Travel Awards for Conferences, Congresses, Symposia and Workshops

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 2025:

• The eligible funding period: 1^st October 2025 to 30^th December 2026
• Applications for funding for the participation in digital events are possible. In this case, please add a screentshot of the digital events showing the participation fees to your application.
• Please note that the decisions on funding will presumably be released beginning January 2026.

Membership at the Graduate Academy:
Your GA-membership will be administered by Promovendus from September 2020 onwards. You can log in to Promovendus via your ZIH login. If you are already a member of the Graduate Academy, you can find the information related to your GA-membership directly on the start page of Promovendus. The reference number of your Graduate Academy membership is also listed here.

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 the Travel Award can only support your participation in events that are directly related to your doctorate / postdoctoral phase.
If you are planning to attend conferences 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 awards support doctoral candidates and postdocs with travel allowances to attend congresses, conferences, symposia and workshops within Germany and abroad. Generally, active participation is expected (e.g. poster or presentation). Eligible for funding are events in presence as well as digital formats.

If you are applying for reimbursement for participation in a digital event, please include a screenshot of the digital event including the participation fees with your application.

Please note:
The aim of the funding program Travel Awards is to enhance the academic profile and visibility of early career researchers at TU Dresden. Therefore only events where the research is presented to a wide audience are eligible for funding. Workshops with the character of colloquia do not meet the programme objective.

The maximum travel allowance amounts to:

• 300.00 for the participation in digital events
• 750.00 EUR for the participation in events within Germany and Europe*
• 1,500.00 EUR for the participation in events outside of Europe

The travel award 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.

Europe* (geographic terms): Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City, Cyprus

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 "call for applications".

If you are applying for reimbursement for participation in a digital event, please include a screenshot of the digital event including the participation fees with your application.

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

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.

Next application deadline is 30^th September 2025 – Support of events which may take place earliest from 1^st October 2025 until 30^th September 2026.

Please note that the selection results will be released by the Graduate Academy about 12 to 14 weeks after the application deadline. With regard to your planning reliability we thus highly recommend applying for travel allowances for events which may start 15^th January 2026 at the earliest.
Please consider that applicants applying for retroactive funding for events which take place between October - January have to ensure coverage of already occurred costs by different means, should their GA application not be successful.

No, it is only possible to apply for travel allowances for one event only. Thus, it is not possible to hand in various applications for different events at the deadline of the call.
But it is possible, of course, to apply for a travel award in the frame of each published call (deadlines: March 31^st and September 30^th). 
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).

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. Applications for Travel Awards are possible only if such an attendance during your maternity/parental leave is compatible with the guidelines of the scholarship provider or your employer. It is absolutely necessary to ask in advance and before submitting your application, if your donor allows or supports such travels.

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 awards 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 event 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 Award" funding program does not exist.

Trips funded by the Graduate Academy must always be approved (and settled) via the Graduate Academy.

The necessary forms for the travel application can be found on the website of the Travel Expenses Office:  List of forms for business and education/training trips

[Detailed information on the settlement process for GA grants can be found in the section “Information on travel expense claim & reimbursement”.]

Information for TUD staff

• In the case of mixed financing  (GA funding & cost coverage by the institute/professorship), the completed travel application including the approval of means under No. 15 for the source for financing of the institute/professorship, the preliminary travel cost check under No. 16 and the signed order under No. 17 must be submitted by the institute/professorship to the Graduate Academy before the start of the trip. The final approval the approvel of funds from the Graduate Academy will be completed under No. 15. The original travel application remains at the Graduate Academy and - as soon as the travel expenses claim has been submitted to the Graduate Academy and checked for completeness - will be forwarded with travel expense claim to the Travel Expenses Office for final processing. 
• In the case of retroactive funding (= Funding approval after the trip), please submit the completed travel application, which has been fully approved by the institute/professorship, including the settlement documents (travel expenses claim) to the Graduate Academy promptly after receipt of the Letter of Award.
• In the case of trips funded exclusively by the Graduate Academy, the travel application approved by the institute/professorship under no. 17, including the accounting documents, must be submitted to the Graduate Academy promptly after the end of the trip or, in the case of retroactive funding,

  after receiving the Letter of Award. [Leave the approval of funds empty in the travel application!]

Information for third parties (scholarship holders, WHK)

The term “third parties” refers to scholarship holders, research assistants and external doctoral candidates.

• Third parties submit the completed travel application including the settlement documents (travel expenses claim) directly to the Graduate Academy after the end of the trip or, in the case of retroactive funding, after receipt of the Letter of Award.
• The travel application and the travel expense report must be completed and signed in full in accordance with the actual travel route and the costs incurred.

For further information on the administrative handling of Business and Education/training trips, the settlement of the travel expense at TU Dresden and current information can be found on the  Website of the Travel Expenses Office of TUD (Team 2.4.1)

Information for employees of the Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden

Awardees with an employment contract at the UKD are asked to contact the Graduate Academy () directly for the processing of travel applications and travel expense claims.  

