Science awards honor special scientific achievements in research and/or teaching and are aimed at different career stages. They are awarded by major funding bodies such as the DFG as well as by foundations, associations or companies. Such awards strengthen your research profile and give you an advantage when applying for and acquiring third-party funding.

TU Dortmund University itself awards numerous prizes. You can find more information here.

For many awards, researchers cannot apply themselves; instead, they must be nominated by a third party - often by the university management. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to Dr. Claudia Breit, University and Research Development Office.

For awards that allow self-application , the Research Funding Office team will be happy to assist you with the application process.

You can find out about prizes yourself on the following websites:

• Academics database of science prizes
• Information Service Research, International Affairs, Transfer - FIT for Science

In addition, you will regularly receive current calls for proposals for your subject area via the Research and Junior Researcher Funding mailing list.

Some funding formats require the submission of own funds. Early consultation and involvement of the Section Third-Party Funding Management and Legal Matters in Research  at the beginning of the application process is essential.

In principle, the applicant's project management (formally the department) is responsible for providing own contributions; central funding pools are not available.

If own contributions must be made in the form of free third-party funds and these are not available at the applying department, smaller amounts (<100,000 euros) of free third-party funds may be provided in exchange for equivalent other funds from the project management after individual case assessment.

The draft proposal is the most decisive for the assessment! This is where the greatest selection is made. As a rule, the funding amount applied for in the outline phase cannot be exceeded in the full application.

A legally binding signature can only be provided by the Rectorate or, on behalf of the Rectorate, by the External Funding Management and Research Legal Affairs Department of the Finance and Procurement Division. The prerequisite for this is a formal review of the financially and formally final application by the External Funding Management(10 working days due to any necessary coordination).

The overheads, referred to by the DFG as a program allowance and by federal ministries as a project allowance , are used to cover the so-called indirect project costs (e.g. provision of offices and workstations, administrative facilities that support the project, etc.). The university decides autonomously on the use of the overhead, but it may only be spent on indirect costs - and not to reinforce the project funds. The overhead is therefore not available to the project leaders.

It is generally possible to submit applications to funding bodies that do not pay overheads. However, if funding bodies exempt the application for overheads, these must be applied for in full.

EU collaborative projects are characterized by the complementary composition of the consortium. If your consortium still lacks expertise, we offer support in the search for suitable partners, e.g. via the partner search function of the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The provisions are based on  § 44 Abs. 1 HG NRW. 

Yes, the Project Development and Management department will be happy to assist you and take care of EU project management in all project phases.

Important information and leaflets on project calculation and implementation can be found in the Serviceportal.