Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy
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Budget and Finance
The Budget and Finance team at the Central Departmental Administration is happy to assist and advise you on the following topics:
User Setup in FUB Budget Systems, Financial Authorization
If you are welcoming new colleagues to your department or if job responsibilities change, we can arrange for them to be granted access to the UniKat (in German) ordering system and other FUB budget systems (elSA, in German) as needed. Please contact the following individuals via email:
- Ms. Carmen Post for the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
- Ms. Daniela Jäger for the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Pharmacy.
If you require financial authorization, you can apply for it yourself via the elSA portal. We would also be happy to advise you in advance as to whether this is necessary. Comprehensive additional information can be found on the Division of Finances website.
Budgeting
Do you have questions about your unit’s budget? Would you like to request a budget transfer, e.g., between different cost centers, or the conversion of operating funds to personnel funds? Please contact the following individuals via email:
- Ms. Carmen Post for the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
- Ms. Daniela Jäger for the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Pharmacy.
Field Trips: Advance Payments and Final Accounting
If you are planning a field trip, please feel free to contact Ms. Daniela Jäger with any questions. Please first review the FUB guidelines for organizing field trips (in German). To apply for funding prior to the field trip and for final accounting, please use the Field Trip Form (in German).
Reimbursement for Guest Activities
Are you planning to host guests in your research group, e.g., for lectures, symposia, or research stays of up to one month? You can easily claim reimbursement for the guest’s expenses using the Guest Activity Form. To do so, please email the completed form along with the relevant receipts to
- Ms. Carmen Post for the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
- Ms. Daniela Jäger for the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Pharmacy.
Appointment Funds
We keep track of the appointment funds that have not yet been budgeted to your cost centers but were promised to you during your appointment negotiations. Would you like an overview of your remaining appointment funds, or would you like to request them and have them budgeted to your cost center? Please contact us by email at
- Ms. Carmen Post for the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
- Ms. Daniela Jäger for the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Pharmacy.
Procurement Procedures
Are you planning to make a purchase outside the UniKat catalog? Depending on the expected contract value, additional procurement regulations must be followed. You can find an overview on the Central Purchasing Wiki pages (in German); please pay particular attention to the table summarizing the types of procurement. You will also find the various self-declarations and special contract terms there.
Please contact Ms. Ulrike Geiger (beschaffung@bcp.fu-berlin.de) for consultation regarding planned procurements with a contract value exceeding 10,000 EUR.
For negotiated procurements up to 10,000 EUR, please use the BCP Negotiated Procurement Form (in German).
Attendance Allowances
As a student, you are entitled to a attendance allowance for participating in certain committee meetings. Please note that the university's guidelines for attendance allowance are currently under review. Please send the BCP Attendance Allowance Form (in German) along with the meeting minutes confirming your attendance to Ms. Carmen Post.
Budget Dos and Don’ts
- When accepting contracts, offers, or placing orders, please be mindful of the limits of your spending authority. Professors generally have a spending authority of 5,000 EUR (research assistants 2,500 EUR, teaching assistants 1,000 EUR, administrative assistants 500 EUR). For orders or contracts exceeding your spending authority, please contact the Departmental Administration in advance (beschaffung@bcp.fu-berlin.de).
- Please note that orders for services exceeding 150 EUR must be placed in writing prior to any invoicing (§ 55 State Budget Regulations). As a rule, this order placement is the purchase order generated by UniKAT. If, in exceptional cases, no order has been created prior to receipt of the invoice, please provide separate proof of the order placement (e.g., via an email confirming the order, or a note of acceptance on a quotation).
- For procurements exceeding 1,000 EUR, an award record must generally be prepared, and self-declarations must be obtained from the service provider/supplier. Further information and templates can be found in the Central Purchasing Wiki.
- Purchases exceeding 10,000 EUR that are not listed in the catalog are generally subject to a competitive bidding process. Please contact your departmental administration in advance for consultation (beschaffung@bcp.fu-berlin.de). This also applies to the booking of hotels or event venues, e.g., for conferences or retreats.
- Purchases exceeding 25,000 EUR are handled by the Central Purchasing unit of the Division of Finance. For more information, please refer to the Central Purchasing wiki. Your departmental administration will be happy to assist you in advance with preparing specifications and to provide advice (beschaffung@bcp.fu-berlin.de).
- Purchases of scientific equipment with a purchase value exceeding 200,000 EUR are only possible via the Major Research Instrumentation Programme of the DFG.
- Please do not order from Amazon or other online platforms. Please primarily use the UniKAT catalog and the framework agreement partners listed therein or the available online shops linked via UniKAT (Unite, sonepar, Converge, MUP, Horn, Schlegel, Conrad)
- Orders requiring advance payment are generally not possible. If necessary, please look for alternative suppliers or consult your departmental administration (beschaffung@bcp.fu-berlin.de)
- Please order software only through the UniKAT catalog. If the software you need is not listed, please discuss your procurement request with software@fu-berlin.de. In some cases, a data protection approval or an IT procedure description may also be required.
- When procuring computers not listed in UniKAT (special requirements), please be sure to follow the procedural guidelines of Central Purchasing.
- When preparing fee agreements and contracts for work, please refer to the positive and negative lists as well as the general guidelines provided by the Division of Finance.
- Please observe the FU Berlin’s hospitality policy when hosting events. Please note in particular that hospitality expenses for purely internal events (without external guests) are generally not reimbursable, not even from donation funds.
- Are you planning to hold a team event? Please note the guidelines from the Personnel Division’s Personnel Development unit, particularly the rule that for team-building events, a maximum of 25% of the total costs may be spent on miscellaneous items (e.g., food and beverages, etc.). This applies to all types of funding.
- Payment orders should generally be avoided and are only permitted in individual cases up to a maximum of 150 EUR. If you have any questions, please contact your department’s administrative office (beschaffung@bcp.fu-berlin.de).
Accounting
