Family & Diversity

Diversity

Equality, diversity and a family-friendly infrastructure are of particular importance not only to the University of Göttingen but of course also to our graduate school. We are committed to facilitate a diverse and vibrant environment by providing everybody in GAUSS to have equal opportunities and to reach full potential regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic and social origin, as well as life and family situation.
For doctoral students with disabilities or chronic diseases we can provide financial support in order to alleviate for corresponding challenges.

Please contact our office if you are experiencing any issues regarding your doctoral studies due to a diversity concern. We will do our best to assist and support you in finding a competent contact/institution that is able to help with your request accordingly. Everything will be treated strictly confidential.

Information and counselling offers provided by the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Unit of the University.


GAUSS Family Fund

GAUSS is very conscious of its societal responsibility with respect to the work-life balance. We are therefore committed to ensuring that doctoral students find family-friendly working/study conditions and that family and care responsibilities can be fulfilled without negative repercussions.

The GAUSS family fund is supporting doctoral candidates in two different life course situations.

Support of pregnant doctoral students
One part of the funding is designated to pregnant students whose research is hindered or constricted due to security regulations. Examples include working with chemicals or biological samples in laboratories as this is often not permitted or strictly limited. Therefore, GAUSS is providing funds, which are aiming to enable the doctoral candidate to receive the required help from e.g. a student assistant. The graduate school is covering up to 75% of the costs, when the host institution of the doctoral candidate is contributing the remaining part. Applications are considered all year round with no specific deadlines. Please submit your application (see below for required documents) to the GAUSS Office.

Family-oriented completion grant
The other part of the family fund is dedicated to support doctoral candidates, who are in need of financial help for finalizing their PhD due to child care or taking care of another family member. These family-oriented completion grants (five to six per year) are awarded for up to six months in total with 1,200 € per month (plus 400 € for one child or one person, you do care work for, plus 100 € for each other child) and are granted according to the Guidelines for Granting Stipends of the Georg-August-University (German ). The doctoral thesis shall be submitted within the funding period. Applications can be submitted maximum six months in advance with quarterly submission deadlines (31st March; 30th June; 30th September; 31st December). Funding cannot start earlier than one month after the respective application deadline due to the decision process. Please submit your application to the GAUSS Office.

Prerequisites for applicants include:

  • Doctoral candidate enrolled in GAUSS
  • Doctoral thesis shall be submitted within the funding period
  • Funding ends at the latest after the oral examination
  • The experimental work for the thesis should be completed so that the doctoral studies can be realistically finished within the time frame of the stipend

Required documents to be submitted:

  • Title page
  • Description of need (maximum five pages) including the reason for required financial support (e.g. family situation, description of the care work, additional reasons for funding)
  • CV
  • Information on the current and previous financing of your PhD project
  • Work schedule for the period of funding and the finalization of the thesis
  • Statement of the Thesis Advisory Committee outlining why and for which period a grant is necessary and when the finalization of the PhD thesis can be realistically expected
  • Confirmation of matriculation

Family offers provided by the University

The University of Göttingen is a family friendly institution committed to support an appropriate balance of academic studies, science career, family and private life. The Family Service is offering compatibility-orientated support structures with information and counseling:

Furthermore, the University of Göttingen is providing a comprehensive program for promoting equal opportunities and personnel diversity on the Göttingen Campus within the Dorothea Schlözer program established in 2009. This program is addressing a range of different target groups including female academics, academics with family responsibilities and international academics. Offers include a mentoring program (for doctoral candidates and postdocs), a postdoctoral program and a career development qualification program. Please check out the respective webpages for further information and application deadlines, which are usually only once per year.