1. Admission to the Doctoral/PhD programme

After you have accepted the offer to work on a specific project within the VDSEE research group, you have to get admitted to the doctoral program at the University of Vienna. Application takes place online via u:space and is possible throughout the year. Please note that you have to renew your enrollment every semester.

To be VDSEE member you can enrol to fields of Doctoral Research as follows

• Ecology and Evolution - Biology: academic title PhD
  (degree programme code 794 685 437)
• Ecology and Evolution - Molecular Biology: academic title PhD
  (degree programme code 794 685 490)
• both according to the 'Curriculum of the 'Doctoral Programme in the Natural Sciences and of the PhD Programme in the Natural Sciences in the field of Life Sciences'

• Ecology and Evolution - Environmental Sciences: academic title Dr.rer.nat.
  (degree programme code 796 605 299)
• Ecology and Evolution - Geosciences: academic title Dr.rer.nat.
  (degree programme code 796 605 426)
• both according to the 'Curriculum Doctoral Programme in Natural Sciences and Technical Sciences in the field of Natural Sciences'

Information on admission and contact

• at the Website of the Center for Doctoral Studies
• Frequently Asked Questions
• email: doktorat.zulassung@univie.ac.at

2. Tuition fee

• As long as you study at the University of Vienna, you have to pay the Students' Union fee and possibly the tuition fee every semester in due time.
• The amount of the tuition fee varies depending on your citizenship. If you are an EU/EEA/CH citizen, it also depends on how long you have already been studying.
• Detailed information at the Hompage of the Teaching Affairs and Study Services Unit.

3. International doctoral candidates

Moving to a new city and country and findig your way around a new university can be very challenging, especially in the beginning. Finding a place to live, taking care of insurance and a residence permit, or finding a suitable German language course are just a few of the things that need taking care of. You can find here information on some of these topic and particularly in the Orientation Guide for International PhD Candidates, such as:

• Entry and Residence
• Insurance
• Working
• Living

Contact

• The 'Liaison Officers' are the first contact persons for academic staff (prae- and postdocs) from third countries to take a foothold in Vienna. This applies i.a. for initial information about visa and residence permit (also with regard to family members). The Liaison Officers of the Faculty of Life Sciences: Ms. Susanne Menschik-Zunzer
• Further contact point at Human Resources Department on topics of immigration law: aufenthaltsrecht.personal@univie.ac.at
• Doctoral candidates not getting employed by the University of Vienna (e.g. fellowship holders) are asked to visit the Hompage of OeAD, Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation for information regarding Visa and residential permit, including checklists. Contact: use either OeAD's online contact form or email to recht@oead.at.

4. Your obligations with VDSEE and the PhD/doctoral curriculum of the University of Vienna

The curriculum provides information on the qualification profile, the requirements for admission, the structure of the doctorate and the number of ECTS credits which doctoral/PhD candidates have to earn during their doctoral studies. The curriculum includes the following key elements:

• The degree programme duration is 3 years
• We highly recommend all VDSEE Doctoral/PhD candidates to obtain 30 ECTS
  The minimum requirements according curricula are as folows:
  - For the fields Biology, and Molecular Biology at least 30 ECTS
  - For the field Environmental Sciences at least 12 ECTS
  - For the field Geosciences at least 24 ECTS
• To sign the 'Code of Good Practices for Doctoral Schools'
• To attend at least once the Annual Reatreat and twice the VDSEE Seminar Series
  
• Public presentation of your doctoral thesis project within the first 6 months, the latest after one year!
• To prepare and sign the doctoral thesis agreement subsequent to the public presentation.
• Submission of annual progress reports (Fortschrittsbericht), annexed by the minutes of meetings with the thesis advisory committee.
• Write a doctoral thesis, which demonstrates the candidate's ability to master academic topics independently.
• Completion, submission and Public Defense

More detailed information

• https://vds-ecology-evolution.univie.ac.at/phd-programme/