Supervisors
Supervision plays a central role in the doctoral programme in Social Sciences. Supervisors advise and support doctoral candidates in successfully completing their doctoral project.
Supervisors are responsible for selecting suitable doctoral candidates. It is in their discretion to assess whether a doctoral project aligns with their research interests, whether the doctoral candidate is sufficiently qualified and has sufficient resources (time, funding, material) to finish the PhD, and whether they themselves have sufficient capacities to supervise a doctoral project.
If a supervisor agrees to supervise a project, they clarify the mutual expectations with the candidate and help them in preparing for the public presentation at the Faculty (FÖP). In the doctoral thesis agreement, the candidate and the supervisor/s agree on a time plan for the doctoral studies, major tasks and their working relationship.
When applying for admission to the doctoral programme in Social Sciences, candidates need to submit a written indication by a member of the Faculty who is allowed to supervise a doctoral thesis which states their willingness to supervise the relevant doctoral project.
Supervisory teams
The Directorate of Studies strongly recommends that doctoral candidates and the supervisor who supports them during admission to the doctoral programme make sure that there is more than one person responsible for supporting the candidate during the doctoral studies. There are three ways of including additional persons in supervisory or advisory roles. These options can be combined.
1. Several supervisors equally responsible for the doctoral thesis project
A supervisory team encompasses the main supervisor and one or more additional supervisors from the University of Vienna or other research institutions who are entitled to supervise doctoral theses at the University of Vienna. In general, this includes professors and persons holding a habilitation or equivalent.
Doctoral candidates announce their supervisor/s when they register for the public presentation at the Faculty (FÖP). If you have already successfully passed your public presentation at the Faculty and want to add a supervisor to your supervisory team, please re-submit the completed form Registration of the doctoral thesis topic and announcement of the supervisor/s (SL/D11) (“Changes to the original application”) and your doctoral thesis agreement to the StudiesServiceCentre (doktorat.sozialwissenschaften@univie.ac.at). Both documents have to be signed by all supervisors. If the additional supervisor is an external supervisor, please enclose her/his curriculum vitae and list of publications with the form SL/D11.
2. Postdoctoral staff members
Postdoctoral non-tenured staff members may take the role of an officially registered postdoctoral co-supervisor as specified in the Statutes of the University of Vienna (§ 15 (11). This is subject to the condition that the postdoc has acquired third-party funds for the doctoral candidate’s employment for addressing the topic while taking into account international reviews (Austrian Science Fund, European Commission).
Postdoctoral non-tenured staff members who do not fulfil this requirement in the respective case can take on the role of a postdoctoral member of a ViDSS Supervisory Team, if the doctoral candidate is a member of the ViDSS.
3. Mentors as members of a thesis advisory committee (TAC)
If the doctoral candidate is a member of the ViDSS, the candidate and the supervisor/s can establish a thesis advisory committee (TAC). A TAC includes all supervisor/s of the project, the postdoctoral members of the supervisory team (if any, see option 2) and two or three mentors. Mentors need to have at least senior postdoc level, one mentor needs to be external, i.e. from another research institution. They provide advice and support to the doctoral student and supervisor/s during the annual TAC meetings, assess the student-supervisor relationship and mediate in case of misunderstandings or conflicts. Please note that (former) mentors are not allowed to act as reviewers of the doctoral thesis.