External activities and examinations

After the conclusion of the doctoral thesis agreement, doctoral candidates may apply for

  • the acknowledgement of external activities as achievements relevant to the Curriculum for the doctoral programme in Social Sciences and/or
  • the recognition of examinations in accordance with section 78 of the 2002 Universities Act, Federal Law Gazette No. 120/2002.

Please note that the external activities and examinations need to be documented in the doctoral thesis agreement or the yearly annexes to the agreement (annual progress reports) before doctoral candidates submit an application for acknowledgement/recognition.

Acknowledgement of external activities


The following credits can be acknowledged upon approval by the Directorate of Doctoral Studies (DSPL):

  • Participation in conferences: 2 ECTS credits
  • Presentations at conferences (paper): 4–5 ECTS credits
  • Organisation of conferences: 3–4 ECTS credits
  • Academic publications (not applicable for theses by publication): 4–5 ECTS credits
  • Curating of exhibitions: 3–4 ECTS credits
  • Teaching: 3–4 ECTS credits (3 ECTS credits if the doctoral candidate taught together with another lecturer)
  • Participation in appraised academic research projects: 1–3 ECTS credits
  • Internal summer schools at the Faculty (external summer schools only after consultation with the supervisor and directorate of studies): 3 ECTS credits
  • Organisation of a ViDSS International Workshop: 3 ECTS credits
  • Participation in a ViDSS International Workshop: 2 ECTS credits
  • Participation in the production team of the ViDSS Podcast for one semester: 3 ECTS credits
  • External training that is necessary for conducting the doctoral research: 1–3 ECTS credits

A maximum amount of 10 ECTS credits in total can be acknowledged for the doctoral programme in Social Sciences. You have to provide evidence of when and where you completed the external achievement, e. g. certificate of participation, conference programme, for academic publication (not applicable for theses by publication): title, editor and publisher.

Please note that processing applications for the acknowledgement of external activities may take up to two months.

Recognition of examinations


For the recognition of examinations completed at the University of Vienna (under another degree programme code), you have to submit a recent transcript of records together with the application form. In case of examinations completed in a degree programme at another university, you have to submit course certificates or a transcript of records as well as descriptions or syllabi of the courses. Documents that were not issued in German or English have to be submitted along with a certified translation.

If examinations were completed before you entered the doctoral programme, you need to submit the application for recognition of examinations within two semesters of the conclusion of the doctoral thesis agreement.

Please note that processing recognitions may take up to two months.