university of vienna phd admission requirements

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Admission to a doctoral programme

You want to apply for a doctoral programme at the University of Vienna? Here you will find information about the procedure and the most important steps to prepare for a successful application.

The prerequisite for a PhD programme is a  subject-related diploma or master's degree or another subject-related degree of at least the same level of higher education , issued at a recognized domestic or foreign post-secondary educational institution.

You can submit your application for admission online throughout the year (with the exception of PhD programmes in economics). Once you have submitted your application, it will be reviewed by the director of the doctoral programme at the relevant faculty. After 3 - 6 weeks you will be informed by email whether you have been accepted into the PhD programme.

After that you can enrol as a PhD candidate (by paying the ÖH fee or the tuition fee ) and start your PhD and you have access to all services of the University of Vienna (courses, library, IT services, etc.).

Important steps for a successful admission

• Choice of topic: For the admission, you must already have a clear idea of your topic. You must submit a short description of a maximum of 4 pages (plus references) of the planned dissertation project, its questions and objectives, as well as the current state of research on which the dissertation project is based..
• Commitment of supervision: Supervision by a qualified scientist is an important factor for a successful doctorate. Therefore, admission to a doctoral programme is only possible if you have the confirmation of a supervisor at the University of Vienna that he/she will supervise you. This confirmation must be submitted with your application (via form ). Therefore, find out in good time which researchers at the University of Vienna are conducting research on your topic and whether cooperation is possible within the framework of a dissertation project. We recommend that you visit the website of the faculty or doctoral school where you would like to do your doctorate and contact the professors you would like to work with directly.
• Letter of motivation and CV Letter of motivation and CV are part of your application for admission. In the letter of motivation you should briefly and concisely (max. 1 page) present your research interests and your motivation for the planned research project and explain why you want to carry it out at the University of Vienna. The CV should present your academic and professional career in a compact and clear way (max. 3 pages), including relevant professional experience, language skills, abilities and competences as well as previous academic achievements (such as publications, awards, conferences, etc.).
• Degree certificates and (optional) language certificates For the application for admission, you must submit your Bachelor's and Master's degree certificates and transcripts with the required legalisation for the country of issue . For admission to doctoral studies, German and/or English language skills at level C1 are generally required. Whether you need to submit a language certificate with your application depends on the doctoral programme you are applying for. You can find more information on the admission pages of the respective doctoral programmes .
• Apply via u:space Create a u:account and register for the doctoral programme of your choice via u:space . Upload all the required documents and click on "Submit application" at the end. Only then can your application be processed and forwarded to the head of the doctoral programme for approval.

If you have further questions, please read our detailed FAQs or attend one of our counselling sessions on admission-related topics. If any questions remain unanswered, you can always contact the PhD Admissions Team by email: doktorat.zulassung @ univie.ac.at

Admission: Frequently Asked Questions

Online info-sessions,  further information (useful links):.

• Tuition fees/Student's Union fee
• Proof of German language proficiency
• Certification (=legalisaton) of documents