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WHAT IS STUDY MOBILITY? Study mobility is the opportunity for our university's students to pursue their education for one or two academic semesters within an academic year at higher education institutions in EU member countries with which their departments have bilateral agreements.
Erasmus study mobility activities cannot be carried out without a Bilateral Erasmus Agreement.
GTU International Exchange Programs Office announces for study mobility once a year and receives applications for the selection of students who wish to carry out study mobility.
APPLICATION ADDRESS Erasmus+ study mobility application procedures must be carried out via TURNA PORTAL.
REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATION 1. To be an undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral student at Gebze Technical University
Graduate students must be in their course or thesis stage.
Being an evening education student is not an obstacle to apply for the Erasmus+ program. Evening education students must pay their semester tuition fees to GTU in case of mobility.
Double major students may only apply for mobility in one major in the same application period.
Foreign language preparatory class and scientific preparation program (remedial year) students cannot benefit from the Erasmus+ program.
Students who have completed the credits required to obtain a diploma or who will not have a course load equivalent to 30 ECTS credits in the mobility period cannot apply for mobility.
2. To have a minimum GTU CGPA of 2.20/4.0 (for undergraduate students) and a minimum GTU CGPA of 2.5/4.0 (for graduate students)
3. To hold a minimum score of 70 in the language exam to be administered by the Department of Foreign Languages
The International Exchange Programs Office does not have information about the foreign language exam questions and content, and exam samples from previous years are not available from our office.
The International Exchange Programs Office may not organize an English exam for every announcement. It will be useful for our candidates who wish to apply for our interim / additional announcements to obtain a score in one of the suitable exam types mentioned above for their English grade.
4. The department has an inter-institutional agreement: The deadline for a new inter-institutional agreement to be made is the application start date. If the department does not have an inter-institutional agreement, students cannot benefit from study mobility.
5. If the student has already benefited from study or traineeship activities within their current stage of studies, the total duration including the new activity must not exceed 12 months (24 months for integrated doctoral programs).
The 12-month period is calculated as 360 days.
Each student who is selected as an Erasmus+ student must use this right within the department/program he/she is selected for within the related academic year. A student who renounces his/her right to Erasmus+ by performing the cancellation procedure for any reason cannot transfer his/her right to another/next academic year. The student may apply to become an Erasmus+ student in subsequent application periods, but will be subject to the application and selection process again.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR APPLICATION 1. Language Exam Score
Students who have scored a minimum of 70 points in YDS, E-YDS, YÖKDİL, E-YÖKDİL exams and equivalent scores from equivalent exams (ÖSYM equivalency table) within the last five years are exempted from the foreign language exam when they select their certificates through the application system or upload their exam result certificates not registered in the system.
GTU Erasmus exam results from previous years are not valid.
Students may both declare their language exam results and take the Erasmus foreign language exam at the same time.
Students who declare that they will take the language exam, but do not attend the exam without an official excuse will be given -5 points for their next Erasmus application.
Applicants who do not hold a foreign language proficiency certificate must sit the English exam to be held by GTU Department of Foreign Languages. The exam consists of questions to assess their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. The exam is conducted in two parts: written and oral. As a result of the exam, the student is expected to score a minimum of 70 points to be deemed successful.
The International Exchange Programs Office does not have information about the foreign language exam questions and content, and exam samples from previous years are not available from the office. Exam samples can be found on the Department of Foreign Languages' web page.
All the above-mentioned exam results are valid for the student selection phase at GTU, and students are also obliged to meet the additional language proficiency requirements that may be requested by the universities where they are placed.
2. Transcript of Academic Records Students who do not yet have a GPA on their GTU transcripts must upload their graduation certificates or transcripts from the previous level of education that they used when applying to our university.
Students who have a GTU GPA do not need to upload their transcripts; their GPA is automatically retrieved from the application system.
Students are responsible for checking the accuracy of their GPA retrieved in the system, and in case of any inaccuracies; they must update their GPA from the student-staff approval tab on the application portal. After the updated GPA is approved by our office, students will be able to complete their applications.
