FAQ for application
Crafting and completing the PhD application
A blind CV is a curriculum vitae that excludes personal information that could reveal the applicant’s gender, age, ethnic origin, or other demographic characteristics. The purpose is to reduce bias and ensure that evaluation focuses on academic qualifications, skills, and experience.
A blind CV:
Does not include a photograph
Does not include date of birth, age, gender, marital status, or nationality
Does not include other demographic information unrelated to academic merit
A blind CV should include:
Degree titles
Full names of awarding universities (required for accreditation and admission verification)
Academic achievements
Research experience
Publications, projects, and relevant skills
In short, a blind CV removes demographic information while retaining all academic and professional information necessary for evaluation.
The list of open positions only displays all currently available PhD projects in the PhD call. If you can´t find a specific research area, the reason being is that there are currently no open positions available right now. You have two options here:
- Wait for the next call and hope a PhD position in your desired area will open up in the near future.
- Consider a different research field or project for your PhD work if your profile meets the requirements of the projects and apply for this position in the current call.
There is none. We will take your GPA into consideration in the selection process, but your motivations, creativity, commitment and potential to work in research is valued more highly.
There are different ways to calculate, your grade point average (GPA). Depending which grading system is used in your country, you will have different reference points of your lowest and highest score. At first you will need to convert your gradings to the American grading system, which only uses a four letter grading system (A,B,C,D,F). Each letter represents a certain amount of points. A= 4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. Now you have the needed data set to calculate your GPA. You can use the scholaro GPA calculator for it, but for Austrian ranking systems, we advise you to use following formula:
Build in the round brackets the sum of all your ECTS points including your grade points of your courses and multiply this sum by the number of grade points. Round up the end results by 2 decimal places. E.g.
[(Σ ECTS / course with grade point 1) x 4] + [(Σ ECTS / course with grade point 2) x 3] + [(Σ ECTS / course with grade point 3) x 2]+ + [(Σ ECTS / course with grade point 4) x 1] + [(Σ ECTS / course with grade point 5) x 0] divided by Σ ECTS
As a reference, the OECD offers a helpful guide, how to relate different international grading system to the GPA (1-4) score system.
Make sure that you have done your calculation correctly, please note that the grading range must be not higher than 4 and not lower than 1. The decimal number has to be rounded up to a full number.
We are sorry that no submission extensions can be granted to applicants. The same deadline applies to anyone without exceptions.
No this is not possible. No application can be modified once it has been submitted.
Make sure to have the following documents ready when starting your application process:
1. Research interest statement ("Personal statement" in the application form), please follow the instructions in the form
2. University diplomas (including translation, if required)
3. Proof of language proficiency (if applicable and can be handed in later at admission too)
4. Financing documents (grants or award information, if applicable)
5. Contact details of your referees (Email, affiliation). One of your references should be from your bachelor’s or master’s thesis supervisor.
If your program does not include a thesis, please provide a reference from someone who supervised you during an internship or relevant work experience.
No, it is not necessary to submit your exact language proficiency score results during the application. However at enrollment, you will have provide your language(s) proficiency proof(s).
All submitted documents must be in English, except for diplomas, which are also accepted in German.
No. Only one application per PhD call is permitted.
Within this single application, you may select up to three project preferences. Multiple applications submitted within the same call will not be considered.
Yes. You may select up to three project preferences within a single application.
Please note that only one application per PhD call is permitted. Submitting multiple separate applications within the same call is not allowed.
Follow the instructions shown at the bottom of the research statement field and answer them directly. Write in your own words and keep your response clear and easy to understand. Focus only on what is being asked, avoid adding unnecessary details, and make sure you stay within the word limit, as exceeding it may affect your evaluation.
References
No, references are always treated as confidential and are generally not disclosed to the candidate.
Two references must be recieved by the deadline of the application call you are applying for in order for your application to be considered. It´s the applicant´s responsability to take all necessary measurments to meet this deadline and communicate the deadline correctly to their referees.
You can start the application process by adding your personal details and only than will you be able to add your referee details before moving on to fill in your application form.
Once you have submitted the contact details of your referee, you will not be able to change the information anymore. Your referee will be contacted soon after submission. We advise you to notifiy your referee in due time that Medical University of Vienna will reach out soon due to your PhD application to avoid any unnecessary delays or missunderstandings.
You will be notified by Email each time a letter of recommendation was submitted. Additionally, you can see the updated status on your "My PhD Applications" site, as well as in the "My process" area. In the moment we receive a reference the icon changes from a person to a check mark.
