Financing, organization, and realization of research events
The organization and realization of scientific events such as meetings or conferences offers not only an opportunity of scientific exchange but also for networking and, if appropriate, for the possibility to position research topics more strongly. If you are looking for ways to finance a meeting or conference, you will find some initial information below.
If you are interested in financing a conference visit, you can find more information on the Mobility page.
Funding possibilities and funding agencies
Usually event funding is a mixed funding. Usual funding sources are the following:
- Funding programs for the (partial) funding of specific types of events: The funding possibilities are usually related to specific event formats. These differ in terms of which disciplines or topics are to be supported, the scope of the event, or the purpose of the event.
- Funding within the framework of a third-party funded research project: For either individual projects or collaborative projects, funding can often be requested for events such as conferences or workshops.
- Donations or sponsoring: In case of donations and sponsoring, please contact the Division of Third-Party Funding Management and Legal Matters in Research and Development of the Department of Finance and Procurement by e-mail in advance.
The following selection lists funding programs of general interest. If you are interested in funding conferences in specific disciplines or on specific topics, please contact the Grants Services Team.
- Event type: Funding of a single event - international congress, symposium, colloquium, or workshop
- Disciplines: open to disciplines and topics
- Number of participants: no upper limit
- Funding volume: Lump sum depending on the number of participants with a doctorate
- Applicants: must have at least a doctorate
- Application deadlines: no application deadlines, application at least 6 months before the event
- Event type: Funding of an annual meeting, but at an interval of 2 years
- Disciplines: open to disciplines and topics
- Funding volume: only grants for the travel expenses of speakers from abroad
- Applicants: Person who represents the specialist societies according to the internal rules
- Application deadlines: no application deadlines, application at least 6 months before the event
- Event type: Funding of individual events, conferences
- Disciplines (or topics): customized for the human and social sciences as well as (bio)medicine; the conference topic must be related to one of the Foundation’s funding fields
- Number of participants: up to 20 active participants
- Applicants: must have at least a doctorate
- Application deadlines: four times a year
- Event type: Symposia, workshops and conferences (in the conference center Schloss Herrenhausen)
- Disciplines (or topics): Open to disciplines and topics, but interdisciplinary context requested
- Number of participants: usually up to 50 participants
- Applicants: Researchers from Germany, possibly international co-applicants
- Application deadlines: once a year
Application
The funding options mentioned above you cannot combine at will. On the one hand, they are mutually exclusive; on the other hand, they are partly limited to certain cost factors. Therefore, the Division of Third-Party Funding Management and Legal Matters in Research and Development (website in German only) of the Department of Finance and Procurement should verify the planned funding model prior to application.
Services and contact persons
If you have questions about event funding, the Grants Services team will support you with funding advice. The range of services includes:
- selection of suitable funding programs,
- advice regarding the specific requirements of the selected format,
- and strategic application feedback.
Regarding the cost and funding plan, please contact the Department of Finance and Procurement by e-mail, especially if you intend to partially fund the project through donations or sponsoring. Also with other funding models, it is important to check whether you can combine the selected funding sources at all.
