1. 2018-2019 ACADEMIC YEAR ERASMUS+ STUDENT MOBILITY INFORMATION SESSION
OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
AND EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
B. Yasemin Başar
March, 2018

2. What is the Erasmus+ Program? What is Erasmus+ Student Mobility?
The Erasmus+ Program, is a European Union program which encourages European higher education institutes to collaborate with each other
What is Erasmus+ Student Mobility?
A student can study at a Higher Education Institution, which holds an ECHE, at a European Country , within an academic year for one or two semesters without paying tuition fee.
In order to support the students financially the European Commission distributes grants.

3. Who is the National Agency?
The European Commission, ensures its communication with Turkish Universities whom hold an ECHE, through T.C. Ministry for EU Affairs, Center for European Union Education and Youth Programs (National Agency)
Contact Information:
Mevlana Bulvarı No:18
Balgat-Ankara

4. Office of International Students and Exchange Programs (OISEP)
Coordinates all exchange programs
Organizes orientation programs for both incoming and outgoing exchange students and helps them with all administrative issues they face during their stay.
Runs Bilkent University’s relations with the National Agency and partner universities and fulfils its responsibilities towards these parties.

5. Who is Office of International Students and Exchange Programs (OISEP)
Erkin TARHAN – Coordinator
Tel:
B.Yasemin Başar – Student Advisor
Tel:

6. Where is Office of International Students and Exchange Programs ?
Within the Registrar’s Office
outgoing_exchange/
Office Hours
Tuesday : ,
Wednesday: ,
Thursday:
Friday :

7. GRANTS
Bilkent Üniversity reports the number of students and their total duration of stay to the National Agecy.
The National Agency collects all the requests from all the universities in Turkey and reports it to the Europen Commission
The Commission announces the grant amount that they will distribute according to the demans of the partner countries.

8. The National Agency decides the amount of grant that will be issued per university according to its past performance and number of students that it will send that year and informs the universities accordingly.
OISEP decides the number of students that can receive a grant according to the amount the university is issued. If necessary can make cuts from each department according the same percentage. While distributing the grants the base taken is same as the selection process used while applying to the program.
The grants are not enough to support the students. It can only cover about half of your expences during your stay.
All our students selected for the program should do a thorough research on the living expences of the country they are going to, and share this information with their parents.

9. ERASMUS PROCESS The Application Procedures of Exchange Programs
Please review in detail.

10. Before you go While you are there Upon your return
ERASMUS PROCESS
Before you go
While you are there
Upon your return

11. Approximate Application Dates:
Before you go...
Nomination:
After the school you will go has been defined you will ne nominated by your Departmental Exchange Coordinator.
2. Application:
Complete your application tp the partner university adding all the required documents before the deadline. You can find all the necessary information, including dorm application on the web page of the partner university.
Approximate Application Dates:
For the fall semester begins in April
For the spring semester begins in September
By regulary checking the web page of the partner university you can reach the most updated information

12. If you withdraw from the Program
The status of the students that will participate to the program will be changed to ‘Outgoing Exchange Student’ on the STARS system of the Registrar’s Office and thus these students will not be able to register to any courses at Bilkent University.
Those who have a relevant reason to withdraw from the program have to inform us and the departmental exchange coordinater latest ;
For the fall semester - May 1st
For the Spring Semester –September 1st
Those whom have not informed us by the deadlines cannot pre-register or register to courses.

13. If your CGPA drops below 2. 50/4
If your CGPA drops below 2.50/4.00 the last semester before you leave, under no circumstances you can participate to the program.

14. 3. Learning Agreement
While doing your application print 3 copiesof the Learning Agreement on our web page. Fill all three copies with the help of your departmental exchange coordinator
Send the first LA, to the partner university, along with your application documents, submit the second one to our office and keep the third one to yourself. If you have previously take a course and failed it, we do not advise you to take that course during your Erasmus period. Even if you pass the course when you are back, you will be exempted from the said course, however the weigh of the F will not change and continue to effect your CGPA. Thus we do not advice you to do that.
If you are doing a minor; you can take only one course during your Erasmus period to count towards it, and get the approval of the department coordinator of that program. You have to add the course to your LA.

