Various measures can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity for persons involved as researchers in DFG projects with the aim of improving the compatibility of academic work and family commitments. However, the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity cannot be used to fund corresponding measures for administrative and technical staff.
The underlying requirement for the financing of childcare costs in DFG funded programmes is that such financing is guaranteed under the relevant local state legislation. To find out details, please consult your local equity office, family office or travel expenses office.
Additionally, for reimbursement to be approved,
Childcare costs can be reimbursed in the form of a subsidy up to the following maximum rates:
The following must be documented on site:
Insofar as the DFG finances personnel expenditure, including childcare costs, it does not assume the role of employer at any time. The employer bears sole responsibility for compliance with the statutory requirements and the provisions of the relevant funding guidelines, in particular for observing the prohibition of favouritism (Besserstellungsverbot). This means that the employer is also responsible for appropriate application of the provisions under Section 3 EStG.
Insofar as the relevant state legislation guarantees the financing of childcare costs, the tax provisions under Section 3 EStG apply with regard to the amount of financing that is available. The following principles apply, depending on the childcare required:
This is only possible in connection with the care of relatives who require a certain level of long-term care according to the national scheme.
The following conditions have been established by the DFG’s funding bodies for the use of DFG funds to cover care costs for those requiring care. The DFG is obliged to implement these conditions; therefore the following applies:
In the case of long-term care, it is assumed that basic supervision needs are already covered. For this reason, the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can only be used to finance special care services that go beyond basic care needs and for which the caregivers are not available for project-specific reasons (e.g. due to congress visits). In this connection, only those costs that exceed the expenses already reimbursed according to the long-term care level under the national scheme can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.
What is more, care provision for relatives must be financed through the university or a service provider contracted by it, i.e. there must be no direct flow of money to a caregiver who is involved in the project. For this purpose, the university must offer the relevant services for people with care needs (e.g. by cooperating with a family service that is able to provide such support).
Here, too, the prohibition of favouritism (“Besserstellungsverbot”) must be observed. According to this, persons funded by the DFG may not receive better benefits than persons funded based on locally applicable collective bargaining law – including any additional collective bargaining allowances that may exist.
This means that respective support or care measures for relatives in need of care must be available to all individuals who are involved in research activities at the institution.
When setting up parent-child rooms at research institutions, the required items/fittings can be funded from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity providing the facilities are used by DFG-funded research staff and this constitutes an additional need (over and above core support). If the parent-child room is used exclusively by researchers involved in the research network, full funding is possible from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.
Items/fittings that can be funded (proportionally according to the use by DFG-funded researchers) include the following:
The Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can be used to finance a work-from-home office or a mobile workplace for active researchers with family obligations (childcare or the care of relatives who require a certain level of long-term care according to the national scheme) according to the provisions applicable at the institution concerned. This is only possible if such benefits do not already exist as part of the usual resources available to employees at the institution, and if the support is necessary and possible from the point of view of both the project and the family situation. Regulations regarding working from home and mobile work must be fundamentally in place at the institution. The existing regulations are to be applied accordingly in the research network or project.
Technical equipment is eligible for funding if it is required in order to carry out project-specific work and is not already available in connection with core support (for example the PC at the institute workplace). In other words, an adequately equipped workplace must continue to be available on site at the institution/university. Any additional equipment required for a work-from-home or mobile work set-up is to be procured by the research network/project management and remains the property of the university. Subject to this condition, laptops or docking stations can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity, for example. It is not possible to finance such items as the provision of wireless LAN, additional electricity consumption or office furniture for a work-from-home set-up.
The Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can be used to finance relief staff to perform routine activities on behalf of researchers if the latter are subject to a double burden of research work and family obligations.
Relief staff – usually student assistants – are to be employed for a limited period of time and to an appropriate extent. The assessment and justification of what is appropriate is carried out by the funding recipient with the involvement of their HR department. An overall assessment can be used as a basis here. Here, consideration must be given to the necessary scope and time involved in deploying auxiliary staff in order to provide efficient project-specific relief for researchers with families. The decision is to be based on an assessment of the relevant overload/relief in the case of a double burden due to family and work, with due regard given to economic efficiency; this decision is to be documented and kept on site for audit purposes.
Research Training Groups are intended to enable female doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to advance their doctoral projects or other projects as quickly as possible in spite of health and/or legal restrictions on their ability to work during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
If the doctoral/postdoctoral researcher is unable or not permitted to carry out certain tasks due to pregnancy or the need to care for their infant, student or technical assistants can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity for the purpose of substitution or support, for example.
If these funds are not sufficient, additional funds can be made available for this specific support of female doctoral and postdoctoral researchers (cf. also Proposal Preparation Instructions - Proposals to Establish Research Training Groups and International Research Training Groups DFG form 54.0,). If you have further questions, please contact the person responsible for the supervision of your Research Training Group
For individual grants, Research Units and Priority Programmes as well as in Collaborative Research Centres, the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can also be used to finance support staff for female researchers involved in the project
For individual grants, Research Units and Priority Programmes, it must be considered whether the funds from the allowance should be used in a non-bureaucratic manner (also) for this measure or whether they should be retained for other projects in the area of equity and a supplemental proposal must be submitted instead. For information on the possibilities of such a supplemental proposal (replacement/catch-up period or support staff), please refer to the third drop-down box on www.dfg.de/chancengleichheit/ausfallzeite.
Here you will find the right contacts at the DFG Head Office for various matters: