“Special categories of personal data” are those “revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and (...) genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation”.

In the context of measures to promote equity, this includes information on

• maternity leave,
• pregnancy,
• employment ban due to pregnancy or breastfeeding or
• state of health
• with regard to one’s own person or to others.

If you wish to submit such data to the DFG Head Office (this also applies to data relating to your research assistants or family members), we require your consent to the processing of this information. Additionally, we may require your consent to forwarding this information to reviewers and committee members. Please use DFG form 73.01 for this purpose (Consent A, combined with Consent B, if required; submit the completed form via elan).

As a general rule, please do not mention any information about third parties, or as little as possible. For information about children, month and year of birth are sufficient (do not indicate any names). With respect to the care of relatives, no further details on the person’s state of health, nor any names or family relationships are required – except for the nursing care degree.

If you only wish to provide information on parental leave (without referring to pregnancy or maternity leave), you do not need consent as this information does not classify as particularly sensitive.

• Further information on data protection

In case of absence for family-related reasons (e.g. maternity leave, parental leave or the obligation to look after relatives in need of care), please first discuss the matter with your HR department and Equal Opportunities Office. The DFG endeavours to find a solution in each individual case. This solution will seek to do justice to the continuation of the funded project as far as possible, as well as ensuring the supervision of the staff working on the project and their further academic training, and taking into account project leaders’ legally protected interests (entitlement to maternity leave and, where applicable, parental leave).

Options

There are the following options: details can be found under the subheadings "Specific regulations" as well as "Information of the DFG Head Office and submission of proposals" (below):

• Continuation of the project with a supervision concept if the project leader is absent for up to 6 months 
• Discontinuation of the project in case of absence of more than 6 months
• (change of project management)
• Additional funds for support/relief staff (during the project duration) 
• Cost-neutral extension of the project duration

Specific regulations 

In case of a family-related absence of up to six months after the birth of a child, the project can usually be continued and the working group can continue to be financed. For this purpose, the project leader must set out a coherent supervision concept to the programme contacts at the Head Office showing how scientific leadership of the project will be guaranteed during the absence (for further information see below).

For the subsequent period – i.e. from six months after the birth onwards – the DFG generally expects the project leader to return for at least eight hours per week (or 20 percent of a full-time equivalent position).

If the project leader plans to be absent for more than six months for family-related reasons, the project must be interrupted. In principle, no project funds can be disbursed during this period. If ongoing, indispensable costs need to be covered during the project interruption (e.g. ongoing costs for staff for plant care, animal husbandry, etc.), please contact the Programme Officers responsible regarding the options.

In exceptional cases, the project may be transferred to another person; in this case, an agreement on reassignment after return to the project should also be assessed and discussed directly with the responsible Programme Officer at the DFG Head Office (to find out which Programme Officer is responsible, see the contact details in the award letter). Under the Emmy Noether Programme and in connection with the Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators module, it is not possible to transfer the project to another person since the aim of these programmes is to promote the individual researcher.

A proposal can be submitted for a cost-neutral extension of the project for the duration of the project leader’s period of absence, whether this is a complete absence or part-time work (see below for details). It is also possible to apply for additional funds for support/relief staff, depending on the additional requirements actually incurred during the period of absence, whether this is a complete absence from the project or part-time work for family-related reasons. The funds can be used as follows:

• to cover project-specific routine activities relating to project leadership
• to maintain time-critical projects or those which cannot be interrupted
• in the case of an employment ban due to pregnancy which would affect project-specific activities

In all these cases, funding can usually be applied for to recruit student assistants or research assistants (see below for details). Alternatively, if the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity is available in a sufficient amount, it can also be used to fund support/relief staff. Within the project, it must be considered whether the funds from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can be used in a non-bureaucratic manner or whether they should be retained for other projects related to equity and diversity, and, instead, additional funds are to be applied for.

Under the Emmy Noether Programme and in connection with the Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators module, the project leader can reduce their position to up to 50 percent of a full-time equivalent for family-related reasons – e.g. due to an obligation to look after children or relatives in need of care – and extend the duration of the project accordingly. A lower percentage position is only possible for the purpose of parental leave, and here the minimum permitted is 20 percent.

Information of the DFG Head Office and submission of proposals

Please inform the programme contact at the Head Office of your plans as soon as possible. Use DFG form 73.01 to provide information on maternity leave, pregnancy, employment bans due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, or health status. This form also allows you to submit the following information: If your project is to continue in the event of an absence of a maximum of six months from the birth of the child, please submit a supervision concept. This should contain the following details:

• Absences and expected re-entry of the project leader (with subsequent part-time percentage where applicable).
• Supervision of the researchers employed in the project, if necessary also by other contact persons on site. Responsibility for project leadership in this case remains with the absent individual. Substitution of the project leader themselves is not possible.
• Rough overview of how the organisation and project content is to be handled during the period of absence.
• In the case of collaborative projects (Priority Programmes and Research Units), additional clarification of how and to what extent the concerns of the other collaborative projects have been taken into account.

If you require compensation in the form of support/relief staff (usually student assistant/research assistants) to cover for a family-related absence or part-time work, please provide plausible scientific justification in a brief and informal supplemental proposal (provided the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity is not being used for this purpose). The DFG Head Offices will assess whether or not this is necessary for the project. A review may be required; in this case, your proposal will be forwarded to reviewers and committee members. For this reason, please only submit (personal) information that you feel is indispensable for the review of the supplemental proposal. If you are submitting data that is subject to special protection, please use DFG form 73.01 for the proposal, and consent to data processing or forwarding by ticking A and B on DFG form 73.01. If you only wish to provide information on parental leave (without referring to pregnancy or maternity leave), you do not need to use DFG form 73.01 as this information does not classify as particularly sensitive. In this case, the proposal can be submitted without the need for a specific form. The supplemental proposal should contain information on the following points, for example:

• Absences and expected re-entry of the project leader (with subsequent part-time percentage where applicable).
• Plausible scientific justification of the additional needs
• Rough overview of which project assignments will be delayed due to the absence
• Rough overview of what is to be done by the additional assistant and when/for how long
• Where relevant, supervision of the assistant during the absence (the existing supervision concept can be used if there is one)

A proposal for a cost-neutral term extension (DFG form 41.45 or informal) can be uploaded via the elan portal. You can submit this as an attachment to DFG form 73.01.

Options

There are the following options: please refer to the subheading “Specific regulations” (below) for further details:

• Employment of the substitute
• Additional funding for the “catch-up period” in case of a fixed-term employment contract pursuant to § 2(1) WissZeitVG
• Redirection/reallocation of available funds
• Support/relief staff
• Cost-neutral extension of the funding period

The project leader is asked to inform the programme contacts at the Head Office about the plans for their project as soon as possible. If you provide information on maternity leave, pregnancy, employment bans due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, or health status, please consent to the processing of such data or submit the data via DFG form 73.01 (Part A).

Specific regulations

To compensate for absences or part-time work on the part of the research assistants employed in the project due to maternity leave, parental leave or employment bans during pregnancy or breastfeeding, the project leader may in principle employ a substitute for the period in question to take over the tasks of the research assistants in their absence where necessary. The substitute is financed from the funds for the position in question where the original holder will be absent. Funding can be provided for no longer than up to the end of the employment contract of the absent staff member and up to the amount of the personnel cost category (cf. DFG form 60.12) approved for the absent staff member (cf. Funding Guidelines 2.00 section 4.10.1). The personnel funding freed up in this way is to be used to finance the substitute of the person on maternity and parental leave.

The DFG assumes that the project leader will first plan together with the staff member which work is to be carried out by the substitute during the absence and how, after their return, the mother or father will be given the opportunity to continue or complete their personal academic qualifications in addition to working on the project. Documentation is to be drawn up of these discussions including any agreements made, e.g. on the distribution of assignments in a way that makes sense for all parties involved.

