Fields of potential dissertations

• Only members of the faculty with habilitation can be supervisors of a dissertation
• The topic of a dissertation should be aligned with research interests of potential supervisors
• Check the faculty pages and look at publications of potential supervisors to learn about their research interests.
  • Faculty at JKU, opens in new window
  • Faculty at UIBK, opens an external URL in a new window
• It is highly recommended to contact and look for supervisors before finally applying to the program

Requirements for the dissertation

• A dissertation is a scientific work to show the capacity of candidates to conduct own scientific research
• The dissertation can be written in the following fields:
  • Economics
  • Statistics
  • Finance
  • Note: the field of the dissertation must be equal to the chosen elective course (§8(2) of the curriculum)
• A dissertation can be a monograph or cumulative (standard case)
• Requirements for a cumulative dissertation:
  • at least three articles
  • at least two articles need to be accepted for presentation at an peer-reviewed international conference
  • the second requirement can be waived if at least one article is accepted or forthcoming in an international peer-reviewed journal.
  • a seperate introduction in front of the articles to explain the connection between the articles (with regard to contents and methods)
  • In case of several authors, the own contribution needs to be stated as well in the introduction

Dissertation agreement

• In the course of the second year of the study, students should finish the dissertation agreement with their supervisors
• Note that each university has its own regulations. Please contact the local responsible person for more details

Requirements for participation in the dissertation seminar

• Students present and discuss their research with fellow PhD students and members of the faculty
• Students need to take one seminar at the University of Innsbruck and one seminar at JKU Linz
• Students can only present if they already have a supervisor, hence a valid dissertation agreement.