Doctoral studies

Information on admission

Admission to a doctoral program at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering is granted by the completion of a master’s or Diploma program qualifying for this purpose. The admission occurs with the necessary documents during the admission period at the Admissions Office.

Furthermore, the admission requires the confirmation of a supervisor of the dissertation. All professors of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering can act as supervisors.

However, since there is no obligation to supervise dissertations, please clarify the topic and the supervision before enrollment!

Admission with a degree from a university of applied sciences

The completion of a relevant study programme at a university of applied sciences in accordance with § 5 ABs. 3 FHStG also qualifies for admission to a doctoral programme, in this case extended by two semesters.

According to the regulations of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, graduates of the university of applied sciences study programmes Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering - Construction Management, Civil Engineering - Project Management as well as Construction Planning and Construction Management have the right to an extended doctorate in the technical sciences.

As stated in the regulations, graduates of universities of applied sciences have to complete 24 semester hours of prescribed basic courses, 10 semester hours of subject-specific supplementary courses and 10 semester hours of in-depth courses as part of the doctoral programme, which is extended by two semesters.

After completing these courses in the first year, graduates of universities of applied sciences are equal to university graduates in doctoral studies.

Courses are selected in consultation with the student, the supervisor of the dissertation and the Dean of Studies.

Dissertation agreement

After admission to the doctoral programme, you have to submit the dissertation agreement to the Dean's office.

Anouncement of a doctoral thesis

The doctoral programme is designed for a standard period of study of 3 years.

Besides the preparation of the dissertation, courses to the extent of 18 credits have to be completed within the doctoral studies.

The courses are determined in consultation between the supervisor and the doctoral student. Before completing the courses, these have to be submitted to the Dean of Studies for approval with the dissertation agreement.

The courses serve the scientific deepening of the topic of the dissertation.

Dissertation agreement

After admission to the doctoral program, you have to submit the disseratation agreement with an one-page abstract on the content of the planned thesis to the Dean's office.

A report on the progress of the dissertation is to be submitted every year.

If you choose a reviewer or examiner from another faculty of the TU Vienna or another university, you have to report it to the Dean's Office. The Dean of Studies decides based on the information supplied whether the selected person can act as a reviewer or examiner.

Please make the request early.

Cumulative Dissertation

Usually, a dissertation is to be written as a monograph. In consultation with the supervisor and the Dean of Studies, a cumulative form can also be chosen.

The guidelines for the writing of cumulative dissertations of the vice rector for Academic Affairs and the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering are to be observed:

Guidelines of the vice rector for Academic Affairs
Guidelines of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

At the beginning, the cumulative dissertation has to be reported to the Dean's office using the form “Dissertation Agreement” ("Dissertationsvereinbarung").

• Information can be found in the corresponding specialist literature in the TU Library.

• You can also inform yourself in the Code of Conduct (see Directives and Regulations) about the rules of scientific work at the TU Vienna.

• Template Title page (Word document) of the dissertation

Registration for the doctoral procedure

For the registration to the doctoral procedure, the contact details of the designated reviewers according to § 23 (6) and the dissertation as a pdf file have to be submitted to the dean's office.

According to § 23 of the study regulations (“Studienrechtliche Bestimmungen”), the dissertation is sent by the Dean of Studies to the reviewers for evaluation.

As soon as the reports have been received by the Dean's Office, the date of the doctoral examination (Rigorosum) can be coordinated.

All necessary forms can be found below or in the Dean's Office:

Statistik Austria

Due to the ordinance on statistical surveys of students at universities, the electronic questionnaire UStat2 has to be filled in.

With the documents for the doctoral examination (Rigorosum) you hand in the UStat2 confirmation or a written justification for the refusal at the Dean's office.

Graduation Ceremonies (Promotion)

After successful completion of doctoral examination (Rigorosum) you can register for the graduation ceremony (Promotion).

The registration takes place in the department of data protection and data management.