Since the beginning of 2011, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been paying a project overhead (Projektpauschale) for research projects at universities and university hospitals that are billed on an expenditure basis.

Analogous to the DFG's programme allowance (in German) the BMBF’s project overhead is intended to support the funding of indirect project costs incurred by the research project.

Since 2011, a project overhead of 10% of the grant amount has been paid to ongoing projects as well as new approvals. New grants awarded from 2012 onwards receive a 20% project overhead. Further information can be found in the Intranet.