Ph.D. Research Traineeships

Conditions of the grant

the student must be enrolled in an accredited study program at MENDELU
the student has adequately completed at least the first year of study at the university (full-time, combined and distance learning).
the duration of the study stay is at least 1 months (30 days)/a maximum of 12 months, the time spent by travel is not included
the student with a citizenship of another state, who is interested in a study stay in the country of his/her origin, may participate in the mobility; however, it shall be assigned the lowest priority.
The traineeship need not to be based on a bilateral agreement. Students of MENDELU either arrange for their traineeship themselves (e.g. through an agency) or through contacts of their home university.
The traineeship shall be held in an enterprise, training or research centre or in another organization; the receiving organization must be a legal entity. The traineeship may also be held at one of our partner institutions.).

The scholarship covers:
subsistance fee of CKZ 20,000 / month regardless the destination.
travel grant from 10,000 to 25,000 CZK according to the destination (click on detailed list)
the scholarship is limited to a maximum amount of 60,000 CZK, plus travel expenses. If a student goes to mobility within the given study program more times, the individual scholarships are added up, while their sum may not exceed the amount of 100 thousand CZK.

The scholarship is paid out in Czech crowns pursuant to the Financial Agreement. Any costs exceeding this amount shall be borne by the student. The student can also search for offers of government scholarships in the selected country.
In case the scholarship exceeds the amount of 50,000, payment will be made in two instalments – one at the beginning of the internship, one in the middle taking into consideration payment due date.
The amount of the scholarship to be granted is subject to the fulfillment of the conditions specified in the financial agreement and depends also on the decision of the Vice-Rector for International and Public Affairs. It may be redused based on the university budget.
If any of the above conditions are not met, a refund may be required.

How to apply

usually twice a year:
- January (1st round) – with validity for the next calendar year (i.e. SP that takes place in January 2024, shall be valid for the calendar year 2024
- May (2nd round) – for the SS of the present academic year (shall take place only if sufficient funds are available)
the SP includes: filing application and passing language exam

find a suitable organization abroad,
contact the international relations officer of your faculty and ask about the selection of the organization and other possibilities, conditions and dates of the selection procedure; for contacts see Faculty Coordinators
meet the qualification prerequisites for a traineeship,
carefully consider the selection of the organization abroad,
file an application in UIS and upload other required documents including the acceptance letter
the receiving organization may be any public or private organization operating on the labour market or in the area of education, professional training or youth (public or private enterprise, public entity on the local, regional or national level, professional association, business union, research institute, foundation, non-profit organization, institute or educational centre etc.)

the participant to the selection procedure chooses and enters into the application the language in which he/she will take the exam on the basis of his/her choice of the main working language of the traineeship
applicants who do not present themselves at the language exam shall be excluded from further procedure
applicants who fail to obtain the required number of points and thus recommendation for a traineeship abroad shall be excluded, too
after taking the language exam and obtaining points on the basis of other criteria, the applicants shall be ranked according to the total number of points, which shall serve as the criterion for provision of financial aid toward the traineeship
students who have not carried out their obligatory traineeship yet will be given priority

applications are primarily submitted in the period according to the schedule
all students are informed about the selection process by collective e-mail
the application is submitted via the Contact Centre in UIS
after the language exam and approval of the traineeship by IRO, the application must be approved by the faculty
it is not necessary to wait until the status of studies for a given semester is as complete as possible before submitting the application (the final score for the facts documented in the application will take place after the end of the selection process)
a letter of acceptance from the receiving institution specifying the workload (assessed and approved by the faculty) and the exact dates of stay is a compulsory part of the application

The language exam in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian consists of a written part (paper version) and a short oral test (level B2), for PhD students it consists of an interview only
all students who wish to go abroad under the programme (language certificates and other exams are not recognised) must pass the language exam (except native speakers)
for bachelor and master students, it consists of a written and an oral part – students apply for the examination dates through the Erasmus+ English course, where they must register specifically for an oral part
all information about the examination process and registration is given to students well in advance of the examination
please come in time and bring an identification document (identity card or student’s record book) for the test. No aids except writing materials are permitted; the mobile phone shall be switched off and placed in the bag
for the dates of the language examinations, see the schedule
if a student has already taken the language exam in the past, he/she can have it recognised: IRO recognises the language exam 3 years in arrears
the student must apply to the Erasmus+ Traineeship Coordinator for recognition
Oral exam:
- after taking the written test, students sign in the rosters to the oral exam with individual teachers
- the oral part consists of an interview in duration of 7-10 minutes
- in order to pass the exam, the student must get at least 6 points out of 10

Administration

Training Agreement
Letter of Acceptance from the receiving institution with dates of beginning and end of the study at the university abroad.
Enter the Travel Proposal into the UIS (eAgenda – Trips abroad; please consult the faculty – instructions in English can be downloaded here).
Insurance for the period abroad (including travel). The student is obliged to buy insurance for the entire stay abroad (including the days spent travelling from and back to the Czech Republic) under the general agreement of Mendel University prior to departure in accordance with Directive No. 4/2006, on provision of travel expense reimbursement and assignment of business trips abroad (all information is available here). Based on your travel proposal you can pay insurance online: students´s portal, financing of your study.
Check/enter your bank account number in CZK into the UIS.

In case the student is accepted by the foreign university, he/she shall sign the Financial Agreement at the IRO prior to the departure, in which MENDELU undertakes to pay the awarded amount of scholarship. Before signing the Financial Agreement and payment of the scholarship, the student shall arrange an appointment at the IRO app. 2-3 weeks before departure and fulfill the following requirements:

Deliver the following documents:
- Insurance payment confirmation
- Training Agreement
- Letter of Acceptance
Check whether the mobility has been entered into the UIS. The internship abroad is entered by the International Relations Office of the relevant faculty (based on Acceptance Letter)
Upload Letter of Acceptance, Traning Agreement and Insurance payment confirmation into a checklist in the UIS

Upon the return from abroad, the student is obliged to:

submit to the IRO a Certificate confirming the traineeship period and achieved results/evaluation from the partner university with dates of beginning and end of the study abroad. Original goes to the university IRO, copy to the Faculty.
fill in a Final Report in the UIS and upload missing documents into the checklist

Should the student fail to complete the study, to pass the prescribed number of exams or to meet other terms set out in the Financial Agreement, MENDELU may claim the refund of a part or the whole scholarship.