Admission is based on a competitive examination of the applicants, guaranteeing a high level of quality. After a first screening of applications, shortlisted students will be contacted for interviews. Austrian residents will be invited for face-to-face interviews, applicants from abroad will have phone interviews. The outcome of the interviews forms the basis for the final acceptance.
Here are the important dates to be aware of:
- Application deadline: June 1, 2015
- Interview period: June 22 – June 24, 2015
- Notification of acceptance: June 25, 2015
- Start of the program: Oct 1, 2015
Who Is Eligible?
The PhD School is open for national and international students (not limited to the European Union), with an objective of a 50% share of international students. The Faculty of Informatics at the Vienna University of Technology invites applicants from all countries to its “Vienna PhD School of Informatics”. Furthermore, a women’s quota of at least 40% is intended (averaged over 3 years).
Qualified female applicants are explicitly encouraged to apply. Preference will be given when equally qualified.
Applicants should have obtained a master’s degree with distinction.
Application Deadline
All deadlines and other important dates are available on the PhD School intro page.
General information about VISA / application for residence permit
Before travelling to Austria students might need to apply for a VISA / residence permit.
Please note that applications for VISA / residence permit have to be submitted to the Austrian consulate / embassy at least 3 – 4 months (the sooner the better) before the start of studies.
Therefore it is strongly recommended that applicants check the VISA requirements (documents) already during the application process. Ideally, students should be ready (having all required documents, certificates) to apply for VISA once they get the confirmation of acceptance.
Students who have been accepted to the programme have to arrive before the start of studies. Late arrivals can not be accepted.
How to Apply
- The call for applications for the study year 2015/2016 is open.
- Applications must be entered using the online application.
The following documents have to be uploaded (all in PDF format) during the online application process:
1.) Identification Document / Passport
Provide a scanned copy (a PDF file) of the identification document you indicated in the ‘Personal Information’ section.
2.) Academic Degrees
Applications for the admission to the Vienna PhD School of Informatics are accepted from candidates who will have finished their thesis / studies by 01.10.2015.
Candidates should submit their degree certificate (Master degree or higher) of a post-secondary education institution including course transcript. The submitted documents should be issued by the Universities in English language.
Students who will not be able to submit their degree certificate by 01.06.2015 have to provide a statement by their thesis supervisor declaring that the student will complete his/her degree by 01.10.2015. In such cases, admission will be ‘conditional’ and applicants must be able to present the relevant degree certificate by October 2015.
3.) Summary of your diploma / master thesis
A short summary of the thesis in English (maximum 2000 characters) structured as follows: motivations of the thesis, methods of the investigations, final results.
4.) Curriculum Vitae
5.) Motivation Letter
Please explain why you would like to join the Vienna PhD School of Informatics.
6.) English knowledge certificates
Any certificates attesting knowledge of the English language (TOEFL, IELTS or CAE. For details please refer to the information mentioned below). These tests are NOT required of native English speakers, or if the primary language of instruction at the university attended was English. If the language of instruction was English, please submit a document confirming this.
7.) Research proposal
If you have a research proposal, please upload this document together with the other documents. Note: This document is not mandatory.
8.) Letters of recommendation
Two letters of recommendation have to be provided. At least one of your referees should have a scientific background. Reference letters have to be uploaded by the referees (not by the applicants!). The detailled process is described during the online application process.
After Uploading your documents:
After having entered the online-application, it has to be printed out by just clicking on the “print-out” button. Then it has to be signed, scanned and sent (as an attached document in PDF format) by email to the following address phdschool@informatik.tuwien.ac.at.
The subject heading of this mail has to be as follows: 11521#your applicationID#print-out
English Language Proficiency
Non-native English speakers need to ensure that their English proficiency meets the PhD School’s requirements. Therefore, candidates need to demonstrate an adequate level of English language that will enable them to benefit fully from their courses.
English Language Qualifications
The PhD School accepts the following tests/scores for English language qualifications:
- TOEFL score of at least 550 paper-based, 217 computer-based, or 81 internet-based.
- Please use the code number [4465] when indicating our institution as a score recipient.
- IELTS score 6.0 or higher
- CAE score B or higher
These tests are NOT required of native English speakers, or if the primary language of instruction at the university attended was English.
Students with higher English scores (IELTS 6.5, TOEFL 580/237/88, CAE A) will be preferred. However, command of the English language can be proven in many ways, depending on a student’s prior education. In this case, any certificates, diplomas, etc. a student has obtained should be handed in as a part of the application documents. Nevertheless, the TOEFL/IELTS/CAE tests are strongly recommended for PhD School students.
Applicants’ adequate level of English language will also be surveyed during the application interviews (see above). In case of insufficient language qualifications, students may hand in their certificates of English language proficiency by the end of the first study year.
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