//     TEACHING & ENROLMENT

 

//     1 ENROL AS A PhD STUDENT

The CavX PhD program is a joint effort of the two universities in Innsbruck, the Leopold Franzens University (LFU) and the Medical University of Innsbruck (MUI). Since both universities have their own system and formalities, we would like to guide through your first steps as a CavX student.

First, we provide a summary of useful links needed for the admission and enrolment procedure at the universities. In addition, the links will also be positioned at the appropriate place in this guide:

LFU (Leopold Franzens University)

MUI (Medical University of Insbruck)

  • i.med.inside (login page to your online account at the university, on this website you can sign up for courses, register your holidays etc.)
  • PhD Programs (Overall information about the neuroscience PhD program at the medical university)
  • Application & Forms (this website contains all the forms necessary for your PhD)

//     1.1 ENROLMENT AT LFU

The first formality you should take care of is enrolling in the appropriate PhD program. Becoming a PhD student at the LFU is a two-step process: you first need to apply for admission, allowing the university to evaluate whether you are eligible for the PhD study based on your previous education. Once admitted, you can enrol in the courses.

If you have previously studied at the Universität Innsbruck in a related field of study, you can apply for admission and enrol online via LFU:online, or personally at the “Studienabteilung” (Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck).

In all other cases (diploma from another university in Austria or a foreign country, or diploma in another field of study) you have to apply for admission to the PhD study program in person at the “Studienabteilung” (Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck). The documents required vary depending on your nationality and degree(s) (you need the original versions of your diplomas, no copies!). The final decision about your acceptance into the program lies with the Dean of Studies. Especially in times of many applications (e.g. end of terms) it will last up to several weeks before the documents can be passed over to the Dean of Studies who makes the final decision. Once you are admitted, you can then enrol at the “Studienabteilung”.

//     1.2 ENROLMENT AT MUI

All the information about enrolling at the Medical University is accessible at https://phd-school.i-med.ac.at/application-forms/. On this web page, there is a list of entrance requirements to enrol at the university and the deadlines for each semester.

The documents needed for admission of the PhD program need to be submitted in person to the Admission Office (Fritz-Pregl-Straße 3, 4.Stock, Room: 4 – 060, 6020 Innsbruck). The documents required vary depending on your nationality and degree(s) (you need the original versions of your diplomas, no copies!).

For questions, you can contact:

Mag. Brigitte Amtmann, PhD-Studien@i-med.ac.at
Katrin Scheiber, BA, Katrin.Scheiber@i-med.ac.at

//     1.3 TUITION

For students from the EU and some others, tuition is waived – please refer to the corresponding university webpage for details. (https://www.uibk.ac.at/studium/organisation/kosten-foerderungen/studienbeitrag-und-foerderungen/studienbeitrag-und-foerderungen.html.en)
However, there is a small fee for everyone: Twice a year (at the beginning of each term), every student is required to pay a fee that helps financing the local students’ representation (ÖH). The payment of this fee is necessary in order to continue your enrolment. Currently, the fee is € 20.70 (as of 2021). Included are € 0.70 for third-party insurance and accident insurance, which means you have automatic coverage through the ÖH while on campus. You can pay the fee either online by bank transfer or at the Service Points located on each campus.

LFU: You can check whether you have paid the fee on LFU:online by going to “my profile” and then ”my tuition fee”.

MUI: You can check whether you have paid the fee on i-med inside by logging in as a student and going to “Studium” and then “Studienbeitragsstatus”.

Important: Never forget about the deadlines to pay your fees in time, else, the amount to pay increases and in worst case it can lead to exmatriculation!

//     2 KICK-OFF SYMPOSIUM

Once you have enrolled as a student you will have approximately six months to develop your research proposal together with your supervisor. The purpose of this time is to plan your thesis and get insight into the methods you are planning to use. Furthermore, you already start working in the lab to gather data and to test the feasibility of your project. After five to six months, you will present an exposé and preliminary results to your colleagues and PIs at the Kick-Off Symposium. This serves not only to confirm your eligibility to continue your research in this PhD program but also will help your project to improve in quality through constructive feedback from your peers.

