Qualification Fund

Leuphana University of Lüneburg offers its doctoral candidates (including Doctoral Track students) the opportunity to receive financial support from the Qualification Fund for the funding measures shown in the following table.

During the entire doctoral period, certain measures can be funded several times. These include the measures Active Conference Participation, Summer School and Research Stay. Funding is available up to two times for the measure Publication Advice. The measure Basic Conference Participation, on the other hand, can only be funded once.

Please use the navigation to find out about the funding criteria, the eligible costs and the application and decision-making procedure.

¹Advice on the publication strategy of a journal article or monograph by an external person

Leuphana University of Lüneburg offers its postdocs the opportunity to receive financial support from the Qualification Fund for the funding measures shown in the following table.

During the entire time as a postdoc, certain measures can be funded several times. These include the measures Active Conference Participation, Summer School, Research Stay and Conference Organisation. Funding is available up to two times for the measure Publication Advice.

Please use the navigation to find out about the funding criteria, the eligible costs and the application and decision-making procedure.

¹Advice on the publication strategy of a journal article or monograph by an external person
²Organisation of a conference at Leuphana. Please see the information on this measure in the FAQ.

In order to receive financial support for a funding measure from the Qualification Fund, you must fulfil formal, personal, content-related and measure-specific eligibility criteria.

The formal criteria include that your application is received at least one day before the start of the funding period. The funding period covers the period from the first to the last day of a funding measure, including the necessary outward and return travel time. In addition, you must submit your application in full and digitally via the links provided in the "Application procedure" section below.

The personal eligibility criteria include that you are either a doctoral candidate or a postdoc at Leuphana at the time of the funding measure.

Doctoral candidates are persons who are admitted to doctorate at Leuphana and are enrolled as students. This group also includes Doctoral Track students.
In the context of the Qualification Fund, the group of postdocs includes all persons who are linked to Leuphana via temporary employment for their own further academic qualification or a postdoc scholarship and whose completion of the doctorate (= date of the disputation) was a maximum of six (6) years ago at the beginning of the funding period. Information on extending this period can be found in the Qualification Fund funding guidelines.

In principle, the following also applies:

- You belong to one of the groups of persons eligible for the measure on at least one day of the funding measure.
- A maximum of two applications for financial support from the Qualification Fund can be approved per calendar year and person.

The content-related eligibility for funding is fulfilled if the funding measure you apply for has a content-related connection with your own qualification.

Information on the measure-specific criteria can be found in the following overview.

¹Please see the information on this measure in the FAQ.
²Please see the information on catering costs in the FAQ. 

The application procedure for receiving financial support from the Qualification Fund consists of 3 phases. In the first phase, you submit your application digitally, which is reviewed by us in the second phase and finally submitted to the Vice President of the Graduate School for a decision in the third phase.

Applications can be submitted at any time. To start the application process, simply click on the link below that applies to your project.

Notes:

• On February 1, 2026, there was a software update for the Qualification Fund application forms. If you encounter any problems using the forms or notice any discrepancies in them, please send us an email to gradschool.qf@leuphana.de, specifying the form in question.
• Please note: lecture-free period - Applications submitted in January, February and March may not be approved or rejected until mid-April 2026.

At the beginning of each month, the Graduate School reviews the applications received in the previous month in terms of formal and content-related criteria and assigns them to the categories "fully eligible", "eligible" or "not eligible".

Based on this recommendation, the Vice President of the Graduate School decides on the reviewed and categorised funding applications on behalf of the Executive Board, usually once a month during the lecture period.

Depending on when your application is received, it may take up to eight weeks before you are notified whether your funding application has been approved or rejected. You will receive this information electronically to your Leuphana e-mail address, which you must provide in your application.

The regulations on business trips and the provisions of the business trip handbook apply analogously to the reimbursement and amount of accommodation costs by the Qualification Fund. Further information can be found on the intranet in the Business Trip Accounting section of the Finance Department under the keyword “overnight stays”.

If you have any questions about the reimbursement of accommodation costs, please feel free to contact us by email.

If you receive a business travel grant in addition to your funding from the Qualification Fund, please submit your travel expense statement together with the statement of your funding measure at the Graduate School. The funding you receive from the Qualification Fund should be entered in the travel expense report under "Third-party contribution".

The documents for the travel expense statement will be forwarded by the Graduate School to the University's Travel Expenses Department for final processing after settlement of the grant from the Qualification Fund.

Information on the assumption of car costs can be found under the keyword travel costs.

Catering costs within the framework of the funding measure "Conference Organisation" can only be funded and settled under the condition that the approval for the use of state funds for catering costs is proven by the member of the Executive Board responsible for finances. Information on this as well as the “Richtlinie zu Bewirtungskosten der Leuphana” [Leuphana's guideline on catering costs] can be found on the intranet (Leuphana A-Z) under the keyword “Bewirtungen” [catering costs]. Please note, the website is only available in German.

Childcare costs are not among the eligible costs of the Qualification Fund. However, Leuphana's Equality Fund holds funds for the compatibility of family and career/qualification, which can be applied for throughout the year. You can find more information on this on the Equality Fund website.

Co-financing of a measure funded by the Qualification Fund with other budgetary or third-party funds of Leuphana or with external funds (e.g. from funding institutions or foundations) is generally possible. Please note that the respective funding body may have requirements that must be observed.