If a research assistant is not allowed to carry out certain tasks themselves for health reasons due to pregnancy and/or breastfeeding, but no employment ban applies and this work cannot be taken on by other members of the working group, the project leader can apply for additional funding for support/relief staff (usually for student assistants) to carry out this work. Please submit your proposal using DFG form 73.01 (Consent A) via the elan portal or by sending an e-mail to the programme contact at the Head Office. Alternatively, if the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity is available in a sufficient amount, it can also be used to finance support staff. Within the project, it must be considered whether the funds from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can (also) be used in a non-bureaucratic manner for this measure or whether they should be retained for other projects related to equity and diversity and, instead, additional funds are to be applied for.

When a staff member returns to or catches up with the project who was absent due to maternity and parental leave, the DFG provides additional funds as needed where the individual is subject to a fixed-term employment contract under § 2(1) Act on Temporary Employment in Higher Education (WissZeitVG: “Qualifizierungsbefristung”; cf. the Funding Guidelines relevant to the project; cf. DFG Form 2.00, section 4.7). A proposal for additional personnel funding due to the need to make up lost time under § 2(1) WissZeitVG can be submitted by the project leader to the Financial Grant Management team using DFG form 41.44 (Section B) at the following e-mail address (fin2@dfg.de).

If the employment contract was concluded based on § 2(2) WissZeitVG (fixed-term third-party funding/Drittmittelbefristung), there is no entitlement to a contract extension and the DFG does not provide additional funding. If no substitute is to be deployed, the personnel resources allocated to a staff member going on parental leave can be used when the researcher returns. If a substitute has been hired, it may be possible to continue or extend the employment contract of the absent staff member after their return, if necessary by reallocating any remaining project funds. A combination of both is possible. Any procedure of this nature must be coordinated with the responsible Programme Officer at the DFG Head Office as soon as possible.

If the remaining project duration is not sufficient to carry out work that is required for the project and make up for the absence of a returning research assistant, it is possible to submit a proposal for a cost-neutral extension of the project duration. This can be uploaded via the elan portal or addressed to the programme contact at the DFG Head Office and should contain a substantive justification and explanation of the project work that remains to be done. DFG form 41.45 should be used for this proposal; the proposal can also be submitted without using a specific form, however.  

Example:

In a DFG-funded project under the Research Grants Programme, the position of “Doctoral researcher or comparable” was approved at 65 percent for 36 months. After about one year of the project duration, the doctoral researcher takes parental leave for one year to care for their child, who was born on 12 May 2021. On 12 May 2022, that person rejoins the project, taking on their regular working hours as before; their contract runs for another year. During this person’s one-year absence, a substitute is remunerated at 65 percent as a “Doctoral researcher or comparable” in accordance with the DFG's personnel funding rates. If the doctoral researcher is employed on a fixed-term basis pursuant to § 2(1) WissZeitVG (so-called “Qualifizierungsbefristung”), the project leader can apply for additional funding for the “catch-up period”. In this example, funding is provided for a “Doctoral researcher and comparable” position at 65 percent for one year. The doctoral researcher’s contract can be extended by one year.

In Collaborative Research Centres (CRC), the project should be continued as far as possible if the leader of an individual project takes a family-related absence (e.g. maternity leave, parental leave or looking after relatives in need of care). Both in the case of a complete absence due to maternity leave and parental leave and in the case of part-time work for family-related reasons, an individual project leader can be relieved of project-specific tasks by hiring a qualified assistant for a limited period of time. The amount of relief should be based on the number of hours specified in the CRC proposal which the individual project leader has specified for their participation in the project.

These expenses can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Gender Equality Measures or from funds saved elsewhere. If this is not possible and no funding can be provided from core support, the required funds can be applied for additionally.

In any case, the DFG must be informed of periods of complete absence on the part of the individual project leader and an alternative supervision concept must be submitted for individual project staff members.

If you wish to provide the DFG with information on maternity protection, pregnancy or bans on work due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, please use DFG form 73.01 (incl. Consent A).

In order to ensure continuation of the individual project, the project leader is free to hire a substitute for the period of absence taken by a research assistant due to maternity leave, parental leave or the obligation to look after relatives in need of care. The substitute is to be financed from the personnel funds that are freed up due to the absence of the research assistant. Additional funds required for the period of maternity leave can be provided from funds saved elsewhere or from the Standard Allowance for Gender Equality Measures.

