The internal TU4U website containing official information from the Dean's office can be found here. It contains

• a template for the Educational Agreement
• guidelines for how to include publication in the thesis
• ToDo lists for pursuing and finishing the PhD
• and much more ...

Please retrieve forms directly from TU4U and not from other sources! This way, you are guaranteed to obtain the newest versions of appropriate forms.

There are rules at TU Graz regarding Research Data Management (RDM), to ensure that all PhDs (and other scientists) adhere to the FAIR data principles. The implementation of these rules for the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Geodesy can be found in this document.

In brief, PhD students (starting after July 1st 2022) are expected to:

• develop a strategy for handling research data at the beginning of their research, which needs to be approved by their supervisor;
• attend relevant training in RDM, as required and available;
• ensure that all data and code underlying completed PhD theses are appropriately documented and accessible for at least 10 years from the end of the research project, unless there are valid reasons which make research data unsuitable for sharing.

Throughout your doctoral studies, you have the right to have a mentor. If you have already found a mentor, you can add this mentor in the 'My Doctoral Project' tool in TUGRAZonline. If you do not have a preference, the coordination team will assign you a mentor.

The curricular part of your studies contains 8 SWS (contact hours per week) of elective courses. You are encouraged to choose elective courses which complement your studies. Up to two SWS can be filled by soft skill courses. All elective courses (including soft skills) must be approved by the dean of studies. Some ideas for possible soft skills are collected in this document. Currently, only courses with an LV-number can be used! This means In-House Trainings cannot be used as part of the curriculum!

Each year, the student representative presents the Doctoral School and the general way to a PhD within the course "Scientific Working". The presentation for 2024 can be found here.

The external reviewers are suggested by the PhD student and his/her supervisor and then assessed by the coordination team and the dean of studies. The choice of external reviewers has stirred multiple debates over the last years and a comprehensive set of rules is yet to be come forth. In the following is a set of conditions which should allow to avoid debates (without guarantee). Otherwise there is a reasonable probability of objections by the coordination team. In that case a new reviewer needs to be suggested.

Eligibility

The reviewers must have the right to independently supervise their own PhD students. There are multiple ways to prove this, all of which might have exemptions not covered in this text:

• In German speaking countries, proof of an active habilitiation
• Proof that the reviewer has already independently supervised PhD students (via finished theses). Caution: Non-university research facilities (e.g. Max Planck Institutes) usually do not have the right to award a PhD. Researchers working at those facilities usually need to be assigned to a University in order to independently supervise PhDs. Otherwise such non-university researchers might not be eligible as reviewers, even if their job description is formally equivalent to that of a University Professor.
• Employment at an international university in combination with a working title containing "Professor".

Scientific independence

Neither the supervisor nor the PhD candidate should have (had) active collaborations within the last five years. Collaborations which have not yet resulted in a publication also apply.

Acceptance Notification

If your reviewers are accepted by the Doctoral School, you will get an email notification from the Dean's office (probably to your student email address). This may take 1-2 weeks.
If the reviewers are not accepted, you will hear back from the coordination team with a statement why the reviewer is not suitable.

Globally funded PhD students can apply for travel funds of up to 1100 euros/year to attend conferences. There is a description of how to apply for the funds in TU4U:
https://tu4u.tugraz.at/bedienstete/meine-reise-als-mitarbeiterin/konferenzkostenzuschuss/

Students who are funded by a project (EU/FWF/FFG) typically have travel funds available through that project. Contact your adviser about using project funds for traveling.

For students who don't have other alternatives, the dean will provide up to 800 Euros for travel. To use this money, send an email stating the purpose of the travel, the destination, the travel dates, and estimated costs to the head of the doctoral school. If the head of the doctoral school approves the travel, follow the TU travel guidelines given below. Briefly, the process is that a student prefinances the trip and submits the travel documents to his/her institute. The institute reimburses the student and then the dean's office reimburses the institute. A student can only use this funding opportunity once.

The general TU guidelines for travel can be found in TU4U:
https://tu4u.tugraz.at/bedienstete/meine-reise-als-mitarbeiterin/dienstreise/

Third party funding opportunities

Infineon's PhD Booster Program

After finishing your PhD, you have the chance to apply for several prices connected to your thesis. Some examples are

Josef-Krainer-Preis from Land Steiermark
http://www.steirisches-gedenkwerk.at/wissenschaftspreis/

Awards by the Austrian Physical Society (ÖPG)
https://www.oepg.at/index.php?page=awards
www.oepg.at/index.php
www.oepg.at/index.php

Awards from the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research
www.bmbwf.gv.at/Ministerium/Staatspreise-und-Auszeichnungen/Staatspreise.html