Support for Families - Corona (Covid 19)

For students and employees

We can put you in touch with childminders if you need additional childcare

Please send an e-mail to babysitting@uni-bielefeld.de. We will send you a contact list with a list of babysitters, which also contains information about their qualifications and experience.

After that, you can contact the desired childminder personally.

Childminding can be undertaken as a ‘mini-job’ or on a self-employed basis. For more information, please contact the Minijobzentrale.

Please note: Babysitting is not allowed if you are sick or if you and / or the child are in quarantine!

If you need further information, please contact the Family Service.

For (doctoral) students in examination and final qualification phases

Financing of additional childcare for (doctoral) students in examination phases

Students with parental responsibilities can apply for reimbursement of the costs of additional childcare under the following circumstances:

• They are in examination or final qualification phases.

• They have child(ren) under 12 years of age or child(ren) with additional needs.

• They do not have an employment contract with Bielefeld University.

Please note:

• You can be reimbursed for up to 12 €/hour for up to 30 hours of childcare per applicant (per semester).
• You can be reimbursed for a childminder that you have organized yourself as well as those arranged through the family service.
•  The childcare costs that are applied for may only be reimbursed after positive feedback from the Family Service.
• The childcare costs must first be paid by the parents and can then be reimbursed by the University.
• The claim for the reimbursement of childcare costs must be submitted by 25.09.2022 for the summer semester/ 25.03.2023 for the winter semester.
• A refund can be made for each semester.

Procedure for reimbursement of childcare costs for (doctoral) students:

1. Please submit the application by email to babysitting@uni-bielefeld.de
2. You will normally receive a response to your application from the Family Service within 3 working days.
3. The childminder can start immediately after approval of your application.
4. To have your costs reimbursed, please submit the following documents by e-mail to babysitting@uni-bielefeld.de after the childcare has ended:
   1. Bank transfer form
   2. Proof of payment (e.g. a receipt/invoice)
      • A receipt must contain the following information about the childminder: name, address, tax number or tax ID, description of the service with date(s), amount in euros
      • Professional childminders must issue an invoice according to §14 UStG.
5. The requested childcare costs will be reimbursed (usually within 3 weeks) after submission of these documents.

Babysitting can be carried out as a ‘mini-job’ or on a self-employed basis. You can find out more detailed information from the Minijobzentrale.
Please note: Babysitting is not allowed if you are sick or if you and / or the child are in quarantine!

If you need further information, please contact the Family Service.

Here you can find information on data protection

Documents overview

• Application for financing additional childcare (in German)
• Bank transfer form (in German)
• Data protection information (in German)

For employees in teaching and research

Support for staff with high teaching loads and family responsibilities

The university would like to reduce the burden on teachers with a high teaching load and family responsibilities in times of the corona pandemic when preparing and/or teaching courses. You can apply for support for WS 20/21 under the following conditions:

• Your teaching load is 10 lecture units (LVS) or more and
• You look after children up to 12 years of age or children with additional needs in your own household or care for relatives.

Per applicant, you can apply for an assistant for a maximum of 10 hours/week and maximum 5 months or apply for a supplementary teaching contract. Supplementary teaching contracts allow for an overall reduction in administrative workload and examination responsibilities, but do not reduce the teaching load.

Please submit the application for the wintersemester 2022/2023 informally via the administrative office of your faculty. The applications can still be submitted beyond 08.08.2022.

 

Support for young researchers with family responsibilities

The University would like to enable young researchers with family responsibilities during the corona pandemic to have more time for their research (by supporting research and relieving them of teaching duties). You can apply for support if you meet the following conditions:

• You are in a phase between starting your doctorate and completing a junior professorship and
• You look after children up to 12 years of age or children with additional needs in your own household or care for relatives.

Per applicant, you can apply for an assistant for a maximum of 10 hours/week and maximum 5 months or apply for a supplementary teaching contract. Supplementary teaching contracts allow for an overall reduction in administrative workload and examination responsibilities, but do not reduce the teaching load.

Please submit the application for the winter semester 2022/2023 informally via the administrative office of your faculty. The applications can still be submitted beyond 08.08.2022.

Extension of academic contracts by 12 months after law change

The law on academic contracts in higher education and research (WissZeitVG) has been amended in the light of the disruption caused by the Coronavirus pandemic to academic careers. This will to allow researchers to apply for an extension of up to 12 months to their academic contract, so they do not run out of time in which to qualify. The Rectorate recommends that researchers make use of the possibility to extend academic contracts.

So as to ease the burden on young researchers as early as possible, applications to extend academic agreements should be made well in advance, rather than shortly before the research time stipulated on the contract is due to end.

Further information is available here

Compensating junior professors and tenure-track professors with family responsibilities for disadvantages caused by the corona pandemic

To compensate for disadvantages caused by the coronavirus pandemic incurred by junior professors and tenure-track professors with family responsibilities, the faculties are recommended to:

• extend the relevant employment contracts by 6 months (before or after the interim evaluation/ as required) or
• to adjust the agreements on targets and performance in consultation with the Dean and Rectorate.

For further information, please contact the Department of Human Resources and Organization (P/O).

Preventing a corona-career setback

Corona-related periods of childcare or caring for relatives should be taken into account in the evaluation of academic performance (e.g. in job openings and interviews, appointing professorships, and in so called “Leistungsbezüge” etc.) ’Corona-family leave’ should be treated in the same way as parental leave.

If you have any further questions please contact the Family Service.

Making third-party funders more responsible

At various levels (starting with, for example, applicants, Department FFT, Vice-rector for Research, HRK-German Rectors’ Conference), efforts should be made to ensure that third-party funders provide additional funds for the extension of employment contracts and that corona family periods are taken into account when assessing applications for third-party funding (see measure on ‘preventing corona career setbacks’).