Information about grant application

In the idea outline, you briefly and concisely present your research idea and the most important framework conditions of your future project. The outline of ideas helps with the conception of a research project, with approaching cooperation partners and with the search for funding. You can summarise e.g. the following points on one page:

• What problem do you want to solve? Why is the problem relevant? What scientific approach are you using to solve it?
• Does the solution go beyond the current state of research? In addition to literature research, use e.g. project and patent research for this purpose.
• Are you working in basic research, development or demonstration (technology readiness level)?
• What results do you want to achieve? Who will benefit from these results? And what happens with the results after the project?
• Do you need additional partners to achieve your goal? Which competences are needed for your project and do you already have contacts to potential cooperation partners?
• Do you need special infrastructure, e.g. specific measurement technology or a pilot plant, and is this already available?
• Roughly estimate the effort (e.g. budget or number of employees) and the time frame for a project.

Templates for idea sketches are available on request from the Funding Advisory Service.

For the implemantation of research projects usually funding is necessary. Different public and private third-party funding bodies offer project funding for a wide variety of constellations. The researchers themselves are responsible for the application process, but they are advised and supported by the central institutions of the TU Clausthal.

The Funding Advisory Service of the TU Clausthal informs you via the FFI-News (via e-mail) about current calls for proposals in the subject profile of the TU Clausthal. We will research specific funding opportunities for your topic and your project constellation and advise you on which call fits your idea. To do this, we need basic information from you, e.g. in the form of an idea outline (see above), and match it with current calls for proposals.

For your own research we have put together an Overview of the websites of the most common public research funding bodies.

The Funding Advisory Service of TU Clausthal is your central contact for advice on applications for grant projects. The contact for questions regarding contract research is department 14 (third-party funding administration).

In all phases of proposal preparation, the advisory service helps you with content-related and formal requirements and also with the framework conditions of the calls for proposals. It also helps you with cross-sectional aspects of proposal submission. We work closely with colleagues from other TU institutions and mediate in specific questions, e.g. on the promotion of young researchers, on equal opportunities, on research data management, on intellectual property regulations or on the drafting of contracts.

On request, we will contact promoters or National Contact Points in order to clarify your questions and to develop your grant application in accordance with the funding programmes.

Overview of contact persons for specific topics at TU Clausthal

The preparation of the proposal text and the budget calculation is the responsibility of the researchers. The Funding Advisory Service provides specific tools, e.g. for budget calculation, for many funding programmes.

On request and by prior arrangement, we will proofread your grant application for completeness and coherence with the call for proposals. For this service, we require sufficient time in advance before the planned submission.

If a grant proposal is submitted by the university or if a statement by the university management is required for the application, the proposal must be formally reviewed in accordance with the Third-Party Funding Guidelinebefore submission. The proposal  submission must be approved by the third-party funding department. This applies, among others, to federal projects, European projects, ERDF and ESF projects as well as coordinated programmes of the DFG (e.g. Collaborative Research Centres and Research Training Groups).

In these cases, please submit the draft proposal with the budget calculation and the completed forms together with a preliminary notification of third-party funding to the third-party funding administration (Subject Area 14). Any signatures required from the university management are also obtained here. The Funding Advisory Service helps you with a preliminary review of your proposal.

The Funding Advisory Service will also help you with questions concerning the preparation of the preliminary notification of third-party funding, possibilities of co-financing or the compilation of verifiable documents.

Please allow sufficient time for the review of the draft application, usually 10 working days. The third-party funding administration may raise queries with you and it may be necessary to revise documents, e.g. the budget. The review process may be accelerated considerably if you involve the Funding Advisory Service or SG14 in the preparation of the application at an early stage.

In addition to the budget and the financing of a possible own contribution, the application review also examines personnel-related aspects, e.g. whether the scientific project management is guaranteed for the duration and completion of the project. If the project leader is likely to leave the TU Clausthal within the time frame of approximately one year after the end of the project, it must be explained who will be responsible for the continuation and completion of the project.

Please also note the funding programme-specific instructions for the application review.

Proposal are usually submitted via the electronic application portals of the funding bodies (Federal Government: easy-online, EU: Funding & Tenders, DFG: elan-portal, etc.). In some cases, signed originals of the proposal must be sent to the promoters at the same time. This usually requires the preceding proposal review (see above) and the signature of the Presidential Board, their representative, e.g. Third-party Funding Management SG 14, or a power of attorney from the Presidential Board.

For questions regarding the application portal of the respective funding bodies and the submission process in the special funding programmes, please contact the Funding Advisory Service.

In some programmes, draft cooperation agreements must already be attached to the application for collaborative projects. The conclusion of pre-contractual agreements, e.g. non-disclosure agreements or "letters of intent", is also common practice. Often, exploitation agreements or project structures that later will be regulated in consortium agreements must already be presented in the proposal.

The Legal Department advises you as project leader on all contractual matters and has further sample agreements for the most common funding bodies. Some sample agreements for R&D projects can be found in our tools. If the project is successful, the Legal Department will conduct the contract negotiations with the external partners.