3. Documents Required for Additional Points and/or Additional Grant Support Students are required to upload the official documents showing their status that will enable them to receive additional points and/or additional grants within the scope of the evaluation criteria and additional grant support.
4. Profile photo
EVALUATION CRITERIA
1 Children of martyrs and veterans (Combat veterans and their spouses and children, spouses and children of war martyrs, as well as the children of "public officials who were injured, disabled, killed, or killed as a result of terrorist acts while performing their duties at home or abroad or due to the performance of these duties even if their titles have been removed" according to Article 21 of the Anti-Terrorism Law dated 12/04/1991 and numbered 3713. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Decree Law No. 667 dated July 23, 2016, the spouses and children of those who lost their lives due to the coup attempt and terrorist act carried out on July 15, 2016 and the acts that are a continuation of this act, or the disabled civilians and their spouses and children. In order for these students to benefit from +15 points, they must upload a copy of the Martyr / Veteran Family card issued by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services to the application platforms during their application.
2 People with at least 50% disability rate certified by the Disability Health Board report in the "Regulation on Disability Assessment for Adults" published in the Official Gazette dated February 20, 2019 and numbered 30692. They must submit the Disability Health Board report.
3 Individuals for whom a protection, care, or sheltering order has been issued under Law No. 2828 by the Ministry of Family and Social Services. Students for whom a protection, care, or sheltering order has been issued under Law No. 5395 on Child Protection. For prioritization, the student must submit a letter from the Ministry of Family and Social Services confirming that they are under a protection, care, or sheltering order pursuant to Law No. 2828.
4 It is applied once for each level of education (undergraduate, graduate, doctorate) and each project type (KA131-KA171). If the student participates in the mobility, it is not applied in the student's subsequent applications. If the student does not participate in the mobility (if waived within the waiver period or if there is a force majeure), the additional points will continue to be applied in subsequent applications.
*If a student who has previously benefited from mobility applies for both study and traineeship activities at the same time, "20" points will be deducted from the mobility type he/she has benefited from before and "10" points will be deducted from the second mobility type he/she applies for.
Evaluation results are announced on the web page of the International Exchange Programs Office.
OTHER INFORMATION Department Quotas Each department with an inter-institutional agreement is allocated 1 undergraduate and 1 graduate quota, and applications exceeding these quotas and vacant department quotas will be distributed according to the estimated grant budget and point ranking.
Agreement Quotas In addition to the information about the universities in the agreements tab on the GTU International Exchange Programs Office's web page, the web pages of the related institutions must also be examined to obtain up-to-date and accurate information.
University Preferences Students will be able to prefer up to 5 higher education institutions with which their departments have an agreement in the application system during the application phase.
THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING THE PREFERENCE PROCESS The declaration at the time of application will be the basis, and no changes to preferences, information etc. will be made after the application deadline.
The compatibility of the courses shown as GTU equivalents of the courses that can be taken during Erasmus+ study mobility can be inquired from departmental Erasmus+ coordinators and/or student's advisor.
Students who intend to apply at the thesis stage are expected to have found a thesis advisor or at least be in contact with a faculty member at the host institution before the application stage. If an advisor is not available after the placement to the host institution, the institution cannot be changed. In this case, the right to mobility is lost and the mobility must be canceled. It must be asked in advance whether the host institutions provide ECTS for thesis study. Graduate students are required to determine their thesis topics and make an official notification to the relevant Graduate School before the semester they will go on mobility.
Students must pay attention to the language requirements of the universities at the preference stage. Especially Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal are the countries where universities prefer to offer education in their native language, so students must make sure that they speak the language at the required level and have a required certificate while preferring the institutions in such countries, unless otherwise stated.
Since the host universities may change their foreign language level requirements every academic year, in addition to the foreign language requirements indicated on our bilateral agreements page, it is necessary to examine the web pages of the relevant institutions in order to obtain the most up-to-date and precise information. If there is any information that cannot be found on the web pages, the institutions you wish to choose must be contacted via e-mail for information.
