Acquisition of Third-party Funding

In principle, all full-time university members are entitled to apply for and conduct research initiatives financed by third-party funds if their duties include independent research. This includes professors and temporary teaching staff. See also (in German)

Research Support Services regularly supplies information about relevant calls for research initiatives.  
HWR Berlin also cooperates with FIT, the Information Service for Research, International Affairs, and Knowledge Transfer. Through the FIT Funding Database you can subscribe to an e-mail service that provides you with relevant and directed information about research funding opportunities.
A comprehensive list of all the important funding bodies for research initiatives as well as scholarships can be found on Research Support Services’ website.

A comprehensive list of all the important funding bodies for research initiatives as well as scholarships can be found on Research Support Services’ website.

Before you start an application for your planned research project, you should work out whether your third-party funded project is a grant without expectation of return services. This is usually the case for all projects funded by the EU, the DFG, BMBF, foundations, and the like. There are third-party funded projects in the so-called sovereign sector.

Another option is contract research, in other words, research output is exchanged for payment on a contractual basis. If this is the case, you should be aware that contract research is generally subject to VAT and a full cost calculation is required. This must already be taken into account when at the point of submission. Please examine the document (in German): "Guidelines and Information on the Implementation of HWR Berlin’s Third-party Funding Statutes" on HWR Berlin’s intranet.

The University Board must be kept informed of all planned acquisition of third‐party funding. Please use the form (in German) „Notification of Planned Research or of a Development Project in accordance with §7 of the Third-party Funding Statutes“ on the HWR Berlin intranet.

Please contact Research Support Services well ahead of submitting an application to allow for sufficient time to be allocated to all steps of the process. We can provide you with information as well as support in the planning of your project. Additionally, we can assist in the preparation of the application, in budget calculation and in elements of the process right up to the point of application submission to third-party funding bodies.

Please ensure that you claim a lump-sum overhead of at least 22% of the total costs from the third-party funding provider, even in the case of so-called grant projects, unless the funding provider expressly prohibits this.

As a rule, funding bodies provide very detailed and explicit guidance on the scope of individual applications, as well as the structure and the objectives of the funding.

Please adhere exactly to these guidelines and refer to the respective funding objectives of the programme in question. Research Support Services can provide you with administrative support and assistance with content, should questions concerning the application process arise

In most cases, personnel, material and travel funds for a given project form the basis of a funding application. In the case of especially large projects funded by third parties, funding for the relief of teaching loads may be applied for. This is also granted in accordance with the rules pertaining our research concept.

Please note that financial planning plays an important role in the evaluation of applications. The budget must be plausibly fit the scope of the project.

Be sure to discuss your financial plan with Central Division Research Support Services.
Calculation bases for the individual items can be found in the document "Guidelines for the Preparation of Financial Plans" (in German)" on the HWR Berlin intranet .

Applications, contracts and offers for all types of third-party funded research initiatives must be signed off by the President of HWR Berlin (see "Guidelines for the Implementation of HWR Berlin’s Third-party Funding Statutes" on the HWR Berlin intranet).

Bedenken Sie, dass bei allen Drittelvorhaben die Hochschule die Antragstellerin bzw. Anbieterin ist.

Bear in mind that for all third-party funding initiatives the university is the designated applicant or provider.
To this end, all documents required for an application must be made available to Research Support Services. We will review the documents and then pass them on to the Vice President for Research. The Vice-President will then pass the application documents on to the President so that they may be verified and signed. Please provide the documents to Research Support Services at least 10 days prior to application’s formal submission.