Once the pre-application period has ended and after the Academic Mobility Coordinator has presented the ranking list, the Internationalization Support Service will allocate students to their respective Universities, taking into account the ranking carried out and the respective choices selected by the participant in the pre-application form.
After this allocation, each student will receive a mobility proposal, which will be communicated via institutional email and must be accepted directly on the application platform. Once the proposal has been made, all candidates will have five days to definitively confirm their intention to undertake the Erasmus+ period.Once this phase is complete, the application process to that Higher Education Institution must be followed, in accordance with the deadlines, procedures, and rules defined by it, in order to obtain formal acceptance from the Host University, which will make the mobility eligible. The Internationalization Support Service will provide support to the student in the application process to the chosen University. However, the application is individual, belonging to the student themselves, and therefore, they are responsible for meeting the deadlines, procedures, and submitting the necessary documents.
In the case of mobility programs that fall under the Open ARQUS Mobility Agreement (OAM), the selection process differs from that applied to other frameworks – Erasmus+ Program, Almeida Garrett Program, or Cooperation Agreements with Third Countries. Choosing an ARQUS partner university as your first choice can be advantageous as a place is automatically allocated, provided the limitations set out in the OAM are not exceeded. Therefore, for UMinho students wishing to undertake a study mobility in the 2026/27 academic year at ARQUS partner universities, if necessary, there will be an additional phase in the selection and ranking procedure for pre-applications, taking into account some limitations set out in the OAM regarding the number of students to be accepted by each partner, particularly in some areas of study. For this purpose, a jury composed of three (3) members from UMinho – one member of the ARQUS coordination at UMinho, the Director of USAI and the Technician responsible for Outgoing mobility at USAI – will meet after the rankings of all Academic Mobility Coordinators have been compiled. Only pre-applications that list an ARQUS university as their first choice of destination (out of the five possible options) (i.e., "ARQUS - OAM - university name...") will be considered in the selection process.
The jury will make the final decision on the allocation of available places by ARQUS Partner Universities, if necessary, taking into account the following criteria:
- Criterion 1: current course average (i.e., the date of the end of the pre-application period);
- Criterion 2: number of Erasmus+ mobilities completed in Higher Education. Priority will be given to students who undertake Erasmus+ mobility for the first time during their academic career in Higher Education;
- Criterion 3: year of enrollment in the study cycle at UMinho. Priority will be given to students who undertake mobility in their final year of study, i.e., graduating students;
- Criterion 4: date of pre-application submission. Priority will be given to those who submitted their pre-application first (the day and time factor will apply).
After the selection of candidates at UMinho, the selected pre-applications will be sent for analysis by ARQUS's Partner Universities, which may provide a positive or negative opinion.
The results will be communicated via email to the candidates and their respective Academic Mobility Coordinators.
How long does the exchange programme last for?
