FAQs

Current calls for proposals can be found on the webpages of the funding agencies. On the webpage of the Research Support Office we have compiled an overview of programmes.
We recommend that you subscribe to our newsletter. You will receive the latest information on new calls for proposals grouped in the three areas ‘life and environmental sciences’, ‘natural sciences and engineering’ and ‘social sciences and humanities’.
In addition, your professional associations and communities may offer newsletters that provide information on current calls for proposals.

A wide range of funding programmes are available to early-career researchers after their doctorate. On the early career webpages of the Research Support Office you will find the most common early career funding lines with details on funding format and eligibility. There are also regular calls for young scholars, which we publish in our newsletter.

After identifying the appropriate funding programme for your research idea, you need to familiarize yourself with the requirements for your proposal, i.e. the actual guidelines of the funding programme. Documents such as the call announcement, information sheets, technical instructions and checklists need to be reviewed. The structure of your project description and the project budget are two central aspects of your proposal. The Research Support Office will help you in all matters relating to the preparation of the proposal and implementation of the research project in case of approval.
Please contact the Research Support Office at least 2 weeks before your planned submission date so that we can provide you with the best possible support and involve the relevant administrative contact persons. In case you need legally binding signatures of the University Governing Board (Hochschulleitung) on cooperation agreements, letters of support, etc., a longer preparation period must be planned (at least 4 weeks).

This depends on the funding agency and the funding programme. Anyone wishing to submit a research proposal should update their CV, list of publications and personal webpage in good time. Depending on the funding programme, different forms and templates must be completed (see previous question). The Research Support Office will help you find the right documents and process these appropriately. If you need a letter of support (LOI, host institution statement, etc.) from the University Governing Board (Hochschulleitung) or an employer's declaration from Human Resources this will also be processed by the Research Support Office.

This depends on the funding programme. As a rule, the budget is divided into several categories, including personnel, travel and material costs, and equipment. We will support you with your budget planning. Please contact us as soon as you have an idea of your planned activities and budget needs. The calculation of personnel costs is done by the Research Support Office in cooperation with Human Resources.

At the University of Bayreuth, the President and the Provost are authorised to sign documents. In certain cases, signatures can be done by the Head of Human Resources. Signatures are obtained via the Research Support Office or the Finances unit (Third Party Funding Office).

Many funding agencies offer funding for international collaborations. These range from the initiation of bilateral research cooperations (e.g. DFG or BayIntAn) to the integration of international partners in long-term projects (e.g. DFG or Volkswagen Foundation), to large international alliances at EU level (especially in Pillars II and III of the Horizon Europe research framework programme).

Funding for the implementation and development of research infrastructure is primarily offered by the DFG in the area of Scientific Instrumentation and Technology.
DFG funding can be gained for the procurement of major research instrumentation and for the management of core facilities.
Sometimes calls for the procurement of major instrumentation and specific technologies are also announced by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). These calls are published in the federal ‘funding finder’.
At European level, research infrastructure is funded via the Horizon Europe framework programme. Information on funding guidelines or open calls for proposals can be obtained from the National Contact Point for Research Infrastructure.

Please see the webpage of the Research Support Office for the team’s allocation to the various funding agencies.

Legal questions relating to third-party funding are dealt with by Unit I/AR (General Legal Affairs). The team’s e-mail address is: vertrag@uni-bayreuth.de. We will be glad to coordinate your enquiries to the unit.

Unit II/2 Procurement can advise you on all aspects of purchasing, e.g. office material and furniture, media equipment, equipment for teaching and research, chemicals, or in the case of centralised awards/tenders and customs queries. You will find all internal forms of the Procurement Department on the intranet.

Which costs you can budget for in a research proposal depends on the requirements of the relevant funding agency. It is expected that the requested general and travel costs are directly related to the implementation of the project, i.e. are 'direct project costs'. 'Indirect project costs' such as electricity or water consumption are covered by the project overhead, if available (not all funding programmes provide these). Specific information on travel costs can be found on the intranet in the Human Resources section under 'Business travel'. Unit III/3 can also advise you on matters relating to project-related travels.

Aspects of research data management (RDM) must already be taken into account in the proposal phase. In the Research Support Office we advise you on the requirements for RDM in applications, which vary depending on the funding programmes. Our research data management working group (RDM@UBT) offers detailed information on their webpage.

The staff at the University Library can advise you on your publication record and all aspects of author identification. In the Research Support Office we also help you to assess your publication record in relation to possible proposals for research funding.

We provide advice on this in the Research Support Office, but in complex cases you should contact the UBT Research Ethics Committee or the UBT Data Protection Officer during the proposal phase. The UBT Statutes for safeguarding the standards of good scientific practice and handling academic misconduct must always be observed.

Our Third Party Funding Office, Unit II/1.1.4, is responsible for the administration of third-party funded projects. The unit can be contacted via the e-mail address drittmittel@uni-bayreuth.de

Please go through the early career webpages of the Research Support Office which informs you on the important funding programmes for early career scholars. There are also regular calls for proposals, which we publish in our newsletter.
If you are interested in a specific funding line, please get in touch with the relevant contact person.
All general aspects of your career stage are dealt with by our Junior Scholar Office (WiN-UBT).

The University of Bayreuth values research transfer, see our transfer strategy. Our Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is responsible for all aspects of research transfer and their team advises our researchers on their transfer endeavours.
Further information as well as events and tenders in relation to research transfer can be found on the Bayern Innovativ webpage.
There are numerous funding opportunities in the area of transfer. In addition to DFG, ERASMUS+, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Fund also offer various programmes for the development and implementation of transfer measures. 

UBT funding instruments geared towards female scholars can be found on the pages of the Gender Equality Service Centre. Regional and national/international offers can also be found in current calls for applications, which you will see in our newsletter.
Information on funding options for female researchers and persons with care responsibilities is also available as part of our regular counselling.

When Unit II/1.1.4 (Third Party Funding Office) has received the approval notice, a cost centre is set up for the project in the funds management system. As a rule, the funds approved in the approval notice of the funding agency are deposited in this cost centre according to the respective cost categories. Once your project’s cost centre has been set up, you will receive a notification from the third-party funds management system. The money received from the funding agency is allocated to your project cost centre. You can monitor your project account via the web-based system HIS-QIS.

The University Library advises you on various aspects of academic publishing, e.g. on the subject of Open Access and on funding options for Open Access. Here you will also find information on the university’s institutional repository EPub Bayreuth and the university bibliography ERef Bayreuth. Our Publication Guideline explains how to use your UBT affiliation correctly. You will also find important information on predatory publishing and author identification on the library's webpage.

Information on the correct wording of the Funding Acknowledgement in a publication can be found on the pages of the University Library.

It is important to communicate with the relevant programme manager of the funding body at an early stage. They have an interest in the success of your project and are usually looking for a constructive solution to your concerns, whereby adjustments must generally be cost-neutral. Once you have identified a solution, please talk to Unit II/1.1.4 (Third Party Funding Office) or to the Research Support Office to consider possible steps to be taken internally.

Depending on the funding agency and their guidelines, accounts are settled at regular intervals (quarterly, every six months, etc.) and at closure of the project. Please contact Unit II/1.1.4 (Third Party Funding Office) for queries regarding your research project’s accounts.

At the end of a third-party funded project, the relevant requirements of the funding agency apply first and foremost. Once the final report has been submitted and the required funds have been spent, the Unit II/1.1.4 (Third Party Funding Office) prepares a statement of use (Verwendungsnachweis), clarifies use of remaining funds with the project owner and finally closes the project’s cost centre.

Residual funds from research projects are generally repaid to the funding agency.