DART PhD Accounting Program, Austria

Deadline: 11 April 2013
Open to: candidates with outstanding (top 10%) diploma or a Master’s degree
Scholarship: approximately 18,000 Euros

Description

DART is a doctoral program in accounting, located in Graz and Vienna, Austria. Its main activity is PhD education. DART offers a stimulating learning and research environment with financial support to outstanding students from around the world.

DART brings together all major accounting researchers in this area of Austria, who excel in the international academic accounting community. All of them publish high-quality work in international journals. Since they are located at three major universities in Austria (the University of Graz, the University of Vienna, and the Vienna University of Economics and Business), DART is a joint project. DART offers an internationally accepted program for educating young talent in accounting.

The doctoral program aims at training future leaders in accounting research and in specialist areas of practice to combine a strong tradition in institutions and norms with an emphasis on international state-of-the-art research methodology. The faculty involved in DART is well positioned to provide training for doctoral students and to supervise their research. A distinguishing feature of DART is the focus on an internationally accepted research methodology in accounting. DART offers the opportunity to conduct research in the following research areas:

  • Auditor regulation and audit quality
  • Accounting and corporate governance
  • Taxation and incentives
  • Managerial performance measurement
  • Accounting and intangibles
  • Financial reporting quality

Course Program

Students admitted to DART are required to enroll in the appropriate formal doctoral program at one of the three participating universities. Each of these doctoral programs offers one year of coursework and specialized courses after the first year. The first year in the doctoral program is focused on exposing students to research methodologies, such as analytical and empirical research – in general and as applied to business administration and economics. It also includes courses in mathematics, statistics, and economic modelling. Advanced courses are electives that students select depending on their specialization.

The courses of the general doctoral program in social and economic sciences are followed by specialized accounting doctoral courses which complement them. These additional courses take students to the forefront of research in the main topics of DART. All DART courses are taught in English. They are held either in Graz or in Vienna. There are also opportunities to take specialist courses at other institutions.

DART students benefit from the faculty members’ strong connections within the international accounting community. Therefore, students are encouraged to take the opportunity to go abroad for a semester.

Financial Support

DART is funded by the Austrian Science Fund. In accordance with the fund’s guidelines for doctoral programs, DART scholarship holders are paid a salary for a period of 3-4 years. The annual salary after taxes and social security contributions amounts to approximately 18,000 Euros. Given the costs for living and housing in Graz or Vienna, this salary enables the scholarship holders to concentrate on their studies.

PhD students who already have funding from other sources (e.g. universities and specific projects) can also apply for DART membership as associated doctoral students. They are subject to the same application procedures and qualification criteria as students with scholarships. Associated doctoral students are fully integrated in the DART curriculum.

Eligibility

Admission to DART is based on the the review of the application dossiers by the admission committee. Besides the required prerequisites, the admission committee also considers the following:

  • Acceptance into the doctoral studies in social and economic sciences at one of the following universities: the University of Graz, the University of Vienna, or the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
  • Outstanding (top 10%) Diploma or a Master’s degree (to be completed before beginning studies in the DART program)
  • An undergraduate specialization in accounting, finance or economics is strongly recommended
  • A strong interest in accounting issues
  • Adequate mathematical preparation

Application

Applications must be received by April 11, 2013. Early applications are strongly encouraged. Documents in languages other than English or German have to be translated into one of these languages.

Applications must contain the following elements:

  • Completed application form
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Letter containing your career plans and reasons for interest in a doctoral education in accounting
  • Transcripts of grades in English or German
  • Two confidential letters of recommendation from faculty members who can assess your capacity to carry out independent research
  • Writing sample consisting of a paper written in the course of your master studies and dealing with an accounting subject, e.g., a master thesis or a seminar paper
  • GRE/GMAT and TOEFL scores or scores from similar tests

Please email your application to dart@uni-graz.at. Although they do not need legal certification of the documents submitted, you will be required to provide the original or legally certified translations of your documents in the case that your application is accepted.

Further information is available on the official website HERE and at the informational flyer HERE.

One thought on “DART PhD Accounting Program, Austria

  1. Hello I am a phd student at university in iran my major is accounting. I want to com to austria for DART. Is that possible an if dos, what should I do for it. Please answer my question

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