A doctorate in Austria can be obtained not only by studying at the university in a full-time programm, but also by working at a company, combining work and obtaining a doctorate at the university, the so-called. correspondence doctoral studies or part-time doctoral studies (dt. berufsbegleitende Promotion).
In Austria, there are two opportunities to obtain a doctorate and doctoral studies::
- Full-time doctoral studies in Austria. This form implies admission to a doctoral program after graduating from an Austrian university (dt. Doktorat). This type of study can be free, depending on the university. In many cases, free doctoral studies at an Austrian university provide the opportunity to work at that university as junior research staff.
- Part-time doctoral studies in Austria. This form of education involves studying for part-time doctoral studies at an Austrian university, in parallel with official work at the company. This type of education is always paid in Austria, but its advantages are that distance learning in doctoral studies offers various forms of education. It is not as conservative as full-time study, and also offers new promising areas for doctoral research.
The general condition for studying for a doctorate in Austria, both full-time and part-time, is to have a master's degree in the specialty you want to study for a doctorate in Austria.
While studying for a doctorate in Austria, you need to conduct research, analyze its results, draw appropriate scientific conclusions. In addition, before you do research directly, you will need to develop a plan for your research programm. Moreover, depending on the university where you want to study for a doctorate, you will either need to pass entrance exams, or provide examples of publishing scientific articles, or you will need to provide a brief description of your future research work (dt. Expose) before entering the doctoral program. .
The average duration of a doctorate in Austria is from 3 to 6 years.
In Austria, there are the following doctoral degrees, which can be obtained after successfully completing a doctorate at an Austrian university:
PhD – Doctor of Philosophy. This doctoral degree is most often awarded in Austria to the humanities and natural sciences.
Doktorin/Doktor - it is a doctoral degree awarded to representatives of the natural and exact sciences after successfully completing a doctorate in Austria.
Dr. med. univ - doctoral degree, which is awarded to doctors after completing a master's program in "Humanmedizin" in Austria.
DBA – Doctor of Business Administration. This doctoral degree is awarded to those who have successfully completed an MBA in Austria.