Events for supervisors

  • Next ViDSS Supervisors’ Day: Autumn 2023
  • Next ViDSS Onboarding Workshop: Spring 2024

If you would like to participate in one of these events, please send an email to vds-sosci@univie.ac.at.

Supervision at the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences

The establishment of the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS) is part of a university-wide initiative of providing structured doctoral education in many different disciplines.

At the Faculty of Social Sciences, the establishment of the doctoral school was led by a faculty-wide task force comprising representatives of all disciplines and a student representative. Between 2019 and 2020, the task force developed the profile and the governance structure of the doctoral school and designed activities and funding programmes for doctoral candidates in the social sciences. In October 2020, the ViDSS was launched.

The ViDSS aims at:

  • attracting ambitious and highly qualified doctoral candidates in the social sciences,
  • increasing the exchange of experiences among doctoral candidates and supervisors within and across departments,
  • enhancing the doctoral candidates’ international experiences and
  • improving completion rates.

In addition to a range of activities and funding possibilities for students, the ViDSS regularly organises onboarding workshops as well as networking and information events for supervisors.

Supervisors in the social sciences who are employed with the University of Vienna (subject to an employment contract of 50 % or more) can join the ViDSS. Participation of supervisors in the ViDSS includes providing active consent to the Code of Good Practice for Doctoral Schools and the willingness to actively participate in the activities organised by the Doctoral School. Supervisors who leave the University of Vienna can stay members of the Doctoral School for up to three years after leaving the University.

To join the ViDSS as a student member, doctoral candidates need to have at least one supervisor who is a member of the ViDSS. Encouraging students to choose at least one supervisor employed with the University of Vienna aims at fostering the integration of doctoral candidates at the departments of the University. The “internal” supervisor also serves as the main contact person if there are questions or problems regarding a doctoral thesis project.

 FAQs

 

Curriculum and teaching

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How does the establishment of the ViDSS affect the range of courses offered in the doctoral programme?
Which courses should I recommend to my students?
Will it be easier for doctoral candidates who are working on interdisciplinary topics to join the doctoral programme due to the establishment of the ViDSS?

Membership and activities

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What does participation in the activities organised by the ViDSS mean for supervisors?
Do all my doctoral candidates have to join the ViDSS?
Should I advise doctoral candidates who are already at an advanced stage of their doctoral studies to join the ViDSS?
Many of my doctoral candidates do already take part in activities similar to the ones planned by the ViDSS. Do they have to participate in even more activities and is there not the danger of creating parallel structures?
Does the ViDSS support supervisors in finding suitable candidates for doctoral positions?