After being selected at GTU, students must also receive acceptance from the institutions they will be attending in order to carry out the activity. Information about the application processes, medium of instruction and required language skills of the host institutions can be found on their websites. GTU International Exchange Programs Office cannot be held responsible for students' failure to receive acceptance from the host university following their applications.
EVALUATION AND SELECTION RESULTS Students who have completed their application documents in full and have certified their foreign language proficiency level are ranked by weighted scoring according to the selection criteria. According to the available department quotas, placement is made downwards starting from the student with the highest score.
Grade Point Average: 50%
In addition to these basic criteria, other score increase or decrease criteria may be included in our announcements depending on the National Agency's updates. The evaluation results are announced in the Announcements section of the web address immediately after the completion of the foreign language exam.
Evaluation results are announced on the GTU International Exchange Programs Office web page.
If the total points calculated by taking into account all criteria are equal, priority is given to the student with the higher academic achievement grade, and if the academic achievement grades are also equal, priority is given to the student who is in the upper grade within the same level.
The student has the right to give up on or waive his/her right within a period of time to be announced with the results after the announcement of the selection results.
If the right is waived after this date without force majeure, -10 points will be applied in subsequent applications.
For objections to the language exam results, a letter of objection must be submitted to the Department of Foreign Languages; for objections to the general selection results, a letter of objection be submitted to the International Exchange Programs Office within 5 days after the results are announced.
ERASMUS GRANTS The International Exchange Programs Office undertakes to provide grant support for one academic year (maximum 180 days).
Students who are declared successful at the end of the selection process are candidate students, and in order for the student to finally be eligible to participate in the Erasmus activity, he/she will need to receive a letter of acceptance from the institution he/she will be going to after the GTU candidacy is finalized and complete the visa process.
In addition, the grant distribution results will be finalized after the National Agency announces the grant amounts to be allocated to universities.
After the results of the grant distribution are finalized, students who finally become entitled to mobility without a grant will also be given a waiver period. 10 points deduction rule will not be applied for students in their next applications who waive within the period to be determined.
Students who apply and become entitled to benefit from the program, but cannot receive a grant due to insufficient grant quota may use their acquired rights without a grant. Even if no grant is awarded, the total duration of student mobility activities within the same study level must not exceed 12 months.
Grant support is provided to students to cover a part of their expenses arising from their stay abroad during their activity period abroad. The grants are not intended to cover the full cost of the students' activity, but serve only as a contribution.
The host higher education institution cannot charge any academic fees to the Erasmus+ student. Academic fees include tuition, registration, examination, laboratory, and library fees. However, charges for various materials and services—such as insurance, residence permits, discounted transportation cards, photocopying of academic materials, use of laboratory products, etc.—may apply, provided they are charged in the same amount as they are to other students of the host institution.
GRANT AMOUNTS FOR STUDY MOBILITY
TRAVEL GRANT AMOUNTS TO BE APPLIED FOR STUDY MOBILITY In order to contribute to the travel costs of the students, the distance between the starting point of the mobility and the place where the activity takes place is determined using the distance calculator provided by the European Commission and the travel grant is calculated using the table below. The grant equivalent of the kilometers in the distance band calculator in the table below is the round-trip figure, which is not multiplied by two.
As a general rule, for distances under 500 km, participants are required to travel by low-emission means of transport.
5Under the Green Travel option, students participating in mobility are encouraged to reduce carbon emissions and minimize the environmental footprint of their mobility by choosing environmentally friendly travel alternatives. Green travel is defined as travel that uses low-emission means of transportation—such as buses, trains, or carpooling—for the main part of the journey.
