Information for TUM Global Visiting Professors
To help you prepare your international collaboration within the framework of the TUM Global Visiting Professor Program, you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions here. Should you not find the needed information on this page, please feel free to contact us at any time.
After stay
Register on the TUM Portal for Staff and Researchers
All new visiting professors must register on our TUM Portal for Staff and Researchers and upload their signed Funding Agreement as soon as possible, within the next 6 weeks of receiving their approval letter. You will find below the detailed steps for a successful registration.
Before registering, please make sure you have received your Funding Agreement from your TUM host. It must be signed by both you and your host.
If you have already registered without uploading your Funding Agreement, please send the completed form directly to globalfunds(at)tum.de and do not register again (you can register only once with a given e-mail address).
Step-by-step registration guide
- Register or login on the TUM Portal for Staff and Researchers
- Click on the “Start" button to create a new application for the form Registration – International Researcher (Welcome Service)
- Fill in all respective sections from “Personal data of researcher” to “Welcome Services”
- In the section “Upload Funding Agreement”, please tick “Yes” (see red circle in the screenshot below) and upload the fully signed Funding Agreement (signed by TUM Professor, Visiting Professor, and TUM Global & Alumni Office)
- After having filled all information, go to the section “Submit Application” and click on “Submit”
After you have submitted all your data, you will be contacted by our Welcome Services team.
Preparations / Going to Munich
Our Welcome Services team offers support with all the formalities involved in moving to Munich. We help researchers to integrate smoothly into academic life at all TUM campuses.
The TUM G&A Welcome Services offer:
• General and personal advice on topics such as visa, health insurance, different service units at TUM, living in Munich, etc.
• Accommodation service for stays of at least 6 months
• Networking and information events
• Monthly newsletters
Do not hesitate to make an appointment for an individual consultation before and/or after you arrive in Munich.
Guidelines
• Per diem, lunch allowances, entertainment expenses
• Costs for rental cars
• Costs for insurance and deposits
• Expenses for accompanying persons and family members
General information on travel costs
- As a general rule, the amount of reimbursable travel and accommodation expenses should correspond with TUM's business travel regulations (based on the Bavarian Travel Expenses Act).
- Transport and accommodation can be arranged individually and do not require prior approval by the TUM Global & Alumni Office team.
Q&A
For flights and train rides, only second or economy class tickets are reimbursable. Costs for train seat reservations will be covered and additional costs for more legroom in the case of air travel can be covered if valid reasons are given.
- If you want to cover the extra cost to book a business ticket, please send us the paid invoice and an alternative invoice (screenshot from a booking for the same travel but in economy class). We will reimburse the cheapest price.
We reimburse the travel from the visiting professor from his/her home address to TUM.
If you make stops in between, which are not justified and pre-approved, then please provide with the paid invoice an alternative invoice for a direct trip (screenshot of a booking website for a similar trip with the price and itinerary visible), we will reimburse the cheapest price of the two invoices.
If the use of a car is justified, we can reimburse a price for the distance traveled (currently: 0,40 €/km , until 31.12.2022: 0,35 €/km). in this case, please provide a screenshot / map of the distance traveled and an indication of the total kilometers.
Due to our environmental-friendly policies, we always recommend public transportation. But if the use of a cab is justified, we can reimburse it. In this case, please provide a short explanation (e.g. large luggage due to material for a conference or no public transportation available in this area).
We reimburse the business trip from the visiting professor from his home address to TUM and back. Thus, if you took public transportation to come here or to go back, we can reimburse it.
- If approved in advance, relevant business trips while at TUM can be reimbursed (e.g. visit to a partner laboratory).
- Unfortunately, we cannot reimburse your daily public transport costs to go from your accommodation to TUM during your stay. Thus, the cost of a weekly or monthly card (e.g. Deutschlandticket) would have to be justified with enough business trips to make it a cheaper option than the sum of all individual tickets.
For public transportation, we require the ticket and a proof of payment (if it was paid cash: no proof of payment is required).
- If you used a e-ticket, please send us a screenshot of the ticket.
- If you lost your paper ticket and have no photo of it, you can provide instead the receipt. It can be the paper version or the digital version, for example a screenshot of the reservation email.
We reimburse accommodation costs up to 120 €/night in Munich and for smaller cities (below 300.000 inhabitants) up to 90 €/night. In case prices exceed this maximum amount due to fairs, exhibitions (e.g. Oktoberfest), please consult with TUM Global & Alumni Office before making any bookings.
You are welcome to rent a flat instead of booking a hotel if you stay for a longer period.
In this case, instead of an invoice, please provide a copy of your rental agreement.
You are welcome to come to Munich with your family, but please be aware that we can only reimburse the cost of the visiting professor.
If you have an accommodation for multiple people, we must divide the total cost per head (we grant exceptions for children).
For example, if you submit a 2.000€ monthly hotel invoice for two adults, we will reimburse 1.000€.
Yes, teaching agreement (Lehrauftrag) can be reimbursed through the Global Visiting Professor program, for projects up to 2024, if it was indicated in the application.
Please note: The TUM host chair is responsible for applying for a teaching assignment at its TUM department and to provide all necessary documents to the human resources department in order to issue the teaching assignment (see the TUM Dienstleistungskompass for more information).
