LGF Completion grants FAQs

What is the purpose of the LGF completion grant?

The LGF completion grant serves to provide financial support to talented doctoral researchers of all academic disciplines at Heidelberg University who are in the final phase of their doctoral studies. The completion grants will be awarded for the completion of a dissertation and will be paid out for a maximum of 6 months. Completion grants will not be paid out in the time period between the submission of the dissertation and the thesis defense.

The LGF completion grant does not constitute income in the sense of §§ 18, 19 EStG.  

The LGF completion grant does not establish an employment relationship between Heidelberg University and the grant recipient. The grant payments are therefore not remuneration for work in the sense of § 14 SGB IV and are not subject to social security contributions. The grant recipient cannot be obligated to provide any specific academic services or any other form of labor based on the award of the fellowship.

No applicant has a legal claim to receive a fellowship.

Who can apply for an LGF completion grant?

Doctoral researchers who have been admitted to one of the 12 faculties of Heidelberg University to do their doctoral studies can apply for a grant.

However, you are not eligible for the funding if:

• you are a medical student who is writing her/his doctoral dissertation during your medical studies at Heidelberg University
• you are simultaneously receiving an equivalent grant for your doctoral thesis from public or private sources
• you have already received funding for the completion of your doctoral thesis from other sources

In order to apply, you should be in the final stage of writing your dissertation and you should expect to submit your dissertation directly after or up to a maximum of 3 months after the grant expires.  You should ensure that it is feasible for you to complete the work in this stage during the funding period.

If you will be employed at Heidelberg University for any length of time during the three months before your grant begins, you must ensure that there is no connection in terms of time, place or content between the activity supported by the grant and the work carried out within the employment contract. This does not exclude a relationship to the subject area of the dissertation.

When can I receive the LGF completion grant?

For the application deadline in spring (mid-April), funding can begin in August at the earliest and the following January at the latest. For the application deadline in fall (mid-October), funding can begin in the following February at the earliest and in the following July at the latest. The completion grant can be awarded for a maximum period of 6 months after the desired funding begin. Please indicate on the online registration form the time period during which you would like to receive the completion grant.
Note: The grant can begin only at the beginning of a month and ends at the end of a month.

Example: Your current doctoral funding expires on 30 September 2024. You are planning to complete your thesis in March 2025 and submit it to your faculty by 31 March 2025. For this 6-month period between the end of your funding and the completion of your thesis, you would like to apply for the completion grant. Your application must be submitted by the deadline in spring (mid-April) 2024. Please indicate the following dates for your desired funding period on the online registration form: 01 October 2024 to 31 March 2025.

How high is the completion grant?

The completion grant of the Landesgraduiertenförderung is 1,350 Euro per month. This includes a monthly allowance of 100 Euro for travel and materials.

Grant recipients who do not have mandatory public health insurance through an employment contract can apply for a health insurance allowance of 50% of the actual costs of their health insurance up to a maximum of 100 Euro per month.

Grant recipients with children can apply for a child allowance of 400 Euro per month for the first child and an additional 100 Euro per month for every additional child.

Who can write my report?

The report can be written only by university professors as defined by § 44 (1) Nr. 1, LHG Baden-Württemberg. As a rule, these are professors, junior professors, junior group leaders, or lecturers with a Habilitation or equivalent qualification. Ideally, the evaluation report for an application for a LGF completion grant should be submitted by your primary doctoral supervisor.

Please make sure to forward your LGFG identification number or, if you do not yet have an LGFG identification number, your personal email address to your supervisor. You will be notified via automatic email when the evaluation has been submitted to the Graduate Academy for your application. Please check with your supervisor if you have not received such a notification by email before the application deadline.

Please only submit the number of evaluations indicated in the application instructions. Additional evaluations will not be considered.

Is there a form for the evaluation report and where do I find it?

Yes. The evaluation form will be available on the website of the Graduate Academy as soon as the call for applications is open. After the evaluation form has been filled out and saved, the evaluator can upload it on the Graduate Academy’s website.

Please make sure to forward your LGFG identification number or, if you do not yet have an LGFG identification number, your personal email address to your supervisor. You will be notified via automatic email when an evaluation has been submitted to the Graduate Academy for your application. Please check with your supervisor if you have not received such a notification by email before the application deadline.

How do I find out if the necessary evaluation report has been submitted?

