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Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science: Guidelines / FAQs for applying for a completion grant or family support grant

 


The heiDOCS funding program of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science ended in autumn 2023 and it is no longer possible to submit applications.
 
The program will continue in 2024 on a university-wide basis and will be centrally administered by the Graduate Academy within the framework of heiDOCS 2.0. Please find information about the continuation of the program and the application deadlines and procedures here:
https://www.graduateacademy.uni-heidelberg.de/foerderung/heidocs_main_en.html
 

 

General questions
 

Who can apply for this funding?
► What is the purpose of the completion grant or family support grant?
► Which periods should I take into consideration when applying?
► When does the funding start and for how many months will I receive it?
► How high is the funding?
► I was employed at Heidelberg University (not including the University Hospital) in the 3 months before the beginning of the completion grant. How does this effect the receipt of a grant?
► Can I receive funding through an employment contract or another grant while I am receiving the completion grant or family support grant?
► Is there a deadline for the submission of my dissertation?
► How do I know if the Graduate Academy has received my application?
► When will I be notified of the decision regarding my application?
► Can I interrupt the funding?


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.)?
► What is meant by "external funding"?
► Who can issue the evaluation form for my application?

 


 

General questions

 

Who can apply for this funding?

This funding is 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.

Eligibility for funding ends at the end of the month during which the oral examination (thesis defense) takes place or at the end of a month during which a circumstance arises that is not compatible with funding offered through the Faculty’s heiDOCS program. This includes the termination of the doctoral project or the commencement of employment that is not compatible with the funding.

Please note: This funding can be awarded only to doctoral candidates who were previously funded through external sources (e.g. DFG funding, fellowships etc.) or were self-funded.

 

What is the purpose of the completion grant or family support grant?


COMPLETION GRANT

The purpose of the completion grant is to provide financial support to the Faculty’s doctoral candidates during the completion of their doctoral project. This funding is intended for candidates whose current funding is ending or for candidates who need bridging funds. The reasons for the delay in the completion of the doctoral project must be of an academic/scientific nature and must be explained in detail in the application form (see » Application procedure and forms)

The completion grant can be awarded for a maximum of 6 months and the award is conditional upon the fulfillment of the eligibility requirements.


FAMILY SUPPORT GRANT

The purpose of the family support grant is to financially support the Faculty’s doctoral candidates during the completion of their doctoral project. This funding is intended for candidates who became parents to one or more children during their doctoral studies (the qualifying date is the date of admission as a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science) and for whom this circumstance led to an interruption of or a delay in their work on their doctoral project. Scientific/academic reasons for the delay should also be taken into account by the family support grant. Please explain in detail the necessity of the family support grant in the application form (see » Application procedure and forms).

The family support grant can be awarded for a maximum of 12 months and the award is conditional upon the fulfillment of the eligibility requirements.

 

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 periods should I take into consideration when applying?

The applications will be collected and evaluated as a group after the deadlines indicated below. The funding should start within the period indicated for the respective deadline.
 

Deadlines Start of funding
January 10           March 1 until August 1 of the same year
April 10 June 1 until November 1 of the same year
July 10 September 1 of the same year until February 1 of the following year
October 10 December 1 of the same year until May 1 of the following year

 

Please take note of the deadlines and corresponding funding periods. The awards notifications will be sent out about 8 weeks after each deadline.

Important:

  • Funding cannot be approved retroactively.
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered.
     

When does the funding start and for how many months will I receive it?

The funding can begin at the earliest within the period indicated for the respective deadline and at the latest 6 months after each deadline and it will be paid out for a maximum of 6 months (completion grant) or for a maximum of 12 months (family support grant), conditional upon the fulfillment of the eligibility requirements. You can determine the starting point and duration of the funding according to your needs, taking into account the deadlines and the corresponding time periods. The funding can begin only at the beginning of a month and ends at the end of a month. Please indicate the time period during which you would like to receive the grant on the application form (see » Application procedure and forms).

Please note: The duration of the funding should correspond to the remaining work to be completed on your doctoral project.

 

How high is the funding?


COMPLETION GRANT

The completion grant is max. 1,200 Euro per month and will be paid out monthly.


FAMILY SUPPORT GRANT

The family support grant is made up of the basic grant of max. 1,200 Euro per month and child care benefits of 400 Euro per month for the first child that was born during your doctoral studies; the child care benefits increase by 100 Euro per month for each additional child born during your doctoral studies. The basic grant and the child care benefits will be paid out monthly.

 

I was employed at Heidelberg University (not including the University Hospital) in the 3 months before the beginning of the completion grant. How does this effect the receipt of a grant?

It is not possible to receive the grant if the following conditions apply to you:

  • you were employed as a Mitarbeiter/in nach TV-L or a wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft at Heidelberg University (not including the University Hospital) in the three months before the start of the funding AND
  • your employment consisted of a contact of more than 25% of a full-time position AND
  • the work you did has a direct connection to your doctoral project (this means that through this contract you earned income for doing the research that makes up your doctoral project).

If this describes your funding situation, please contact the Graduate Academy (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de).

 

Can I receive funding through an employment contract or another grant while I am receiving the completion grant or family support grant?

The purpose of this funding is to help you to complete your doctoral project success­fully and efficiently. Therefore, while you are receiving this funding, you should be occupied only with the completion of your dissertation. Furthermore, this funding is intended to support doctoral candidates who have no other source of funding during this final phase. Therefore, if you plan to have additional income from employment or another grant while you receive this funding, you must indicate the reasons for this income clearly in your application (see » Application procedure and forms).

Please note: If you have an employment contract with Heidelberg University (e.q. as student assistant or a research assistant in the TV-L system), please be aware that there must be no connection in terms of time, place or content between the activity supported by the completion grant and the work carried out within the employement contract. This does not exclude a relationship to the subject area of your doctoral studies.

Important: If there are changes to your income while receiving this funding, please contact the Graduate Academy immediately (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de).

 

Is there a deadline for the submission of my dissertation?

Yes. You must submit your dissertation to the Faculty no later than 3 months after the funding has ended. Please submit a confirmation from the Faculty of your submission within this time period to the Graduate Academy.  

If your dissertation is not finished within three months of the end of this funding, you must submit an interim report on the status of your dissertation, a work schedule and a short assessment by your doctoral supervisor to the Graduate Academy. The Graduate Academy reserves the right to completely or partially revoke your funding if these documents are not received by the Graduate Academy within the three month deadline as outlined above.

 

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 awards notifications are sent out 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.

 

Can I interrupt the funding?

Yes. It is possible in exceptional cases (for example illness, pregnancy, family reasons) to interrupt the funding for up to 12 months, as long as your doctoral supervisor confirms that the completion of your dissertation is not jeopardized by the interruption. Please contact the Graduate Academy immediately if you think that you will need to interrupt your funding (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de).  

 

 

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. All of the information necessary to evaluate your application can be provided on the application form. No additional documents that are not listed on the website such as publication lists, literature lists, or CVs will be sent to the evaluators.

 

What is meant by "external funding"?

“External funding” refers to funds that you have received from an external funding organization for your doctoral project in general or for another research project.

 

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.

 

Web Administrator: Elif Avcu
Latest Revision: 2023-12-18
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