MISSIONS AND REFUNDS

Mission-related forms and the indication of the information to enter in the form  are at this link. Incorrect information inserted in the online mission request will cause the request to be rejected by the administration.


WHAT IS A 'MISSION'
When traveling for work within your Ph.D. program, your travels are technically called 'missions' and need to be approved beforehand. The authorization form can be found here.

The procedure is split into two parts: the mission authorization and the refund application.

AUTHORIZATION

It is of the highest importance that the mission is agreed upon with your supervisor and that a clear decision is made with him/her regarding the funds to be used to cover the mission expenses (transportation, housing, meals, registration, ...). Missions longer than 6 months need to be approved by the BMCS Board, so their authorization needs to be asked for well in advance. In case of mission requests for your period abroad (i.e., longer than 20 days), the authorization is obtained upon approval of your visit plan and in addition to the usual mission request, you will also need to ask the authorization from UNIPD by sending them this form (version March 2023). An explanation of the way the increase works can be found in this information note.

REFUNDS

To obtain your refunds after your return, you need to have and return the fiscal receipts documenting your expenses.

Please be advised that if receipts are issued in a form that is not suitable for refund application, you will not get your money back; thus, be sure to be informed before the purchase about the format they need to have by asking the administration office managing the funds (your supervisor will provide instructions about that). Usually, according to the University mission regulation, eligible expenses for doctoral students are transportation, lodging, visa and meals; if it is a scientific event, the registration to the event is also an eligible expense, please get in touch with the secretariat to know if it can be anticipated. In order to have the expense refunded, the receipts need to include the date, amount, currency, type of expense. The original receipt must be included, not a copy. Personal tickets must also include your name (e.g., plane tickets, conference registrations,...) Plane tickets must be also accompanied by boarding cards. Taxi is difficult to refund, you need a convincing explanation; public transportation is preferable.

Additionally, some expenses are not refunded if they exceed a given amount. Train: 2nd class only Plane: Economic class only Hotel: € 130,00 per day Meals: Missions lasting 4 to 8 hours: € 50,00 a day Missions lasting longer than 8 hours: € 100,00 a day.

Other rules might apply to different sources of funding. If you have doubts, please ask for clarifications beforehand to the administration office managing the funds.

OTHER EXPENSES

The individual fund each doctoral student is endowed with covers only a certain type of expenses: missions and course fees. For mission refunds, see above. For course refund (in case you are planning to take any school/seminar/class that requires a fee) please get in touch before the payment to the administration office, to make sure that it is eligible for refunds. The purchase of equipment is not covered by individual doctoral student funds. 

HEALTH ASSISTANCE

Health assistance is not covered by UNIPD. Within the UE, it is covered by the TEAM card. Outside the EU it is recommended to buy insurance to cover health assistance during the mission period.