The Graduate School at IST Austria invites applicants from all countries to its PhD program. IST Austria is a new institution located on the outskirts of Vienna dedicated to cutting-edge basic research in the natural sciences and related disciplines. The language at the Institute and the Graduate School is English.
The PhD program combines advanced coursework and research, with a focus on Biology, Computer Science, Neuroscience, and interdisciplinary areas. IST Austria offers internationally competitive PhD salaries supporting 4-5 years of study. Applicants must hold either a Bachelor or Master degree or equivalent.
Applications
IST Austria processes applications to its PhD program once a year, in January.
All admitted students start the program in the following September.
Requirements
Highly qualified students from all disciplines of the Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Science, and any interdisciplinary areas, who are committed to pursue their scientific career in an international research environment are invited to apply.
All applicants must hold an MS or BS degree (or equivalent), or anticipate the completion of the degree before September 2011. The participating students are expected to be proficient in written and oral English.
IST Austria is committed to Equality and Diversity. In particular, female applicants are encouraged to apply.
Deadline
for students wishing to enter the program starting in September 2011: Completed application files and reference letters must be received by January 15, 2011.
Admissions procedure
All applications will be reviewed and ranked by a selection committee consisting of professors of the IST Austria faculty. The short-listed candidates will receive an invitation to visit IST Austria. The visit will take place in March 2011. Travel expenses will be reimbursed and free accommodation will be provided. Final offers of admission will be made shortly after the visit.
The deadline for students to accept or decline an offer is April 15, 2011.
Benefits for PhD students of the PhD program
All PhD students admitted to the program will be offered employment contracts at IST Austria with full social security coverage and will receive an internationally competitive salary. Entering students holding an M.S. degree will have four-year contracts, and entering holding a BS degree, five-year contracts. The contracts will be extended by one additional year if satisfactory progress is made towards a PhD degree.
In addition, the PhD program will provide support for:
- Travel expenses to scientific meetings
- Research stays abroad at collaborating institutions
- German-language courses
A Guest House and four apartment houses are located on the Campus of IST Austria. Depending on availability, a room or apartment can be rented for a period of up to one year after arrival, giving incoming students time to find a suitable accommodation for the subsequent years.
Applying
All applications must be received on-line through a web site.
The application site will be online from December 2010 to January 15, 2011.
Along with your application you will need to up-load PDF copies of supporting documents such as university transcripts and diploma certificates. Furthermore, we will ask you to submit a resume summarizing your career path since high school (with dates), publications (if any), and a Statement of Purpose (one to two pages). The Statement of Purpose is an essay that you should use to explain why you want to do research and enter our PhD the program, and which research area(s) you find most interesting. You will be able to enter the Resume and the Statement in text format, or up-load them in PDF format.
In addition, you will be asked to provide the names and e-mail addresses of three references who have agreed to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf. Make sure that you contacted the references before you submit your application, and let them know that they will receive a request from us. Your college teachers, and supervisors at companies where you did a research-related internship, are good choices of references. The references will be asked to send their letters of recommendation directly to us.
Please note that we are unable to process your application without letters of recommendation. These letters form an essential part of your application, and it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all references send their letters by January 15, 2011.
You will also be able to upload GRE and TOEFL scores (or others) with our application. These tests are helpful in the admissions process, but they are not required for applying to our PhD program.
When you apply, you will have to create an on-line account with us, which will allow you to track your application through its various stages. After registration, you will be sent an email containing a link to enable you to complete your application in several steps.
Application Deadline: January 15, 2011