phd wu wien

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PhD Program in Economic and Social Sciences

The PhD program in Economic and Social Sciences is intended for WU staff (for example prae docs, project staff, etc.). PhD students are thus part of the academic units that supervise their dissertation and participate in their institute's academic discourse. The degree program structure provides a flexible framework which enables an interdisciplinary approach and specialisation in a particular field. Within the provided framework, supervisor and PhD student agree upon the course of studies in dissertation agreements on an annual basis.

• Curriculum 2012, version 2022/23   ( pdf , 246 KB)

Students are admitted to the PhD program at the instigation of their supervisor. According to WU's statutes, a preliminary confirmation of a full professor of WU that he/she will supervise the dissertation project is a prerequisite for admission to a doctoral/PhD program. The required form, which has to be signed by the supervisor, can be obtained at the Doctoral Office.

• Structure & Content

Degree awarded

Doctor of Philosophy, PhD

78 ECTS + Dissertation

Program duration

6 semesters

Language of instruction

German, under certain circumstances English is possible

Mode of study

Program start

winter- and summer semester

Information brochure doctoral/PhD programs

Your data, your choice.

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Brief description

Programme outcomes, fields of activity, personal requirements.

• Contact and help

 Structure

 curriculum/study plan.

For all legal regulations and a detailed description of the structure of this degree programme, please refer to the framework curriculum (Rahmencurriculum) and the degree specific curriculum .

Doctoral advisory board:

Approval of the intended doctoral project: The application for the approval of the intended doctoral project has to be submitted within the first year of studies to the competent body responsible for study matters including a confirmation of supervision, a research proposal, a time schedule and a list of resources needed. Students have to present the intended doctoral project in the course of the research seminar. If the intended doctoral project is part of a research project that has already been approved externally, the competent body responsible for study matters may approve the doctoral project prior to the presentation at the Faculty.

Doctoral thesis agreement: The doctoral candidate and his/her supervisor have to conclude a doctoral thesis agreement comprising the name of the student, the student ID number and date of birth, the name of the thesis supervisor, the topic of the doctoral thesis, the research proposal, a time schedule, key information about the extent of supervision (particularly about the frequency of the scheduled feedback meetings between supervisor and student) and the declaration of commitment of the doctoral candidate to abide by the rules and regulations of good academic practice.

Doctoral thesis: We encourage the publication of partial results of the doctoral project in academic journals and their presentation at academic conferences prior to the submission of the doctoral thesis.

Public defence: Following the positive assessment of all subjects of examination and of the doctoral thesis, the doctoral candidate has to defend his/her doctoral project in the final oral examination in front of an examination committee.

Prospective students who would like to begin the PhD programme in Economics should have outstanding academic qualifications and a strong interest in microeconomics, macroeconomics and/or econometrics.

Information about the admission are available on the website of the StudiesServiceCenter .

Contact & help

For questions regarding the PhD programme, please contact:

info.doktorat @ univie.ac.at ssc.wiwi @ univie.ac.at

Learn more:

Center for doctoral studies, master - all study programmes.

• Applied Economics  (starting in WS21)
• Banking and Finance
• Business Administration
• Business Analytics
• International Business Administration
• Philosophy and Economics
• Research in Economics and Finance  (starting in WS21)
• Economics (expiring)

PhD/Doctoral Programme - All Study Programmes

• Logistics and Operations Management
• Statistics and Operations Research
• Business and Law