A research assistant should be reintegrated in the individual project following their absence. If the extension period of the returning person’s employment contract exceeds the funding period of the CRC or the individual project, or if a return to the individual project is not possible for subject-related reasons, an informal proposal can be submitted for additional funding. This applies to a fixed-term employment contract under both § 2(1) and § 2(2) WissZeitVG. The additional funds can also be approved after the CRC has been completed. These funds are earmarked for financing the extension of contracts for research assistants.

If the proposal contains information on maternity protection, pregnancy, employment bans due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, or on an individual’s state of health, please use DFG form 73.01 (incl. Consent A) for this purpose.

If the use of a substitute for a doctoral researcher who is absent for family-related reasons is not compatible with the goal of that researcher completing their doctorate, the personnel funds for the absent doctoral researcher should be reserved to finance their return to the RTG.

If personnel funds for doctoral researchers and postdoctoral researchers are saved as a result of maternity and parental leave, these can be carried over to later budget years on request. Re-approval after the end of the RTG is also possible. A proposal to this effect must be submitted by 30 September of the respective year to the person responsible for the respective Research Training Group in the Research Training Groups and Career Support division. If this proposal contains information on maternity protection, pregnancy, bans on work due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, or health status, please use DFG form 73.01 (incl. Consent A) for this purpose.

Fellowship holders with children have the option to take advantage of a fellowship extension or a childcare allowance, or else they may combine the two options.

a) Extension of the fellowship period

Fellowship holders can take advantage of an extension of the maximum fellowship period by up to twelve months if they live in the same household with their child or children at the time of starting the fellowship and at least one child is still under twelve years of age (before their 12th birthday). This also applies if the first child is not born until during the term of the fellowship.

In the event of pregnancy during the funding period, the entitlement for the fellowship holder generally applies even if the entitlement to maternity leave pursuant to § 3(1) Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz – MuSchG) as amended on 23 May 2017 would commence during the funding period. The fellowship extension is granted to the full extent of the previously awarded fellowship, i.e. the basic fellowship amount plus the allowance for direct project costs, the child allowance and any foreign allowances.

Children of a fellowship holders’ spouse or partner can count here if it can be credibly proven to the higher education institution that these children were already living in the fellowship holder’s household prior to taking up the fellowship (e.g. documentary evidence provided by the residents’ registration office).

For additional children for whose birth it would be possible to claim maternity leave during the funding period, fellowship holders are given the opportunity to extend the term of funding by another three months (based on the statutory maternity leave). If in this connection you wish to provide the DFG Head Office with information on maternity protection, pregnancy or employment bans due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, please use DFG form 73.01 (incl. Consent A).

b) Childcare costs

Fellowship holders with children have the option of claiming a childcare allowance as an alternative to the fellowship extension. Here, unused extension months are converted into funds to finance proven childcare costs (“money instead of time”). The respective basic fellowship amounts are the maximum available per month for this purpose. It is also possible to combine the two options of “term extension” and “money instead of time”. Evidence must be provided to the higher education institution of the actual childcare costs incurred.
The following items may be reimbursed:

• childcare at kindergartens, day nurseries, crèches, etc., and the use of child minders;
• employment of childcare workers, including supervision of the child while doing school work at home;
• babysitters and au pairs.

The following are not eligible:

• expenses for teaching materials and tutoring;
• expenses for teaching special skills (e.g. music lessons);
• expenses for sports and other leisure activities, also club memberships;
• money for meals;
• expenses for care by family members (e.g. grandparents, siblings).

If exceptional requirements are identified, additional funds for childcare may be provided in individual cases, e.g. exceptional childcare costs may arise as a result of multiple births or the illness of a child. In these exceptional cases, any possible increase in childcare allowance must be coordinated with the DFG Head Office.

Please contact the person responsible for the respective Research Training Group in the Research Careers group for details.

Further information:

• DFG form 1.04 - Benefits for Fellowship Recipients with Children
• DFG form 2.10 - Funding guidelines for research fellowships with information for fellowship holders and guidelines for the final report (in German only)

If a 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 54.05). If you have further questions, please contact the person responsible for the supervision of your Research Training Group.