RUG)/University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)

Useful information regarding the cooperation with the University of Groningen (RUG)/University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) This is a guide for academics who are planning a research stay in Groningen or who want to establish a cooperation or consolidate an existing cooperation with the RUG/UMCG. Medical students preparing for a stay in Groningen can contact the Office of Academics Affairs at ([email protected]) for further information. Content 1. Business trips abroad 2. Insurance coverage 3. Authorisation agreement 4. Hospitality Agreement 5. Joint Degree (binational doctorate) 6. Attending courses of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences (UMCG) 7. Transfer of funds to Groningen/purchasing guidelines 8. Hiring of research and student assistants from Groningen in Oldenburg 9. Important contact persons in Oldenburg 10. Important contact persons in Groningen 11. Useful links 1. Business trips abroad: Business trips abroad must always be booked and approved in writing in advance. A written application for a business trip is made using a Request form for the authorisation of business trips. A business trip abroad must be indicated as such. Be sure to submit the application before departure, fully completed, and signed by the competent authorities. (For the latter, see the Guidelines for the approval of business trips.) For business trips associated with certain types of recurring official duties, it is possible to apply for a business trip permit that is valid until the end of the calendar year (also using the form Request for the authorisation of business trips). Under section 84 (1)(2) of the NBG (Civil Servant Act), only necessary and reasonable costs are reimbursed as travel expenses. Travel expenses are processed using the Request for settlement of an approved business trip. The claim should be submitted promptly after the business trip, and within 6 months at the latest (exclusion period). If the costs are expected to exceed EUR 200, it is possible to apply for an advance of up to 80% of the upcoming costs. It is also possible to apply for an international per diem. Apart from the business trip application, staff who are on business abroad must carry a secondment certificate (officially known as an A1 form), showing that they continue to be subject to German social insurance regulations. This applies to all paid staff, i.e. employees, civil servants and student and research assistants. Such a secondment certificate is not only required for longer stays abroad of several days, weeks or months, but also for very short stays (including appointments lasting just a few hours) and is thus required for every border crossing made for professional reasons. The secondment certificate must be requested from the social insurance agency. Members of staff cannot request the certificate directly but must complete and forward the requisite form. At the Page 1 of 7 University of Oldenburg, Division 2, Section 2.5 (Payroll Section) is responsible for applying for these certificates. If a member of staff works in the same country repeatedly for a limited period of time, a new secondment certificate must be requested for each period. The expected duration of the employment must be stated in the application. You will find further information on business trips and the required secondment certificate, along with the corresponding sample forms, in the administration portal. 2. Insurance coverage: Legal accident insurance for staff on business trips: Staff who undertake business trips on behalf of or in the interests of the university are covered by legal accident insurance for all activities and work performed in causal connection with the business activities, with the exception of persons who are to be provided with accident insurance under civil service regulations. However, staff are not always insured for the entire duration of the business trip or for every activity, even if they have to stay or move outside their place of work and residence during the business trip in the interests of the service. In this context, the general principles apply according to which the insurance coverage only pertains to activities which have a substantial legal connection with the insured activity. Therefore, when a person engages in purely personal activities during the business trip that are unconnected to the professional activities (eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.), the insurance coverage ceases to apply. Such activities fundamentally belongs to the private sphere and therefore to the personal life of the concerned individual. The fact that a member of staff is free to choose the precise manner and time of implementation of the given assignment does not contradict the acceptance of a business trip. On the other hand, in cases in which an official or business trip is substantially linked to private interests in terms of time and place, it must be examined whether an actual causal connection exists with the professional activity at the time of the accident. The decision on this matter must take into account all circumstances of the specific case. For instance, if a member of staff carries out activities in the location independently of the professional activity which are based on personal interests (e.g. visiting museums, attending cultural events) and are unrelated to the actual assigned tasks, these activities also belong to the uninsured private sphere of the member of staff. Finally, it should be noted that only accident events are covered under the legal accident insurance, not endogenous illnesses occurring during the business trip (e.g. appendicitis or flu). In such cases, the individual's health insurance is liable for payment. In the event of an accident, an accident report must be submitted without delay to the personnel officer in Division 1 who is responsible for the individual concerned. The Lower Saxony Accident Insurance Fund (Landesunfallkasse Niedersachsen (LUK Niedersachsen)) ultimately clarifies whether accident insurance applies. Page 2 of 7 NB: PhD students who are enrolled as PhD students but who finance their doctorate with a scholarship and are therefore not employed by the university are not legally insured against accidents during a stay for research purposes in Groningen, as the insurance coverage is limited to activities within the university's organisational area of responsibility. You will find further information on the subject (in German) at: https://lukn.de/rehabilitation- leistung/versichertenkreis/kinder-schueler-studierende/universitaet.php Employer's liability insurance: In principle, the University of Oldenburg is liable for material damage caused by staff on business trips in the course of their work - but only at the current value. However, damage due to gross negligence or intent is excluded. The damage caused must be documented and communicated to the personnel officer in Division 1 who is responsible for the concerned person. Health insurance: Staff members and civil servants working in the Netherlands on a temporary basis (usually for no more than 24 months), who continue to be covered by statutory health insurance in Germany can also receive sickness benefits in kind in the Netherlands. This also applies to co-insured family members who are accompanying or visiting the person in question. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is required for this. The EHIC is issued by the health insurance company of the person covered by statutory health insurance. Further information on benefits in kind in the Netherlands can be obtained directly from the health insurance company. (Reference: https://www.dvka.de/media/dokumente/merkblaetter/arbeiten_im_ausland/Arbeiten_Niederlande. pdf) (in German). Useful information on health insurance coverage during a temporary stay in the Netherlands can also be found in the leaflet "Urlaub in den Niederlanden” (in German). https://www.dvka.de/media/dokumente/merkblaetter/urlaub_im_ausland/Urlaub_Niederlande.pdf 3. Authorisation agreement The University of Groningen (RUG)/University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and the University of Oldenburg (UOL) work together closely in the European Medical School. This cooperation is governed by a cooperation agreement. By signing the authorisation agreement, researchers from Groningen become associate members of Faculty VI, and therefore also of the UOL. Associate members of the UOL are entitled to use all facilities of the University subject to the relevant regulations. In Faculty VI and its organisational units, researchers can be granted the following possibilities in individual agreements with the host organisational units: Application and participation rights with regard to obtaining and managing third-party funding in accordance with the rules of the UOL Access to laboratory areas and equipment within the available resources of the working group or Faculty VI and the department in question Participation in research, particularly the implementation of research tasks, including the right to apply to the appropriate commissions Regular reporting on joint research projects Publication of joint research results under the address of the UOL Participation in teaching (for example through teaching assignments) Page 3 of 7 Particiation in the self-administration according to the regulations for UOL associate members Participation in appointment committees according to the respective status groups (e.g. professors). The basic prerequisite for an authorisation is the investigator’s research experience. At least one of the points listed

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