4.1 Doctoral thesis assessment, doctoral defence, doctoral graduation ceremony

In this section, you will find information about the plagiarism check, submission of the doctoral thesis for external assessment, the doctoral defence (viva voce) (the final examination by a Board of Examiners), and the doctoral graduation ceremony (celebration of the conferring of the academic degree).

Plagiarism check

The plagiarism check is available as part of a TUWEL course, using the Turnitin plug-in. It is also available in TISS upon final submission of the thesis. In both cases, however, its results can only be consulted by the supervisors.

Assessment and grading of doctoral thesis

The completed doctoral thesis must be submitted in electronic form to the supervisor as well as the Dean`s Office. The supervisor will provide a statement without a grade. The Dean's Office will forward the doctoral thesis to two external reviewers. The key contact person for submissions is Daniela Zeinzinger. Documents must be handed in by appointment.

The dean must submit the doctoral thesis to at least two persons who are not the supervisors; they must assess the doctoral thesis within four months, each of them providing an expert report and a grade.For more information on these persons, please see Legal Provisions for Students at the TU Wien §23 (3) and (4).

If possible, at least one of these reviewers should belong to the TU Wien, and at least one should be from another faculty, another university, or an external research institution. In the case of interdisciplinary doctoral thesis, all disciplines involved should be represented by reviewers.

Doctoral defence (Rigorosum)

Admission and registration
For admission to the doctoral thesis defence, the following are required: (1) The successful completion of all examinations for the courses prescribed at the time of admission to the doctoral study and the positive evaluation of the curricular component, and (2) The successful review, statement, and positive grading of the doctoral thesis.

In order to register for the doctoral thesis defence, the following documents must be submitted to Daniela Zeinzinger at the Dean's Office; these are also listed in the Instructions for Doctoral Candidates (p. 4): application for approval of the doctoral thesis; Doctoral thesis; (hier bitte das zweite Komma auf auf der Website löschen!) notification of the doctoral thesis; curriculum vitae; birth certificate; a copy of the diploma examination certificate; admission to doctoral programme for students with international prior learning; two hard-bound copies of the doctoral thesis; PDF of the doctoral thesis on a data storage device; copy of the doctoral thesis's first page; personal study record for the current semester; proof of successful exams of all courses amounting to 18 ECTS credits; English translation of the doctoral thesis title; and form for Statistics Austria.

General examination by Board of Examiners
The doctoral defence is an oral comprehensive examination by a committee, including the defence of the doctoral thesis. A Board of Examiners composed of three to five academics with Habilitation is set up and approved by the dean. The supervisor and the two reviewers of the doctoral thesis have to be members of the Board of Examiners.

The doctoral defence includes a presentation lasting about 45 minutes, followed by the defence of the doctoral thesis before the Board of Examiners. The overall score for the doctoral study, in accordance with § 73 para. 3 UG 2002, consists of a grade for the doctoral thesis and the  grade for the doctoral defence.

Doctoral graduation ceremony (Promotion) - information and registration

After a successful doctoral defence, you can register for the doctoral graduation ceremony with formal awarding of the academic degrees. Graduation ceremonies take place 8 times a year in the Kuppelsaal of the TU Wien. They are organized by the Department of Data Protection and Documentation Management of the TU Wien. Information regarding registration, required registration documents, costs, and dates can be found here.

Award of degrees

Upon successful completion, graduates of the Doctoral studies in Technical Sciences are awarded the academic title of Doctor of Technical Sciences (Dr.techn.), while graduates of Social and Economic Sciences receive the academic title of Doctor of Social and Economic Sciences (Dr.rer.soc.oec.).

You will find the following documents and forms in the general download area:

  •  Curriculum for Doctoral Degrees at the TU Wien 2022
  • Faculty of Architecture and Planning Instructions for Doctoral Candidates 2021
  • Application for nomination of an external examiner
  • Form / template for first page of a doctoral thesis
  • Application for approval of the doctoral thesis
  • Instructions for the supervision, evaluation, and grading of doctoral thesis
  • Overview of study-related stays abroad
  • TU Wien Handbook for Dealing with Plagiarism (pdf)
  • Application for approval of doctoral viva voce at the TU Wien
  • Registration for the doctoral graduation ceremony