Vienna Graduate School of Finance – PhD Scholarship.

Requirements for Vienna Graduate School of Finance – PhD in Finance –

The following requirements have to be met in order to be admitted to the PhD Program in Finance:

• Successful completion of a relevant Master’s program or a relevant equivalent degree program at a recognized Austrian or foreign post-secondary institution of education (according to § 64 (4) of the Universities Act 2002)
• Proficiency in financial economics
• Proficiency in mathematics and/or statistics
• Adequate English proficiency
• Achievement potential

Application deadline:

• The online application period for the academic year 2015/2016 will start on December 01, 2014 and end on January 08, 2015 (02:00pm, CET). Only applications submitted within this period can be accepted. Please note that only complete applications with all the required documents can be considered.

Admission procedure:

• Complete applications which meet all formal admission requirements will be evaluated by the admission committee. Based on this evaluation the best applicants will be selected and will be invited for an interview. Interviews will take place in February. Applicants will be given sufficient advance notice by e-mail about date, time and location of the interview.

• Based on all available evidence the admission committee will determine a final ranking of applications. The applicants at the top of the ranking list will be given an admission offer, in form of a written notice of the applicant’s acceptance into the program. To claim his/her place in the program, the applicant must confirm the admission offer in writing within ten days of receipt.

• If the applicant accepts the admission offer she/he will receive the admission confirmation. The admission confirmation has to be presented at the time of enrollment together with the required original documents.

Online application (overview):

• All information provided in the online application must be correct and complete. In case you need to make any important subsequent corrections please contact office(@)vgsf(.)ac(.)at.

• Do not submit more than one application. If we receive two or more applications from the same person, we will not consider any of them.

• All correspondence will be made via e-mail using the e-mail address you have specified for the login to the online application tool. Please check your e-mails regularly and keep your mailbox ready to receive.

• Applicants who will finish their Master studies after the deadline but before June 2015 are welcome to apply as well.

In the online application form you have to provide the following information (note: uploaded pdf-files are well-arranged and organized for screening applications. However, we advise you to avoid filenames like “scan1.pdf”, and recommend naming files such that their contents can be easily identified):

• a self-statement of purpose
• all your degree certificates
• all your official transcripts (we advise you to provide grading scales or similar information; otherwise grades/transcripts may have little or no meaning, and/or may be difficult to interpret)
• curriculum vitae
• GMAT or GRE (code number 9618) test scores; mandatory(!) and not older than five years
• proof of English competence; for example
  • TOEFL (code number 9618): paper based at least 600 points; computer based at least 250 points; internet based at least 100 points, not older than two years
  • IELTS: at least 7.0 points (no band below 6) and not older than two years
  • CAE
  • TOEIC: at least 800 points and not older than two years
  • CPE
  • BEC Higher
  • another proof of your English competence (e.g. full degree program done in English, Master thesis in English, exchange program, internship)
• reference letters: For a complete application at least two reference letters have to be provided. It is the applicant’s responsibility to organize the submission of letters! In the online tool you only specify the contact details (name and e-mail) of the persons who are willing to provide reference letters. They will not be contacted by VGSF! Reference letters must be sent by e-mail in .pdf format to office(@)vgsf(.)ac(.)at by the person who writes the letter (not the applicant!). Reference letters must be received before the application deadline.