ViDSS students who are not eligible for the ViDSS Research Funds anymore and plan to submit their thesis in the year 2025 can apply once for the ViDSS Final Year Fund. The Final Year Fund can be used for expenses arising in relation to your doctoral thesis during your final year of doctoral studies, such as proofreading and printing costs, or expenses related to self-organised workshops or conference participation. In the framework of the Final Year Fund, ViDSS students can apply for a maximum amount of € 750.

You can submit your application throughout the year 2025. However, please note that the Final Year Fund has a limited budget and payments are awarded as a short-term measure to help ViDSS students in difficult circumstances. Applications will be assessed on a first come, first served basis.

Requirements

Applicants must have successfully passed the public presentation at the Faculty (FÖP), submitted the doctoral thesis agreement and, since then, submitted progress reports on a regular basis. Applicants have to be student members of the ViDSS who plan to submit their doctoral thesis in the year 2025.

Please note that you have to submit the application form before you submit your doctoral thesis to the StudiesServiceCenter.

Expenses

The expenses that you wish to cover with the ViDSS Final Year Fund must be spent before you submit your doctoral thesis or, if submission is delayed, by 31 December 2025. Payments already made can be included in the application if the invoice date is between 1 October 2024 and 31 December 2025.

The ViDSS Final Year Fund may be used for:

• Proofreading of the doctoral thesis
• Printing and binding of the doctoral thesis (Please note that a maximum of three copies can be funded via the ViDSS Final Year Fund. The number of copies needs to be indicated on the invoice/receipt that has to be included in the report.)
• Travel expenses or fees related to conference participation
• Self-organised workshops
• Other costs arising in relation to your doctoral thesis during the final year of doctoral studies

The ViDSS Final Year Fund is not granted to cover living expenses and may not be used for covering tuition fees or the employment of staff.

Following the University of Vienna’s Sustainability Strategy, we recommend using the train for journeys to destinations that can be reached by train within six hours.

Applicants need to explain why they cannot use other funds for this purpose (such as project funds or departmental travel funds) or declare that other funding schemes do not cover the full amount of expenses. Grant holders have to provide evidence of all expenses by submitting invoices or receipts issued in the applicant’s name (see below).

Application documents

• Completed application form: As part of the application form, applicants have to provide an overview of the costs they wish to cover with the ViDSS Final Year Fund. In addition, applicants have to write a short statement why the expenses are necessary for the completion of their doctoral thesis project and declare that they cannot use other funds for this purpose (such as project funds or departmental travel funds). Applicants also have to state when they are planning to submit their doctoral thesis.

The application has to be written in English. Please note that we do not accept handwritten forms.

Applications have to be submitted via e-mail (in one single PDF file) to vds-sosci@univie.ac.at. It is not possible to make amendments once an application has been submitted.