ADDITIONAL GRANT SUPPORT Disadvantaged participants may be eligible for Additional Grant Support in addition to the grant to which they are entitled. A disadvantaged participant is defined as an individual with limited economic and social opportunities, and to be eligible for the said support, must meet the criteria in one of the following sub-categories:
1. Those who hold a protection, care, or shelter decision by the Ministry of Family and Social Services in accordance with the Law No. 2828
2. Students under the Law No. 5395 on Child Protection for whom a protection, care, or shelter decision has been made
3. Orphan/death pension recipients
4. Spouses and children of martyrs/veterans and veterans themselves6
5. Those who have been granted a social pen sion for indige nt citizens to themselves or their family (it is sufficient to submit a document proving that the student has received financial support from institutions such as Municipalities, public institutions and organizations, Ministries, Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations, General Directorate for Foundations, Red Crescent, AFAD at the time of their Erasmus application.)
6. People with at least 50% disability rate as certified by the Disability Health Board report in the "Regulation on Disability Assessment for Adults" published in the Official Gazette dated February 20, 2019 and numbered 30692
7. Students one of whose parents or guardian receives a social pension for people with disabilities or indigent citizens within the scope of the Law No. 2022 dated 01/07/1976 on the Granting of Pensions to Indigent, Powerless, and Orphaned Turkish Citizens Over 65 Years of Age and to Disabled and Indigent Turkish Citizens
8. Those who themselves or their 1st degree relatives receive disaster victim aid from AFAD
Additional Grant Support may be provided in the following amounts according to the type of mobility for students within the above scope, upon their request and provided that they certify their current state:
Scholarships from the Credit and Dormitories Institution (KYK) and similar grants, other merit-based scholarships, financial aid, and one-time support payments are not considered within the scope of this financial support.
6 In addition to combat veterans and their spouses and children, spouses and children of war martyrs, as well as spouses and children of "public officials who have been injured, disabled, killed, or killed as a result of terrorist acts while performing their duties at home or abroad or due to the performance of these duties even if their titles have been removed" according to Article 21 of the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 3713 dated 12/4/1991 and Article 7 of the Decree Law No. 667 dated July 23, 2016. Pursuant to Article 7 of the Decree Law No. 667 dated July 23, 2016, the spouses and children of those who lost their lives due to the coup attempt and terrorist act carried out on July 15, 2016 and the acts that are a continuation of this act, or civilians who are disabled and their spouses and children are prioritized if they apply for Erasmus+ student mobility.
7 It is applied for one time only. If selected, no additional grant support will be provided in this category again in the student's subsequent mobility.
APPLICATION PROCESS TO PARTNER UNIVERSITIES An informative e-mail (nomination) is sent to the universities preferred by the students who are eligible for exchange. After this stage, each student must carefully examine the web page of the university they would like to go to, obtain information such as academic calendar, course schedules, dormitory facilities, application process, and dates, and submit the application documents to the partner university by the method expected by the partner university (through the online portal if there is an online portal, by e-mail, or by mail although it is not preferred anymore, etc.) before the application deadline.
Generally, the required documents are as follows:
Application Form: Accessible from the website of the related university; if not available, correspondence can be initiated with the international office.
Learning Agreement: It includes the courses planned to be taken at the partner university. The total course credits must be between 28-32 ECTS. In order to avoid academic problems, the approval of the academic advisor must be obtained for course selection. The learning agreement form is approved by the departmental Erasmus coordinator and then the institutional coordinator. Learning agreements will be prepared through the online Learning Agreement portal. You can watch our tutorial video on this subject at this address.
Transcript/Academic Records in English: Obtained from the Directorate of Student Affairs.
Letter of Intent in English: It is prepared in the format requested by the host university.
Resume in English
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Foreign Language Certificate: Each university may have different language proficiency requirements. If an English language proficiency certificate is required, the Erasmus language exam result from the International Exchange Programs Office can be requested. If there is a certificate required for other languages, the student must either provide it or not prefer those universities. According to the request of the partner university, some of the documents listed above may be changed or additional documents may be requested.
These documents must be sent to the host university by the student using the method required by the partner university.
Admission Documents When the partner university accepts the exchange student's application, it sends a letter of acceptance/invitation letter along with the approved learning agreement form. Students must wait for the letter of acceptance before starting the visa procedures. This document must be communicated to our office by the student as soon as he/she receives it.
