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Call key data
Erasmus+ Scholarship
Funding Program
Erasmus+
Call number
ERASMUS-EDU-2026-POL-EXP-SSEF
deadlines
Opening
03.03.2026
Deadline
28.05.2026 17:00
Funding rate
80 %
Call budget
€ 5,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
max. € 1,250,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
Through the funding of scholarships, this call aims at retaining talented European students to study in Europe by facilitating their access to study programmes of high quality and to joint study programmes with embedded mobility and best prepare graduates to adapt to a fast-evolving society.
Call objectives
This call will contribute to developing a pool of future highly skilled professionals in strategic educational fields identified in the Union of Skills, competitiveness Compass and the STEM Education Strategic Plan such as clean and circular technologies, bioeconomy, transport, digital technologies—including Artificial Intelligence—energy, water resilience, healthcare, aerospace, and defence. Within these strategic domains, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programmes are recognised as essential study fields to increase EU’s competitiveness and innovation goals. While scholarships should be awarded to academically excellent students based on merit, inclusion and diversity aspects will be an important asset to ensure the selection of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and equitable gender representation.
The Erasmus+ scholarship initiative seeks therefore to design, pilot, and evaluate a scholarship scheme that promotes excellence and supports talented students in key strategic fields, helping to meet the growing demand for highly skilled professionals. The scheme will focus on students with fewer opportunities. It will also generate evidence on the most effective approaches for implementing the scheme and assess its potential for broader scale-up.
The general objectives are:
- Retain Europe’s top talent to study strategic fields in European higher education and tertiary VET institutions in particular with strong EU dimension such as provided through joint study programmes
- Increase access of talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds to high-quality STEM programmes and pursue meaningful careers in strategic sectors for Europe’s competitiveness. Reduce skills-gaps in Europe in priority STEM areas aligned with EU strategic sectors, ensuring that scholarship recipients specialise in identified high-demand fields.
- Strengthen employability outcomes by facilitating traineeships, mentorships, or industry placements for scholarship recipients before graduation.
- Increase EU dimension of study programmes through support for mobility and collaboration by providing study or exchange opportunities abroad for scholarship recipients.
The specific objectives are:
- Evaluate the pilot’s outcomes and processes by identifying success factors, barriers, and the added value of the integrated mobility and traineeship components.
- Produce policy-relevant conclusions and actionable recommendations to inform the potential scaling up of a European-level Erasmus+ scholarship scheme in strategic educational areas.
Erasmus+ scholarships awarded under this call will support talented students to complete their studies in programmes accredited according to European Qualifications Framework (EQF) Levels 5 (short cycle), 6 (first cycle), and 7 (second cycle), for a maximum duration of three academic years. Consortia are encouraged to test the scholarship scheme at all three levels.
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Expected effects and impacts
- Promote European top talents, with focus on those from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, by facilitating access to innovative, multidisciplinary and compelling European higher education or tertiary VET study programmes equipping them for successful careers and tapping into their innovative potential for bolstering strategic sectors crucial for Europe’s competitiveness;
- Support the development of compelling and innovative study programmes targeting the needs of the strategic sectors and advancing the Choose Europe objectives.
- Foster synergies with other higher education initiatives, such as the European Universities Initiative, the joint European degree label and the European degree in engineering.
- Reduce labour and skills gaps in strategic sectors, thereby increasing Europe’s competitiveness in alignment with the Union of Skills strategy.
- Contribute to the higher education targets of the STEM Education Strategic Plan.
- Contribute to the learning mobility targets defined in the ‘Europe on the move’ Council Recommendation.
- Increase cooperation with industry and key stakeholders operating in strategic sectors
This impact is expected to be achieved through the following results:
- Enhance the visibility and attractiveness of high-quality higher education programmes in strategic educational fields for talented students.
- Improve inclusion and diversity in strategic educational fields where certain groups remain underrepresented.
- Generate evidence to inform the design of a future Erasmus+ scholarship scheme in strategic educational fields under the Erasmus+ programme 2028–2034.
