Guidelines / FAQs for Applying for a supervision grant from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science

General questions

► Who can apply for a supervision grant?
► What is a supervision grant?
► Which expenses can be reimbursed by the supervision grant?
► When should I apply?
► How do I know if the Graduate Academy has received my application?
► When will I be notified of the decision regarding my application?
► What do I have to submit to have the supervision grant paid out?
► What will happen to my supervision grant if the external evaluation cannot take place?
► What will happen to my supervision grant if the external evaluation has to be postponed?
 

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 high the expenses will be. Which expenses do I enter on the application form?
► I do not know exactly when the evaluation will take place. Which date do I enter on the application form?
► What is meant by "External Funding"?
► Who can issue the evaluation form for our application?

General questions

Who can apply for a supervision grant?

The supervision grants are only open to doctoral candidates who were officially admitted to the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Heidelberg University at least 6 months before the corresponding application deadline.

What is a supervision grant?

The purpose of the supervision grant is to cover some of the costs involved in having your doctoral project evaluated by an (international) external expert.

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.

Which expenses can be reimbursed by this grant?

The supervision grant will reimburse the external expert's expenses for travel and accommodations (up to a maximum of two nights). The amount awarded for the supervision grant will be based on the expenses that you list on your application form up to the maximum grant amount of 650 Euro per review procedure. Should the actual expenses exceed the maximum grant amount indicated in the awards notification, this difference will not be refunded. Please note that honorariums cannot be covered by this grant.

When should I apply?

Applications can be submitted at any time.

The applications will be collected and assessed as a group after the deadlines indicated below.

Deadlines:   

The evaluation by the external expert should take place within 6 months after the relevant deadline. Please take this into consideration when choosing the deadline at which you apply. The awards notifications are sent out about 8 weeks after the deadlines. If the evaluation is scheduled for this 8 week evaluation period, please be aware that we will not be able to inform you about the result of your application before the evaluation begins.
 

Important: Incomplete applications and applications submitted after the latest appropriate deadline will not be considered.

How do I know if the Graduate Academy has received my application?

Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to automatically notify each applicant that their application has been received. If you want to check on the status of your application, please send an email to: ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.

When will I be notified of the decision regarding my application?

The notifications are sent out by regular mail after the entire evaluation process is completed; this process takes about 8 weeks after each application deadline. It is not possible to inform you about the results of your application before all evaluations are completed.

What do I have to submit to have the supervision grant paid out?

In order to have the grant paid out, it is necessary that all original receipts of the travel and accommodations expenses for the external expert are submitted to the Graduate Academy. Expenses for which there are no receipts available cannot be reimbursed.

If you also received external funding for the supervision, please include a copy of your reimbursement application for the external organization with the form that you submit to the Graduate Academy in order to have the supervision grant paid out. In this case, external funding is funding from an external source that is used to cover the expenses for travel and accommodations for the external expert.

What will happen to my supervision grant if the external evaluation cannot take place?

The supervision grant cannot be transferred to another person or used for another purpose. If the external evaluation does not take place, you will forfeit the grant.

What will happen to my supervision grant if the external evaluation has to be postponed?

It is possible to postpone an external evaluation; however, you must inform us as soon as possible if this situation arises. In order for you to retain your supervision grant, neither the expert nor the purpose of the stay may change.

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.

Please send the application documents as separate attachments in your email. You do not need to merge the various documents into one PDF file.

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. Additional documents not listed on the website such as publication lists, literature lists, or CVs will not be sent to the evaluators.

I do not know exactly how high the expenses will be. 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. Please be aware that if you receive a supervision grant, the amount awarded in the grant will be based on these expenses. It will not be possible to claim more than the amount you enter on the application form.

I do not know exactly when the evaluation will take place. Which date do I enter on the application form?

If you do not yet know the exact date of the external expert’s visit, enter the anticipated date of his/her stay after having consulted the expert and indicate on the application form that there may be changes in the dates of the visit. Please note that the evaluation by the external expert should take place within 6 months after the application deadlines.

What is meant by "external funding"?

“External funding” refers to additional funds that you have received from an external funding organization to cover the expenses for the present supervision, for your doctoral project or for another research project.

If you will receive or have received funding from an external source to cover the expenses for travel and accommodations for the external expert, the external funding amount will be offset against the amount approved for this supervision grant.

Who can issue the evaluation form for my application?

The evaluation form for your application must be issued and submitted 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: ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de. Please be aware that the application deadlines also pertain to the receipt of the evaluation form.