You will be notified via automatic email as soon as the evaluation has been submitted to the Graduate Academy for your application. Please make sure to forward your LGFG identification number or, if you do not yet have an LGFG identification number, your personal email address to your supervisor. Please check with your supervisor if you have not received such a notification by email before the application deadline.

Can I submit an enrollment certificate instead of the letter of admission from the Faculty?

Yes, if the enrollment certificate clearly indicates that you are enrolled for doctoral studies.

Can I make changes to my application documents after I have submitted them?

Yes. You can submit the attachments (as one PDF file) until the end of the application period using the link that is sent to you via email after you have filled out and submitted the online registration form. Simply follow the link and enter your LGFG identification number or your email address. Please note that if you upload your documents more than once, only the latest version of your application documents will be considered.

Can I submit my documents in English?

Yes, you can submit your documents in English.

Are there format requirements for the report on my dissertation project?

The report is limited to a maximum length of five pages of text plus a bibliography. As a guideline, we recommend a line spacing of 1.5 lines and a font size of 10 to 12 points. If your bibliography comes to more than 5 pages, we recommend that you limit your literature list to only selected works.

Must the additional application documents be uploaded as a PDF? Can I submit the documents as a Word document or PowerPoint presentation instead?

Please upload your application documents only as one PDF. Documents submitted in Word, PowerPoint or other formats will not be considered. PDFs can be created directly from Word documents, PowerPoint presentations or most image editing software by using the Adobe PDF function, if installed, or by using free software and the print function. After you have combined your application documents into one single PDF, please check to make sure that the PDF can be opened and the contents can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Please note that the PDF must not exceed the maximum file size of 10MB. Therefore, please be sure to compress images or image files before converting them into a PDF.

An error occurred when submitting the online registration form and my data were not transmitted correctly. What can I do?

Please fill out and submit the online registration form again. After you have filled out the online registration form again, you will receive a new confirmation email including your new LGFG identification number. Please use only this new identification number for any further correspondence and for uploading your application documents.

Can I be gainfully employed during the receipt of the completion grant and what do I have to consider?

The purpose of the completion grant is to help you to complete your doctoral project quickly and successfully. Therefore, while receiving the completion grant, you should concentrate primarily on carrying out your doctoral project. If you are nevertheless employed while receiving the grant, the following conditions apply:

• The work must be of academic nature (e.g. research or academic teaching) and must be related to the subject area of your doctorate and/or to a possible field of work that you could pursue after completing your doctorate.
• If you have an employment contract with Heidelberg University (e.g. as student assistant or a research assistant in the TV-L system), please be aware that there must be no connection between the activity supported by the completion grant and the work carried out within the employment contract. This does not exclude a relationship to the subject area of your doctoral studies.
• You can work a maximum of 40 hours per month.
• The net income you earn cannot exceed 25% of the monthly income of salary group TV-L E 13, level 3 according to the current table of the “Tarifvertrag für den Öffentlichen Dienst der Länder (TV-L), Tarifgebiet West”. If your net income exceeds this amount, the LGF completion grant will be reduced accordingly.

If you are awarded a completion grant, you will be required to provide information about your employment situation. If your employment does not comply with the requirements listed above, you will be obliged to resign from your contract or relinquish your claim to the completion grant.

Please note: If your income or employment situation changes while receiving the completion grant, you must contact the Graduate Academy immediately.

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 an LGF completion 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 contract 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 the 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.

Can I apply for a completion grant if my current income will exceed the limit indicated above (25% of a TV-L E13, level 3, Tarifgebiet West position) or if it already exceeds this income limit?

Yes, you can apply for the completion grant even if your current income exceeds this limit. If your income exceeds the income limit during the time in which you receive the completion grant, the grant will be reduced by the exceeding amount. This rule applies only to the income you receive while receiving the completion grant.

When and how do I find out if my application was successful?

The Graduate Academy will notify you in writing about the awards decision after the completion of the awards process at around the beginning of July/ mid-December.

Does the LGF completion grant include "Urlaubsanspruch" (legally-mandated vacation time)?

No. The receipt of a completion grant does not create an employment relationship. Therefore, no benefits are awarded with the grant and the recipient cannot be obligated to provide any specific academic services or any other form of labor based on the award of the completion grant.

Information about taxation/social security contributions in connection with the LGF completion grants

The completion grants may be paid out by the university free of income taxes and social security contributions if the requirements according to the Income Tax Act are met. The grant recipient is responsible for determining whether he/she is liable to pay income taxes. The grant recipient is responsible for paying any possible income taxes or insurance themselves.