• Booking of flight and rail tickets
  In preparation of travel trips, bookings for rail and flight tickets can be operated through the travel services of TU Dresden:
  • Website TU Travel Service (AMEX GBT)
  • Email:
  • Application form (in German only)

Please note that for bookings through AMEX GBT the signed (by the Graduate Academy) travel application form has to be submitted as copy/scan. Without a signed and approved travel application form, AMEX GBT does not arrange any bookings.

• Booking of Hotels
  Use of the free HRS Business Portal (Hotel Reservation Service). For further information on cooperations between TU Dresden and other providers, please contact the  Travel Expenses Office (Team 2.4.1) 

An advance payment on the expected travel costs can be applied for under no. 18 of the travel application. An advance payment must be applied for at least two weeks before the start of the trip, but no earlier than four weeks before the start of the trip. Costs that have already been paid in advance, such as flight costs, can be covered 100 % in advance with appropriate proof (invoice including confirmation of payment). Up to 80 % of the calculated costs of the trip can be taken into account in the advance payment.

Trips funded by the Graduate Academy must always be (approved and) settled via the Graduate Academy.

The Graduate Academy's travel allowances (Travel Award, short research stays, summer & winter schools, trips within Lab2Lab) are not paid out as a lump sum, but are processed in accordance with the SächsRKG and the TU Dresden travel expense regulations (from June 2018) via a travel application and a corresponding Travel expenses claim. 

Please note: 

• Travel expenses claims are NOT to be forwarded to the travel expenses office independently via the institute/professorship!

• Funding can only be claimed if a valid membership status in the Graduate Academy exists at the time of the short-term research stay.

Travel expenses claim

• funding approved before the trip: The awardee is obliged to submit all documents for the travel expense report to the Graduate Academy as soon as possible after the end of the trip.
• funding approved after the trip: If you receive a positive funding decision from the Graduate Academy after the trip, please send the complete travel expense report to the Graduate Academy immediately after receiving the funding decision. In addition to the formal review of the travel expense report (and the according documents), the GA as source funding will then be supplemented.
• in the case of mixed funding: If the travel costs exceed the amount of funding and your institute/professorship covers the difference, both sources of funding will be noted in the travel expense report.

Information on reimbursement

In accordance with the applicable factual and legal situation § 16 Abs.1 SächsRKG, the payment of the approved travel allowance is made exclusively as an education/training trip in patial interests of work (“Fortbildungsreise im teilweise dienstlichen Interesse”). There is therefore no entitlement to payment of a lump sum daily allowance. Reimbursement of catering costs (if still available in the funding amount) will be made on the basis of original receipts up to a maximum of the lump sum daily allowance. The travel allowance for your short-term research stay will be invoiced on a daily basis.

In general, proof of payment alone is not sufficient for reimbursement. Expenses are reimbursed based on original receipts (e.g. till receipts, restaurant bills, etc.). Only in exceptional cases, such as for public transportation where no receipt is issued, reimbursement based on proof of payment may be possible.

As part of the Travel expenses claim, a detailed list of all expenditures with the corresponding original receipts must be submitted to the Graduate Academy. If the formal requirements are not met, the Graduate Academy reserves the right to return the documents for revision

Template: Overview of expenses & receipts

Please note: Meal receipts must be affixed to DIN A4 paper sorted by date. Non-reimbursable items, i.e. items that are not beverages/food on the meal receipts, must be crossed out.  

All further forms for the travel application and travel expense report can be found on the website of the Travel Expenses Office of TUD:  List of forms for business and education/training trips

ONLY for Travel Award: Participation and settlement of a virtual event

If the approved event takes place in virtual form, the form Antrag auf Erstattung von Auslagen für die Teilnahme an einer virtuellen Veranstaltung must be submitted.
Please note: The inofficial translation is for your information only – please DO NOT use this form!

If you have not yet received any cash expenses in the past or if your bank account details have changed, please also use the form Erstmeldung der Bankverbindung für Barauslagen
Please note: The inofficial translation is for your information only – please DO NOT use this form!

Invoice address

For all bookings in the context of a GA funded travel trip, please use the following invoice address:

Technische Universität Dresden | Zentraler Rechnungseingang | "PSP Element according to the Letter of Award" | Graduiertenakademie, 01062 Dresden.

Invoicing of the participation fees 

Please note that the invoice for the participation fees

• issued by an organizer from an EU country must include the UStID of the TU Dresden (DE188369991) as well as the organizers UStID.
• issued by an organizer from a non-EU country must not include the TU Dresden VAT ID (corresponds to a net invoice).

At the end of the funding period, a final report must be submitted to the Graduate Academy together with the travel expense report.

Template: Final Report Travel Award & Travel Grant