DOCTORAL DEGREE PROGRAMME

Dissertation project (DISS1)

Sequence of steps

Students submit an electronic application for approval of the research proposal (DISS1) via the student portal. The submission procedure comprises several steps:

1. Planning your submission
Please note that a submission is only possible after (electronic) approval by the supervisors or advisors. To ensure that your application is submitted in due time, you should submit it at least three weeks before the deadline. Once the supervisors or advisors have confirmed their approval, you can select a suitable date for the presentation. The submission function is not activated until this point. Submit the DISS1 application.
2. Endorsement
Once your application has been formally reviewed by the Office of Academic Affairs, it is forwarded to the relevant doctorate advisory committee, provided that it meets the requirements. The doctorate advisory committee invites you to the public presentation of the research proposal and informs the university public in an appropriate manner. Once your research proposal has been presented and discussed, the doctorate advisory committee issues a statement either endorsing or rejecting your dissertation project and forwards this to the Office of Academic Affairs.
3. Approval
As soon as your research proposal has been approved, the status in your student portal will change to “approved”. You can also view the approved research proposal and the exposé there.

As soon as your research proposal has been approved, the status in your student portal will change to “approved”. You can also view the approved research proposal and the exposé there.

Students in the fields of technical sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and economics, and law are required to submit the application for approval of the research proposal (DISS1) together with the dissertation agreement (DISS2) in order to be admitted to the presentation before the doctorate advisory committee!

Types of thesis

Do you want to write your thesis as a monograph?

The specialist topic chosen for the dissertation project is dealt with comprehensively in a single publication (monograph).

Do you want to write a cumulative thesis (based on publications)?

To prepare a cumulative thesis, you write several specialised articles on an overarching topic over the course of your doctoral studies. This has the advantage that you will already align your individual contributions with the quality standards of the international scientific community and that your articles will be made accessible to a qualified audience through publication in recognised journals. This allows you to gain valuable first-hand experience of the publication and reviewing process, and the publications of your thesis articles can serve as a basis for your future academic publishing activities.

The selection of articles is agreed individually with the thesis supervisor. A number of general guidelines apply:

The publications submitted must deal with a coherent research topic. The thesis may not simply consist of a series of unrelated publications.

A summary (abstract) in English and German is part of the cumulative thesis and must be written in accordance with the guidelines set by the University of Klagenfurt. This summary must contain the most important elements of the introduction and the overall discussion. The introduction should include a theoretical framework and an explanation of the methodological approach.
The thesis must conclude with a reflection, discussion, and summary.
The academic work involved in the thesis must be performed autonomously. At least one of the publications submitted must therefore be written by you as the first author. In the case of joint publications, all authors must sign a declaration stating the individual contributions of each doctoral candidate.
As a rule, a cumulative thesis consists of at least three specialised articles.
Specialised articles are articles published in peer-reviewed international journals.
Whether the articles must already have been published in order to complete the thesis must be agreed in advance with the supervisor.
Publications that form part of a publication-based (cumulative) thesis cannot be listed in the dissertation agreement.

Do you intend to collaborate on a topic?

Several students may jointly address a topic with the consent of the Rector of Studies provided that the performance of each student can be assessed separately (Section 83 (2) Universities Act) and the individual achievements of the students meet the requirements for a doctoral thesis. In order to allow for separate assessment, the individual parts of the thesis must each be written by a single student, who must be explicitly named. The joint work on the topic as a whole must be highlighted and the nature of the collaboration must be described. This also applies in cases where separate theses are submitted (Part B, Section 19 (5) of the University Statutes).

Guidelines issued by the doctorate advisory committees

Research proposals & presentations – Doctorate in Natural Sciences (Dr. rer. nat.)

Information sheet issued by the doctorate advisory committee Dr. rer.nat. on the submission & presentation of the research proposal

Research proposals & presentations – Doctorate in Philosophy (Dr. phil.)

Information provided by Doctorate Advisory Committee 4 (Educational Research, German Didactics and Pedagogy)

Research proposals & presentations – Doctorate in Social Sciences and Economics (Dr. rer. soc. oec.)

Information on the submission of the research proposal and its presentation for the dissertation fields of social sciences and economics

Research proposals & presentations – Doctorate in Technical Sciences (Dr. techn.)

Information on the submission of the research proposal and its presentation for the dissertation fields of Informatics, Information and Communications Engineering, and Technical Mathematics

Contact

Mag. Ulrike Eder-Jele
Studienrektorat
+43 463 2700 1006
Ulrike [dot] Eder [at] aau [dot] at