Guidelines / FAQs for applying for a travel grant from the 4EU+ European University Alliance
» Application procedure and forms
General questions
► What kinds of trips are supported by the travel grants?
► Who can apply for a travel grant?
► What are the selection criteria?
► When must the trip take place?
► How high are the travel grants?
► When should I apply?
► Can I apply for a travel grant before I have received the acceptance confirmation (from the conference / summer or winter school organizers) or invitation letter (for my research stay/internship)?
► Can I apply for more than one travel grant simultaneously?
► Who can issue the evaluation form for my application?
► When will I be notified of the decision regarding my application?
► What happens to my travel grant if I cannot go on my planned trip?
► How and when will the travel grant be paid out?
► What happens if my research trip has to be postponed after my travel grant has been approved?
Questions about the application forms
► What do I need to consider when filling out the application form?
► Do I need to submit any additional documents (e.g. publication lists, CV etc.)?
► I do not know exactly how much the trip will cost. Which expenses do I enter on the application form?
General questions
What kinds of trips are supported by the travel grants?
You can apply for a travel grant to:
- attend a conference with direct relevance for your doctoral project. The conference must be taking place at one of Heidelberg’s 4EU+ partner universities. Applicants are expected to actively participate in the conference (through a poster presentation or talk). Please indicate the form of participation clearly on your application.
- attend summer or winter school or similar event with direct relevance to your doctoral project. The event must be taking place at one of Heidelberg’s 4EU+ partner universities.
- carry out a research trip (for a min. of three days to a max. of 12 weeks) for the purpose of gathering data, visiting libraries or archives, carrying out field research, conducting interviews, working with specialized equipment, networking etc. The research trip must have direct relevance to your doctoral project and must take place at one of Heidelberg’s 4EU+ partner universities.
The 4EU+ partner universities are:
- Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
- Sorbonne University in Paris, France
- IMPORTANT! Several universities in Paris use "Sorbonne" in their names. The 4EU+ partner university is named "Sorbonne Université" ( https://www.sorbonne-universite.fr/en ). In order to be eligible for funding, your planned trip must be taking place at the "Sorbonne Université".
- University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark
- University of Milan in Milan, Italy (Università degli Studi di Milano)
- University of Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland
There is more information about the 4EU+ Initiative here: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/international-affairs/4eu-european-university-alliance
Who can apply for a travel grant?
The travel grants are open to all doctoral candidates who have been officially admitted to their Faculty at Heidelberg University and who have a university degree that qualifies them for doctoral studies. Medical students who are working on their dissertation within their medical studies are not eligible to apply.
Eligibility for funding ends at the latest at the end of the month in which you take your final oral examination or at the end of the month in which your doctoral studies at Heidelberg University are completed for other reasons (e.g. termination of your doctoral studies in Heidelberg or transfer to another university to pursue doctoral studies).
Note: The funding is awarded in the form of grants. The award of a grant does not establish an employment relationship between Heidelberg University and the recipient. The recipient of the grant may not be obligated to perform any specific academic service or employment activity in connection with the grant.
Please note: Due to current travel restrictions in Germany and abroad, we would like to draw your attention to Heidelberg University's travel regulations as well as to the country-specific travel warnings made by the Federal Foreign Office in connection with COVID-19. In addition, we ask all recipients of a travel grant to inform themselves before travelling about departure and arrival rules as well as about quarantine regulations. Please also keep up-to-date on these rules while travelling because they can change quickly. The website of the University personnel department provides information travel rules and restrictions (Business trips).
What are the selection criteria?
- Excellent qualifications and a doctoral project that will make an important contribution to the research field
- Direct and meaningful relevance between the event and the subject of the doctoral project
- In the case of a conference or summer/winter school, active participation in the form of a poster presentation or talk
- In the case of a research trip, an invitation or proof of existing contact with the host institute
When must the trip take place?
In order to be eligible for funding, the trip must take place between July 18, 2022 and December 31, 2022. You must submit your application before beginning your trip. Trips that have already taken place at the time of application are not eligible for funding.
How high are the travel grants?
The travel grant will be paid out as lump sums to cover living and travel expenses for trips with a length of min. 3 days to max. 12 weeks. The participation fee for conferences and summer/winter schools can also be reimbursed.