Passport and Visa Upon receipt of the letter of acceptance, the International Exchange Programs Office will provide the student with a fee exemption letter (for students over the age of 25) to be used in passport applications and an information letter/visa/grant letter addressed to the relevant consulate. The exemption letter enables the student to be exempted from the fees that passport applicants must pay. (Students under 25 are already exempted.) However, the student is required to pay the passport book fee. The Fee Exemption Form must be approved by the contracted tax office. Information must be obtained from the Civil Registry Directorate where the application will be made. If the student already has a passport, he/she will be able to apply for a visa by extending its validity.
In some countries, there is also a requirement regarding passport validity, which stipulates that your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the end date of your exchange program. You must keep this rule in mind when processing your visa and passport applications.
After obtaining the passport, a visa application is submitted to the relevant consulate. At this stage, it is important to note that each consulate may have different requirements for issuing visas, and these requirements may change over time.
Executive Board's Decision for Departure When applying for a visa, the student must also prepare and submit a letter of request for course recognition to the relevant department or program head (Undergraduate / Graduate). The student follows up to ensure that the letter is reviewed by the board and to check whether a copy of the board's decision has been received by the office. No payment can be made to the student until the board's decision has reached the office.
Process Following Visa Before going abroad, the student signs the Student Learning Mobility Agreement (Grant Agreement), which will be prepared in 2 copies. In order to sign the agreement, the student must submit the Learning Agreement, the book for the Euro account opened from any branch of Halk Bank, insurance policy, passport and visa documents by e-mail.
Students who will carry out mobility without a grant are also required to sign an agreement.
Students do not register for courses at GTU for the semester they will be abroad.
GRANT PAYMENT (80%) In the week before the student goes abroad, 80% of the total grant amount to be received during the exchange period is deposited into the account number in the agreement. The remaining amount will be paid after the student returns to the country.
When calculating the first installment of the grant, the date range in the student's acceptance letter (planned for stay) and the monthly grant amounts according to the countries are taken into account. Although the grant amounts and country groups may vary from year to year, the current amounts will be indicated in the relevant year's most up-to-date call.
STUDY PROCESS Students may change their courses within the first 5 weeks after starting their studies. The course change form can also be prepared through the OLA Online Learning Agreement portal.
TERM EXTENSION WHILE ABROAD Students who start mobility in the fall semester can extend their studies to the spring semester if the conditions are appropriate. For this, an approval is obtained from the host university's related divisions first.
Then, the student informs the International Exchange Programs Office and his/her Departmental Coordinator and asks for their approval.
If approved, the student prepares a new online Learning Agreement for the spring semester, and after the signing process, submits it to his/her department with the Letter of Request for Course Recognition, which he/she will prepare for the spring semester.
Subsequently, he/she follows up the issuance of the executive board decision from the faculty/institute for the related spring semester.
Students who extend their mobility to the spring semester agree to study without a grant.
Students whose semester extension requests are accepted must send a copy of their insurance and visa for the spring semester to the International Exchange Programs Office by e-mail.
The mobility of students who do not sign the Grant Agreement for the spring semester will be deemed invalid.
RETURN PROCESS
CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE AND TRANSCRIPT Students who have completed their studies abroad must submit upon their return the Certificate of Attendance and transcript they have received from the partner university.
These documents must also be sent to erasmus@gtu.edu.tr from the official e-mail address of the host institution. In case the transcript is not ready at the time of the student's return, the document may also be sent by e-mail by the host university.
Apart from the certificate of attendance and transcript, the student fills in the EU online questionnaire form sent to his/her e-mail address after the mobility.
GRANT PAYMENT (20%) After the student submits the return documents to our office, the remaining 20% of the grant will be transferred to their account. If the participant fails to complete at least 60% of the credits they earned during the mobility period at Gebze Technical University without the need to repeat them, Gebze Technical University reserves the right to make a financial support reduction based on the proportion of credits not successfully completed, with the reduction being no less than 20%.
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