Student applications

Eligibility

Candidates are eligible to enter the IGS after obtaining a MSc degree or equivalent of a regular study (no continuing education Master) in a subject area relevant to the doctoral program. Candidates are eligible to apply before formally obtaining a MSc degree and can be accepted pending finalization of the degree. Students from non-European or non-English speaking universities are required to also demonstrate sufficient proficiency in English with test dates within two years from the date of application in one of the following ways:

• a score of not less than 6.5 in IELTS including a score of 5.0 or better in the written and spoken English elements of the academic test; or a
• TOEFL score of not less than 90 overall in the internet-based test (lBT), to include 24 in Writing and 20 in Speaking; or 600 in the paper-based test (PBT), or 250 in the computer-based test (CBT), both to include a minimum score of 4.5 in the written English; or
• completion of a BOKU English language course (English III or higher).

Application

Students can apply to the following advertised projects within the IGS:

An application is directed to a project, not to the school in its entirety, but should be submitted to the chair of the Student admission committee (Prof. Erik Reimhult, erik.reimhult(at)boku.ac.at). It is possible for a student to apply to more than one advertised project. Upon accptance to the school the student will belong to a specific project but take part in all school common activities. An application should contain the minimum of the following:

• Full CV
• University grades
• Cover letter (including which project is applied for and a motivation letter for the application to the selected project and for participation in the IGS BioNanoTech)
• Reference persons for academic and scientific achievements
• Date of graduation if an MSc is not yet obtained

It is advisable that an applying student has made contact with the PI of the project before applying. Upon request from the PI or the committee the student should supply additionally required information for the application and be available for an interview. The applicant is responsible for submitting the requested documents as incomplete applications will be disregarded without further notice. Currently no projects are open for application.

Selection

Screening by Student admission committee

A joint BOKU-NTU student admission committee receives the applications and screens the applicants for eligibility. Additionally, the Student admission committee will decide whether in addition to eligibility the student has the potential for excellence expected by IGS students. Students who fail eligibility will be rejected and notified by the Student admission committee. Applicants selected by the admission committee will get their applications forwarded to the respective PIs with a recommendation on their suitability for IGS participation.

Selection by PI

The final decision on student selection is performed by the PI of each project. The PI will perform interviews with selected applicants for his/her project. Criteria for the evaluation are the suitability and motivation of the applicant for the specific project. Notification will be given to all applying students when a sstudent has been accepted for a specific project.

University admission

Each IGS accepted student has to register and be admitted to the doctoral colleges of both BOKU and NTU. At the BOKU this follows the normal application procedure which can be found on the BOKU webpage. The IGS doctoral college should be named and the acceptance letter for admission into the IGS received from the IGS program directors should be included in the application. The admission procedure at the NTU is still under development. The students should be supported in their applications by the respective project PIs at each institution.