On this page:

1. Employment contracts at UEF and student exchange
2. Brexit and student exchange
3. The war on Ukraine and its impact on student exchange

1.Employment contracts at UEF and student exchange

(Updated 28 Feb 2025)

The bulletin applies to students on all degree levels (bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students).

If the student has an employment contract at the University of Eastern Finland, the contract must end before the start of the exchange period. It is not possible to go on a student exchange during a valid employment contract.

An employment contract can refer to any employment contract a student may have at the University of Eastern Finland. These include, for example, the following (there may be others, but here are just a few of the more common job titles):

• Assistant (e.g., research, education, conference, or project assistant)
• Trainee/intern
• Doctoral researcher (e.g. 10% employment)
• Student Ambassador

The number of hours specified in the employment contract (full-time, part-time, etc.) is irrelevant.

During the employment conract, you can apply for an exchange and prepare matters related to the exchange, but the employment contract must end before the start of the exchange period.

2. Brexit and student exchanges

(Updated 25 June 2024)

The United Kingdom is continuing to be a part of the Erasmus+ programme as a partner country. This means that students will be able to apply for Erasmus+ exchange at UK host institutions within the framework of the Erasmus+ programme, if the student’s department/subject has a valid Erasmus+ agreement with a British university. If UEF has a bilateral exchange agreement with a British university, students may apply for bilateral exchange. If UEF has no current exchange agreements with a university, students may apply for Freemover grants for an exchange.

One of YUFE Alliance members is University of Essex in the UK. Students may apply for YUFE exchange to Essex and receive Erasmus+ grants for the mobility. Read more about YUFE Alliance on Kamu.

For trainee/internships in Britain, Erasmus+ traineeship funding is available. If the receiving organisation is a university or another higher education institution, there needs to be a valid Erasmus+ agreement that includes traineeships between UEF and the employing institution. If there is no agreement, students may apply for their department’s own traineeship grants.

If the employer/traineeship placement is a public or private organisation and not a higher education institution, students may apply for Erasmus+ traineeship funding. In this case, regular Erasmus+ rules regarding traineeship funding will apply.

3. The war on Ukraine and its impact on student exchange

(Updated 28 June 2022)

Following the policies issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture on 9 March 2022, the University of Eastern Finland refrains from all cooperation with Russian partner organisations in higher education and science. According to the policies, new projects will not be initiated and existing cooperation between organisations will be suspended for the time being.

This means that currently UEF students are not able to apply for student exchange at Russian universities.