The graduate school implements a structured PhD program that goes beyond the standard requirements of the JKU PhD curricula, as it puts a strong focus on secure and correct systems and provides funded PhD positions for excellent candidates.

The overall duration of the program is 4 years. Typically, PhD students are employed at the LIT Secure and Correct Systems Lab, but it is also open to other PhD students.

Supervision team

From the very beginning, the PhD student is supervised by a team to ensure broad and well-available scientifc support.

Milestones

• Proficiency Exam. First official check where the PhD candidate and their research plan (described in an exposé and presented to public) are evaluated. After positive completion, the dissertation agreement must be prepared, signed, and submitted.
• Midterm Evaluations. The PhD student has to provide a short report (status, interim results, further plan, etc.).
• Pre-Defense. Approximately one year before the planned completion, the PhD student must present the current state to the faculty. The aim of this pre-defense is to inform the student and the supervising team whether everything meets the quality expectations of the school or in which aspects further improvement is required.
• Submission and Review of Thesis: At the end of the study the PhD-thesis has to be submitted officially. Then it will be assessed by two reviewers.
• Presentation and Defense. After successful assessment of the thesis, the student has to present and defend it in front of an examination board. This exam is open to the public.

These milestones are in accordance with the curriculum ‘Doktoratsstudium Technische Wissenschaften’ (doctorate program in Engineering Sciences, opens an external URL in a new window) at the JKU.

Courses

Attendance of the joint seminar 'Secure and Correct Systems' is mandatory. In addition to the courses in the Master's and Doctorate curricula of the JKU, the Lab offers courses specifically dedicated to the topic 'Research in Secure and Correct Systems'. Together with the PhD student, the first supervisor determines which courses to attend.

Publications

PhD students are expected to publish parts of their research results at appropriate scientific conferences or journals before submitting the thesis as a whole.

Stay abroad

The Graduate School encourages and will support PhD students to study abroad at a suitable international research institution for several months.

Teaching

PhD students can be involved in university teaching in accordance with the JKU regulations.

Admission process for the graduate school only

PhD candidates, funded from other sources than the graduate school, must convince a first supervisor (one of the faculty members). Based on the recommendation of the first supervisor, the management of the lab admits the candidate to the graduate school.

Admission process for funded PhD position at the graduate school

A funded PhD position at the LIT Secure and Correct Systems Lab is equivalent to a JKU predoc position. Candidates need to apply to one of the published positions. Currently all of the funded positions are filled.