Students can apply for a grant to participate in short-term study opportunities at UI partner schools in Europe, such as single courses and summer programmes. Short-term mobility enables more students to take part of their studies abroad.
Students must be active UI students and cannot participate in summer programmes after their graduation.
Undergraduate and Master's students are only eligible for one short-term mobility per academic year.
PhD students are eligible for one short-term mobility grant per semester up to a maximum of five during their studies.
Students can apply for an Erasmus+ grant for short-term stays (5-30 days) at a partner university in Europe.
Erasmus+ short-term courses at the undergraduate and graduate level must include a virtual component. This means that the stay needs to be blended where part of the course occurs physically and a part of it virtually. Doctoral students can go on short-term mobility without the virtual component. The on-campus part of the course cannot be shorter than 5 days and not longer than 30 days.
Students apply for the course at the host institution by themselves. If the host institution requires the student to be nominated by the University of Iceland, students can contact the International Division to examine whether it is possible to nominate them.
Every year there are two application deadlines for Erasmus+ short-term grants for single courses:
- 15th April for mobilities in June-December
- 15th November for mobilities in January-May
It is possible to send in applications after these deadlines. In those cases, it is necessary to send an email to shortmobility@hi.is to inform that an application has been submitted.
Late applications are not a priority for grant allocations.
- The applicant needs to be an active and registered student at University of Iceland and must have paid the registration fee. Exchange students and other guest students at University of Iceland cannot apply.
- There must be an agreement between the University of Iceland and the host institution. The agreement either needs to be open, in the subject of the student or have a clear connection to the student’s studies.
- Undergraduate students can only apply if their programme at UI is at least 90 ECTS credits.
- Undergraduate students need to have finished at least 30 ECTS at University of Iceland in their subject before the start of the mobility.
- Graduate students can only apply if their study programme is at least 60 ECTS.
- The faculty needs to grant the student permission for the mobility. By granting permission, the faculty is not automatically agreeing to evaluate the course at University of Iceland.
- If the faculty has additional requirements, the student must fulfill them before the start of the of the mobility.
It is important to note doing study mobility in your final semester can delay graduation since some host universities issue transcripts after the graduation deadline of the University of Iceland.
Applications are submitted here. For applications to be valid, students must attach the acceptance letter from the host university and a transcript of records in English, with ranking.
Applications for grants are prioritized in accordance with the Application Evaluation guidelines of the International Division.
Erasmus+ short-term courses at the undergraduate and graduate level must include a virtual component. This means that the stay needs to be blended where part of the course occurs physically and a part of it virtually. The virtual component requires the interactive participation of the student. Individual work and home exams do not fulfill the Erasmus+ virtual component requirement.
The course at the host institution must award at least 3 ECTS (the physical and virtual components combined).
Please note that diploma students on the undergraduate level cannot apply. Graduate students whose program is at least 60 ECTS can apply.
Erasmus+ short-term learning agreement.
Students must contact their faculty to verify whether the course will be evaluated into their studies at University of Iceland. Before the stay abroad, the student needs to submit a learning agreement.
OLA for shorter exchange studies - Instructions
In the rare occasion that a host institution cannot sign an Online Learning Agreement, students can contact the International Division to get a paper version of the learning agreement.
Where the recognition of the awarded ECTS credits is not possible, the 3 ECTS credit feature should be considered as a guideline for workload.
Students apply for Aurora courses directly to the host university*. Students who have been accepted to participate in an Aurora-organized course or event abroad that entails a short physical mobility abroad can apply for an Aurora grant for up to 10 days.
Please note that the allocation of grants does not happen by default and is dependent on the availability of funds and on the International Division approving the grant application.
For applications to be valid, students must attach the acceptance letter from the Aurora host university and a transcript of records in English, with ranking. It is expected that participation in Aurora courses is recognized as part of the student´s studies, either by transferring completed ECTS credits or by registering the activity in the student´s diploma supplement.
*Once in a while the host university requires University of Iceland to nominate students to the Aurora course. In such cases, students submit an application to the International Division before they apply to the host institution.
