Supervisors

An overview of the eligible supervisors can be found on the website of the Doctoral School for Philosophy (VDP).

Faculty Public Presentation (FöP)

The faculty public presentation (FöP) is the first mandatory step for all DSPL43 doctoral candidates in the entry phase, following admission to the doctoral programme. It is a prerequisite for the official approval of the dissertation topic and for concluding the doctoral thesis agreement. The FÖP should be completed at the end of the first year of study.

Requirements for FÖP Registration

• Participation in the FÖP is only possible with valid admission to the doctoral programme.
• Subject-specific requirements ("Auflagen") should ideally be fulfilled before the FÖP. In exceptional cases, DSPL43 may grant approval despite outstanding requirements.
• The dissertation must be supervised by a habilitated person authorized to supervise doctoral students. A current list of eligible supervisors is available on the VDP website.

Research Proposal

Depending on the project, one of two types of exposé can be submitted.

For the Research Proposal, an official template is provided and should be used. The template is available for download in both German and English.

Exposé – 1

A comprehensive research proposal (3,000–5,000 words), including all components listed below and a bibliography, which covers the following content:

• Description of the dissertation topic with a clearly formulated research question
• Overview of the current state of research
• Outline of the planned research methods
• Relevant literature
• Selection of supervisors
• Timeline and work plan, if applicable also a financial plan and overview of required resources

Exposé – 2

A short research proposal (1,000 words in total), which contains the elements listed under Modality 1 in condensed form, as well as an independent academic paper (max. 5,000 words) that:

• was written during the first year of the doctoral programme,
• is thematically related to the research proposal, and
• illustrates the type of research to be conducted during the dissertation phase.

Registration for the FÖP

Registration for the FöP is carried out via the SSC Philosophy Servicedesk Information on dates and deadlines is available on the relevant website. As a general rule, places are allocated according to the order in which applications are received (first-come, first-served). The DSPL43 may decide on exceptions and determines the final order as well as the respective time slots in a binding manner.

The following documents must be submitted as PDFs via the Servicedesk:

1. Registration of the dissertation topic (SL/D11)
2. Declaration on the rules of good academic practice (SL/W1)
3. Research Proposal – Template for Download (german/english). 
4. Cotutelle agreement (only if applicable)

Structure of the FÖP

1. Presentation (max. 10 minutes, in German or English, based on the exposé; presentation slides are possible)
2. Discussion (20 minutes with the Doctoral Advisory Board)
3. Result: Announced after a closed discussion by the board, possibly including suggestions for revision or further recommendations.

A written protocol is kept during the FöP. 

If the FöP is not passed, the dissertation topic may be withdrawn, and the candidate may resubmit a revised exposé and reapply for a later date. In this case, registration must again be completed via the SSC Philosophy Servicedesk.

After the FöP

1. Next step: the doctoral thesis agreement may be concluded

Dissertation Agreement & ECTS

After the dissertation project has been approved as part of the FöP (doctoral thesis agreement presentation), the research phase begins. According to the curriculum, a total of 24 ECTS must be earned — through DSPL43 courses and/or other academic activities that support the doctoral project.

The planned distribution of ECTS is documented in the Dissertation Agreement (DV) (Page 2, Section 7). The DSPL43 recommends earning at least 15 ECTS through doctoral seminars offered by DSPL43. Deviations from this recommendation must be justified (e.g., in relation to the research project or future career plans).

Submitting the Dissertation Agreement

After successfully completing the FöP, students must conclude a Dissertation Agreement (DV) with their supervisor(s), which must then be approved by DSPL43.

1. Complete the Dissertation Agreement form (DV.01)
2. Prepare a declaration of deviation from the ECTS plan, if applicable
3. Have the Dissertation Agreement signed by the supervisors
4. Submit the documents as a PDF via the Service Desk
5. Review and approval by the DSPL43

Guidelines for Completing the Dissertation Agreement

Page 1: Personal and Study Details

• Personal details can be accessed via u:space
• Supervisors can be found via u:find
• Curriculum: Doctoral Programme in Philosophy (as of June 2018)
• Degree programme code: UA 792 296

Page 2, Item 4: Feedback

• Guideline of the DSPL43: Feedback must be provided no later than four weeks after the submission of chapters or research results.
• It must be specified whether feedback will be provided orally, in writing, or both.

Page 2, Item 7: ECTS Planning

• The plan for completing the 24 ECTS credits must be documented in Item 7.
• Recommendation of the DSPL43: At least 15 ECTS credits should be earned through DSPL43 doctoral seminars. Any deviations must be justified on substantive grounds and aligned with the dissertation project or individual career plans.
• Example of a possible distribution: “15 ECTS through DSPL43 doctoral seminars, 9 ECTS through academic activities.”

Progress reports

The progress report is submitted annually to document the progress of the research and must be countersigned by the supervisors and the DSPL43. The progress report does not serve for the recognition of ECTS credits; for this purpose, the application for recognition and the relevant records of achievement must be submitted via the Servicedesk (see: Recognition of courses, external courses, and academic activities).

