(updated: 18.07.2023)

FU employees must apply for a business trip in order to participate in external workshops, conferences, meetings, as well as to conduct field research and, if necessary, to be reimbursed for related expenses. This also applies if no expenses are to be reimbursed.

The application form for business trips, as well as information useful in connection with business trips, can be downloaded from the website of the Administration PolSoz, Department for Business Trips:

https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/verwaltung/dienstreisen/index.html

The business trip application must be submitted with substantiation of the reason for the business trip, e.g. the program of a workshop, a conference or its invitation; or documents showing that one is giving a guest lecture at an external colloquium, etc.

A business trip application may be submitted WITH or WITHOUT reimbursement of travel expenses. In the first case, the expenses must be listed in the form or as an attachment.

As the applicant, you sign the form at the bottom left and submit it to the director or vice-director to sign the application in the field on the bottom right.Thereafter, the application and its attachments will be forwarded to the administration of the PolSoz, Department for Business Travel.

The departmental administration will send the authorized application back to the applicant.

Important notice:
For business trips lasting longer than 6 weeks, e.g. for long-term field research, the application is not submitted as a "business trip application" but as an application for secondment. For further information, please refer to the FAQ chapter on secondment.

4 to 6 weeks before you travel, you will have to:

1. Fill in the form "Business trip application" (=Dienstreiseantrag). Since you have to indicate funding, ask your PI to give you the account number of your project (="Fonds") as well as the corresponding cost unit (=”Kostenstelle”).

Follow this link to download the form: https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/abt-1/formulare/05dienstreisen

(Click on „Formulare für die Beantragung und Abrechnung von Dienstreisen“; and then: “Antrag auf Genehmigung einer Dienstreise (PDF, englische Version)“)

2. After filling out the form, get it signed by your PI – don´t forget to sign and date it yourself!
3. Gather the following additional documents:

• A letter of explanation for the trip (why you are going there, what you will be doing there, etc.), dated and signed. Your supervisor must also sign it!
• A letter of invitation, if any.
• A program of the conference/ workshop.
• Notification from the German Foreign Office about the Covid situation in the country.
  • Confirmation from the funding organisation (if you have third-party funding).

4. Bundle all these documents into a single PDF document. Title it: MyName_DR Application_MyDestination_Time   Period. Send your application to the person in charge of business trips in your department (NOT the central administration!

5. Wait for confirmation and approval.

 Only after you have received confirmation of your application can you travel - and have the costs reimbursed.