Vienna PhD School of Informatics

The Vienna PhD School of Informatics is an international PhD School funded by the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna), the City of Vienna, and private sponsors. Students for this full-time program are recruited world-wide, all courses are held in English.

Information for application for the study year 2012/2013:

The Call for Applications for the study year 2012/2013 has been closed.

Other important dates:

Notification of acceptance: postponed to calendar week 20/2012 (May, 14th - May, 20th 2012)
Start of program: October 1st, 2012.

Overview

The Vienna PhD School of Informatics involves an intense period of supervised study and research, culminating in the submission of a thesis. The duration of the PhD School is three years. The degree is awarded to candidates who, through original investigation, make a distinct and significant contribution to knowledge in their field of specialisation.

The PhD School at Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) admits Austrian as well as international students annually. TU Vienna invites applications for a maximum of 15 PhD scholarships per year. The first study year of the PhD School started in October 2009. No tuition fees have to be paid by these holders of scholarships.

The PhD School’s curriculum covers the main research areas of the Faculty of Informatics. In addition, it may also imply cooperation with other TU Vienna faculties. The school is designed to facilitate the integration of industry, either by defining joint research issues, by offering workplaces (with well-defined research related tasks) during summer breaks, or by sponsoring.

TU Vienna aims at positioning this PhD School of Informatics at a high level of excellence within the international community. The vision is to increase both the quality and the quantity of excellent young researchers in the field of informatics.

Flyer

Please download the flyer here.

Objective

The Vienna PhD School of Informatics is widely varied in the sense that it covers the main research areas of the Faculty of Informatics, and is not specifically related to one single research topic.

The PhD school intends to generate scientists who…

have broad knowledge and expertise in the domain (breadth) as well as contribute to the development of the sciences (depth) through autonomous research,
gain new scientific insight and present this comprehensively,
gain the ability to solve complex scientific problems in both fundamental and applied research at a high international level according to accepted scientific standards.

A curriculum for doctoral studies of this kind is atypical for Austrian Universities. In Austria, doctoral students traditionally have fewer courses (with less curriculum structure). This PhD curriculum contains more courses, which are structured around the faculty’s research areas. The student’s personal responsibility and commitment to pursuing research is an important prerequisite for a successful PhD thesis.

The objective of this PhD curriculum is to provide an environment that encourages students to contribute to the advancement of technology through independent creative research. One objective of doing a doctoral degree is to become an independent researcher, capable of generating, pursuing and communicating novel research ideas. Therefore, students will become involved in research activities as soon as possible.

Scholarships

Each year a maximum of 15 students will be awarded a scholarship amounting to EUR 1,000 per month, to cover the cost of living. Travel expenses for e.g. attending conferences or summer schools will also be covered, upon approval.

Scholarships for the Vienna PhD School of Informatics are available for Austrian as well as international students. Students working at TU Vienna are encouraged to apply, up to a defined number. However, they are excluded from funding.

Organisation

The school is designed as an international one, inviting applications world-wide. All courses are held in English. Students have to attend the school for three years. During the first two years they have to follow courses, whereas in the third year they exclusively work on their PhD thesis. The program is a full-time one.

Students will be integrated into research groups at the beginning of the second year at the latest. Directly after admission each student will be assigned to an advisor, who, together with the student, designs a student-specific curriculum based on the overall curricula.

At an organisational level the school consists of...

the Commission of the PhD School,
the Director of the PhD School,
a pool of internal and external scientists, including the supervisors of the PhD theses and the invited guest lecturers, as well as
two administrative assistants.

Informatics, TU Vienna