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Expected results
Activities that can be funded should cover the full scholarship cycle—from conceptualisation to policy recommendations. For the set-up and implementation of the scholarship scheme, funding should be provided for activities that contribute to its effective delivery, as follows:
Proposals rationale: The proposals should clearly demonstrate the relevance of the proposed scholarship scheme to developing a pool of future highly skilled professionals in strategic educational fields through innovative and compelling educational programmes attractive to talented students and aligned with the competitiveness needs. The proposals should cater for the needs of talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The proposals should achieve the general and specific objectives outlined above, using concise evidence (e.g., alignment with strategic sectors, contribution to European competitiveness, labour shortages, skills shortages, student drop-out rates, access barriers, underrepresentation) to justify the rationale and motivation for applying to it. If participating institutions intend to align the Erasmus+ scholarship scheme with existing schemes offered at their institution, they should describe the relevant elements of those schemes and demonstrate the added value provided by the Erasmus+ scholarship.
Study programmes: The scheme should include more than one study programme and offer a geographical balance. The study programmes must be directly related to the strategic educational fields defined in this call. For each programme, the proposals should explain the reason for its selection, demonstrate its high academic quality, describe how it will remain attractive to talented students, and how it addresses the objectives of the call. It should also include a short summary of each programme detailing, for instance, ECTS credits, level of qualification, etc.
The study programme should include substantial learning mobility during the academic semesters and/or a traineeship or internship component abroad with industry, research centres, or innovation hubs. Programmes with strong EU added value such as joint study programmes should be central to the proposals. Mobility and traineeships may take place at an institution or organisation outside the consortium, provided that it holds a bilateral or consortium agreement with at least one consortium member. Learning mobility and traineeship or internship can take place in other EU Member states, EEA countries and countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme. The study programmes should employ innovative teaching and learning approaches, and encourage multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary approaches building on successful practices such as the STEAM approach, linking for example social sciences and humanities with core STEM fields, with a clear relevance to the strategic sectors. Furthermore, the selection of degree type, study level, and location must be justified, taking into account labour and skills shortages, socio-economic considerations, and institutional or regional needs.
Financial structure: The proposals should design the financial structure and components of the proposed scholarship scheme. The proposals should demonstrate clear methodologies for calculating individual and aggregate funding mechanisms across participating institutions and countries. They should explain the needs and contributions of the involved higher education institutions. They should present the ability to mobilise complementary funding, including from the private sector, when scholarship amounts alone do not cover full learner needs, or to expand the overall number of awarded grants through cofinancing.
In principle, it is expected that 90% of the grant will be directly used for scholarships to cover attendance costs, including but not limited to: travel costs, tuition and administrative fees; study materials and books; accommodation and living allowances, access to university facilities, health and student insurance, etc.
Up to 10% of the grant may be used for administrative costs directly related to the implementation, management, and monitoring of the scholarship scheme, including staff costs, legal advisory, communications, and events, etc.
The co-funding can be at university-level and may include tuition fee waivers or reductions, institutional top-up grants, provision of housing support or subsidised services. National or regional government funding can complement this through alignment with national scholarship or grant schemes and co-financing in accordance with national accounting and budgetary procedures. In addition, student support services provided as in-kind support—such as mentoring, tutoring, psychological support, access to career services or networks, and free or discounted access to learning resources—can further enhance the scholarship scheme, although they are not counted as direct financial support.
Scholarships: each proposal should include a minimum of 25 scholarships covering the entire duration of studies, with a maximum duration of up to 3 years per student. Proposals may include scholarships of different duration (one-year, two-year, three-year programmes) depending on the degree programmes offered. Mixed-duration scholarships within a single proposal are encouraged, provided that the total commitment equals at least 75 yearly scholarship-equivalents per proposal.
Examples:
- 10 scholarships of one-year duration + 10 scholarships of two-year duration +15 three-year scholarships = 75 one-year equivalents
- 15 scholarships of one-year duration + 30 scholarships of two-year duration =75 one-year equivalents
Scholarships should be provided only to students starting academic year 2027-2028 (only 1 cohort of scholarship holders). The selection of programmes, study levels, and locations to be funded under the Erasmus+ scholarship must be thoroughly justified, with a clear explanation of the underlying rationale—such as identified skills shortages, socioeconomic considerations, or specific institutional or regional needs. Proposals are encouraged to cover different programmes and levels of study.
