Public Presentation (FÖP) - Dissertation - Defensio

On this page you will find information and forms on the various phases of the doctoral program, including the Public Presentation at the Faculty (FÖP), the dissertation and the defense.

Public Presentation general information

The public presentation of the dissertation project is the prerequisite for the approval of the dissertation topic for all doctoral students. The approval of the dissertation topic is also a prerequisite for the conclusion of the obligatory doctoral thesis agreement between the student, supervisor and DSPL.

The presentation can be held in either German or English.

A maximum of 10 minutes of presentation and 20 minutes of discussion are allowed per presentation.

After all presentations have been given, the doctoral advisory board convenes for a non-public discussion of the presentations and subsequently announces the results of the FÖP and, if applicable, informs the candidates of their suggestions for improvement.

Detailed advice on the faculty-public presentation can be found in the document below and on the VDP website.

Registration to the public presentation

The current dates of the FÖP and the respective registration deadlines can be found here. Registration for the dissertation areas Philosophy and Cognitive Science is done via the SSC Philosophy.

To register, you will need the following documents, which you should send to us via the Service Desk:

    • Form Registration of the dissertation topic and announcement of the supervisor (SL/D11)
  • Form Rules of good scientific practice (SL/W1)
  • Exposé - for detailed exposé requirements please visit the VDP Research Proposal - Exposé website 

Information on the dissertation agreement

Once the dissertation project has been approved at the FÖP, students must conclude a dissertation agreement with their supervisors, which must subsequently be approved by the DSPL. To have the dissertation agreement approved, submit the dissertation agreement form to the SSC via the Service Desk.

Please note the following requirements of the DSPL43 when formulating the relevant sub-items of your dissertation agreement:

Details of the dissertation project (page 1):

All necessary information about your studies/dissertation area can be found in your study sheet (available on u:space)

Point 4 (page 2): Provide exact specifications for feedback from your supervisor

According to DSPL43, the deadline may not exceed four weeks

Specify whether the feedback will be verbal and or written

Point 7 (page 2): A total of 24 ECTS points must be completed as part of your degree program

At least 15 ECTS points must be earned through participation in DSPL43 doctoral seminars (3 DSPL43 seminars of 5 ECTS each) - this requirement is mandatory for all DSPL43 students and must be explicitly stated in the dissertation agreement 

You can already indicate in the dissertation agreement how you would like to earn the remaining 9 ECTS. For example, other courses at the University of Vienna, conference presentations, your own teaching, etc. can be used if they are related to your dissertation project.

Note: Courses that are open to Bachelor's students may not be used - see study program coding at the end of the respective u:find entry.

Please note that any type of course that is not coded for the DSPL43 (listed in the course catalog of the DSPL43) may only be used for the acquisition of a certificate with the approval of the DSPL43.

Approval of coursework by the DSPL43 can be obtained through the submission of the Dissertation Agreement or, once approved, through the Annual Progress Reports. Both are submitted via the Service Desk.

Please contact the SSC if you have any questions about services.

Progress reports

Submit your annual progress report via the Service Desk for approval by the DSPL.

Submitting your dissertation/ Choosing Examiners

The assignment of the dissertation to the examiners initiates the final phase of the doctoral program. The assignment determines which persons will assess the dissertation. Below you will find the procedure for assigning a dissertation as part of the DSPL43:

  1. Students and supervisors jointly submit three proposals for external reviewers to the DSPL via the application for assignment of the dissertation to reviewers (SL.D3) (You can find helpful information on how to choose examiners on the pages of the VDP.)
  2. The application must be accompanied by a German and (if possible) an English abstract (SL.D4 DE and EN) and a 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 service desk, the forms can be found here)
  3. The DSPL makes a preliminary decision as to which reviewers should be requested by the SSC and the SSC contacts the reviewers.


As soon as the SSC has two confirmations, the potential external reviewers are submitted to the Studienpräses for approval.

Important notes:

Neither the student nor the supervisor may contact (potential) examiners - Students must not have worked together with the examiners in the past, e.g. have published papers

Only submit the application for assignment to examiners if you can foresee that you will be submitting your dissertation in the near future

The application for assignment has to go through several instances and the acceptance or rejection of the invitation by the external assessors can take some time - it can take several weeks before the examiners can be approved by the Studienpräses.

Defensio

After the positive assessment of the dissertation and completion of all coursework, students can register for the public defense via the SSC service desk. The necessary form SL.P4 Registration for the final oral examination can be found below.

The examination board for the defensio is made up of the DSPL (supervisor) and the two external assessors (examiners) and awards the grade for the defensio.

Procedure of the defensio:

  1. The students give a presentation on the research field of the dissertation (up to 20 minutes)
  2. The presentation is followed by questions from the examination committee (approx. 40 minutes)
  3. Non-public discussion of the examination committee
  4. Announcement of grades

Notes:

The defensio is a public examination, spectators can take part in the defensio.

The grade of the defense evaluates the quality of the presentation and the student's performance during the defense, i.e. the grade does not take into account the dissertation or its grade.