Students Info
This page contains useful information for students applying to the DK CIM, as well as for new students.
For applications for PhD positions please contact the individual supervisors form our faculty.
Why join the DK CIM
- You are given the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary way.
- You have the opportunity to collaborate with several faculty members, as well as with other students within the DK CIM.
- You are supervised by a thesis committee, consisting of your main supervisor and up to two additional supervisors.
- The DK CIM is committed to increasing the percentage of female employees in science. Therefore the DK CIM explicitly invites women to apply.
- About 40% of the PhD students at the University of Innsbruck are from abroad.
- As a Ph.D. student of the DK CIM you are employed at the University of Innsbruck (30 hours/week), which means full social security coverage under the Austrian national law. The gross salary for these positions will be about 2.684,10 €/month (14x, year: 2024).
Please, only apply for open positions!
What you need
- a complete CV
- grades and transcript of your master certificate and your undergraduate level certificates including a diploma supplement
- a list of previous scientific experiences and skills
- a synopsis of your diploma/master thesis
- a list of publications, talks and poster presentations at conferences
Scientific fields
The DK CIM comprises the following fields: atmospheric sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics and physics.
The students carry out interdisciplinary research projects in accordance with the high-profile research done within the DK CIM. They are fully integrated in the scientific environment of the University of Innsbruck and UMIT and especially of the DK. They work in close cooperation with the top scientists of the DK, who also provide them with excellent networking and collaboration opportunities within the DK and internationally. Furthermore the students have easy access to the Austrian supercomputing facilities (LEO, VSC, MACH) and are at the same time embedded in the Austrian HPC community. Thus, they not only take part in top research and high-end research projects, but they also get a deep insight into other disciplines, in the course of which they become high-profile researchers themselves, who also acquire the skills to understand and use various scientific languages necessary for interdisciplinary work.
Ph.D. thesis
The Ph.D. thesis project is formulated by a thesis committee, which consists of a supervisor and up to two additional members (a second supervisor from the faculty and an optional third external supervisor). The thesis committee sets up a research plan with defined milestones. It also discusses and guides the students' progressing work on the thesis within the framework of interdisciplinary collaboration. This gives the students the opportunity to write a state-of-the-art thesis.
The Ph.D. is scheduled for three years (six terms), which is equivalent to 180 credit points according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The Ph.D. curriculum enhances the scientific specialization and training of Ph.D. students in the field of scientific computing. Its central part is the Ph.D. thesis (150 ECTS), complemented by the training program (30 ECTS), which includes the successful completion of courses and scientific contributions to international conferences. In addition, the students gain international experience by research stays abroad. Furthermore, the students are given the opportunity to acquire teaching skills, expertise in scientific ethics, project management and conflict management.
Teaching
The aim of the DK CIM is to strengthen research oriented teaching, as well as to promote young scientists. Thus teaching within the DK CIM is directly linked to the to guarantee a close cooperation with world class researchers from various fields like atmospheric sciences, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering sciences, mathematics and physics. Teaching is embedded in cutting edge research. This gives the students the opportunity to become excellent researchers themselves. In line with the research topic of the Ph.D. thesis the students choose specialized courses from a broad range of topics.
Apart from scientific courses, students are given the opportunitiy to participate in courses on soft skills, such as presentation techniques, writing skills, technical English, negotiation methods, acquisition of third-party funds and project management. The acquistion of such skills makes the students highly sought after, in particular also in careers in the private sector.
Moreover, the DK CIM introduced novel means of teaching including the DK CIM retreats, the DK CIM winter schools and the DK CIM research clusters.
DK CIM retreats
The DK CIM retreats provide the opportunity of an exchange of research between the DK CIM students. At these retreats the students present their work in form of oral presentations and in poster sessions. During these presentations all participants support the Ph.D. students by critically analysing the present state of their respective scientific work, as well as discussing future directions. Such discussions help to develop new project ideas and form collaborations. The faculty members give the students feedback on their overall progress. In addition a meeting of the faculty members and the students is held to discuss the progress of the programme.
DK CIM winter/summer schools
The DK winter/summer schools are organized every year to present and discuss ongoing research in cooperation with other scientists. Graduates of the DK CIM are invited to attend. The Ph.D. students present their projects and discuss them with the audience. Complementary topics are presented by external speakers. The DK CIM winter schools are a great opportunity to socialise, to improve ones presentation skills, to support network activities and to trigger joint projects.
IGK-Series lectures
Together with the research Area Scientific Computing we offer interdisziplinary lectures each semester.
Research stays abroad
The DK CIM allows the Ph.D. students for research stays abroad. Based on the network activities of the faculty the students get the opportunity to attend a university or research institution abroad to work on a project related to their research topics. The aim of the research stays abroad is to get to know new scientific points of view, to establish an own network and to get familiar with a different cultural environment.
Conferences
The Ph.D. students attend international scientific conferences to present and discuss their research work, thereby initiating future collaborations with other research institutions.
- Networking of students from differnet disciplines
- Diploma Supplement for Interdiscziplinary work within the DK-CIM
- interdisciplinary research and connection to different scientific fields