Travel Grants for short-term research stays and summer / winter schools within Germany and abroad

Doctoral candidates, postdocs, TUD Young Investigators and Junior Professors of all disciplines at the TU Dresden who are full members of the Graduate Academy are eligible to apply for a travel allowance.

Note on the application deadline 30^th September 2026:

• The eligible funding period: 1^st October 2025 to 30^th September 2026
• Please note that the decisions on funding will presumably be released beginning January 2026.

Membership at the Graduate Academy:
If you are not yet a member of the Graduate Academy, please follow the instructions of Promovendus for membership. Further information can be found on the website of the Graduate Academy. If you have any questions, we will be happy to support you!

Please note that associate members of the Graduate Academy and postdocs with a GA-HZDR membership are, contrary to full/regular members, not eligible to file applications for the Graduate Academy's funding programs. All other services are open to associated members and postdocs with a GA-HZDR membership.

Information for applicants from the field of Medicine (General Medicine) / Dentistry
As an applicant from the field of Medicine / Dentistry, please note that this funding program can only support your participation in research stays / summer/winter schools that are directly related to your doctorate / postdoctoral phase.
If you are planning to carry out research stays or attend summer/winter schools in the context of your medical studies, please kindly refer to the FOSTER Funding Program of the Center for Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching at TU Dresden, which provides funding for student research activities.

Travel grants support doctoral candidates, postdocs, TUD Young Investigators and Junior Professors with travel allowances to carry out research stays up to three months as well as the participation in summer and winter schools within Germany and abroad. The short-term research stays should not be less than two weeks. Should the latter apply to you, please contact the Graduate Academy. The travel grants provide among others support for experimental work, fieldwork, library and archial research, expertise exchange and networking as well as the acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

The maximum travel allowance is up to EUR 3,600.00 for a research duration of three months within Germany and Europe (maximum EUR 1,200.00 per month) and up to 4,500.00 EUR for a research duration of three months outside of Europe (maximum of 1,500.00 EUR per month).
Summer and winter schools may be supported up to EUR 1,000.00 in total.

The travel grant of the Graduate Academy will NOT be paid as an allowance, but is operated under the Terms and Conditions of the Saxon Regulations of Travel Expenses (SächsRKG) and the travel expense policy of the TU Dresden. First of all, a travel application form has to be filled out; afterwards the settlement/reimbursement of the travel expenses has to be claimed. The SächsRKG operates under the reimbursement law; this means that the awardee has to cover all expenses by him/her in advance. At the end of the travel trip, reimbursement of the occurred travel expenses has to be claimed. For more information on this topic please see Information for Awardees.

For short-term research stays abroad:
For children (age: up to max. 12 years), accompanying the applicant during the research stay abroad, a childcare allowance up to maximum EUR 500.00 on the basis of evidence can be applied for the entire duration of the research stay.

All documents which have to be handed in with the application are listed on the respective call. Thus, we kindly ask you to carefully read through the funding program's "Terms and Conditions".

Should you apply for a childcare allowance for accompanying children in the frame of a short-term research stay abroad:
Please document the childcare costs which might incurre during the research stay (offers sufficient). In case of funding, the booking vouchers / invoices for the childcare costs to be settled have to be handed in to the Graduate Academy.

Your supervising professor is the primary supervisor, who is officially responsible for you during your doctorate and who signed the supervision agreement.

No, it is only possible to apply for travel allowances for one research stay or the participation in one summer/winter school only. Thus, it is not possible to hand in various applications for different research stays and/or the participation in different summer/winter schools at the deadline of the call. But it is possible, of course, to apply for a travel grant in the frame of each published call. Nevertheless please note that as a rule, members of the Graduate Academy can only be funded with one short-term scholarship und up to three mobility grants per qualification phase (doctorate/postdoc).

Yes, as stated in the call for applications short-term research stays and/or the participation in summer/winter schools within Germany can be funded by the Graduate Academy.

No, it is not possible to receive a scholarship (short- or long-term) or a mobility grant (short-term research stay/summer/winter school) of the Graduate Academy/TU Dresden during parental leave. The payment of any scholarship rests during parental leave. In case of pregnancy, the payment of the scholarship will continue during the maternity protection period according to the Maternity Protection Law and after the end of the parental leave. The interruption during that time will not be charged on the length of the scholarship.

The selection takes place by the executive committee of the Graduate Academy on the basis of the application handed in.  Based on the committee decision, the director of the Graduate Academy authorizes the travel awards. The travel grants are performance-based fundings and have to go through a competitive selection process. The main selection criteria are: qualification of the applicant (academic performance, publications, prizes/awards), quality and relevance of the research stay/participation in the summer/winter school within the frame of the scientific research project, quality of the letter of recommendation and life circumstances (social criteria: e.g. children, family members in need of care). Please note: a fundamental legal right to claim funding within the "Travel grants for short-term research stays and summer/winter schools within Gemrany and Abroad" funding program does not exist.

Next application deadlin is 30^th September 2025 – support of research stays/the participation in summer/winter schools abroad which may take place earliest from 1^st October 2025 until 30^th September 2026.

Within the form “Letter of Recommendation” the academic supervisor*, who has to fill out the recommendation letter, is requested to evaluate the academic performance of his/her doctoral candidate. Thereby the supervisor can choose between "Exceptional", "Above Average", "Average" and "No assessment possible“. This represents a subjective decision of the supervisor and should not be related to the ECTS-Grade or the ranking lists of the examination office (e.g., ranking position within the course of study in the final year).

*The “Letter of Recommendation” has be filled out in general by your first academic supervisor or young investigator, who signed the supervision agreement and is also your main supervisor in accordance to the confirmation of acceptance by the doctoral office.