Internationalisation
Science and research today are more international than ever before. That is why TUM supports early international and intercultural collaboration in research, and the creation of personal and institutional networks.
International research stays and activities are an essential part of doctoral qualification. Such activities enable doctoral candidates to gain valuable personal experience as well as useful career objectives.
Therefore, TUM supports international research activities of its doctoral candidates. However, a thorough consultation between the supervisor and the doctoral candidate in the run-up to the stay abroad is required, so that the added value in terms of content, personal training and financial support are brought into a meaningful relationship.
More about the internationalization can be found on the website of TUM GS(link is external).
These include:
- Research stays of at least 2-4 weeks with an industrial company or an academic institute => If the research period is longer than 4 weeks, the doctoral candidate can apply for an additional funding of 1400€. This applies to all doctoral students enrolled under the new regulations (in effect since January 1, 2014)
- Active participation to international congresses, meetings and symposia held abroad (poster/presentation of own research data)
- Invitation of guest scientists for a joint research project at TUM
- Travel expenses to fund travel of dissertation reviewers located at international universities to attend the oral defense
- Work contract from TUM or Klinikum rechts der Isar (MRI)
- Scholarship granted by TUM, MRI, a nonprofit or a governmental organization for a placement at TUM or MRI (e.g. DAAD, Chinese Scholarship Council, programs for gifted students etc.)
- Medicine students (provisional members of TUM-GS)
Criteria for internationalization funding
- Participation in the Kick-off Seminar
- First feedback meeting completed with positive outcome
- Travel/training approval from the HR/travel cost office must be obtained before the actual trip (on the application it must be indicated that the trip is funded by TUM-GS).
- The travel cost office in charge sends a reimbursement application form to the doctoral student. This is filled out after the trip, and sent back together with all the original receipts.
- Application for TUM-GS internationalization funding
- Members of TUM-GS must apply using DocGS (the application must be first activated by the Medical Graduate Center)
- Doctoral students who have enrolled before January 1, 2014 and have no DocGS account must apply manually using the corresponding PDF application form
- All relevant original receipts/proofs of payment
- Certificate of participation at a conference or confirmation of attendance issued by a research institute
Upon return from the stay abroad, all the outstanding documents should be submitted to the program coordinator at the Medical Graduate Center.
- Reimbursement application form
- Application for TUM-GS internationalization funding
- Members of TUM-GS must apply using DocGS (the application must be first activated by the Medical Graduate Center)
- Doctoral students who have enrolled before January 1, 2014 and have no DocGS account must apply manually using the corresponding PDF application form
- All relevant original receipts/proofs of payment
- Certificate of participation at a conference or confirmation of attendance issued by a research institute
- Written declaration of the scholarship-awarding organization to confirm the unavailability of travel funding
Upon return from the stay abroad, all the outstanding documents should be submitted to the program coordinator at the Medical Graduate Center.
- Reimbursement application form
- Application for TUM-GS internationalization funding
- Members of TUM-GS must apply using DocGS (the application must be first activated by the Medical Graduate Center)
- Doctoral students who have enrolled before January 1, 2014 and have no DocGS account must apply manually using the corresponding PDF application form
- All relevant original receipts/proofs of payment
- Certificate of participation at a conference or confirmation of attendance issued by a research institute
Upon return from the stay abroad, all the outstanding documents should be submitted to the program coordinator at the Medical Graduate Center.
- Travel expenses (Economy class, 2nd class). Provided it is not an overseas trip, travelling by air must be conclusively justified.
- Transfer costs to/from the airport or train station. It is generally preferred to use public transport for this purpose.
- Travelling by private/rented car or taxi (This must be discussed in advance with MGC!).
- The use of a private car is only allowed for valid reasons or if a clear cost saving can be proven. Fuel expenses cannot be reimbursed.
- Car rental expenses can be reimbursed only for justifiable reasons, which should be stated in the bill, or if a clear cost saving can be proven. Fuel expenses can be reimbursed only upon submission of all original receipts.
- Taxi expenses can be reimbursed only for justifiable reasons, which should be stated in the bill (e.g. workplace hardly or not at all accessible by public transport, essential bulky luggage needs to be transported, cost saving through shared use of a taxi by two or more doctoral students, health reasons etc. This must, however, be verified).
- Rental and hotel expenses. Please note that in accordance with the Bavarian travel expenses legislation (BayRKG), there is a fixed upper limit for the international accommodation allowance. Current information (2022): https://www.lff.bayern.de/download/nebenleistungen/reisekosten/auslandstg_010121.pdf. MGC can provide you with more information on this topic.
- Visa fees
- Fees for conferences and symposia
- University registration/library fees or other similar costs
- In justified cases: extra charge for excess, bulky or special baggage, as long as this is absolutely essential for the research stay.
NB: If the congress fees for non-members are higher than for members including the membership fee, TUM GS will also cover the costs of membership if the total costs can be kept lower as a result.
Non-refundable costs:
- Any form of insurance
- Meals (unless they are included in the conference fees)
- Purchase of material
- Other private expenditures
Cut-off period
The entitlement to the reimbursement of travel expenses expires, if it is not asserted in writing within 6 months of the date of conclusion of the service (Art. 3 para. 5 clause 1 BayRKG). Any advanced payment must be repaid in full, if the settlement is not received within the 6-month period. For internal doctoral candidates, the date of submission to the travel cost office is decisive for compliance with the cut-off deadline.
Combining internationalization with travel for private purposes
If the internationalization is combined with a private trip, the allowance for travel expenses is to be calculated as if the trip is purely for service purposes. For earlier/later arrivals and departures due to vacations, a price comparison must be submitted, showing that the airfare will not be increased due to the private trip. The airfare comparison is to be carried out on the same day as the booking and with the same airline. The doctoral students are responsible for any additional expenses.
Doctoral students with a research assistant contract (“Wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft”) at TUM or MRI (i.e. not medicine students) can only apply for the internationalization grant(link is external).
The central travel cost office of TUM or MRI calculates a daily allowance for the day of arrival and departure, as well as the travel expenses for flight, train, and any other necessary costs. Within the scope of the TUM-GS-internationalization initiative, only the amount calculated and instructed for payment by the central travel cost office can be reimbursed.
Special case A1 certificate: All TUM/MRI employees must apply for this certificate, if the internationalization takes place in another EU country. In case of statutory health insurance, the application must be submitted to the respective statutory health insurance company. The corresponding TUM/MRI travel cost office can provide more information on this topic.
Application for travel refund (only for doctoral candidates who are not employed at TUM)