Guidelines & Procedures

The information in these pages is designed to help you - a Vienna BioCenter PhD Program student - to orientate yourself in the program. It is particularly helpful to those that have just arrived and wish to acquaint themselves with the rules of the programme, how to enrol at the University of Vienna and it also gives guidance on the official forms and procedures.

We have tried to make this information as clear and accurate as possible, and intend to update when necessary. However, procedures and links may change and we would therefore appreciate your feedback if there is anything that is unclear or if something is out of date.

General Information and Forms

Throughout their PhD students are expected to:

  • Develop their PhD Projects
  • Assess and revise their progress themselves and together with their supervisor
  • Actively participate in Monday Seminars, journal clubs, and group meetings.

Month 1-6

  • Sign the Code of Good Practice and register with the University of Vienna/Medical University of Vienna
  • Attend Prime your PhD course
  • Hold first Mentoring Meeting
  • Write thesis proposal, including timeline
  • Appoint a thesis advisory committee (TAC) & organise first meeting
  • Submit thesis proposal, Doctoral Thesis Agreement and relevant forms to the University of Vienna/Medical University of Vienna

Month 6-18

  • Present first Monday Seminar
  • Hold second Mentoring Meeting
  • Organise and hold the second TAC meeting
  • Submit Annual Report and TAC report

Month 18-33

  • Hold third Mentoring Meeting
  • Organise and hold the third TAC meeting
  • Submit Annual Report and TAC report
  • Present second Monday Seminar

Month 33-48

  • Hold fourth Mentoring Meeting
  • Present third Monday Seminar
  • Write and submit PhD thesis, organize PhD defense

 

Depending on your home university – please discuss this with your supervisor – you need to apply for admission in the Life Sciences at the University of Vienna or at the Medical University of Vienna. 
Please note that the processing of your application can take several weeks, we advise to start the registration process as soon as you have all necessary documents.
 

  • Registration to the University of Vienna

Please visit the PhD student lounge for general guidelines and instructions on the registration process. 

You can apply online, throughout the year, via u:space. If you already have an employee u:space account, please create a new student account.

Please note that you have to renew your enrolment every semester (Winter semester: 1 Oct - 28 Feb; Summer semester: 1 Mar - 30 Sep).

If you have any questions please contact gerlinde.aschauer(at)univie.ac.at

 

  • Registration to the Medical University of Vienna

Please visit the Application and Admission to PhD and Doctoral Programmes at the Medical University of Vienna and follow the respective link under "Online application for admission":  In the choice of study (Studienauswahl) choose Doktoratsstudium as study type (Art des Studiums) and select "UN 794620202 Doctor of Philosophy-Doktoratsstudium; Molecular Biosciences; Diplomstudium Humanmedizin" from the dropdown menu.

Please note that you have to renew your enrolment every semester.

If you have any questions please contact theresa.huegel(at)univie.ac.at or the Studienabteilung (Dieter Breitenbaum and Vesna Dominkovic) at phd(at)meduniwien.ac.at.

 

The mentoring meetings are designed to establish a trust-based and productive student-mentor relationship, to clarify mutual expectations and working relationships, to guide the PhD students through their professional development, and to assess the overall status and direction of the project. 
Yearly mentoring meetings are a mandatory requirement and the PhD program recommends that they occur more frequently at the start of the PhD.

This guide contains discussion points and questions that aim at helping students to independently review their project progress and overall professional development in preparation for the mentoring meeting:

Six months after the start of your contract, you will have assembled a Thesis Advisory Committee and set a date for your first TAC meeting (also referred as Public presentation).

Take this opportunity to think about which direction(s) you want to explore in your project, and set clear goals and objectives. Additionally, schedule a mentoring meeting before your TAC meeting and shape your personal development goals for the PhD together with your supervisor. In this way you can make the most of out of the TAC meeting, receiving feedback about the scientific project and your personal development.

Before the first TAC meeting, write the Thesis Proposal (also called Exposé) using the following template:

If you have external TAC members (not IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs), please have them sign the confidentiality agreement:

During the TAC meeting, the chair fills in the following TAC Report form, that needs to be signed by all TAC members and PhD students and uploaded on STREP:

After the meeting:

a) if your home university is the University of Vienna, hand in to Gerlinde the University forms for the approval of the thesis project.

b) if your home university is the Medical University of Vienna, hand in the Medical University form (signed by all TAC members) to the Studienabteilung (Dieter Breitenbaum and Vesna Domikovic: phd(at)meduniwien.ac.at)
You may use the TAC reports as attachement and make a note in the corresponding fields of the form.

Every year after the first TAC meeting, you will schedule an annual TAC meeting to report your progress and receive feedback on your scientific project and career development plan.

Before the TAC meeting, write the Progress Report using the following template and upload it on STREP one week before the TAC meeting:

During the TAC meeting, the chair fills in the following Annual TAC Report form, that needs to be signed by all TAC members and PhD students and uploaded on STREP:

After the meeting:

a) if your home university is the University of Vienna, hand in to Gerlinde the University form

b) if your home university is the Medical University of Vienna, hand in the Medical University form (signed by all TAC members) to the Studienabteilung (Dieter Breitenbaum and Vesna Domikovic: phd(at)meduniwien.ac.at)
You may use the TAC reports as attachement and make a note in the corresponding fields of the form.

The student is responsible for managing all bureaucratic interactions with the University, with assistance from the PhD Coordinator and University officials. The supervisor and the student will work together to ensure that the doctoral thesis meets laboratory and university standards and is completed within the duration of the PhD contract.

Writing the thesis is a learning experience in its own, and this may require a significant investment of time. Supervisors will help with the quick completion of the thesis by giving feedback to written work in a timely fashion. It is important to note that certain requirements will take some time to complete so students should initiate them well in advance.

You can find detailed information on the administrative procedures at the following University of Vienna website: here

When Vienna BioCenter PhD Program students are listed as authors in a publication, the program should be listed as a second affiliation as in the following example:

Doe, John1,2

1. Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) + necessary address details

2. Vienna Biocenter PhD Program, a Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, A-1030 Vienna

 

Papers that do not show the correct affiliation to the Vienna Biocenter PhD Program will not be considered for cumulative theses.