heiDOCS 2.0 Travel Grants
Are you a doctoral researcher at Heidelberg University and would like to present your research at a conference? Or perhaps you would like to dive deeper into your research field at a summer or winter school?
Are you planning a research visit to work on your project at an external library, archive or another academic institution?
If so, why not apply for a travel grant from the Graduate Academy heiDOCS funding program for doctoral researchers at Heidelberg University?
Purpose
You can apply for a travel grant to:
- attend a conference with direct relevance for your doctoral project. In general, applicants are expected to actively participate (through a poster presentation, talk or leading a panel). Please indicate the form of participation clearly on your application.
- attend a summer or winter school with direct relevance to your doctoral project.
- carry out a research trip of up to 3 months for the purpose of research, gathering data, refinement of methods, networking etc. The research trip must have direct relevance to your doctoral project.
Please be aware of Heidelberg University's travel regulations as well as of country-specific travel warnings made by the Federal Foreign Office.
Prerequisites for an application
You are eligible to apply for the travel grant, if you
- have successfully completed a university degree that entitles you to pursue a doctoral degree (In Germany, this is usually a Diplom, Magister or master's degree) and
- have been officially admitted to one of the 13 Faculties at Heidelberg University*
*Medical students who are writing their doctoral thesis during their medical studies, before completing their degree (studienbegleitende Promotion) are not eligible to apply.
Eligibility for funding ends at the end of the month in which you take your final examination (Disputation/Rigorosum) or at the end of the month in which your doctoral training at Heidelberg University ends for other reasons (e.g. termination of your doctoral training, transfer to another university to pursue doctoral training).
Application deadlines
You must submit a complete application by the relevant deadline in order to be considered for funding. Please note that this also applies even if the deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday.
Please consider the following application deadlines and travel dates:
Table
March 15 | April 30 |
June 15 | July 31 |
September 15 | October 31 |
December 15 | February 15 |
The awards notifications will be sent out about 6-8 weeks after the deadlines.
When planning your trip and preparing your application, please take the following additional deadlines into careful consideration:
- The travel cannot take place, either partially or completely, during the evaluation period, i.e. in the time period between the application deadline and earliest travel date as shown above. It is not possible to receive a grant during this period.
- For each application deadline, the travel must start after the earliest travel date as given above. If you plan to begin your trip before the earliest travel date as indicated above, it will not be possible to receive the travel grant. This is due to university budgetary limitations that are outside our control. Please do not ask us about individual exceptions, as we are not able to be flexible on this point.
- The travel should take place within 1 year of the date of the grant award.
- The grant cannot be awarded retroactively for a trip that has already taken place.
- Applications submitted after the deadline or incomplete applications will not be considered. An application is incomplete if any documents are missing or if essential information is missing from the application form.
Amount
The amount awarded for a travel grant will be based on the expenses declared in your application form.
Maximum grant amounts:
Table
Germany | max. 500 Euro | max. 500 Euro | max. 500 Euro / month |
Within Europe | max. 700 Euro | max. 700 Euro | max. 700 Euro / month |
Other countries | max. 1.000 Euro | max. 1.000 Euro | max. 1.000 Euro / month |
If your actual expenses exceed the amount for which you have applied or the maximum grant amount that was approved, the difference will not be covered by the grant. You will be responsible for covering the difference.
If your actual expenses are lower than the maximum grant amount that was approved, only the actual expenses will be covered.
The following expenses can be covered:
- return travel as well as local public transportation (airfare, train tickets, tickets for public transportation etc.)
- accommodations excluding meals (hotel, private room rental, guesthouse apartment)
Please note that accommodations can be covered at the most from one day before to one day after the event - conference fees (registration/participation fees)
- if applicable, visa fees
- if applicable, mandatory climate taxes (not voluntary climate taxes)
The grant does not cover:
- meals, i.e. conference dinners, breakfast packages
- books, photocopying and entertainment
- expenses related to private travel or to fellow travellers
- trip cancellation insurance, travel health insurance etc.
- extra or overweight luggage fees
- childcare expenses
- daily allowances ("Tagegelder")
- voluntary climate taxes
- scientific or academic memberships
Good to know
- You are not legally entitled to funding.
- Award notifications will be sent once the entire evaluation process has been completed, which takes approximately 6-8 weeks after each application deadline. It is not possible to inform you of the outcome of your application until all evaluations have been completed.
- Applications submitted after the deadline or incomplete applications will not be considered.
- If you are unable to carry out your planned trip, you will automatically forfeit your award.
- If you have to postpone your research trip, please 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 only if the purpose and destination of the trip remains unchanged.
- Applicants must ensure that their projects are carried out in accordance with the mission statement and principles of Heidelberg University.
- Please note that you must comply with regulations for export control when travelling outside Europe.
- Please pay attention to the currently valid travel and safety advisories from the Federal Foreign Office for the respective country when preparing for your trip abroad and when starting your journey. If any further specific questions arise, please contact the experts from Department 7 (D7 - International Relations).