Financial Support for Travel Abroad

The call for applications is addressed to persons with an employment relationship at the University of Innsbruck.

The International Relations Office supports travel abroad by staff members of the University of Innsbruck for the purpose of:

initiation, conclusion and maintenance of partnerships and scientific cooperation on behalf of the Rector
teaching and research activities in connection with the employment relationship
research in connection with the Dissertation or Habilitation
visiting teaching without employment at the host university
travel in connection with planned publications
workshops, within the scope of which new working techniques are brought to the University of Innsbruck, which can be passed on to colleagues

Travel for the following purposes is not eligible for funding:

guest teaching with employment relationship
research in relation to Bachelor’s or Master’s Theses
participation in congresses, conferences and meetings
workshops that do not bring new working techniques to the University of Innsbruck

• Applications can only be submitted for travel and accommodation costs (no daily allowances, meals, taxi fares, printing costs, translation fees, costs for visas, vaccinations, vignettes, tolls, telephone, etc.). The expenses can be compensated up to the maximum approved total amount.
• The application must be submitted before the start of the trip. The application can be submitted up to a maximum of 6 months and at the latest 4 weeks before the planned start of the project. Applications submitted too late cannot be considered!

• In the case of partial funding from other agencies, the financial support by the International Relations Office is reduced to the corresponding extent.
  Funding commitments from other bodies must be notified to the International Relations Office without delay. In the event of overfunding, the corresponding share must be reimbursed to the International Relations Office.

The application must be submitted BEFORE the start of the trip. The application can be submitted up to a maximum of 6 months and at the latest 4 weeks before the planned start of the project. After submission, the processing time is approx. 4 weeks. This processing time should be taken into account when submitting the application.

Only complete applications that have been uploaded to the project database (under project type "Staff Mobility" and workflow status "Project applied for") will be processed. It is not necessary to send the originals by internal post! The following documents must be uploaded:

• filled in  application form
• proof of approval of the leave of absence/business trip (e.g. printout from VIS:Online)
• invitation letter by the host institution
• booking confirmation flight/train (if available)
• booking confirmation of accommodation (if available)

Once uploaded to the project database, the submission is considered completed and the four-week processing period begins. Uploading the documents to the project database is equivalent to obtaining the approval of the institute management; obtaining this approval in advance is the responsibility of the person submitting the application. The project data officer  at your institute can help you entering the information.

The International Relations Office strives to support as many applicants and projects as possible. Therefore, multiple applications from individual applicants, institutes or projects can only be considered if there are not enough other applications worthy of funding. There is no legal entitlement to financial support, therefore rejected applications will not be justified in more detail. The authority to decide on submitted applications lies exclusively with the Rector.

More information on the travel guidelines listed below are available at the Uniwiki (Intranet): Uniwiki (Intranet):

• If the purpose of the journey can be achieved by other means of equal quality, official travel shall be refrained from.
• The assessment of the necessity and irreplaceability of the trip is made by the employee himself/herself and is the responsibility of the employee and the supervisor.
• A possible price saving, which may be given by using air connections, is generally no longer a justifying criterion for choosing this means of travel.
• Short-haul flights to places that are easily accessible by public transport cannot be supported and therefore corresponding expenses can no longer be refunded. This includes all domestic flights, all flights to Switzerland and flights with the destinations Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Strasbourg, Venice, Milan, Bergamo, Bologna, Florence, Turin and Genoa. For required long-haul flights, necessary stopovers at these destinations are exempt from the regulation.

For awarded funding, a detailed overall statement must be sent to the International Relations Office ( Philip Gutschi and Nina Pascone)  within 6 weeks after completion of funded activity:

• original flight tickets/boarding passes or train tickets incl. corresponding proof of payment (e.g. credit card statement, invoice receipt etc.)
• original invoice for accommodation costs incl. corresponding proof of payment (e.g. credit card statement, invoice receipt etc.)
• filled in Settlement of Travel Expenses within the Scope of an Exemption/Business Trip of the HR office

In the case of events that are postponed for scheduling reasons or for other reasons, the funding commitment is forfeited unless the International Relations Office is notified of the changes in a timely manner.

If the account is not settled within 6 weeks after the reported end of the project, the funding commitment will be forfeited, unless there is a justified delay that has been discussed with the responsible administrator within the deadline!