You will need to provide us with the contact information of two referees, who will be asked to write a reference letter for you. Once we have recieved all required letter of recommendations, you will be able to submit your application. A notification will be sent to your Email each time that your referee has submitted their referral.
In the rare occassion for this to be happening, please send a short note to our PhD Coordinator stating the name and contact of your referee . Our IT department will start an investigation to resolve the issue. As soon as we have more information on the matter, we will get back to you.
No, we do not accept reference letters uploaded by applicants or referees. Referees are required to submit their recommendations through the invitation link they receive, which will direct them to a form they need to complete.
We have two tips for choosing the right referee for you. Before inputting your referee's contact details into our system, please get in contact with the referee and get their approval. Bear in mind that your referee most likely receives many requests like yours and might not have the time to follow up on your request in a timely manner. You might even consider preparing them for their task by telling them a bit more about our university and the program to which you wish to apply. Communicate very clearly that the university cannot consider your application unless their reference letter is submitted before the application deadline. Let me stress again the importance of giving your referee enough time to act upon your request. The university does not grant deadline extensions and it is solely the candidate's responsibility to provide all necessary information on time.
Second, choose your referee wisely! The person should be familiar with your personality, as well as able to vouch for your skills, work quality, and style. Approach only people who will give you a stellar recommendation for your application. One of your references should be from your bachelor’s or master’s thesis supervisor.
If your program does not include a thesis, please provide a reference from someone who supervised you during an internship or relevant work experience.
About the process:
You must register your referee by providing their professional email address and contact information. If your referee's academic institution does not offer business email accounts, please notify our PhD coordinator in advance so that we can verify your contact. Once you have filled in and submitted the contact information, an email will be sent to your referee, inviting them to complete an online reference form in English. The link that leads the referee to our online platform is active so long as no reference has been submitted.
First, please verify that you entered your referee’s email address correctly. You can do this by hovering over the referee’s name in the application system, where the registered email address will be displayed.
If the email address is correct, please ask your referee to check their spam or junk folder, as automated messages can occasionally be filtered there.
If the invitation is still not found after these steps, you may contact the PhD coordinator for further assistance. Please note that our office is not open on weekends or public holidays. If you receive an out-of-office notification from phdrecruitment@meduniwien.ac.at , no other office is available to provide support during this period.
Your referee may be an academic or professional contact, but they must be able to assess your research experience and abilities. A personal email address is acceptable if the referee’s identity, position, and institutional or professional affiliation can be independently verified through a reliable profile, such as an institutional webpage, LinkedIn, or ORCID. If these details cannot be verified, please choose a more suitable referee.
Interview
To upload your presentation, please click on the arrow icon in the "Assigment information" field. This section will become visible once an appointment has been scheduled for you.
Go to "My Online Interview" to see your online interview appointment form, there you can see what time (zone) is currently set under "Your time zone". If you want to change the time zone, simply click on the time zone and select a new one. The time will always be displayed in the time zone you have set as your time zone.
Whether your online interview appointment is displayed in your local time depends on the (time) settings you have chosen. In your online interview appointment form, you can see what time is currently set under "Your time zone". If you want to change the time zone, simply click on the time zone and select a new one. The time will always be displayed in the time zone you have set as your time zone.
You will meet with up to three of our faculty members for an online interview. Your invitation will indicate which members of our faculty will participate in the interview. You can find more information about our faculty and their research here on our website.
Medical University will cover your travel expenses, when you are living abroad or outside of Vienna and are invited to a personal interview. We kindly ask you to wait for instructions of our PhD Coordinator before making any travel arrangements. You will be contacted by Email.
Online interview
For the online interview, you will most properly don´t have to prepare more than for any other interview. At the first meeting, we would like to get to know you a little better to get an idea what are your talents, visions, expectations and passions. Tell us what you are burning for and why you see for yourself a future in research? Our work drives on diversity and inclusion therefore we welcome people who come from very different paths in life. There is no right or wrong answer. We recommend you to get yourself informed about our research work, institute and programs so that you can decide for yourself which is the most suitable career path for you.
If you have an assigment to complete for the online interview, you will find all the relevant information under 'Assignment information'. To give you an idea of what you can expect to be asked during the online interview, you may also find some general information here. If there are no specific instructions to complete an assigment, there is nothing for you to do.
On campus visit interviews
Successful candidates will be invited to campus after the online interview to meet personally with our faculty and their research groups. You will be asked to present your previous work to your peers. However, we will inform you by Email if you need to prep anything special for the interviews in advance. Be assured there will be no surprises.