//     3 REGISTRATION OF YOUR THESIS

As soon as your PhD project is confirmed after the kick-off symposium, you need to select a thesis committee. The thesis committee consists of three PIs: your supervisor, one faculty member who may be affiliated with the CavX program, and one faculty member not affiliated with the CavX program.

//     3.1 REGISTRATION AT LFU

You find the appropriate form at the following websites:
– Biology: https://www.uibk.ac.at/studium/angebot/phd-biologie/index.html.en
– Pharmacy: https://www.uibk.ac.at/studium/angebot/phd-pharmazeutische-wissenschaften/index.html.en

These forms exist in German only; however, your colleagues will gladly help you complete them. In short, you will need a working title and an exposé, which includes a summary of your planned thesis, a timetable and should be three to five pages in length. Furthermore, you need to name three advisors, which correspond to you thesis committee.

Doctoral thesis agreement “online” (Dissertationsvereinbarung) After your dissertation has been accepted by the university, the doctoral thesis agreement is automatically created on LFU:online. The online thesis agreement is a tool to help you and your supervisors keeping track of your research progress and the intended and completed courses. In addition, it provides a way to document and formalize research goals and intermediate steps. The tool will remind you and all your thesis committee of any deadlines you have arranged together. For more details, please refer to the webpage: https://www.uibk.ac.at/studium/doktorate/dissertationsvereinbarung.html.en

//     3.2 REGISTRATION AT MUI

After the Kick-off symposium, PhD students at MUI need to hand in the Study Agreement form at the Admission Office to finalize their application to the university. This form can be found at https://phd-school.i-med.ac.at/application-forms/. In short, you will need a working title and an exposé, which includes a summary of your planned thesis, a timetable and should be three to five pages in length.

//     4 PhD PROGRAM / CURRICULUM

The CavX curriculum has distinct requirements you need to fulfil i.e. complete courses, arrange thesis committee meetings, and hold journal clubs (Figs. 1 & 2). You also have the freedom to choose extra courses as valuable training i.e. general skills, for example, learn how to communicate or present on meetings, but you can also obtain knowledge from interdisciplinary courses.

 

Figure 1 CavX students training timeline

 

“General subjects” belong to the part of CavX’s curriculum that gives you the possibility to acquire additional skills and add them to your repertoire. It is mandatory to complete a statistics and an ethics course. If you are going to work with animals, an animal experimentation course is inevitable, as law obliges you to have a certificate.

 

Figure 2 General coursework

 

“Core lectures and key techniques” are all mandatory and are made up of lectures and practical parts specific to the topic of our PhD program (Table 1). Each PI will have a role to give you insight into their field and enable you practical training in their labs.
You will attend “seminars” hosted by CavX and their students, where you need to give one journal club and one progress report annually. In addition, you need to attend some further seminars, preferably neuroscience seminars, hosted by other PhD programs e.g. SPIN.

 

Table 1 Core lectures and key techniques

 

 

Important: LFU students need to apply for a “Mitbelegung” at the MUI to get an account and sign-up for courses, only offered at the medical university. You find necessary information in German on following website:  https://www.i-med.ac.at/studium/zulassung/mitbelegung.html

In short, visit the above-mentioned website and apply for the “Mitbelegung” by selecting the link found in the paragraph entitled “Mitbelegung an der MUI durch Studierende der Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck”. The link will be active only during the admission period. Following, visit your LFU:online account and go to “My study applications”. Select “Admission record/study record” and pick the current (active) semester. Print out the admission record and take it, including your student ID card, to Fritz-Pregl-Straße 3, 4. Floor A-6020 Innsbruck, Room 04-260.