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Doctoral Thesis - Submission

Doctoral Programme Of Medical Science N090
Sorry, this content is only available in German!

Congratulations! You have finished your doctoral thesis. All you have to do now is to submit it for approval. This is how it takes place. 

At the date of the submission of the completed doctoral thesis, during the processes of plagiarism check and reviewing and at the date of the doctoral viva there has to be a valid enrolment for the studies.

Please follow the check list
below before submitting your doctoral thesis:

  • contact your thesis supervisor and get the acceptance for the thesis submission!
  • Students should avoid any form of plagiarism and are bound to get informed about serious consequences that result from this form of misconduct.
    Further information about this subject
    If there are any further questions about plagiarism after reading this pdf.-file please ask your supervisor.
  • see thesis outline
  • write one English and one German abstract (about 1 A4 page each) and integrate it into your thesis  (must be part of the table of contents)
  • add your list of publications (it available) and your curriculum vitae at your thesis.
  • pay special attention to the cover page of your thesis.
    To be definitely included:
    a. Doctoral Thesis at the Medical University of Vienna for obtaining the "PhD"-Degree,
    b. title of the doctoral thesis (please do not use abbreviations),
    c. your name as the author,
    d. supervisor (including the institute/center/department),
    e. place and date of compilation and submission
    please see a N090 template for the cover page
    (in case of the thesis written in German please see a German template)     
  • a PDF/A-version of the doctoral thesis (in A4 format) is required,
    Suggestion for formatting:
    Arial 11 pt; line spacing: 1,5 lines; margin: 2-3 cm
    Please see Guidelines for PdF/A - Conversion
  • The file forgoing the conversion to PdF/A must be in one of these file formats:
    Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML, RTF, OpenOffice (ODT), Hangul (HWP), Google Docs (submitted via the Google Drive submission option), plain text files

Thesis upload

After having completed all your mandatory course work, please 


The reviewing process

You uploaded thesis will be submitted to

  • a plagiarism check, 
  • the anonymous reviewers/experts,
  • the University Library and the National Library.

After submission of your thesis at the Medical University of Vienna the direction of curriculum assigns two independent experts with the approval. After the arrival of the positive expert opinions the examination board is nominated and a date for the doctoral viva between you and the board is fixed. The period between the submission of the thesis and the date of the doctoral viva can last up to 3 months. 


After the thesis reviewing process please manage the following:

  • electronical registration of the doctoral thesis on the MUV-library´s web site
  • submit the certification of the MUV-library´s electronical registration and
    two thesis books (A4 format) to the Office for Student Affairs
    (latest by the time of taking the diploma). Cheapest binding is recommended.

Doctoral Viva

In the doctoral viva the doctoral candidate's comprehensive knowledge is examined by an examination board consisting of a chairperson and two further examiners. The examiners are assigned by the curriculum director due to their professional relation to the thesis topic; however they shall not have a publicatory relation with the candidate. Within the scope of the doctoral viva it shall be evaluated whether the doctoral canditate has the ability to apply the acquired knowledge in the field of the respective programme topic.

The doctoral viva comprises topics

  • of the doctoral thesis including current knowledge relevant for the respective scientific problem
  • of the thematic field encompassing the thesis topic.

The doctoral viva is held within the frame of a public lecture (defense, "Defensio dissertationis") followed by a scientific discussion in which primarily the examination board asks questions but the auditorium may also participate. The examination board has to evaluate the scientific methods of the thesis as well as the specialized knowledge of the doctoral candidate. In well-founded cases (patent process) the curriculum director is at the request of the doctoral candidate or the supervisor entitled to restrict the auditory to a small-qualified number.

The doctoral viva is to be held in English or German.

Duration of the doctoral viva:

  • approx. 20 min lecture (defense with the help of a Power Point presentation),
  • approx. 30 min discussion about the thesis, lecture, specialized knowledge

Your studies have been completed successfully if

  • all courses
  • the doctoral thesis and
  • the doctoral viva about the thesis topic have been completed successfully.

All are essential components for the completion of the studies and are evaluated separately. A negative evaluation in one of them cannot be compensated by achievements in the other.

Doctoral viva dates (PDF, 44KB)
Please see announced doctoral vivas and feel free to join the audience. 11.08.2016

In case of obscurities please direct your inquiry to

Studies and Examinations Department,
phd@meduniwien.ac.at