Submission:

• Progress report (Form DZ.V02)
• • Application for recognition (if applicable)
  • Records of achievement (if applicable)

Recognition of External Achievements & Academic Activities (ECTS)

Recognition of Academic Activities (ECTS)

In addition to courses, academic activities may also be credited with ECTS, provided that sufficient documentation is submitted.

Examples and Guideline Values

The listed ECTS values are indicative only. Final credit allocation is determined by the DSPL, based on the individual application. Factors considered include academic relevance, scope of the activity, workshop size, and publication output.

• Teaching (own teaching): ECTS based on the number of teaching hours

• Conference presentation: 1 ECTS

• Conference attendance: 0.5 ECTS

• Peer review for academic journals: 0.5 ECTS

• Own publication (not part of the dissertation): up to 2 ECTS

• Editorial work: up to 2 ECTS

• Organization of academic events: up to 2 ECTS

• Outreach projects and academic internships: individual decision by DSPL43

How to Apply for Recognition

The application should include the following supporting documents to retrospectively confirm participation or academic achievements:

1. Application form: “Ansuchen um Eintragung externer Leistungen”
2. Workshops and conferences: a certificate of participation issued by the organizers, serving as proof of attendance
3. Teaching activities: a u:find listing confirming the course, serving as proof of teaching activity

Assignment of the dissertation to examiners

The assignment of the dissertation to the examiners marks the beginning of the final phase of the doctoral program. The assignment determines which persons will evaluate the dissertation. The following is the process for assigning a dissertation in the context of DSPL43:

1. Students and supervisors jointly submit three proposals for external reviewers to the DSPL using the application for assignment of the dissertation to examiners (SL.D3). The application must be accompanied by a German and (if possible) an English abstract (SL.D 4 DE and EN) and one CV including a list of publications for each proposed person (the forms SL.D3 and SL.D4 and CV files must be submitted as a single PDF file via the SSC's service desk.
2. The DSPL makes a preliminary decision as to which reviewers should be requested by the SSC and the SSC contacts the reviewers.
3. As soon as the SSC has two acceptances, the potential external reviewers are submitted to the Studienpräses for approval.

Important notes:

• Helpful information for the selection of reviewers can also be found on the website of the VDP.
• Neither the students nor the supervisors may contact (potential) examiners - students must not have worked scientifically with the examiners in the past, e.g. published publications
• Only submit the application for assignment to examiners when you can foresee that you will soon be submitting your dissertation
• The application for assignment must go through several instances and the acceptance or rejection of the invitation by the external reviewers can take some time - it may take several weeks before the reviewers can be approved by the Studienpräses.

Submission of the dissertation

After the dissertation has been assigned to the external reviewers, it can be submitted via u:space. Information on submission via u:space can be found here.

Once the dissertation has passed the plagiarism check and been sent to the external reviewers for assessment, students must submit the following to the SSC:

1. A digital copy of the signed HOPLA upload confirmation - via the service desk
2. Form SL.D6 Submission of the dissertation - via the service desk.
3. 3 printed copies of the dissertation including a copy of the HOPLA upload confirmation to be submitted in person at the SSC

The SSC must receive the two external reviews within a period of four months. As soon as the SSC receives a review, it will be forwarded to the students and supervisors via the SSC service desk.

Important note:

Students and their supervisors must not under any circumstances contact the reviewers during the review period.

Defense

In the Defensio, only the quality of the presentation and the scholarly discussion during the defense are assessed. The evaluation of the dissertation itself remains unaffected by this.

The Defensio is a public examination; interested persons may attend.

The examination committee consists of:

• the responsible Director of Studies Programme (DSPL43) as chair,
• the two reviewers of the dissertation.
• Prior to the Defensio, all curricular requirements stipulated in the curriculum must have been fully completed.

Coordination of the Defensio Date

The scheduling of the Defensio is the responsibility of the candidates.

The Defensio date must be coordinated with the responsible Director of Studies Programme (DSPL43) via dspl.philosophie@univie.ac.at as well as with the two reviewers.

The use of a Doodle link with several possible time slots is recommended. Different time zones should be taken into account.

Format of the Defensio

The Defensio may be conducted

• in person on site (NIG),
• in a hybrid format, or
• fully digitally.

As a rule, the Defensio takes place in person on site. If personal travel by the reviewers is not possible, the Defensio may be held in hybrid form. A fully digital format is also possible at the explicit request of the candidates.

As the Defensio is a public event, not only interested members of the public but also guests (e.g. family members, friends) may attend.

Registration for the Defensio

Once a Defensio date has been fixed, official registration is carried out via the SSC Service Desk. If required, the SSC will create the Zoom link and send out the official invitation to the Defensio.

• Form “Registration for the Final Oral Examination (SL.P4)"
• Indication of whether the Defensio is to be publicly advertised