The student obtains a travel insurance well in advance – latest when they start booking their trip to the destination.

Summer schools

Many higher education institutions organize summer schools or other short-term courses. The courses are often taught in English and they usually revolve around a specific topic. Fellow students are international. If you are interested in a particular short-term course, please contact your faculty-level international coordinator to find out if it can be included in your degree.

You can search for international summer programmes with the term Summer School + topic/university. There is often a participation fee for summer courses but some of the universities may offer an opportunity to apply for a grant. The participation fees can vary a great deal, from a couple of hundred euros to thousands of euros. Some universities offer discounts for partner university students. You can find the JYU partner universities in the Mobility-Online portal. Free-time activities, such as evening programme and excursions, are often organized for summer course participants. You can get more information on the summer schools and short-term courses from the organizing university. Some of the faculties offer grants for short-term mobility.

Summer Schools in Europe

Short Courses Portal

Study in the USA: Summer

The short-term mobility managed to combine academic learning, cross-cultural enrichment, and action-packed social activities in a really nice way.

NCI summer courses in India

Nordic Centre in India (NCI) is a consortium of Nordic universities that organizes for example summer courses in India. NB! In 2023 the courses are on a break.

DAAD summer course scholarships

DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service grants summer course scholarships to Germany for degree students studying in Finland. All university students who have studied for at least two years before the start of the course can apply for the scholarship. The scholarships are meant for participation in language and country-knowledge courses.

More information about the DAAD summer course scholarships

Language courses

Finnish and foreign language schools organize language courses for both teenagers and adults in different parts of the world. Most course organizers are commercial, so the courses have participation fees. The lengths and prices of the courses vary. When comparing prices, take the accommodation, size of the teaching group, proficiency testing, teachers' competency, study materials used, and possible extracurricular activities into consideration.

In most cases, you have to finance the language course studies independently. There are few scholarships available and the Kela financial aid is not granted for separate language courses.

Faculty grants for short-mobility

See more at Funding

Students employed by the University of Jyväskylä

It is not possible to go on student exchange or an internship abroad while being employed by JYU. More information can be found on the Student exchange -page.

More information

More information from the Nordlys coordinator at the International Office

short-term-mobility@jyu.fi