Don´t panic! What you need to do now is to inform our PhD Coordinator about your technical difficulties by Email and we will arrange a new appointment for you. In the meantime, we advise you to install the Webex app to your computer or mobile phone rather than accessing it trough the web. Try to use different web browers and see if it makes a difference. Ask a friend to help you make a short test-run with you.
Our Help Desk Team is available from Mo-Fri 09am-4pm by phone: +43 (0)1 40160 - 21212 or E-Mail: helpdesk(at)meduniwien.ac. to support you with any technical matters.
It is not necessairy to create a user profile for your Webex interview, simply join the meeting by clicking on the link provided in our application tool
General questions
PhD positions can only be created when a group has enough financial means for this post from an accredited science funding agency. Therefore, its impossible for us to predict when new opportunities will open up in a specific area for new PhD candidates.
No. All group leaders participating in the open call will receive your application for their consideration, therefore we kindly ask you to refrain from making contact with them outside of this application process.
You can apply to our PhD program while you are still completing your Master’s degree, provided you expect to finish within the next six months. In your application, state your anticipated completion date. Please also upload your most recent provisional transcript, including all courses, grades, and ECTS credits (or the equivalent), as we require this for the evaluation of your application.
You can check the status of your application at all times in the "My process" section. All parts that have been successfully taken care of will appear with a check mark. Open or pending tasks are marked with a clock. You can also see in this file, what steps still lie ahead of you.
If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact the PhD Coordination Team via email.
Please note that our office hours are Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays in Austria). We respond to inquiries during these hours only. Emails received outside of office hours will be handled on the next working day. If you receive an out-of-office notification, this indicates that the office is currently closed and no support is available during this time.
To avoid delays, we kindly ask you not to contact other departments regarding PhD call application matters. Such inquiries will be redirected to the PhD Coordination Team and may result in longer response times.
The program should notify you if you have missed any mandatory fields, but please re-check and make sure all necessary information was provided. Next, please check if your referee have already provided their reference letter. The application can only be finalized when two letters of recommenations have been submitted. If you are still facing troubles, please contact our PhD Coordinator for assistance.
Yes, it´s possible to apply several times for a PhD program, please submit your new application in a timely matter for the next open call
If you fulfil the formal requirements for PhD studies and are a creative, analytically minded individual with a strong interest in research, we encourage you to submit your application.
Successful applicants typically completed their degree within the last three years and have gained practical research experience after graduation, either in academia or industry. This experience should demonstrate independent thinking, problem-solving ability, and familiarity with research methodologies relevant to the chosen field.
Your knowledge and prior experience must be directly related to the research area for which you are applying. Applicants are expected to show clear alignment between their academic background, practical experience, and the selected project.
For projects in artificial intelligence and health-related AI, applicants must already possess solid coding skills and practical programming experience. This includes the ability to work independently with relevant programming languages, data processing, and model development.
We particularly value candidates who:
Demonstrate structured and critical thinking
Show initiative and intellectual curiosity
Are comfortable working with complex and uncertain problems
Can articulate methodological decisions clearly
Are motivated to contribute actively to an interdisciplinary research environment
A PhD requires persistence, self-organisation, and resilience. We therefore encourage applicants to reflect carefully on their readiness for independent research before applying.
Medical University of Vienna is an equal opportunity employer thereof there is no age limit. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality or disability.
You can check the status of your application at any given time in our online application tool under the menu "My progress". The final decission will be made within a couple of weeks after each application step.
You certainly can, we are welcoming applications from diverse backgrounds, experiences and nationalities.
As you have recieved two degrees a the same time with your graduation, please note down the higher degree in the application form.
If you are facing continously technical difficulties, please inform our PhD Coordinator of the matter and provide us if possible of a screenshot of the error message so our IT team can try to resolve the issue.
Please note that our office hours are Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays in Austria). We respond to inquiries during these hours only. Emails received outside of office hours will be handled on the next working day. If you receive an out-of-office notification, this indicates that the office is currently closed and no support is available during this time.
To avoid delays, we kindly ask you not to contact other departments regarding PhD call application matters. Such inquiries will be redirected to the PhD Coordination Team and may result in longer response times.
We are unfortunately unable to provide support outside of our regular office hours. Inquiries received during weekends or public holidays will be addressed on the next working day.
All application data is deleted after each PhD call in accordance with our data protection policies. Therefore, information from previous application rounds is no longer accessible.
If you wish to apply again, a new application must be submitted, and references must be requested again through the system.
No. You do not need to contact the PI before applying for any of the positions included in the PhD call. Please submit your application through the application system by the stated deadline.