The following general principles apply:

• It is always necessary to observe the provisions of the funding guidelines applicable to the research project and any special requirements contained in the award letter.
• These funds are likewise to be spent in accordance with the principle of efficiency and economy.
• Subject-specific core support must be ensured: measures that can be attributed to the respective subject-specific core support cannot be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.
• All measures must be linked to the project. This link generally follows from the fact that the persons benefiting from the measure are involved in the project. They do not have to be employed through the project; active involvement in the project as a researcher is sufficient. A brief and plausible reference linking the measures to the project must be documented (if it is not obvious).
• Measures can only be funded for persons who are actively involved as researchers in the network/project.
• Measures for which funds have already been approved elsewhere in the research project or network cannot be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.
• As a matter of principle, one and the same measure – such as a soft skills course – cannot be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity for some members of the research network (e.g. for women) and from funds approved through a different channel for other members (e.g. for men). Exceptions to this rule are additional conference visits for female researchers as part of a Career Development Measure.
• The prohibition of favouritism (Besserstellungsverbot) enshrined in budgetary law must be observed. Remuneration may not be granted that is higher than the level of the collective agreement for the civil service or of other benefits above or beyond the collective agreement.
• When planning the use of funds from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity, it must be considered as a matter of principle whether it is more expedient to use a large portion of the funds for a single measure or to finance several smaller measures.
• Observation of the above-mentioned underlying framework conditions and requirements must be verified on site in each case and compliance must be ensured. The appropriate use of the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity and the link to the project must be retained on site with the accounting documentation.
• Furthermore, funds approved for other purposes (such as funds for visiting researchers, travel funds or funding for staff) are likewise to be spent with due regard for the principle of equity and diversity and be generally available to the various researchers involved in the project (with different dimensions of diversity). In addition, measures that cannot be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity but are nonetheless desirable in terms of equity and diversity can often be funded from other approved project funds.

The amount of the allowance will vary depending on the research project. The following can be applied for per funding year

• up to €30,000 in Collaborative Research Centres,
• up to €15,000 in Research Training Groups, Priority Programmes and Research Units,
• up to €1,000 per applicant in the Research Grants Programme and Emmy Noether Programme.

Please consult the relevant programme guidelines for details.

The disbursement of the standard allowance for equity and diversity is earmarked for its purpose and must be used accordingly for the following:

• promoting gender equality in research,
• promoting diversity in science and the humanities or
• making jobs in science and academia more family-friendly (including care).

See here for a description of the module “Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity”: DFG form 52.14.

If your consultation request (contact(interner Link)) regarding diversity funding from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity includes “special categories of personal data” (e.g. health data), your consent to processing this information is required. For this purpose, please use DFG form 73.01(interner Link) (Consent A).

 “Special categories of personal data” are those “revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and (...) genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation” (Art. 9(1) GDPR).