Scholarship holders must be resident in EU Member States, EEA countries and countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme at the time of scholarship application and throughout the scholarship period. The Erasmus+ scholarships may be awarded to students who:
- are either currently enrolled, on a full-time basis, in an accredited higher education, including tertiary vocational education and training; or be eligible for, or have secured, admission to such a programme either at the time of application or before the start of the scholarship period.
- satisfy all academic requirements including the relevant threshold of academic excellence allowing to pursue the demanding study programmes as well as the enrolment and documentation requirements outlined in the scholarship scheme designed by the participating institutions for the purposes of awarding this scholarship.
- are demonstrably at the top of the academic excellence criteria defined by the participating institutions.
To ensure effective implementation of the scholarship scheme, each work package should be accompanied by clearly defined key performance indicators (KPIs), milestones, and timelines for the delivery of outputs and deliverables. These metrics will allow the consortium to monitor progress, measure the impact of activities, and ensure timely achievement of objectives across all phases—from project management and outreach to scholarship design, implementation, and evaluation. Establishing these indicators and schedules will also facilitate transparent reporting and provide evidence for future scaling-up of the Erasmus+ scholarship scheme.
Work packages should cover:
- Design, pilot, and implement a scholarship model that attracts talented students in strategic fields while promoting equity, inclusion, and diversity, ensuring effective funding and measurable feasibility and scalability.
- Enhance students’ employability through structured mobility, mentoring, traineeships, and industry engagement.
Evaluate the pilot to identify success factors and barriers, producing evidence-based findings and policy recommendations to inform potential scale-up in the 2028–2034 Erasmus+ programme.
Applicants should present their proposals in clearly defined work packages (WPs), which may include:
- Project management and coordination: covers overall project administration, financial management, reporting, quality assurance, and consortium communication.
- Example of deliverables: monitoring & evaluation plan; mid-term progress report.
- Communication and outreach: ensures promotion of the scholarships, targeted outreach to talented students in underrepresented groups, and dissemination of scholarship-holders’ success stories.
- Example of deliverable: dissemination and outreach plan.
- Scholarship design: develops the scholarship scheme, including: defining common selection criteria (e.g., academic merit, motivation, creativity/problem-solving, language, communication skills) and a fair and transparent evaluation process; setting application and selection logistics, award conditions; and compliance with national regulations and institutional policies; designing student support mechanisms to enhance success and retention; developing measures to promote inclusion, equity, and diversity within the scholarship scheme; specifying scholarship coverage (mobility, internships, traineeships, or other forms of industry engagement)
- Mandatory deliverables: list of selected students. Example of other deliverables: scholarship scheme design report including financial information; programme attractiveness report; student selection framework and evaluation rubrics; operational handbook.
- Scholarship implementation: manages operational execution, including financial support, skills enhancement, mentorship, academic guidance, and career development activities.
- Example of deliverable: report on activities for ensuring student success.
- Evaluation and policy recommendations: assesses the pilot’s outcomes, effectiveness, and impact, identifies success factors and challenges, and generates evidence-based recommendations for potential scale-up.
- Example of deliverables: comprehensive evaluation report assessing the pilot’s outcomes, effectiveness, and impact; a policy recommendations report providing evidence-based guidance for potential scale-up of the scholarship scheme; and a lessons learned and best practices summary highlighting transferable approaches and success factors for broader adoption.
Beyond the activities to be funded, proposals are also expected to demonstrate that participating institutions and partners possess the appropriate profile and capacity to ensure effective implementation of the scholarship scheme. Participating institutions should demonstrate a strong track record and expertise in programmes related to strategic educational fields, and, notably, in STEM fields, reflecting high-quality education capacity. They are expected to have experience in managing student mobility programmes, such as Erasmus+ exchanges, and to actively collaborate with industry partners and stakeholders in relevant strategic sectors. Institutions must demonstrate that the scholarships will target talented students meeting a threshold of academic excellence, while showing a clear commitment to promoting diversity, inclusion, and outreach, ensuring that students from different backgrounds, including women, have equitable access to learning opportunities. Additionally, they should employ innovative teaching and learning approaches—such as project-based learning, problem-solving methods, inquiry-based approaches, and digital learning tools—to enhance the overall quality of education and improve students’ practical skills and employability outcomes.
