Are you doing your doctorate and planning to present your research results at an international conference? As a member of the Graduate Academy Leipzig, you can apply for a travel allowance from us!
Who and what we support
We subsidise the travel of doctoral researchers to international conferences where they make an active contribution. This can be a lecture or a poster presentation as the first author.
We fund postdocs for conference participation, short networking and research stays at international research institutions through the Leibniz TRAVEL programme.
We generally only provide travel allowances and do not cover all of the costs. In other words, we cover 50 per cent of the total costs, but no more than €500 for travelling inside Europe and €800 for international travel outside Europe. Travel grants are paid retroactively after you have submitted a complete travel expense statement. Membership of the Graduate Academy Leipzig is a prerequisite for submitting an application.
On 10 June 2023, the Act Amending the Saxony Travel Expenses Act (Gesetz zur Änderung des Sächsischen Reisekostengesetz) of 17 May 2023 came into force. The new regulation applies to all business trips that were and will be carried out from 10 June 2023. Further information on the changes can be found in the administrative bulletin on the intranet (available only in German). We will adapt our website to the new regulations soon.
Please note when planning and applying for your trip:
- In order to be able to settle the travel expenses of your work trip abroad in full, you may extend your stay on site by a maximum of five days in accordance with the Saxon Travel Expenses Act. In the case of a private stay of more than five days, only the costs incurred at the workplace and between several workplaces will be reimbursed, such as travel and flight expenses as well as distance and transport allowances.
- In the case of travel within Germany, the duration of the private stay has no influence on the reimbursement of travel expenses. Regardless of the duration of the private stay, the travel allowance shall be granted as if only the work trip had been undertaken.
- Before your trip begins you must have a request to travel form (Dienstreiseantrag) signed by your supervisor and then submit it to your faculty or institute
- The expected costs for transport and accommodation listed in the travel expense application must be proportionate to the route and destination.
- We ask you to act in the spirit of sustainability when choosing your mode of transport and travel route.
Please note the following deadlines for application:
- 31.03. for travel between 1 May and 31 August of the same year.
- 30.06. for travel between 1 August and 31 November of the same year
- 30.09. for travel between 1 November and 28 February of the following year
- 31.12. for travel between 1 February and 31 May of the following year
Before you apply for travel allowances, you must register as a member of the Graduate Academy Leipzig. Applying for a travel allowance involves the following steps:
- Download the form for the application for travel allowances and fill it out completely. We only accept fully completed applications. The application must be signed by you and your supervisor. If you are unsure about any of the information, please contact Viola Gründemann in advance.
- Submit the signed application with the attachments (e.g. acceptance abstract, poster) by e-mail by the deadline. A submission is also possible without a confirmation of acceptance in order to meet the deadline. The required documents can be submitted at a later date.
- We will get back to you as soon as possible with the funding decision.
- Please keep the original application for a travel allowance including all attachments for accounting purposes.
When settling travel expenses, the legal principles of Leipzig University must be followed.
The settlement of your travel allowance can be done in the following ways.
Option 1: Grants from several sources
You receive other grants in addition to the grant via the Graduate Academy (e.g. via the faculty, graduate programme, etc.). If this is the case, please ask the person responsible (secretary's office, responsible administrator) to first settle the account for the business trip as a whole. The Graduate Academy will then transfer the promised funds to the faculty, graduate programme, etc. by means of an internal transfer posting.
Option 2: Subsidy only from the Graduate Academy
You do not receive any other funding for your journey. In this case, we require all original travel documents (e.g. hotel bills, tickets) including your request to travel form and the travel expense report as well as any other forms (e.g. recognition of increased accommodation costs). We send the submitted documents to the central service area for travel expenses at Leipzig University. There, the total costs of the trip are determined. We will then pay the travel allowance directly to you on the basis of this processing.
Please note the cut-off period of six months. Your travel expense report must be submitted to the University's Travel Expenses Service within six months of your trip. Handing it in to the secretariat or the responsible administrator in your faculty/institution is not sufficient to ensure that the deadline is met. In the worst case, your entitlement to reimbursement of travel expenses may be forfeited.
Option 3: Reimbursement of a participation fee without travel expenses
You want to have a reimbursement of a participation fee (without travel expenses), e.g. for digital events. In this case, send us the original invoice, a copy of the proof of payment and the completed application for reimbursement of expenses (Antrag auf Auslagenrückerstattung). We will fill in the fields "Reimbursement via cost centre / project no.:" („Kostenerstattung über Kostenstelle / Projekt-Nr:“) and "Details provided by faculty/institute" („Angaben durch Fakultät/Institut“).
The participation fee must be settled no later than two months after invoicing.
- I am a member of a structured doctoral programme that also provides funds for travel to international conferences. Where should I first ask for travel allowances?
As the Graduate Academy Leipzig has limited funding, members of structured doctoral programmes are encouraged to first check with their programme for financial support. In this way, you enable more doctoral researchers who do not have access to this possibility to also receive travel allowances.
- I receive financial support for my travel from my graduate school or another funding body. Can I still apply to the Graduate Academy for travel expenses?
Yes, as the Graduate Academy will only cover a maximum of half of your travel costs, you can still apply. If you already receive more than half of your travel costs from other funding bodies, it is possible that we cover the remaining costs.
- I would like to travel to the destination already one week before the conference starts. Will I still be funded?
Yes, in this case we will cover all additional costs you incur for the completion of the official business. In concrete terms, this means that travel to and from the conference will not be funded, nor will any costs arising from private travel.
- Will meals be covered during my trip?
No, we do not provide a daily allowance ("Tagegeld").
- Does the Graduate Academy also cover visa application costs?
Yes, if a visa is necessary for your research trip, we will also subsidise the costs by up to 50 %.
- The conference takes place digitally. Can I still apply for participation fees?
Yes, we will also cover up to 50% of the costs if all conditions for funding are met.
- When can I expect reimbursement of my travel expenses after I have correctly accounted for the trip?
Processing times vary and can take one to several months. We kindly ask for your understanding.