Organising Academic Events

With its programme „Organising Academic Events“, FSU intends to promote early academic autonomy of postdoctoral researchers. Postdocs are encouraged to arrange e.g. a guest lecture, a workshop, a network meeting, or a conference around a topic of their own choice. Organising such events on their own initiative particularly aims at enabling the partaking researchers to

• Pursue their autonomous research interests and intensify the focus on own research topics
• Promote their own visibility within the scientific community,
• Develop individual academic networks and professional relationships,
• and get more experienced in the conceptualisation and arrangement of academic events and possible follow-up publications

Subject to the funding will be guest lectures, workshops, network meetings or conferences organised by a team of young FSU researchers (for more information regarding the organising persons, please see “Who is eligible to apply?”).

• Financial Support: You may apply for as much as EUR 1,500.00 maximum per Event. We can fund such costs as material expenses, e.g. for guest lecturers, student assistants, or public relations materials. Please consider that any costs for catering (food/drinks) can only be paid in exceptional cases and on prior consultation.
• Organisational Support (Rooms and Marketing): Upon prior agreement, the event may be hosted in the rooms of the “House for the Young Researchers ‘Zur Rosen’” (Auditorium or small seminar room), given that the dates are known early enough. Additionally, FSU Graduate Academy will advertise the event via our marketing channels (website, social media, newsletter) upon request.

Within nine months after the event, you may apply for the funding of a follow-up publication (e.g. conference transcript). The postdocs (and, where applicable, doctoral candidates) that have organised the prior event may appear as the team of authors or editors. The funding programme provides for a maximum partial grant of printing costs up to EUR 1,000.00. In case of successful application, this partial funding of printing costs has to be retrieved within twelve months after the approval.

In case of a successful application, the project funding may start one week after the receipt of the grant notification letter. It is not possible to pay for any expenses made before that time. The event and all related expenditures must in any case be concluded and brought to account within one year after the receipt of the grant notification letter. If the event must be postponed due to pandemic restrictions or other valid causes, this period may be extended in consultation with the contact person.

Eligible to apply for the funding programme are teams of at least two researchers in their early career phase that plan an academic event together. At least one member of the team has to be a postdoc at Friedrich Schiller University (employed, on scholarship, or guest researcher status during the time of the academic event), without their own financial budget.

Further team members may be other postdocs or doctoral candidates of FSU, or of other universities and academic institutions. If it is the case that there are team members originating from other institutions, it is expected that their home institutions also contribute to the financial expenses of the event, or partake in a joint application for further third party funding. In such cases, the participation of other academic institutions or the intended application for other third party funding must be included in the financing plan.

Your complete application must contain the following information and documents:

• Information on the team of applicants and on the intended event
• Pre-calculation of all costs including intended expenditures and, where applicable, earnings (see the form “Financing Plan”)
• Project layout: Description of the event (type, topic, target audiences, intended dates and venues, time schedule, referees, if applicable: outline of the different functions of the applicants‘ team members) as well as an explanatory statement regarding the concept of the event, with a particular focus on the aims of the funding programme; signed by the applicants
• Introduction of all participating applicants, including personal data sheets (table form)

If you have any questions about the application process or details of the programme, please do not hesitate to contact us.