Grants for PhD Candidates and Early Postdocs

The Center for Doctoral Studies offers five grants for doctoral/PhD candidates of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and one for early postdocs:

Travel allowances
Scholarship for short-term stays abroad
Learning-on-the-Job scholarship
Dissertation scholarship for the final phase
Scholarship Early Postdoc Applications
Overview of other grants from the Academy and external funding opportunities

Please find all the requirements and criteria details at the online submission platform. Here you will find only a brief overview and NOT all relevant information!
All scholarships are advertised on the online submission platform of the Academy and must also be submitted via the submission platform!

Online submission platform of the Academy: https://calls.akbild.ac.at

Overview of the grants for doctoral/PhD candidates and of the Academy's Center for Doctoral Studies early postdocs:

Travel Allowances for PhD candidates

The travel allowances support regular doctoral candidates of the Academy in presenting dissertation/Ph.D. project results at international conferences and symposia or for the presentation of art projects. Prerequisite is an active participation in the conference, the symposium or the art presentation.

Funding Criteria:

• Travel allowances can subsidize travel costs for participation in international conferences, congresses or symposia if the submitted and accepted presentation is linked to the dissertation or the PhD project.
• Travel allowances can subsidize travel costs for presentation of art projects (in situ, art in architecture, film screenings, etc.) or for presentations in the context of exhibitions, which is directly linked to the dissertation or the PhD project (only for PhD-in-Practice candidates).
• NOT funded will be short-term stays abroad, e.g. research, archival research or production of artistic-scientific projects.

In general up to max. EUR 450,-- can be awarded per person and per application. The travel allowances can only be awarded once per academic year and only twice during the 
whole doctoral/PhD study period.

Applications are possible throughout the year but have to be submitted at least two weeks before the start of the journey.

Applications are possible at any time, via submission website.

Short term grants abroad

The scholarship for a short-term stay abroad for doctoral/PhD candidates supports stays abroad for e.g. research, field research, archival research, interviews, which are necessary for the dissertation or the PhD project. Stays abroad are funded for a minimum of two to a maximum of eight weeks.

Funding for:

• Short-term stays abroad for research activities, field research, archival research, interviews, input on methodological or theoretical questions, etc., which are related to the dissertation or the PhD project.
• NOT FUNDED will be study program participation abroad (e.g., participation in seminars/courses), which may be funded by e.g. Erasmus+ Mobility. Also, no summer schools or participation in further education/seminars are supported.

The funding can be granted for a period of at least two to a maximum of eight weeks.

The grant is paid out as a scholarship and it serves as a subsidy to partially cover travel and subsistence costs during the stay abroad. The grant can only be awarded once during the 
whole doctoral/PhD study period.
ATTENTION: Parallel funding (e.g., Marietta-Blau, ÖAW Doc, Erasmus+) is excluded!

Applications are possible at any time, via submission website.

Learning-on-the-Job grant

The scholarship is intended to enable doctoral/PhD candidates to gain practical experience and to get to know processes in connection with the organization of a conference, the publication of a book, the planning, and holding of a workshop, etc., and to acquire additional competencies in addition to the academic qualifications.

Funding for:

• Doctoral/PhD candidates who are involved in organizational, coordinating or administrative processes within the framework of a scientific or artistic research project (conference organization, publication, etc.) at the Academy
• NO FUNDING for projects that exclusively cover the work of the doctoral/PhD candidates
• NO FUNDING for activities to support teaching, in the narrower and the broader sense

Applicants are the doctoral/PhD supervisors who apply for a scholarship for a doctoral/PhD candidate for a planned activity/project.

The funding amount per Learning-on-the-Job scholarship is usually € 750.-- in exceptional cases, depending on the duration and scope of the activity up to a maximum of € 1,500.-- can be awarded. The scholarship can only be awarded once during the 
whole doctoral/PhD study period.

Applications are possible at any time, via submission website.

Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The Dissertation Completion Fellowship aims to support PhD candidates in the final phase of the dissertation until completion.

• Regular candidates of all doctoral studies of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna can apply for the fellowship.
• The applicants should convincingly convey that the successful finalization of the dissertation or the Ph.D. project is possible during the fellowship.
• The expected quality of the dissertation or the PhD project is a central criterion in the selection process.

Each year, four fellowships for six months each can be awarded.

The amount of the fellowship is € 1,200.-- per month. The fellowship can only be awarded once during the 
whole doctoral/PhD study period.

There is one deadline per year.
Next deadline: November 5, 2024, 11.00 am. For more information please see our submission website.

Scholarship Early Postdoc Applications

The Scholarship for Early Post Doc Applications aims to support early postdocs in the application for their initial postdoctoral research project. This scholarship enables the intensive preparation of a project proposal, which will be submitted with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna as the home institution to funding agencies like FWF (ESPRIT funding program) or OeAW (APART GSK funding program) in the end. This call is open to all postdocs.

• Early postdocs: Please read the eligibility criteria of the respective funding bodies and programs carefully. For OeAW APART GSK it is possible to submit up to a maximum of three years after receipt of the doctorate, for FWF ESPRIT up to a maximum of five years. That means when submitting for our Scholarship for Early Post Doc Applications you should not have received your doctorate more than two respectively four years ago (depending on the funding program).
• Postdocs with at least two international and quality-assured publications in line with high international standards (minimum when submitting for the scholarship: accepted).
• The applicants should convincingly convey that the successful finalization of the application is possible during the fellowship.

Overview of other grants from the Academy and external funding opportunities

The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna offers a variety of grants to candidates - such as Mobility Scholarships for stays abroad, a Student Assistance Fund for candidates from so-called third countries (non-EU members), but also research grants for doctoral or PhD candidates, which are advertised every other year. The following link will give you an overview of the scholarships awarded by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, along with other useful links, e.g., information on federal grants, grants given by the City Council of Vienna, or Student Allowance.

Besides the scholarships of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, there are also a variety of external grants and fellowships for doctoral candidates. We collected a few of them for you and hope that this list provides you with useful information. Please consider that the list is not exhaustive and not always up-to-date -- the criteria for the grants change quite often -- please see here but always inform yourself on the website of the respective grant and consider looking for other grants that may fit your project.

Please also read the newsletter Art | Research | Support as current grants and fellowships are announced in the newsletter: Newsletter Art | Research | Support.