Grant application

Students funded by the department and those whose grants are administered exclusively by the department are subject to the following rules.

Applications for reimbursement of expenses in connection with conferences, courses, longer research stays abroad and research (e.g. conference fee, transportation, accommodation) must be drawn up by the PhD student and include relevant information about date and venue of the event, the nature of the student's participation and specific information concerning the various budget items.

Applications are submitted directly by e-mail to the PhD student's supervisor. The application is then “rejected”, “endorsed” or “highly recommended”. It is then sent to the Head of the PhD  program, who is responsible for granting or refusing authorisation on the basis of financial and other guidelines laid down by the Head of department. The application must be sent in good time before you register for a course or conference.

Allowance rates, limits for hotel expenses, etc. vary from country to country. The list can be found at kunet.dk – Travel and transportation – Travel booking. For stays longer that one week, a daily allowance is not possible. In this case an allowance is calculated as fieldwork and research stays abroad are. See the section on fieldwork and staying abroad.

The budget for a typical conference/course is:

  • Cheapest return tickets (should be booked through Carlson Wagonlit. 
  • Transport to and from airport
  • Hotel/accommodation
  • Visa if needed
  • Allowance (remember to subtract workshop dinner etc. if covered in fee and breakfast if included at the hotel)
  • Conference or course fee
  • Basic insurance is covered by the University of Copenhagen – Please contact the SAMF Reception reception@samf.ku.dk

Please provide the title of the paper and link to the conference/course when you apply.

You can also apply to the Head of the PhD programme for grants for English language correction. The PhD secretary has a list of suitable persons who can correct your English.

When the budget for a course is accepted by the Head of the PhD programme, s/he will e-mail the student to say so. The student needs to keep this mail as proof of approval for the accounting team. It must be attached to the travel reimbursement claim.

If you would like to make a travel expense claim or to claim other expenses, you will find more information here.

If you receive an invoice for a product/service you have bought and you need help to handle the invoice, you might find this site useful.

The University of Copenhagen offers MasterCards to PhD students so expenditures can be credited directly to your person in the accounting system. Contact the SAMF Reception to get this as well as an insurance card from Europæiske. This is proof that you are covered by the department’s travel insurance.

Criteria for grants

For conferences: You have in most cases to present a new paper to receive a grant.

For PhD courses: Taking courses at other departments or universities can be justified if they have high relevance for the PhD thesis and if there is no similar course at the Department of Sociology or Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences.

Long-term research stay abroad

The department provides a grant for a long-term research stay abroad after application to the Head of the PhD  program.

Note: Externally funded students might be covered by the employer or grant authority, so check your contract.  

You can apply for grants for:

  • Cheapest return tickets
  • Transport to and from airport
  • Visa if needed
  • Living and housing
  • Basic insurance is covered by University of Copenhagen Please contact SAMF Reception reception@samf.ku.dk    

All costs must be documented with receipts. Travel must be arranged through the agents specified by the department/CU.

The internal grants may not cover the full expenses, thus it is recommended that you apply for funds or external grants.

In some cases, you can apply for funds to cover expenses in connection with the stay (fee for photocopying, access to library, etc.). You cannot apply for funds to recoup a tuition fee, i.e. the typical payment required to be allowed to be at the university. Most students will go through a "Visiting Fellow" status, which does not require any registration fees and in many cases this is done through the supervisor or other faculties’ personal contacts. The department and the university have exchange  programs with some universities (e.g. Berkeley and Yale). Talk to the Head of the PhD  program, the department’s international coordinator Yosef Kamal Ibssa (35 32 45 02; yk@soc.ku.dk) or the international office (https://international.ku.dk/) if you are interested in any of these  programs.

Applications may be sent to the Head of the PhD  program at any time. The supervisor must confirm to the Head of the PhD  program that the application is supported by him/her when the application is submitted (an e-mail is sufficient).

Every PhD student should stay abroad for approximately 6 months. If this is impossible for family reasons, the student should instead organise a research stay at a university in the area of Copenhagen, such as Lund University, Aalborg University or CBS.

Fieldwork

There are very limited funds for fieldwork. PhD students must normally apply for external funds. Nevertheless students can apply to the Head of the PhD  program in the same way as for research stays.

At KUnet in the PhD group room you can find some guidance on how to apply for external funding.

Taxation

It is possible to receive a tax refund when abroad or during fieldwork if the department does not subsidise the housing and living expenses. Please check directly with https://skat.dk/borger