Key Action 1: mobility and KA171

Key Action 1 is the programme's largest action by number of participants and the simplest in intent: it pays for moving a person between institutions. The difficulty is not the intent but the fact that the part of it which works for Ukraine is not the part people usually have in mind.

KA131 and KA171 are not the same thing

KA131 is mobility inside the circle of programme countries, paid from the EU's internal budget. Ukraine is not in that circle.

KA171 is mobility with third countries not associated to the Programme, paid from external instruments. This is the action through which a Ukrainian institution works with European partners.

The practical consequence: the European institution applies to its own National Agency, receives the grant and administers the funds. The Ukrainian partner signs an inter-institutional agreement and agrees a quota of places, but is not a beneficiary of the grant.

How the money is calculated

KA1 does not work against actual costs. Individual support is paid at a daily unit rate depending on the destination country and the type of mobility, and travel at a distance-based unit rate in kilometre bands, with a separate higher rate for green travel.

As a result, finding a cheaper ticket changes nothing in the project budget, whereas the duration of the mobility changes it directly.

What a Ukrainian institution should do

The practical entry into KA171 is not an application but a partnership: the institution agrees with a European university that plans to apply for KA171, enters its application as a partner institution, and settles the fields and the number of places. So what you look for is a partner rather than a call, and you do it before that partner's National Agency deadline, not after.