Position statement

As your representation of interests, we are committed to an adequate environment at the university. Therefore the Fachschaft Doktorat feels committed to the following positions:

Employment for doctoral candidates

Fachschaft Doktorat speaks out against precarious employment contracts for young researchers. We want that doctoral students receive a full-employment (40 hours per week), including social security for at least 3 years at the university.

Integration in the research group

Doctoral candidates have to be fully integrated in their research group.  The Fachschaft Doktorat holds the opinion that research includes a social component and cooperation with collegues should be taken for granted during the Ph.D. study. Furthermore, we think that it is essential to learn the state of the art methods in the own field of research and to connect with other researchers of the community.

Career possibilities

The Fachschaft Doktorat is in favor of better and long-term career prospects in research. Replacing the chain contracts by permanent employment contracts would facilitate career and personal planning for both young scientists and researchers as well as group leaders.

Participation

The participation of young scientists and young researchers in the development of the university must be institutionalized. The participation especially in the collegial bodies of the university may not be weighted according to the employment relationship.

Courses

The Fachschaft Doktorat is in favor of the establishment of courses specifically for doctoral students. Necessary skills such as basic knowledge of science theory, research methods, research ethics, the raising of funds for research and transferable skills must be part of doctoral studies. We do not consider staff training courses here as a suitable replacement, as these can only be used by doctoral students, which are also employed at TU Wien.

Participation in teaching

The Fachschaft Doktorat is committed to ensure that as many university members as possible are able to participate in teaching. Doctoral candidates who wish to participate in the teaching of the university should be given a contractually guaranteed opportunity. The Fachschaft Doktorat speaks out against the forced use of doctoral students in teaching, since language difficulties, for example, may be an obstacle for an employment in teaching. The guidelines of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs regarding assignment and financial compensation have to be followed.

Publications

The Fachschaft Doktorat is in favor of publicly accessible knowledge (open access).

Admission for doctoral studies at TU Wien

The individual assessment of the professional competence during the admission process by the dean of studies has to be maintained. Nevertheless, a database containing a list of restrictions for students from other institutions should be established in order to increase the transparency of the admission process. Regarding the list of the ministry containing all Austrian colleges whose graduates have to be admitted for continuing their studies without any restrictions, the Fachschaft Doktorat speaks out clearly against its composition, which in our opinion is completely non-transparent.