16. 4. Pre-Approval Form
Print three copies of the pre-approval form that is on our web page, fill it out with your departmental Exchange Coordinator and get all three signed. Submit one to your department, one to our office and keep one for yourself.
If you make any changes to your Learning Agreement update your pre-aaproval form and get the signatures of your departmental exchange coordinator while you are there and send a copy to us.
ATTENTION: The minimum course load an exchange student has to take per semester is 30 ECTS. In order to get your grant you have to fullfil this rule.

18. 5. Acceptance Letter
Check, regularly, the address you have stated in your application. All the necessary information and your Acceptance Letter will be sent to this address or by post.
As soon as you receive your Acceptance Letter submit a copy to our office or send it via to . It will not be possible to calculate the grants of the students that do not have an acceptance letter.

19. 6. Extended Health and Travel Insurance for Education Purposes
All students have to get an Extended Travel and Health Insurance, covering the dates of their stay, and submit a copy to our office before they leave.
Insurance policies that have a 92 day limitations will not be accepted.
Even if students have to get another insurance at the host country they still have to get one before they leave.

20. 7. Preparing for the Grant
At least two months prior students have to submit their acceptance letter to OISEP and open a bank EURO account at Yapı Kredi Bank. Send the IBAN number and the branch name to via .
ATTENTION: Send the IBAN number of your bank account as “TR ”
‘ Branch’ via . All students receiving a grant or not have open an account and send it.
ATTENTION: We advice students going in the fall semester to open an mutual account with their families. If your grant is paid after you leave your families can have access to the account.

21. Some countries such as Netherlands have their special rules.
8.Student Visa
Students whom submit their acceptance letter, can receive a letter from OISEP stating that they are an Erasmus student and if applicable, that they are receiving a grant, from OISEP.
ATTENTION:
-You can find the updated list of the documents you need to submit to the embassy from its web page.
All students are responsible to learn about the visa procedures of the host country and complete the process on time.
Some countries such as Netherlands have their special rules.
-The visa procedures in countries such as Denmark, Netherlands, Slovenia, the Czech Republic take a long time thus, apply as soon as possible and learn about the application process in detail.

22. 9. OLS (Online Linguistic Support)
The European Commission supports all the students with online Language test and courses. All students will take an Online Language test before they leave and once they complete the program, in the language of the University they are attending. If they fail the test they will also take an online course during the program. To take the test and if neccesary, to follow the course is mandatory for all attending students. The tests will be sent to the Bilkent of the participants.

23. GRANTS

24. Erasmus+ Student and Placement Grants per Group
Country Groups
Host Countries
Grant per Month for Student Mobility(EURO)
Grant per Month for Student Placement (EURO)
1 and 2. Group Program Countries
U.K., Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweeden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Norway, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Southern Cyprus, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Greece
500,-
600,-
3. Group Program Countries
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Türkiye
300,-
400,-

25. GRANTS The method and time of payment
The estimate amount of payment will be calculated according to the acceptance letter and the payment group of the country of the student is going to.
After the student returns from the activity, according to the Official Dates form and the passport photocopies they submit, the grant will be re-calculated. According to the final calculation either a payment will be made or we will request to be reimbursed for the excess payment.

26. ...time and method of payment
The payments are only made on Fridays by the Finance Department of the university.
Grants are paid in EURO.
The grants are calculated according to your acceptance letters.
%80 will be paid before you leave and the remaining %20 will ve paid after your term i completed and all the relevent socuments are submitted to OISEP.

27. Under which conditions the grants are not paid or reclaimed?
If you stay at the host university less then three months without an relevent excuse, you will have to reimburse the total amount and will not be accepted as an Erasmus student.
If you fail all your courses due to attendance or return with ‘0’ ECTS you will not be receiving the remainder %20.
Furthermore you have to pass minimum 2/3 of the total ECTS to be able to receive the remaining %20.

28. ...While you are there Departure 2. LEARNING AGREEMENT
Be at the host university on the exact date stated on your acceptance letter Do not miss the orientation program. Do not leave before the term is completed.
2. LEARNING AGREEMENT
If you have to make any changes to your Learning Agreement, fill out the During Mobility part, complete the signatures and send it to us via or fax. Do not forget to update your pre-approval form accordingly and get it signed by your exchange coordinator at Bilkent and send it to us.
ATTENTION: Bring back your original LA and submit it to our office upon your return.

