The most important thing when trying to match the offers for traineeships with the EMOS students seeking traineeships is to ensure the correspondence between the prospective trainee's skills and interests and the needs and set-up of the receiving institution. In order to find the most suitable match between the prospective trainee and the receiving institution, the latter is encouraged to hold an interview with the preselected candidate(s).

The receiving institution should fill out the receiving institution form on the EMOS cross-border traineeships platform, which can be accessed through this link. The online institution form requires the following information to be provided:

• The traineeship title, indicative start and end dates of the traineeship, as well as the expected number of working hours per week. Please take into consideration that the traineeship has to last at least 8 weeks and be worth at least 10 ECTS in order to conform to the EMOS label requirements (1 ECTS corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work per week), meaning to include between 250 and 300 hours in total.
• The detailed programme of the traineeship, including the tasks/deliverables to be carried out by the trainee.
• The knowledge, skills and competences that will be acquired at the end of the traineeship (Expected EMOS Learning Outcomes).
• The evaluation plan with the assessment criteria that will be used to evaluate the traineeship and the learning outcomes.
• The recommended level of language competence in the main language of work to ensure a proper integration and functioning of the trainee in the organisation.

Description of roles at the receiving institution

To successfully organise and run the traineeship, the receiving institution should appoint responsible persons with roles described below. Please note that one or more roles can be played by the same person at the receiving institution.

• Administrative contact person: provides administrative information within the framework of EMOS traineeships. She/he will be the contact person for exchanges with DevStat.
• Traineeship mentor: designs and guides the trainee's work, provides support, encouragement and all information needed to the trainee (including culture of the organisation).
• Authorised person to sign the Traineeship Agreement: in case the administrative contact person or the traineeship mentor does not have the authority to sign the Traineeship Agreement on behalf of the receiving institution, the name and contact information of the signatory should be included in the agreement.

Once the traineeship is completed, the evaluation of the traineeship will be conducted by the traineeship mentor and will be reflected in the traineeship certificate. Detailed information about the traineeship certificate can be found in Step 4.

The receiving institution should provide appropriate support, including mentoring and the necessary equipment to the trainee. The receiving institution also commits to issue a traineeship certificate evaluating the performance of the student during the cross-border traineeship within 2 months after the end of the traineeship.

It is recommended to establish a mechanism for regular contacts with the academic mentor at the sending institution, including for example a kick-off meeting.

The EMOS prospective trainee submits an application via the dedicated platform after identifying a potential traineeship. Please note that each EMOS student can perform only one cross-border traineeship. However, a student can apply to different traineeships expressing his/her order of preference. DevStat will interview the students to understand their skills and interests and decide whether the selected traineeship would be a good match. It should be noted that the receiving institution may decide to hold an additional interview with the prospective trainee. DevStat will support the organisation to arrange the interview. The receiving institution reserves the right to evaluate the student's application and decide on his/her final acceptance.

In the case of spontaneous applications (i.e., not corresponding to a specific published traineeship offer), the student can complete the dedicated form available at the platform, which can be found here. Please just note that it cannot be guaranteed that the application will be accepted by any receiving institution.

The trainee:

• Must be proficient in English (minimum B2 level knowledge required according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) or other working language of the traineeship host.
• Commits to producing an evaluation report.

Arrangements related to travel, accommodation, health and accident insurance (in case it is not provided by the sending or the receiving institution) are to be made by the trainee, and all related costs and fees are to be covered by the trainee. The trainee will provide proof of health and accident insurance in case it is not provided by the sending or receiving institution, upon request.

Once the student is accepted by the receiving institution, all three parties have to sign the Traineeship Agreement. The Traineeship Agreement defines the traineeship and identifies the involved parties, assigns them certain tasks and responsibilities, and binds all of them to comply with these EMOS traineeship guidelines. More specifically:

• The trainee agrees to perform the traineeship and the tasks entrusted to her/him. In addition, she/he agrees to collaborate in the steps to be performed upon the completion of the traineeship, including the preparation of an evaluation report. She/he agrees to provide proof of health and accident insurance, upon request.
• The sending institution agrees to recognise the learning outcomes and to award the student the corresponding ECTS upon completion of the traineeship. Additionally, the academic mentor must adequately prepare and support the student before, during and after the traineeship.
• The receiving institution agrees to host the trainee and support her/him during the traineeship implementation period. Additionally, the traineeship mentor must adequately guide the trainee during the traineeship.

