Guidelines / FAQs for applying for a publication grant from the Faculty of Philosophy

General questions
 

► Who can apply for a publication grant?
► What is the purpose of a publication grant?
► When should I apply?
► Which expenses are covered by the publication grant?
► 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 publication grant paid out?
► When will I receive my publication grant?
► What happens to my publication grant if my dissertation is not published by the publisher indicated in my application?
► What happens to my grant if I do not publish my dissertation within the two year period after receiving the grant?

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" and why am I asked about it?
 

General questions

Who can apply for a publication grant?

The publication grants are only open to doctoral students who have been officially admitted to the Faculty of Philosophy at Heidelberg University.

Only doctoral students who have received at least “magna cum laude“ on their dissertation will be considered for a grant.

At the time of your application, you should be able to provide a price quotation from the publisher or a finalized contract for the publication of your dissertation.

The award of the publication grant will be valid for a period of two years. If the dissertation is not published within this two year period, you must apply for an extension of the grant. You may receive only one grant extension. If the publication of your dissertation is delayed, please contact the Graduate Academy immediately (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de).

What is the purpose of a publication grant?

The publication grant is a form of financial support to be used toward the cost of publishing your dissertation (for printing costs and for acquiring reproduction rights such as image rights or in special cases for proofreading).

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.

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. The awards notifications will be sent out about 4 to 6 weeks after each deadline.

Deadlines:

Important:

• Grants cannot be approved retroactively if your dissertation has already been published.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Which expenses are covered by the publication grant?

The grant will cover up to a maximum of 2,500 Euro for the publication of your dissertation (incl. printing costs and the aquisition of reproduction rights). The grant will be paid out after receipt of the original invoice and proof of payment. The final grant amount will be based on the expenses indicated in your application. If the final publication expenses exceed the expenses for which you have applied or the maximum grant amount given above, this difference will not be reimbursed.

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 4-6 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 publication grant paid out?

You must send in the publication grant reimbursement form (which is sent out with the approval notice) with the original invoice and your proof of payment. Expenses for which you do not have an invoice cannot be reimbursed.

Please note:
The award of a publication grant is valid for two years. If the dissertation is not published within this two year period, you must apply for an extension of the grant. If the publication of your dissertation is delayed, please contact the Graduate Academy immediately (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de).

When will I receive my publication grant?

If you are awarded a publication grant, the grant will be paid out after receipt of the necessary documents.  Please note that the documents required for the payment of the publication grant must be submitted to the Graduate Academy no later than one month after the publication.

What happens to my publication grant if my dissertation is not published by the publisher indicated in my application?

The grant applies only to a publication carried out by the publisher indicated in your application. If your publisher changes at any time, please contact the Graduate Academy immediately (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de ).

What happens to my publication grant if I do not publish my dissertation within the two year period after receiving the grant?

If you do not publish your dissertation within two years after receiving the grant, you must apply for an extension of the grant. You may receive only one extension. If the publication of your dissertation is delayed, please contact the Graduate Academy immediately (ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de). If the dissertation is ultimately not published within the deadline of the final extension, the grant will expire and you will not be entitled to replacement or compensation.

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. 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" and why am I asked about it?

“External funding” refers to funds that you have received or will receive from an external funding organization for the publication of your dissertation or for other purposes related to your doctoral project.