The International Professional Exchange Program (IPEP) is the main activity of the Council of International Fellowship, a non-profit founded in 1960 and independent of any party or religion. CIF national branches each run their own edition of the same program; CIF states that IPEPs operate in around 20 countries, and that 13 of its 28 national branches provide one. Every edition lasts at least two weeks and takes a group of at least three people, preferably from different countries.
Participants share their own professional expertise, receive an orientation to the host country’s cultural, social and political structures and its social-services system, observe or discuss practice in selected agencies, live with a host family, and join group cultural activities. Programs published for 2026 and 2027 are hosted in Argentina, Austria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland; a Türkiye program for 2026 was cancelled. CIF is explicit that an IPEP is not a holiday, not an assessed academic or training course, and not a wholly practice-based placement.
Benefits & funding
- Host-family living is a core feature: a bedroom of the participant’s own, breakfast and an evening meal, and normal family life shared with the guest.
- The organising national branch is responsible for hosting and for the participants’ food. Neither participants nor host agencies are paid.
- Agency time means observation and discussion with local professionals. In programs that require local-language skills, it can include direct contact with clients in the participant’s own field.
- Each branch sets its own participation fee. Published for 2027: Austria 200 euros, Germany 300 euros, Switzerland 400 Swiss francs, Finland no fee. Published for 2026: Argentina 350 euros (300 US dollars for applicants from Latin America and the Caribbean), France 400 euros, Israel 350 euros or the equivalent in US dollars.
- Travel and other personal costs stay with the participant. CIF publishes a grant request form for applicants who need financial support, submitted at the same time as the application; the form on the site is the 2024 edition.
Eligibility
- An educational background in social work, social welfare, human services or a related field.
- At least two years of professional experience in those fields.
- Proficiency in the working language of the chosen program: English for Austria, Finland, Germany, Israel and Switzerland; Spanish for Argentina; French for France.
- No nationality, residency, age or gender requirement is stated, and the application form on the Programs page accepts applicants from every country in its list.
- Applications are routed through the CIF national branch or contact person in the applicant’s own country. A contact person is a former IPEP or CIPUSA participant in a country with no branch; where a country has neither, CIF asks applicants to contact its Executive Committee.
- CIF names no minimum degree level, only the educational background above.
Can you apply?
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Application process
- 1Choose a country program from CIF’s current IPEP list and read its flyer for dates, working language, fee and local conditions.
- 2Download the CIF IPEP application form from the Programs page; it exists in English, French and Spanish.
- 3Complete the form and send it to the CIF national branch or contact person in your own country. The Programs page also carries an upload form for the completed file.
- 4Submit the grant request form alongside the application if financial support is needed.
- 5Apply before the chosen program’s own deadline. Each country sets and publishes its own, so the scheme has no single closing date.
Program timeline
Application deadline, Switzerland 2027 (program runs 7 to 23 April 2027)
Sep 30, 2026
2026-11
Application deadline, Finland 2027, exact date not yet published (program runs 7 to 29 May 2027)
Application deadline, Austria 2027 (program runs in April or May 2027, dates not yet fixed)
Nov 29, 2026
Application deadline, Germany 2027 (program runs 27 August to 12 September 2027)
Jan 15, 2027
The 2026 programs in Argentina, France and Israel run; their application deadlines have passed.
Sep 5, 2026 to Oct 18, 2026
Ongoing
Branches publish new country flyers on the Programs page as each cycle is confirmed.