DOCTORAL STUDIES

Information on submitting and presenting the thesis project for doctoral students in Social Sciences and Economics

During the first year, the thesis exposé must be presented to the doctorate advisory committee for the thesis field at a presentation open to all staff and students at the university.

Process

The thesis proposal acceptance form (DISS1) incl. research proposal and the thesis agreement (DISS2) must be submitted electronically via the Student Portal prior to your presentation. Please note that your electronic application must be submitted before the set registration deadline.

Ad thesis agreement:

a) Proof of coursework: As part of your doctoral programme, you must complete coursework amounting to between 24 and 80 ECTS credits. Presentations at international conferences, workshops, teaching activities and publications can all count towards these credits as long as they are related to your thesis. You must complete at least one course in the Faculty of Management and Economics at AAU. The accepted proof of achievement is to be agreed with your supervisor in your thesis agreement.

b) The research proposal must be submitted in written form. The exposé must cover the status of research, objectives, methodology and a schedule.

The open presentation consists of two parts:

• Presentation of your exposé (duration: max. 20 minutes)
• Open discussion with the doctorate advisory committee

Following the presentation, the doctorate advisory committee approves the thesis project or provides a reason for rejecting it. After the presentation, the doctorate advisory committee sends the DISS1 form to the Office of Academic Affairs for approval. This form is accompanied by the DISS2 thesis agreement, which is prepared with your supervisor. The Office of Academic Affairs makes the decision to approve or reject the application.

Information on submitting the thesis project and presentations in Informatics, Information Technology and Technical Mathematics

During the first year, the research proposal must be presented to the doctorate advisory committee for the thesis field at a public presentation. The doctorate advisory committee recommends that the presentation of the thesis project only takes place once the area of interest, research questions, objectives and intended innovation can be described in detail.

The available presentation dates and registration deadlines for each academic year can be found here.

Process

The thesis proposal acceptance form (DISS1) incl. research proposal and the thesis agreement (DISS2) must be submitted electronically via the Student Portal prior to your presentation. Please note that your electronic application must be submitted before the set registration deadline.

Ad thesis agreement:

a) Recommendations concerning proof of achievement:

As part of the doctoral programme, you must complete coursework (courses and other activities) amounting to a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 32 ECTS credits.

Courses (§ 3 2a) can include:

• Relevant courses (which cannot, however, be at Bachelor’s level)
• Private tutorials and
• Seminars

(at least 14 ECTS credits are required)

Examples of other activities (§ 3 2b) include

• Summer schools
• Publications
• Courses at AAU and
• Courses at other universities

(at least 2 ECTS credits are required).

Proof of achievement is to be agreed with your supervisor in your thesis agreement. Seminars and private tutorials can account for a maximum of 12 ECTS credits; for summers schools, the maximum is 2 ECTS credits. You must take at least 1 seminar. As of: March 2017

b) The research proposal must be submitted in written form. It must be a minimum of three and a maximum of five A4 pages in length. The exposé must cover the status of research, objectives, methodology and a schedule.

c) A one-page abstract (300–500 words) with name, topic, supervisor/department and starting date for the thesis project must be submitted as one file (preferably Word or PDF).

Your presentation should be 15 minutes in length. Your presentation should cover the status of research, objectives or research questions and your planned methodology. The presentation is followed by a discussion lasting approximately 5 minutes.

Forms

Electronic submission of the  thesis proposal acceptance form (DISS1) and  doctoral thesis agreement (DISS2)  to the Office of Academic Affairs.

Registration for a presentation date with the doctorate advisory committee (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Rinner | Administrative assistance: Heidelies Verena Aschbacher) Email: heidelies [dot] aschbacher [at] aau [dot] at (also tel./in person at the Secretary’s Office for the Department of Networked and Embedded Systems, B02.1.61, Lakesidepark B02, 1^st Floor

Please note: DISS1 and DISS2 (incl. exposé and abstract) must be submitted on time. (Please pay attention to the registration deadlines)

Contact

Heidelies Verena Aschbacher

Notes on submitting DISS1 and DISS1 forms for thesis students in Natural Sciences

Please read the following guidance from the Doctorate Advisory Committee for Natural Sciences before submitting your thesis proposal acceptance form (DISS1) and doctoral thesis agreement (DISS2).

DISS1 – doctoral thesis proposal acceptance form

Please make sure your research proposal is no longer than five pages (incl. title page, text, literature, schedule, etc.) Important: Exposés longer than this will not be accepted by the doctorate advisory committee.

Please refer to the guidance on writing a research proposal.

Please provide a summary of your exposé (max. 250 words) that can be used in the invitation for the public presentation. The summary should be written in a way that makes the project easy for everyone to understand (the exposé, on the other hand, is written with the ‘scientific community’ in mind).

DISS2 – thesis agreement

Please note that courses that go beyond the scope of doctoral seminars and private tutorials are also listed under 2a. The content of the courses should be relevant to your thesis project.

For achievements listed under 2b:

Participation in conferences must be ‘active’, i.e. you must present a paper or a poster. Attendance alone is not sufficient. Please choose a relevant phrase to describe the activity (e.g. “presentation at conferences, e.g. …”). In general, participation in a conference awards 2 ECTS credits.

It is helpful if you provide the precise number of conferences you have participated in, but you do not need to list the exact conferences – simply indicate selected examples. (Example: “Active participation in three conferences, e.g. conference A, conference B and conference C”.)

In accordance with the requirements of AAU, teaching activities award 2 ECTS credits/semester hours.

Good luck with your thesis!