29. ... While you are there 3. TRANSCRIPT
Before your departure from the host university, download the Official Dates form from our webpage and get it signed by the International Office of the host university in accordance with the entry and exit dates of your passport.
ATTENTION: This document will be your proof of stay and your grants will be re-calculated accordingly.
3. TRANSCRIPT
At the end of the term, if possible, bring your transcript, unopened and submit it to our office. If this is not possible make the necessary arangements for it to be to our office.
Postal Address: Bilkent Üniversitesi, Merkez Kampüs Uluslararası Öğrenciler ve Değişim Programları Ofisi Bilkent Ankara Türkiye

30. Passport Photocopies:
Upon Your Return
The documents you have to submit to OISEP are as follows;
Learning Agreement:
The Original. Make sure all the signatures are complete
Official Dates Form:
Certified by the host University
Passport Photocopies:
Including the information page and the exit and enterence stamps
4. Transcript:
If the transcript sent to you by the host university, make sure you deliver it to our office unopened. Your transcripts can be sent to OISEP directly.
5. Participant’s Report
After the completion of the above mentioned documents the European Commission will sent a Participant’s Report to your Bilkent using the ‘Mobility Tool’. You have to fill our the report and submit it online.

31. The Delivery of Your Transcript
…Upon Your Return
The Delivery of Your Transcript
Upon your return submit your transcript to OISEP unopened. The host university can send the transcript directly to our office.
The transcripts that our sent to us or yourselves via will not be processed until we receive the original. Thus we have to receive the originals.

32. Important Notes Minor: Dormitories:
- Exchange Students can only transfer one course that they have taken during their exchange term, to their minor program.
- They have to get the approval of the department exchange coordinator of their minor program before they leave for the program and show it both on their LA and pre-approval form.
Dormitories:
Those students staying at the dormitories should inform the Dorm Management that they will participate to the program. This should be done before the deadline the dormitories have announced.

33. Student that hold Scholarships
Important Notes
Student that hold Scholarships
Scholarship students that participate to the program have to pass, one less number of courses of the minimum course load of their department for their scholarship to continue.

34. Important Notes Merit Scholarship
If an exchange student is a candidate for Merit Scholarship, the CGPA of the term that they have spent at Bilkent will be taken in to consideration for evaluation. If they spent one academic year overseas as an exchange student, they will not be considered for Merit Scholarship. Please also be informed that a student with a CGPA below 3.00/4.00 will not be considered for Merit Scholarship. Furthermore the students have to pass the minimum number of courses of their departments course load during their exchange period.

35. Important Notes Grades:
A- No matter what grade you receive during your exchange period, it will show on your Bilkent transcript.
B- You cannot upgrade your grades during your exchange period. Even if you receive a higher grade for the courses you have received a ‘C’ or below at Bilkent, it will not change your grade at Bilkent University. You will be exempted from the course but, the grade you have received at Bilkent will continue to effect your GPA/CGPA.
C- As a rule, if you receive a grade below C at Bilkent you can take the course in the next two semesters to increase it. Your exchange term will be counted towards one of these semesters.

36. D- For a student to be exempted from a must course in Bilkent, the course that has been taken during their exchange period, should be close to the must course in Bilkent according to its subject, scope, level and time period. For a student to be exempted from an elective course in Bilkent, the course they have taken during their exchange period should be similiar to the elective course group in Bilkent, according to its subject, scope, level and period. It is possible for one course to enable the exemption of more then one course at Bilkent, while two or three courses can enable exemption for only one course at Bilkent. For exemption the scope and the level of the courses are compared not the credit values.
E- If the passing grade and the grade to graduate is different at the host university, you need to get the grade to graduate in order for the course to be transfered.
F- YOU CANNOT TAKE PART IN THE EXCHANGE PROGRAM ON YOUR GRADUATION TERM!

37. Advices from OISEP
Take a record of our contact information.
Print the check list on our web page.
Check your on a regular basis.
Make sure to learn who your coordinator at the host university.
Submit the documents you are responsible for on time.
DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING TO THE LAST MINUTE!!!!!!!!!

38. ... Advices from OISEP
Read the History of the country you are visiting.
Prepare yourself for the questions that you might receive about Turkey/your home country. Make sure you have the relevant knowledge about the topic. Do not take anything personal.
Follow the written rules of the country you are visiting.
Carry the photocopies of the official documents; passport, residence permit etc.
You can find this presentation and the necessary documents at our webpage givem below.

39. WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT EXCHANGE EXPERIENCE!!!!!