The statutory accident insurance covers accidents at work and occupational diseases. Work accidents are not only those that occurred at the workplace or during the actual work activity, but also commuting accidents. The latter are accidents that happen on the way to or from work. Occupational diseases are illnesses, that the employee contracts due to work and that are either registered in the ordinance on occupational diseases (“Berufskrankheiten-Verordnung”) or induced by the employment according to new medical evidence. Whether you are covered by statutory accident insurance depends on your status:

• Enrolled PhD students are covered by the statutory accident insurance of the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) within the area of organizational responsibility of the university without additional costs for the doctoral candidate. A form to file an accident report can be found here.

• All employed research assistants at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg are covered by the statutory accident insurance for the whole period of their employment.

• Generally not covered are activities related to doctoral theses, which are undertaken outside of the university, unless they are part of events or activities or ongoing intensive supervision, for which the university has assumed organizational responsibility. In the latter case it is advisable to document e.g. the university’s responsibility or the instruction by the supervisor in advance.

An overview regarding accident insurance issues canbe found on the webpages of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, information on the statutory accident insurance cover at the university are available on the pages of the Deutsche gesetzliche Unfallversicherung (German Social Accident Insurance) and the Landesunfallkasse Niedersachsen (statutory accident insurance company of the state of Lower Saxony, in German only).

Liability insurance covers damages to persons or objects caused by your personal behaviour. This includes for example the replacement of a lock system in the case of lost keys.

• As an employed research assistant you are subject to a limited employee’s liability regulation at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. However, this only applies if the damage has not been induced grossly negligently or intentionally.

• This regulation does not apply to doctoral candidates without employment at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Consequently, for doctoral candidates it is advisable to take out a private liability insurance that explicitly covers occupational damages.

Costs that result from your PhD are inter alia boundlessly tax-deductible as advertising expenses. It is not necessary that you receive a taxable income at this point in time, because a transfer to other years is possible. Tax-deductible are the following amongst others:

• semester fees
• travel expenses
• computer and software
• work material like copy cards and print paper
• scientific literature
• print costs

A necessary condition for costs of your PhD to be considered for taxes is a proof of the occupational connection between your PhD and, for example, improved career possibilities.

Tip: Collect all relevant receipts for proving tax-deductible costs.