In the event that any of the parties requires the signing of any document in addition to this Traineeship Agreement, it shall be signed separately and shall include the necessary clauses provided that they are accepted by all parties and compatible with these guidelines. For the specific case in which the receiving institution wishes or is obliged to offer the trainee a financial compensation or salary, the financial support provided by Eurostat through DevStat is compatible with additional sources of financing, as stated in the “Financial Support” section further below in the document.

Description of roles at the sending institution

To successfully organise and run the traineeship, the sending institution should appoint responsible persons fulfilling the roles described below. Please note that one or more roles can be played by the same person at the receiving institution.

• Administrative contact person: provides administrative information within the framework of EMOS traineeships. She/he will be the contact person for exchanges with DevStat.
• Academic mentor: has administrative powers and is responsible for signing the Traineeship Agreement on behalf of the involved institution, amending it if needed and recognising the credits and associated learning outcomes on behalf of the sending institution as set out in the Traineeship Agreement. The name and email of the academic mentor must be filled in only in case it differs from that of the administrative contact person. The academic mentor must adequately prepare and support the student during the traineeship.

It is recommended to establish a mechanism for regular contacts with the traineeship supervisor at the receiving (host) institution, including for example a kick-off meeting.

The Exceptional changes form should only be completed during the cross-border traineeship if the changes affect the information contained in the original Traineeship Agreement, for instance, a change in the start and/or end date(s) of the traineeship.

In case the change concerns an extension of the duration of the traineeship programme abroad, the request must be made by the trainee at the latest one month before the foreseen end date. The extension of the cross-border traineeship will not lead to an increase in the financial support provided. Should the change imply a reduction of the duration of the traineeship, please keep in mind that, in order to be eligible for sponsoring under the EMOS mobility programme, the traineeships should last at least 8 weeks.

When changes to the traineeship programme arise, they should be agreed as soon as possible with the other parties.

In case of changes to the responsible contact persons (administrative contact person, traineeship mentor or academic mentor), the institution concerned should notify DevStat of the changes as soon as possible.

Once the traineeship is completed, the receiving institution should send a Traineeship Certificate to the trainee and to the sending institution within two months after the successful completion of the traineeship. It can be provided electronically or through any other means accessible to the trainee and the sending institution. The Traineeship Certificate shall be presented in the proposed template format or, alternatively, shall contain at least the information contained in said template. The actual start and end dates of the traineeship should be included according to the following definitions:

• The start date of the traineeship period is the first day the trainee is present at the receiving institution to carry out their traineeship. For example, this could be the first day of work, a welcome event organised by the receiving institution, an information session for trainees with special needs, a language and intercultural course organised either by the receiving institution or other organisations (if the sending institution considers it relevant for the traineeship).
• The end date of the traineeship period is the last day the trainee is present at the receiving institution to carry out his/her traineeship (and not his/her actual date of departure from the place in which the traineeship is performed).

The sending institution should recognise the traineeship according to the provisions in the Traineeship Agreement and include it in the student's EMOS Diploma Supplement or issue a separate Diploma Supplement or equivalent. It is also recommended to record the traineeship in the student's Europass Mobility Document (if applicable), particularly in the case of recent graduates, and in any case when the sending institution had committed to do so before the traineeship. Recording the traineeship in the Europass Mobility Document is not applicable to traineeships with Partner Countries which are not part of the Europass network. (Please check if your country is eligible here.

Recognition: all of the credits that the trainee has earned during the traineeship and that were specified in the final version of the Traineeship Agreement are to be recognised by the sending institution, according to its commitment before the traineeship and without further requirements than those agreed upon before the traineeship.