There will be a lump sum payment each for living expenses and for transport expenses. These lump sum payments are as follows:
Lump sum for living expenses (according to the length of the trip):
| 1-14 days | € 70 per day |
| 15-30 days | € 50 per day |
| ≥ 1 month | € 1 780 + weekly pro rata Erasmus+ rate |
If you have questions about the Erasmus+ rate, please contact Benjamin Held at the 4EU+ Office: benjamin.held@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de
Lump sum for transport
| Heidelberg <-> Paris / Milan / Prague | € 180 |
| Heidelberg <-> Copenhagen / Warsaw | € 275 |
When should I apply?
The application deadline is October 3, 2022
Important: Incomplete applications and applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
The awards notifications are sent out about 6 to 8 weeks after the deadline. If your trip takes place during this 6 to 8 week evaluation period, we will not be able to notify you of the results of your application before your trip begins.
Can I apply for a travel grant before I have received the acceptance confirmation (from the conference / summer or winter school organizers) or invitation letter (for my research stay/internship)?
Yes. In such cases, the award of a travel grant is conditional upon the receipt of the acceptance confirmation/invitation letter. Please indicate on the application form when you expect to hear from the organizer/research institute.
Can I apply for more than one travel grant simultaneously?
Yes. You can apply for more than one travel grant at the same time. If you apply for more than one travel grant, you need to submit a complete and separate application for each trip.
Who can issue the evaluation form for my application?
The evaluation form for your application must be issued and submitted directly to the Graduate Academy by your doctoral supervisor. Please note that the evaluation is to be treated confidentially by your supervisor and must be sent by your supervisor directly to the Graduate Academy: graduateacademy@uni-heidelberg.de
Please be aware that the application deadline also pertains to the receipt of the evaluation form.
If it is not possible for your first supervisor to fill out the evaluation form for you (e.g. due to illness, parental leave etc.), you can ask another professor in your subject area who is familiar with your project to evaluate your application and complete the form for you.
When will I be notified of the decision regarding my application?
The awards notifications are sent out after the entire evaluation process is completed; this process takes about 6-8 weeks. It is not possible to inform you about the results of your application before all applications are evaluated. If your trip takes place within the evaluation period, you cannot expect to receive the results of your application before you travel.
For information on the announcement of the results please contact Benjamin Held at the 4EU+ office: benjamin.held@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de
What happens to my travel grant if I cannot go on my planned trip?
The travel grant is not transferable to another person or to a different event. Because of this, we recommend that you take out trip cancellation insurance. Please note that these costs are not covered by the travel grant.
If you cannot carry out the trip for which you have received a travel grant, please contact Benjamin Held at the 4EU+ Office: benjamin.held@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de
How and when will the travel grant be paid out?
The grant will be paid out approximately 2-3 weeks before the start of the trip, providing that the time frame between the grant approval and the start of the trip permits this. For information about the payment of the travel grants, please contact Benjamin Held at the 4EU+ office: benjamin.held@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de
What happens if my research trip has to be postponed after my travel grant has been approved?
It is possible to postpone your research trip; however, in this case you must contact Benjamin Held (benjamin.held@zuv.uni-heidelberg.de) at the 4EU+ office as soon as possible in order to notify him of the new dates. The travel grant will apply to the postponed trip only if the purpose and destination of the trip remains unchanged. Please be aware that all trips must be completed by December 31, 2022.
Questions about the application forms
What do I need to consider when filling out the application form?
Please fill out the application form (see » Application procedure and forms) electronically; do not handwrite your application. In order to ensure that the electronic forms work with all versions of the Adobe software, we strongly recommend that you first download and save the empty application form on your computer and then fill the form out and save it again.
Please use an Apple or Windows operating system to fill out the forms. The forms are not compatible with a Linux system.
Please use only the space provided in the existing fields on the application forms. The evaluators will not be able to read any text that extends beyond the existing limits of the fields.
Please do not change the formatting of the fields on the application forms.
Do I need to submit any additional documents (e.g. publication lists, CV etc.)?
The application procedure and required application documents are indicated in detail here. No additional documents that are not listed on the website such as publication lists, literature lists, or CVs will be sent to the evaluators.
I do not know exactly how much the trip will cost. Which expenses do I enter on the application form?
If you do not yet know your exact expenses, enter your best estimate on the application form.
» Application procedure and forms
