Grants to Support PhD Students Study in Austrian Universities 2021

OeAD is offering the Marietta Blau Grant that offers financial support for six- to twelve-month study periods abroad for doctoral or PhD students of Austrian universities. It serves to optimize their dissertations. Junior researchers are the main target group.

Program Objectives:

• To optimize the doctoral thesis by way of a continuous and specific long-term visit.
• To provide financial support for early-stage research.
• To support young academics in the early years of their scientific career. The professional and scientific career after finishing the program should be plausible. The grant is not intended to support lifelong learning.

This is a partial grant; own funds need to be provided;

• Monthly grant: up to EUR 1,580
• No travel costs allowance

This grant offers financial support for doctoral/PhD students currently enrolled at an Austrian accredited university who want to spend 6 to 12 months abroad with the intent to optimize their thesis. This grant does not support applicants enrolled for programs that are based mostly or completely abroad.

Target group:

Highly qualified doctoral/PhD students currently enrolled at an Austrian accredited university who do not exceed the 6th semester of their PhD studies. The study progress must be efficient and uninterrupted; Exemptions for delays are childcare, home care for relatives, military or civil service, or academic employment at a university or research institution, applicants must provide the relevant proof.

Target institutions:

Accredited higher education institutions, non-university research institutes, industrial research laboratories, field research and archives, libraries, museums, or research institutions whose stocks, research results, and infrastructure are necessary to realize the project. The target institution must be abroad.

General Information:

• It is possible to split the grant duration into shorter periods, the total has to be six to twelve months. However, periods of less than 3 months are not permissible. Grants for shorter research visits may be provided by the home university.
• The grant has to be consumed within 18 months of its starting date.
• It is possible to apply for research visits to multiple countries (outside of Austria); however, all visits have to be combined in one application.
• The grant's objective is to help optimize the recipient's doctoral thesis; therefore, the grant must be consumed before the thesis is handed in. Stays that last longer than the estimated end of the PhD-studies cannot be granted.
• Persons who have already received a Marietta Blau-grant are excluded from a repeated application.
• All applicants may name a maximum of three potential reviewers who are believed to have possible biases and who should be excluded from the review process.
• Marietta Blau-Grant recipients must be present at the target institution/ in the target country (according to the application) and conduct their studies and research abroad. Interruptions of the stay abroad have to be reported immediately to the OeAD.
• It is not allowed to apply for a project that has already started abroad at the time of the application. An extension of an already longer stay abroad is not eligible.

Required Documents:

• Fully completed online application form in German. Incomplete forms will not be considered. Applicants whose native language is not German may also complete the form in English.
• Current proof of admission to a doctoral program and confirmation of periods of study.
• Written official confirmation stating the dissertation supervisor and the topic as well as a confirmation of the Austrian home university that the dissertation topic has been submitted and approved (e.g. dissertation agreement).
• Letter of recommendation issued by the dissertation supervisor (dated and including a stamp of the institution and signature of the person recommending the applicant). The letter must not be older than six months at the time of application.
• Exposé or proposal (justifying the necessity of the stay abroad, defining the problem, aims, methodology, and schedule and including a selective literature list) – 5 pages in German or English.
• A first outline of the dissertation or an abstract (approx. 1 page, in German or English).
• If applicable an official confirmation that the applicant may utilize the facilities and resources at the guest institute (stamp plus signature).
• If applicable, a letter of confirmation or invitation letter issued by the supervisor at the applicant's hosting institution/s (can be handed in later in exceptional cases).
• All clearances necessary for the research project need to be submitted with the application (e.g. declaration that there is no objection of the ethics commission or the animal testing commission).
• If applicable, documents to prove circumstances that have caused a delay in the applicant's study progress, such as childcare, home care for relatives, military or civil service, employment at a university.
• If applicable, documents confirming data of the financial plan.

About OeAD:

The OeAD is the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research. The OeAD is in charge of the international exchange of pupils, apprentices, students, lecturers, and researchers, and carries out international educational projects. Among others, the organization supports and advises the federal government in the conception and development of European and international initiatives, offers services for mobility in European and international cooperations, promotes Austria worldwide as an attractive location for education and research, and carries out programs and measures of public and private providers of funds for internationalization of education.

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