- The applicant needs to be a registered student at University of Iceland and must have paid the registration fee. Exchange students and other guest students at University of Iceland cannot apply.
- The host institution needs to be in the Aurora alliance.
- Undergraduate students must have finished at least 30 ECTS at University of Iceland in their subject before the start of the mobility.
- The faculty needs to grant the student permission for the mobility. By granting permission, the faculty is not automatically agreeing to evaluate the course at University of Iceland.
- If the faculty has additional requirements, the student must fulfill them before the start of the of the mobility.
The application deadline for Aurora grants is twice a year:
- 15th April for mobilities in June-December
- 15th November for mobilities in January-May
Applications are submitted here.
Students must contact their faculty to verify whether the course will be evaluated into their studies at University of Iceland. Before the mobility, students must make an Aurora learning agreement, which must be signed by the student and the relevant international coordinator. The learning agreement must depict whether and/or how the course will be evaluated at University of Iceland.
General conditions and prioritisation for Nordplus grants are the same as for other grants/exchanges (see conditions and prioritisation above).
The International Division administers Nordplus grants for the Nordlys network.
The following applies to Nordplus grants:
- The exchange period may be 5–60 days.
- The exchange must take place at one of the University of Iceland’s Nordlys partner institutions. Students must verify whether the host institution imposes restrictions for certain fields of study.
- The exchange must be directly related to the student’s studies and must be recognised as part of their degree.
- Courses lasting more than 30 days must be awarded ECTS credits.
- PhD students are not eligible to apply for Nordplus grants.
- Students apply independently for courses at the host institution.
- If the host institution requires a nomination in order to waive tuition fees, students may contact the International Division to inquire whether a nomination can be provided.
Courses in Svalbard:
Students may, for example, attend summer courses or intensive modules, and it is also possible to apply for courses at UNIS (the University Centre in Svalbard). Students intending to apply for courses in Svalbard are advised to contact the International Division for further information.
Application deadlines for Nordplus grants (single courses) are twice a year:
- 15 April – for courses taking place June–December
- 15 November – for courses taking place January–May
Applications may be submitted after the deadline; however, in such cases it is necessary to send an email to outgoing.europe@hi.is notifying that the application has been submitted. Applications received after the deadline are not prioritised for funding.
Applications must include a course description together with a link to the host institution’s website clearly outlining the course structure, duration, and the number of ECTS credits awarded. Students must also consult their departmental international coordinator to confirm whether the exchange will be recognised as part of their studies at the University of Iceland.
Students are required to attach an official transcript of records with ranking (in English) to the online application. This can be obtained from the Service Desk at Háskólatorg or via Ugla (My Ugla → Certificates and academic records). Master’s students without grades from their current programme must submit a transcript from their undergraduate studies.
Nordplus Learning Agreement
Students must submit their proposed courses to their department and obtain confirmation that the courses can be recognised at the University of Iceland. All Nordplus students must submit a Learning Agreement prior to departure.
Grant amounts
The Nordplus grant consists of a travel grant of up to €660 and a monthly subsistence grant of up to €250. Funding is also available for shorter stays (minimum 5 days), with a subsistence grant of €70 per week.
School of Social Sciences
- Faculty of School of Business
Students are not allowed to take courses that are similar to a course they have done already or will do later in their studies at the University of Iceland. Faculty of Law
Bachelor students at the Faculty of Law can take part in single courses abroad at one of UI‘s partner universities. However, credits awarded for courses cannot count towards the student‘s degree at UI.
Master‘s students must request faculty approval of credit accreditation. To apply, the student must submit the course description (including an overview of reading material, schedule and course assessment) to the faculty‘s study committee.
School of Humanities
Faculty of Icelandic and Culture
Icelandic as a second language:
Students who have completed 60 ECTS credits at the undergraduate level (BA degree) may apply for a short-term exchange stay (5–30 days).
Students must consult the programme coordinator regarding course selection before submitting their exchange application through the application portal in UGLA (the University intranet).