Industry partners and other stakeholders operating in strategic sectors are encouraged to join the project as associated partners. Their contribution may include offering traineeship or training opportunities, providing input on workforce needs, facilitating applied coursework or industry-aligned projects, as well as complementary funding. The aim of their involvement is to enhance student’s employability, address workforce and skills gap, and strengthen the overall impact of the scholarship scheme.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Albania (Shqipëria), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Iceland (Ísland), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Liechtenstein, Montenegro (Црна Гора), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Switzerland (Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera), Türkiye, United Kingdom
eligible entities
Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies) active in the field of education and training, research and innovation or in the world of work.
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- Erasmus+ Programme Countries:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme (list of participating countries).
- Erasmus+ Programme Countries:
- for higher education institutions (HEIs) established in Erasmus+ Programme Countries (see above): be holders of a valid ECHE certificate (Erasmus Charter for Higher Education
The lead applicant (i.e.“Coordinator”) cannot submit more than one application under this call for proposals. In case of multiple proposals submitted by the same lead applicant, all the proposals will be rejected and will not be evaluated further.
Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 4 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities), which comply with the following conditions:
- minimum 4 Higher Education Institutions and/or institutions providing tertiary vocational education and training, from 4 different eligible countries (EU Members States and third countries associated to the Programme – see above Eligible participants (eligible countries)).
Financial support to third parties is allowed for grants in the form of student scholarships under the following condition: the calls must be open, published widely and conform to EU standards concerning transparency, equal treatment, conflict of interest and confidentiality.
other eligibility criteria
Specific cases
Natural persons — Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
International organisations — International organisations are NOT eligible.
Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium.
Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’.
Countries currently negotiating association agreements — Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations for participation in the programme (see list of participating countries) may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature and if the association covers the call (i.e. is retroactive and covers both the part of the programme and the year when the call was launched).
EU restrictive measures — Special rules apply for entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). Such entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
EU conditionality measures — Special rules apply for entities subject to measures adopted on the basis of EU Regulation 2020/2092. Such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc). Currently such measures are in place for Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain (see Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022).
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration
48 months
Additional Information
Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Proposals must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (template to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded)
- Part C — contains additional project data and the project’s contribution to EU programme key performance indicators (to be filled in directly online)
- mandatory annexes and supporting documents (templates to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded):
- detailed budget table
- CVs (standard) of core project team
- list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years) (template available in Part B)
- a document presenting the funding structure of the scholarship, including what the scholarship covers, the number of scholarships per institution/programme, and any co-funding arrangements.
Please be aware that since the detailed budget table serves as the basis for fixing the lump sums for the grants (and since lump sums must be reliable proxies for the actual costs of a project), the costs you include MUST comply with the basic eligibilityconditions for EU actual cost grants (see AGA — Annotated Grant Agreement, art 6). This is particularly important for purchases and subcontracting, which must comply with best value for money (or if appropriate the lowest price) and be free of any conflict of interests. If the budget table contains ineligible costs, the grant may be reduced (even later on during the project implementation or after their end).
At proposal submission, you will have to confirm that you have the mandate to act for all applicants. Moreover, you will have to confirm that the information in the application is correct and complete and that all participants comply with the conditions for receiving EU funding (especially eligibility, financial and operational capacity, exclusion, etc). Before signing the grant, each beneficiary and affiliated entity will have to confirm this again by signing a declaration of honour (DoH). Proposals without full support will be rejected.
Proposals are limited to maximum 120 pages (Part B).
Call documents
ERASMUS-EDU-2026-POL-EXP-SSEFERASMUS-EDU-2026-POL-EXP-SSEF(350kB)
