  Research funding through third-party financing is of considerable importance
for the German science system. The funds of the German Research Foundation
(DFG) serve as the central focus due to the high reputation of the foundation.
However, it has not been clarified yet to what extent the chances of
successfully acquiring these funds depend on the structure of the university as
an institution. The present study analyses DFG funding in the context of
university research and examines the role of organisational conditions in the
acquisition of funding. Several factors, such as size of the institution,
equipment, and teaching activities, are analysed. The empirical study focuses
on four subjects and investigates the correlation between funding success and
conditional factors using a Bayesian approach. Results reveal the considerable
relevance of the factors size as well as provision of academic and non-academic
personnel. This implies that the organisational conditions are to be taken into
account while evaluating third-party financing success.