Important: Please send the original version of the settlement of teaching assignment "Abrechnung Lehrauftrag bzw. Lehrvergütung" to us (via mail/in-house mail) together with a copy of the learning agreement contract "Vertrag über den Lehrauftrag" for entry of finance details and approval. The documents will then be forwarded to the HR department for booking.
Is the approved budget amount less than the total amount of the teaching assignment? The chair must then pay the entire amount and request a rebooking (Umbuchung) for the approved portion of the costs.
We can reimburse a keynote speech or a public lecture per-approved with the TUM Host.
In this case, please send:
- the invitation letter (example) from the host chair, stating location, date & time, title of the event and the lecture/speech, and agreed upon honorarium (with the amount in Euros)
- the visting professor's invoice to the TUM chair, stating location, date & time, title of the event and the lecture/speech, agreed upon honorarium (with the amount in Euros), and bank details
- in case of an event (not relevant for open events): a signed list of participants
- the completed Tax Declaration (PDF, 510 KB) (example)
- for external project members with a residence in Germany and/or staying longer than six months: the completed Declaration on Tax Confidentiality (PDF, 399 KB)
Yes, visa fees are reimbursed, if necessary for your stay at TUM.
In accordance with § 13b of the VAT Act, value added tax for services and work performed within Germany by international service providers (e.g. visiting professors) is payable to the tax authority by the recipient of those services (TUM; so called “reverse charge”). This law applies to services brought to the Technical University of Munich by international providers within the scope of visiting professorships/guest lectures.
- This form is required as soon as TUM covers any costs for the international service provider or remunerates the visiting researcher for any services.
- In order to determine his or her tax liability, the visiting professor must complete a tax declaration form. The key purpose of this form is to determine if the visiting professor is to be considered self-employed (i.e. taxable, person), in which case VAT for his or her services must be collected, or not (i.e. non-taxable person).
- In case the international service provider is to be considered as taxable person, it is the Technical University of Munich (NOT the visiting professor), which is eventually obliged to transfer VAT to the German tax office.
- This Tax Declaration document has no implications to any tax obligation of the visiting professor in his/her home country/country of residence.
In principle, transfers must be made to the authorized person. This person is also the recipient of the money under tax law.
If the visiting professor has a bank limitation (e.g. no international transfer accepted), please contact TUM Global & Alumni to ask for an exception. If it is approved, we would require (in addition to the usual documents):
- a confirmation from the visiting professor (with signature) that payment may be made to the other person with discharging effect
- the recipient of the transfer confirms that he/she will pass on the amount received to the visiting professor
Receiving the grant
To facilitate the refund process, we recommend that you keep all original tickets and bills incurred during your stay.
- Project financing is provided by reimbursement of costs (either to the TUM chair or directly to the visiting professor)
- Advance payments and the payment of lump sums is not possible
- If the actual project costs are below the maximum approved budget, only the actual costs incurred will be reimbursed
- Costs must be directly related to the objectives/purpose described in the submitted application. Without obvious link, a written explanation will be asked
For costs paid directly by the visiting professor: please use our online Reimbursement form.
You will need to upload the below documents:
- Reimbursement form (PDF, 162 KB) completed
- Tax declaration (PDF, 510 KB) completed (example)
- All original invoices / tickets*
- Proof of payment (example: bank statement (PNG, 69 KB)
- Only for guests with a residence in Germany and/or staying longer than six months: Declaration on tax confidentiality (PDF, 400 KB) completed
*Original invoices or tickets (which were not in digital format) have to be send by post to:
Technical University of Munich
TUM Global & Alumni Office
Camille Piton
Arcisstraße 21
80333 München
For costs paid by the TUM Chair: please use this online Reimbursement Form.
You will need to upload the below documents:
- Kassenanordnung MU 65 completed* - example (PDF, 280 KB)
- Tax declaration (PDF, 510 KB) completed by the visiting professor (example)
- All copies from invoices / tickets
- Proof of payment (SAP Statement and if applicable: bank statement from the original payer)
Once approved, the original documents have to be send by post to:
Camille Piton
TUM Global & Alumni
Technical University of Munich
Arcisstraße 21
80333 München
Please use this online Reimbursement Form.
You will need to upload the below documents:
1. For costs paid directly by the partner university:
- Reimbursement form (PDF, 162 KB) completed by the university (address and bank account of the university)
- Tax declaration (PDF, 510 KB) completed by the university
- All copies from invoices / tickets*
- Proof of payment (university’s bank statement)
2. For costs first paid by the visiting professor and then reimbursed by the partner university:
- Reimbursement form (PDF, 162 KB) completed by the university (address and bank account of the university)
- Tax declaration (PDF, 510 KB) completed by the university
- All copies from invoices / tickets*
- Proof of payment (university’s bank statement + professor’s bank statement)
*For those cases: the university can instead directly create an invoice for TUM.
Experience report
In addition to the reimbursement process, the TUM host has to submit a report at the end of the visit, within four weeks maximum. This is a short summary of the activities and results obtained, with the possibility to submit feedback or improvement ideas.
Please use this form.