Erasmus ("European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students") is the European Commission's educational programme for Higher Education students, teachers and institutions. It was introduced in 1987 with the aim of increasing student mobility within the European Community, subsequently the European Economic Area countries, and the Candidate Country of Turkey.

2007 The Erasmus Programme Celebrated its 20th Anniversary

The Erasmus programme was launched in June 1987 and 3244 participated in its first academic year. Now, more than 150 000 people benefit each year from the programme. The Commission and the 31 participating countries will celebrated its 20th anniversary throughout the year 2007.

The Erasmus programme, which is arguably one of the best-known Community actions, encourages student and teacher mobility, and promotes transnational cooperation projects among universities across Europe. The scheme currently covers nine out of every ten European higher education establishments. It was named after Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 - 1536), who was a Dutch humanist and theologian.

Erasmus has developed beyond just being an educational programme. It gives many European university students the chance of living for the first time in a foreign country, and it has reached the status of a social and cultural phenomenon. Well over 1.5 million students have so far benefited from Erasmus grants, and the European Commission hopes to reach a total of 3 million by 2012.
In 2008, the ERASMUS programme began offering students the possibility of engaging in professional work placements in companies or industries abroad.

ERASMUS at ISCTE

During 2008.2009 ISCTE sent 140 students to study temporarily for one or two semesters in other European countries under the scheme of the EU ERASMUS programme. ISCTE has more than 220 partnerships in 26 EU countries. From these partners ISCTE welcomes about 250 students from 20 different countries with Italy, Poland, Germany and France as the most represented countries. 

We use the standard ECTS application procedures. All students are guaranteed full academic recognition for the study and assessment they sucessfully undertake in the foreign university