Exposé and Proposal Defence

---

>>> New PhD curriculum. <<< The Senate has decided to implement a new PhD curriculum starting from Wintersemester 2025. Here you can find our recognition regulations. <<<
If you have any questions, please email graduiertenzentrum@mdw.ac.at.

Exposé

The exposé explains the topic of the planned work, formulates a scientifically meaningful research question, gives a briefly annotated literature review with a characterization of the current discussion and outlines the projected course of research as well as methodological considerations. In consultation with the supervisor, the abstract should be written in German or English and should contain a total of approximately 7,000 words (including all bibliographical references and tables of contents). An abstract of maximum one page in German as well as in English must be included.

Further information can be found in Guidelines for writing an exposé. You can download it on our page forms.

The Office of the Dean of Research Programmes obtains (at least) one expert opinion on the exposé prior to the proposal defence. A positive evaluation of the exposé by the examination board, based on the expert opinion(s), is a prerequisite for doing the proposal defence.

During the preparation of the exposé, an external co-supervisor must be found together with the supervisor for the research phase. Teachers and researchers from recognized domestic or foreign universities or other institutions of equal standing can be considered as co-supervisors.

 

Proposal Defence

Registration for the proposal defence is done by submitting the Application for Proposal Defence form and other required documents as PDF to doktorat@mdw.ac.at. The form can be found on our page forms.

Other required documents:

• Exposé
• Abstract in German and English (Arial, font size 12, 1.5 lines, 1,500 to 2,000 characters)

The Dean appoints a proposal defence board consisting of themselves together with the supervisor and an additional examiner who is suitable in terms of subject and form.

 

Procedure of the Proposal Defence

The proposal defence involves evaluating and defending the exposé. In particular, any criticisms and recommendations in the expert opinion(s) should be addressed, and the candidate's dissertation project should be positioned adequately within the current research discourse. Both the exposé and its defence will be assessed by a committee.

The proposal defence can be held in German or English. A positive outcome allows the candidate to progress to the research phase.