Co-financing from available budgetary funds of a chair, institute or professorship, for example, is only possible if you are affiliated with the funding chair, institute or professorship in terms of employment law at the time of the funding measure. In order to receive a grant, you must usually also submit a business trip application. If you have any questions, please contact the relevant secretariat.

In contrast to the other funding measures, the financial allocation and accounting of the funding from the Qualification Fund as well as the processing of all income and expenditure within the framework of the conference organisation measure is not carried out via a private account, but via a fund of the university, which usually has to be set up separately. To set up this fund, please contact the colleagues in the “Landesmittel verwalten” (‘Managing State Funds’) section of the Finance Department. Please note, the website is only available in German.

Funding for conferences that are supported within the framework of "internal support & funding" from the Funding Fund for the Development of the Research Activities of the Research Service is not possible via the Qualification Fund.

According to the funding guidelines, you are obliged to submit the original receipts for the costs you have incurred. Please make sure that the receipts show who paid what, when and for what. You will also make it easier for us to account for your funding if you attach receipts that are smaller than DIN A4 format to a separate DIN A4 sheet. Examples of receipts are: Hotel bills, fee receipts, tickets, airline tickets, invoices for participation fees, copy of bank statement / credit card statement.

Information on this can be found in section 4.3 of the Qualification Fund Funding Guideline.

The report, which is to be submitted after completion of the measure and should not exceed two pages, should provide a brief overview of the course and outcome of the funded measure. For example, you can describe in your report whether you were able to gain new insights for your qualification project, whether you were able to establish interesting contacts with other researchers or whether ideas for future collaborations have emerged.

Information on what you have to do and which documents you have to submit if you cannot/could not participate in an approved funding measure due to illness at short notice or due to other, external circumstances for which you are not responsible can be found in section 5 of the Qualification Fund Funding Guidelines.

The amount of the eligible rental costs for an office room is based on the respective valid daily rates for accommodation costs. Further information can be found on the intranet in the Business Trip Accounting section of the Finance Department under the keyword “overnight stays”.

In principle, it is possible to combine a private stay with a funding measure. However, the costs arising from the private stay are not eligible for funding. If the private stay exceeds five working days, only costs directly related to the funding measure (e.g. conference fees) can be funded, but not travel or flight costs.

All days except Saturday, Sunday and public holidays are considered working days. The time needed to travel to and from the funding measure does not count as a private stay, but is part of the funding period.

Please note: 
If you combine a funding measure with a private stay and apply for travel expenses to be covered, you must submit a price comparison of the travel expenses from the date of booking. You can find information on this under the keyword travel expense comparison offer.

In order to be personally eligible for funding, you must belong to one of the groups of people eligible for the respective measure on at least one day of the funding measure.

As a doctoral candidate, you can prove your personal eligibility for funding by submitting a copy of your

1. enrolment certificate
   or
2. study certificate for the relevant semester.

As a postdoc, you prove your personal eligibility for funding by

1. a copy of the doctoral degree certificate or an alternative proof showing the date of the disputation
   and
2. a copy of your employment contract (or similar) showing the period of temporary employment for your own further academic qualification or a copy of your scholarship notification showing the period of approval
   and
3. in the event that your disputation date at the beginning of the funding period was more than six years ago, suitable proof that you meet the requirements for one of the exemptions (parental leave, nursing leave, family care leave, maternity leave, illness), such as a copy of the parental allowance certificate and/or medical confirmation of the period of prolonged illness, etc.

The accounting of co-financing from funds of a third-party funded project is usually done via reimbursement of expenses. Please contact the secretariat in charge of accounting for the externally funded project.

Travel expenses include (long-distance) bus, train and car costs. Travel costs include (long-distance) bus, train and car costs. The regulations for business trips apply analogously to the reimbursement and amount of these costs by the Qualification Fund. Further information can be found on the intranet in the Business Trips section of the Finance Department. 

If you have any questions about the reimbursement of travel expenses, please contact us by email.

If a funding measure is combined with a private stay and travel expenses (travel and/or flight costs) are claimed, it must be clear how much the travel expenses would have been without the private stay.

To settle the travel expenses claimed, you must therefore submit two receipts:

1. proof of the travel expenses you actually incurred
2. a travel cost price comparison from the date of booking if you are not combining the funding measure with a private stay and are traveling directly to and from the funding measure

To prove these potential travel costs, it is sufficient to submit a screenshot of a website showing the relevant travel dates and price.

The Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany issues travel warnings. Via their website on current travel warnings, you can find out whether there is a travel warning for the country in which your funding measure is taking place at the beginning of your funding period. As proof that there is no travel warning, you can submit a printout of the website as a pdf document. 

The document should then show that your destination country is not on the list and when you printed the website. Please note: The website of the Foreign office of the Federal Republic of Germany is only available in German, so make sure to search for the German name of your country. It is also advisable to prepare the document shortly before the start of the funding period and not after the funding measure has been completed, as it may not be possible to issue it retroactively. 

Important: If you are unable to provide this proof, funding will not be possible and any approval already granted must be revoked.

Graduate School
Qualification Fund
Universitätsallee 1, C14.124
21335 Lüneburg

Fon +49.4131.677- 2402
gradschool.qf@leuphana.de