UNIC Mobility and
Collaboration Opportunities
for Academic and Admin Staff

Online Trainings for Teachers

UNIC InterTeach: Intercultural and Innovative Teaching and Learning is UNIC’s alliance‑wide professional development programme for university teachers. It offers accessible online workshops held in English and hosted by the UNIC Centre for Teaching and Learning.

InterTeach connects educators across the ten UNIC universities to exchange teaching experiences, learn about innovative instructional formats — such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), Challenge‑Based Learning, Inclusive Education, and Education for Sustainable Development — and explore opportunities for cross‑university teaching cooperation.

Physical Staff / Lecturer / Training Mobility

All UNIC partner universities offer academic and administrative staff the opportunity to visit colleagues working in similar or related fields for short periods. These activities can often be supported by Erasmus+ funding and may be organised either individually or as group visits. Please contact your local team well in advance to ensure smooth preparation.

Physical staff mobility can take various forms, including job shadowing, hospitation, temporary work placements, workshops, Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs), and other training or knowledge‑exchange activities offered by host universities.

Teaching mobility refers to UNIC teaching staff travelling to another UNIC university to deliver teaching activities in person. These may include lectures, seminars, workshops, panel discussions, or similar formats in which the teacher actively contributes to the academic programme. The teaching activity should clearly specify its target audience (e.g., BA, MA, or PhD students, or staff).

If you would like to know whether your planned work‑related travel to a UNIC partner university qualifies as staff mobility, please contact your local International Office. They can provide information on the availability of Erasmus+ grants or UNIC funding to help cover associated costs.

Staff Weeks

Throughout the year, several UNIC partner universities offer staff weeks on a variety of topics and for different target groups. These events provide staff with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the hosting university, exchange good practices, and strengthen international collaboration and networking among colleagues across the alliance.

To find out about current staff week opportunities, please contact your local UNIC team and check the UNIC events page.

UNIC Open Online Courses

Students enrolled at any of the UNIC universities are eligible to participate in the UNIC Open Online Courses (OOCs). These courses cover a broad range of subject areas, are predominantly taught in English, and are offered fully online. All OOCs may be accredited with ECTS, depending on local regulations.

Participants have the opportunity to explore courses across a wide variety of topics—either to meaningfully complement their degree programme or to gain fresh perspectives that broaden their academic and personal horizons.

To determine whether a specific course can be recognised as part of their degree programme, learners are encouraged to consult their academic advisors. The full catalogue of available courses is accessible via the UNIC Virtual Campus.

Registration on the UNIC Virtual Campus platform is required prior to enrolment in any course.

If you are interested in contributing new courses to the UNIC catalogue or planning structured collaboration with colleagues through mutually opened courses, please reach out to your local UNIC team.

Virtual Exchanges (VE)

A Virtual Exchange (or Collaborative Online International Learning – COIL) is an online teaching and collaboration format that connects students from different countries or institutions in small working groups through structured digital activities, discussions, or joint projects. These exchanges are guided by educators cooperating across borders and are designed to develop intercultural understanding and practical skills without requiring physical mobility.

A Virtual Exchange is ideally integrated into an existing course within the regular curriculum and typically runs over a period of four to six weeks during the semester.Examples of Virtual Exchange teaching cooperations can be found in the CTL Case Gallery.

UNIC offers a funding programme for engaged teachers who participate in a Virtual Exchange.

There are teaching guides for interested university teachers are available at the UNIC library, including a hands-on intradacutory teaching guide on Virtual Exchange Please contact your local Centre for Teaching and Learning for more information and support or write to ctl@unic.eu

Erasmus Blended Intensive Programs (BIPs)

Erasmus Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) are short, focused courses that combine a brief period of in-person study abroad with a collaborative virtual learning phase. Students complete part of the coursework online and then travel for a 5–30-day mobility period to a partner university.

The BIP cooperation requires the involvement of at least three partner universities and a minimum of three ECTS must be awarded upon completion. Organisational costs for the hosting partner, as well as mobility costs for participating students and staff, are supported by Erasmus+ funding.

If you are interested in developing a blended course with UNIC partners, please consult your local UNIC team for more information.Teaching guides are available in the UNIC library,including practical teaching guide on BIPs.

UNIC Internships

Universities, municipalities, NGOs, and companies in UNIC cities and surrounding regions can offer internship opportunities for UNIC students interested in completing a mobility abroad. Host institutions should align their internship offers with the UNIC Internship Guidelines to ensure student eligibility for Erasmus funding.

Clear and accessible information—such as application deadlines, eligibility criteria, and required documentation—should be provided to students. Throughout the internship, continuous support should be offered to both the student and their home university to ensure a smooth and productive experience. A PDF Guideline document for Organisators is available here.

Joint Programmes

Joint and Double Degrees give students the opportunity to study at least two different universities during their programme. Unlike a regular exchange semester, these programmes lead either to a joint degree or to official degrees from two or more universities.

On an institutional level, joint and double degrees are impactful and long-term instruments for internationalising teaching and learning, with varying levels of integration.

Double Degree Option: Two independent degree programmes from at least two different universities—with their own curricula, examinations, and study regulations—linked through cooperation agreements.

Double Degree: Alignment of two (or more) degree programmes at partner universities, with each institution awarding its degree.

Joint Degree: A newly developed study programme with largely new courses or modules, culminating in a single joint diploma.

UNIC has extensive experience in designing and implementing joint programmes within the alliance and in applying for Erasmus Mundus funding. Please contact your local UNIC team for advice and support in developing a UNIC degree.

Read more about development process and regulation of double and joint degrees: Link to a presentation (PDF under construction)

Micro-credentials

Micro-credentials represent a relatively new area of collaboration within the alliance. UNIC has developed a UNIC Standard for Micro-Credentials, which now serves as the basis for concrete implementations. These standards were developed through a participatory process, beginning with a mapping of local developments and national regulations. This comparison enabled partners to identify which standards could realistically be applied at the alliance level. For more information or support with developing UNIC micro-credentials, please contact your local UNIC team.

Read more about the UNIC Standard for Micro-Credentials (link available soon)

Finding Cooperation Partners

Collaborative teaching and mobility formats—such as Virtual Exchanges, BIPs, Summer Schools, Micro-credentials, and Joint Programmes—require partners at other universities. Possible ways to find partners include: the UNIC Virtual Campus, used as a matchmaking tool (ORCID iD required), participation in UNIC events, such as the InterTeach programme for lecturers, or contact through the local UNIC teams.

Recognition of UNIC opportunities

UNIC aims to create opportunities for students across the ten universities to participate in virtual, blended, and physical mobility and to experience international learning with partner universities. To support study progression, it is advisable to integrate UNIC opportunities into regular curricula and ensure that ECTS credits can be recognised within students’ degree programmes.

Clear recognition practices also help academic staff integrate UNIC courses into their teaching load and avoid additional work. Read more about recognition practices here (link under construction)