The Silicon Austria Labs – Doctoral College aims at recruiting researchers as PhD candidates, eager to pursue scientifically excellent research in the field of electronic based systems within an international and interdisciplinary research environment. The next SAL-DC call is planned for 2023, with more details following soon.
The recruitment process follows the principles set out by the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.
The recruitment for the SAL-DC encompasses three processes, which have to be successfully passed in order to be able joining the SAL-DC:
In order to apply for the proposed positions, potential candidates require to
Eligibility criterion for PhD study
Applicants must hold – at the time of the application call deadline – a MSc degree or an equivalent degree in order to apply for the proposed positions in this call.
Required application documents
Submission procedure for application
The selection process is organized in three subsequent stages. After each stage, the applicants are informed regarding their current status in due time according to the timeline depicted in Fig. 1.
First assessment stage
All applicants receive an invitation to demonstrate their technical suitability for the applied PhD position(s). by solving a set of tasks. These tasks are related to the specific PhD position(s) and shall be solvable with basic domain knowledge. The solution has to be submitted in written form in a predetermined format until the deadline.
Only if a candidate successfully submits a solution (by meeting formatting rules and timeline), the selection committee will consider evaluating a candidate’s application.
In a first step a formal screening of completeness of the requested application documents as well as a formal verification of eligibility is conducted, both evaluated for the point in time defined by the application deadline.
If successfully passed, the selection committee assesses in a second step the submitted solution together with the submitted application documents based on the rating scheme depicted in Tab. 1. Applicants have to score above the threshold in each category to be able to pass this assessment stage. If the threshold criteria are met (for each category and overall), the accumulated score in descending order serves as ranking criterion. Selected candidates will be invited for a personal interview as part of the second assessment stage.
Second assessment stage
Applicants are invited to personal interviews, which are preferably conducted by the responsible supervising team of the corresponding PhD topic. These interviews are either performed face-to-face or as part of a remote video conference. Applicants are asked to give a short presentation preferably on their MSc thesis or on a similar own work related to the PhD position (10 min), followed by a discussion with questions assessing the scientific as well as general qualifications of the applicants. These questions may address the given presentation, the solution submitted in the first assessment stage as well as aspects arising from the application documents such as the motivational letter or CV. During the interview, each candidate will also have the possibility to raise questions to the SAL-DC committee. Applicants are assessed according to the rating scheme in Tab. 1, with the requirement to score above the threshold (in each category and overall) to be able to pass this stage.
For the final ranking for each position offered in the call, the candidates are ranked based on the accumulated score achieved in both assessment stages together. Based on that, invitations to join SAL-DC are sent out accordingly.
1st assessment stage: Application documents
Item | Threshold | Maximum |
Academic potential (class rank, GPA, etc… ) | 15 | 30 |
Relevance of Master-level degree to SAL-DC | 0 | 10 |
Letter of motivation | 5 | 10 |
English level judged by certificates | 0 | 20 |
Aspects of curriculum vitae relevant for SAL-DC (multiple degree, work experience, professional qualification, etc., general skills) | 15 | 30 |
Submitted solution to problem | 70 | 100 |
Score 1st stage | 140 | 200 |
Scientific eligibility ranking for 2nd stage is based on achieved, accumulated score in 1st stage,
given that individual (i.e., per category) and overall threshold criteria are met.
2nd assessment stage: Interview
Item | Threshold | Maximum |
a) Research and technical qualification | 10 | 30 |
b) Presentation of abstract content | 10 | 24 |
c) Oral language skills | 10 | 23 |
d) Solution-orientated attitude | 10 | 23 |
Score 2nd stage | 70 | 100 |
Final scientific eligibility ranking for SAL-DC is based on achieved, accumulated score of 1st and 2nd stage, given that individual (i.e., per category) and overall threshold criteria of 2nd stage are met.
Offer and confirmation stage
After invitations to join SAL-DC are sent out, the selected candidates are requested to accept or decline the offer until the acceptance deadline given in Fig. 1. In case of a decline, the next candidate in the ranking is offered the position.
Missing the deadline or no reply by the candidate at all is interpreted as a decline of the offer.
Redress procedure
Candidates may request redress within the period determined in the timeline in Fig. 1 by sending a letter (via email) clearly stating their case to the SAL-DC committee. The redress procedure will only evaluate handling of the evaluation procedure, screening of completeness, and perceived incorrect application of the eligibility criteria, but not the judgement of the expert reviewers. If redress is justified, the application will be evaluated again.
In order to finally join the SAL-DC, each selected candidate has to enroll into the PhD program of the local university associated with a particular PhD position.
For a successful admission and thus a successful enrollment, the requested documents have to comply with official translation and authentication rules as detailed below. Depending on the candidate’s country, fulfilling these compliance rules may take up to several weeks. As a result, this pre-requisite and has therefore not been requested for the documents submitted at the time of application. A candidate shall take care of preparing the documents according to these rules when entering the admission process. However, in order to shorten time until final admission to the SAL-DC, candidates are also encouraged to initiate these steps already during the recruitment process.
Information on translation and authentication provided by the different universities
TU Graz:
› Required documents for international applications
› Overview translation and certification of documents
JKU Linz:
› International University Entrance Qualifications
AAU Klagenfurt: