Scholarships promote scientific and continuing education. They must not be offered to avoid a potential employment relationship. If the guest stay of a scientist or researcher is for continuing education purposes, a continuing education scholarship can be granted for up to three months. Please provide a suitable explanation.
Scholarships are usually tax-free and paid out in full (cf. § 3 no. 44 Einkommensteuergesetz EStG (income tax act)). A pre-requisite for tax exemption in line with § 3 no. 44 EStG is that, besides covering basic educational needs (material resources etc.), the (continuing) education scholarship only covers the scholarship holder's living expenses (stipend). To safeguard the purpose of the tax exemption, the scholarship holder must not be obliged to provide a scientific service in return or to enter into an employment relationship.
Our calculation of maximum stipend amounts is based on the officially recognised and tax-free scholarship rates for DFG-funded Research Training Groups:
| Doctoral stipends | Research stipends | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic funding (by age) | € 1,000 to € 1,365 | € 1,365 to € 1,518 |
| Material resources subsidy | € 103 | € 103 |
| Total | € 1,103 to € 1,468* | € 1,468 to € 1,621* |
Additional allowances (e.g. child allowance, living abroad allowance) can be granted.
*As of March 2009
(The current DFG scholarship rates are available online at: http://dfg.de/en)
The scholarship does not institute an employment relationship and cannot be considered a salary as defined in § 14 Sozialgesetzbuch SGB IV (German social code). It thus exempt from social security contributions. We recommend that scholarship holders take out private health and accident insurance. Please note that the University of Konstanz does not provide you with insurance for material damages. If you cause any material damage while at the University of Konstanz, you will have to pay for the damages yourself. We therefore recommend that you take out private liability insurance.
How are scholarships financed?
DFG funds
The German Research Foundation (DFG) promotes early career researchers by providing scholarships funded in the context of the following programmes:
- Research Training Groups (doctoral scholarships, qualification and post-doctoral scholarships)
- Collaborative Research Centres with integrated Research Training Groups
- Emmy Noether Programme
- International research scholarships
- Heisenberg Programme
At the same time, the DFG expressly declares that it does not pay out scholarships financed with DFG Research Grants or CRC funds.
Budget funds/“Kassenanschläge” (state funds the university has access to)
The university budget is not intended to be used to finance scholarships. Exception: Scholarships granted in the context of the Landesgraduiertenförderungsgesetz LGFG (state law on graduate funding) or the doctoral programme “Quantitative Economics and Finance”. The University of Konstanz has passed suitable regulations to that effect in its “Satzung der Universität Konstanz zur Durchführung des Landesgraduiertenförderungsgesetzes (LGFG)” from 09.03.2009.
EU research projects
Scholarships may be granted in line with the relevant regulations. Please note that individual regulations apply to individual programmes (e.g. only payment of EU nationals in networks, etc.). Individual scholarships are paid out in conformity with EU guidelines but are not tax-free. Disbursal and taxation are taken care of directly by the Landesamt für Besoldung und Versorgung (LVB) in Fellbach. Since staff expenses for EU projects can only be reimbursed as direct costs if they are based on time sheets, scholarship holders, too, should keep a record of their working hours. The scholarship holder’s weekly working hours should correspond to those of a full-time employee employed under TV-L (currently 39.5 hours/week).
Third-party donations for research or teaching
Scholarships in the above-mentioned amount can be paid out for a maximum of 24 months (by analogy with the DFG regulations for Research Training Groups).
How can I request a scholarship?
To request a scholarship, you need to submit an application to the Project Administration team.
Please include the following information:
- Your research area
- Duration and scholarship amount
- Your address, marital status, nationality and bank details
Please note that you will have to confirm that the focus is on your own personal training in the relevant area. Scholarships are usually paid out in monthly instalments.