Relocation costs

by Sebastian Steinlechner
1 min read May 20, 2016

Hi all, I was wondering whether you could help me with the following. I'm relocating (back) to Germany in a few months, to a 5-year postdoc position. I would really like to have some support to cover relocation costs, but apparently in Germany those are generally only covered for new professors. But it seems like there might still be some grounds for negotiations (with the faculty, or with 3rd party funders) -- does anyone have experience with that? I feel like I shouldn't just accept that they won't cover (part of) my relocation costs, when I'm specifically invited to take on that position.

3 Comments

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Edward Green
May 20, 2016

Hi there,

 

You can certainly claim tax back on all sorts of relocation costs, which might help ease the pain.  A good place to start would be http://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/topic/158207-tax-handling-of-relocation-expenses/

Best

 

Ed

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Peter Klüpfel
May 20, 2016

Hi Sebastian, There should definitely be some way for them to support you in your relocation, but as you already mentioned it is all about negotiating a deal. I had several post-doc or invited positions and my experience is that if an institute is not able to support you in this step you gonna have a hard time getting support in more relevant matters later on. Have you considered that they might have invited you because they have no other options? Might strenghten your position in the negotiations... Good luck Peter
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Sebastian Steinlechner
May 25, 2016

Hi,

thanks for your replies. The official answer still is that relocation could only be covered from 3rd party funding, if the funder agrees to that. I'll push/negotiate in the direction of getting them away from the official statement -- which anyway seems to come from the university's human resources department, but I'm sure there are other sources available e.g. within the institute/faculty.