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Graduate Academy
Im Neuenheimer Feld 370
69120 Heidelberg


  E-Mail ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de

 

Guidelines / FAQs for applying for a travel grant from the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences


The heiDOCS funding program of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences 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 a travel grant?
► What kinds of trips are supported by the travel grants?
► Which expenses can be reimbursed by the travel grant?
► 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 (from the international research institute)?
► Can I apply for more than one travel grant simultaneously?
► Can I receive more than one travel 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 travel grant paid out?
► When will I receive my travel grant?
► Can I apply for an advance payment of my travel costs?
► What happens to my travel grant if I cannot go on my planned trip?
► What happens if my international research trip or research stay 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 much the trip will cost. Which expenses do I enter on the application form?
► What is meant by "external funding" and why am I asked about it?
► Who can issue the evaluation form for my application?

 


 

General questions

 

Who can apply for a travel grant?

The travel grants are only open to doctoral students who have been officially admitted to the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at Heidelberg University.

Eligibility for funding ends at the latest three months after 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. through publication of your thesis, 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.

 

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 can be in Germany or abroad. 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 a summer or winter school or a similar event with direct relevance to your doctoral project. The event can be in Germany or abroad.
  • carry out a research trip abroad (for a period of maximum one month) 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.
  • carry out a research stay abroad (for a period of one to three months) for the purpose of gathering data, visiting libraries or archives, carrying out field research, conducting interviews, working with specialized equipment, networking etc. The research stay must have direct relevance to your doctoral project.

Please note the Heidelberg University's travel regulations as well as to the country-specific travel warnings made by the Federal Foreign Office (both in German).

 

Which expenses can be reimbursed by the travel grant?

The travel grant will reimburse your actual expenses for:

  • transport (airfaire, train faire, public transportation, rental car, taxi etc.)
  • accomodations (hotel, private room rental etc.)
  • registration fees

The travel grants do not cover:

  • meals
  • books, photocopying, bench fees and entertainment
  • expenses related to private travel
  • trip cancellation insurances

Please note: We can cover your accommodations at the most from one day before to one day after the event.
 

The amount awarded for a travel grant will be based on the expenses that you list on your application form up to the following maximum grant amounts:

Conference
(Germany or abroad)
Summer / Winter School
(Germany or abroad)
Research trip
(abroad)

for a duration of
up to one month
Research stay
(abroad)

for a duration of
one to three months*
Germany: max. 500 €
Europe: max. 1000 €   
    Other: max. 1500 €        
max. 700 € per trip      max. 700 € per month    
(max. 2100 € per stay)

* To apply for funding for a longer research stay, please contact the Graduate Academy.


Should your actual expenses exceed the expenses for which you have applied or the maximum grant amounts given above, this difference will not be refunded.

 

When should I apply?

Applications can be submitted at any time. Applications will be collected and assessed as a group after the deadlines indicated below. The trips should take place within a period of 6 months following these deadlines. Please take note of the deadlines and corresponding travel periods. We advise you to apply at the earliest relevant deadline to facilitate the planning of your trip.

 

Deadlines:

January 10
April 10
July 10
October 10


The awards notifications are sent out about 4 to 6 weeks after the deadlines listed above. If your trip takes place during this 4 to 6 week evaluation period, we will not be able to notify you of the results of your application before your trip begins.

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

 

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 (from the international research institute)?

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 and submit the acceptance letter as soon as you receive it via email to: ga-docs@uni-heidelberg.de

 

Can I apply for more than one travel grant simultaneously?

Yes. You can apply for more than one travel grant at the same time provided that the trips do not take place at the same time and that you adhere to the application deadlines and the corresponding travel periods given above. Please note, however, that you may receive only two approvals of each kind of travel grant (conference / summer or winter school / international research trip / international research stay) per year. If you apply for more than one travel grant at the same time, you need to submit a complete and separate application (see » Application procedure and forms) for each type of trip.

 

Can I receive more than one travel grant?

Yes. However, you may receive only two approvals of each kind of travel grant (conference / summer or winter school / international research trip / international research stay) per year.

 

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 and there is no fast track evaluation process for trips that fall within the 4-6 week evaluation period. If your trip takes place within this period, you cannot expect to receive the results of your application before you travel.

 

You must send in the appropriate form (which is sent out with the approval notice) and all of the original receipts for the expenses you wish to claim. Expenses for which you do not have a receipt cannot be reimbursed. Please note that only expenses listed here can be reimbursed by the travel grant.

If you received external funding for this trip, 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 travel grant paid out. In this case, external funding is funding from an external source that is used to cover your expenses for registration fees, transport or accomodations.

 

When will I receive my travel grant?

If you are awarded a travel grant, your actual expenses up to the maximum amount of the grant will be reimbursed. The expenses will be reimbursed only after you have completed your trip. Please note that the documents required for the payment of the travel grant need to be submitted to the Graduate Academy no later than one month after the trip has taken place.

 

Can I apply for an advance payment of my travel costs?

Yes. For travel expenses of 200 Euro or more you can indicate on the application form (see » Application procedure and forms) that you would like to apply for an advance payment. If the travel grant is approved, an advance payment of 80% of the final grant amount will be paid to you. The reimbursement of your remaining expenses, up to a maximum of 20% of the total amount of the grant, will be paid to you only after you have submitted the necessary documents for reimbursement as listed above.

Please note:

  • The advance payment of travel costs is conditional and can be revoked by the Graduate Academy. If you do not submit all of the necessary documents to the Graduate Academy at the latest one month after completing your trip or if you do not carry out your trip, you will be required to repay the advance payment to the Graduate Academy immediately or at the latest one month after completion of the trip.
  • If your actual total expenses come to less than the advance payment, you must reimburse the difference to the Graduate Academy.

 

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. Therefore, if you are unable to carry out your planned trip, you will automatically forfeit your award. Because of this, we recommend that you take out trip cancellation insurance. Please note that these costs are not covered by the travel grant.

 

What happens if my international research trip or research stay has to be postponed?

It is possible to postpone an international research trip or research stay; however, in this case you must contact our office as soon as possible in order to notify us of the new dates. The travel grant will apply to the postponed trip or stay only if the purpose and destination of it remains unchanged.

 

 

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.

 

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. Please be aware that if you receive a travel grant, the amount awarded in the grant will be based on these expenses and the maximum grant amounts. It will not be possible to claim more than the amount you enter on the application form.

 

What is meant by "external funding" and why am I asked about it?

“External funding” refers to funds that you have received from an external funding organization (e.g. DAAD, Begabtenförderungswerke, other foundations) for your trip, for your doctoral project or for another research project.
The fact that you have been awarded external funding can be of advantage to you in the evaluation process. For example, the receipt of an external grant or fellowship will be treated as a prize or distinction on your part.

If you will receive or have received funding from an external source (to cover your registration fees, transport or accomodations), the external funding amount will be offset against the amount approved for this travel grant and/or against the actual expenses you incur on your trip.

 

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.

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.

 

Verantwortlich: Eric Herbst
Letzte Änderung: 2023-12-15
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