Temporary Support with Routine Academic Tasks

Equal opportunity funds can be used to finance temporary support personnel for routine tasks of researchers balancing scientific work and family responsibilities.

In (International) Research Training Groups, doctoral or postdoctoral researchers should be enabled to advance their (post-)doctoral projects despite health and/or legal limitations to their work capacity during pregnany and breastfeeding. If certain tasks, such as laboratory work, cannot be performed, student or technical assistants may be funded to provide support or act as substitutes.

For individual grants, Research Units and Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs), equal opportunity funds can be used to hire support staff for female researchers who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and to cover ongoing essential costs, such as plant care or animal husbandry, during periods of mandatory or parental leave. CRC subproject leaders who are on parental leave or working part time due to family responsibilities can also be relieved of project-specific routine duties (including project management) by employing temporary, qualified personnel.

Please consider that for individual grants, Research Units and Collaborative Research Centers, supplemental proposals may be submitted to retain equal opportunity funds for other measures.

For further information, please contact the coordinator of your research alliance.