Funding

Salary · Partial / Stipend

Fellowship•Austria

DOC Doctoral Fellowship Programme

Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)

Application Deadline

September 15, 2026

Official Page

The DOC fellowship programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) supports highly qualified doctoral candidates from all areas of basic research. Fellows write their dissertation at a university in Austria, either on an employment contract with an Austrian university or research institution or as self-employed researchers. A fellowship runs for 24, 30 or 36 months and pays EUR 52,080 per year as a super-gross personnel-cost sum, so taxes and social contributions are paid out of that amount.

An application may be filed before the doctorate starts or during its first year, which makes the programme a route into a funded PhD as well as a top-up for one already under way. The programme approves roughly 18 to 20 percent of the applications it receives.

Benefits & funding

  • EUR 52,080 per year at the 2026 rate, a super-gross sum covering all legally required taxes and non-wage labour costs, including the employer contribution where the fellow is employed.
  • 24, 30 or 36 months of funding; the requested period can be shortened when the budget is limited, and the annual amount is not raised during the funding period.
  • Travel allowance of up to EUR 500 per year.
  • Childcare subsidy of up to EUR 1,900 per year.
  • Cost-neutral extension of up to half the approved period, with documentation of caregiving duties or health reasons.
  • Fellows in the humanities, social sciences and cultural studies may take a six-month research stay at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM) in Vienna, with a workspace, daily lunch and the weekly Fellows’ Colloquia.
  • Each year up to two DOC fellows join the research programme of the IFK Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften and the University of Arts Linz in Vienna as Junior Fellows; German at level B1 is required for this option.

Eligibility

  • Doctoral candidates in any field of basic research. No nationality requirement and no residency requirement.
  • The doctorate must be pursued at a university in Austria.
  • The application must be submitted before the doctoral programme starts or within its first year; the cut-off is the enrolment date, with 1 July of the submission year as the reference date.
  • The Master’s degree must be fully completed at the time of application and awarded no more than two years earlier, with the certificate submitted in the application; the reference date is 1 July of the submission year.
  • That two-year window extends to a maximum of four years for documented delays such as childcare, military or civilian service, disability or chronic illness.
  • At least two of three criteria must be met: a published or accepted scientific contribution (article, book chapter, proceedings, poster, review or preprint); academic mobility (research visits, international cooperation, conferences, internships); scientific engagement (research projects, teaching, event organisation, outreach).
  • Applicants may not apply to another ÖAW fellowship programme at the same time, and parallel applications to other funders must be reported to the department.
  • Paid work alongside the fellowship is limited to 10 hours per week.
  • A rejected application may be resubmitted once when the requirements are met.

Can you apply?

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  • Education required

    Master · PhD Enrolled

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Application process

  1. 1
    Read the DOC information and application pages together with the ÖAW fellowship rates document.
  2. 2
    Complete the online form, which is available from 17 August 2026.
  3. 3
    Prepare the personal documents: tabular CV, publication list marking peer-reviewed items, letter of motivation of at most 2 pages, dissertation supervisor statement of at most 2 pages, supervisor publication list of at most 1 page, workplace confirmation, plus research permits and a host-institute invitation where these apply.
  4. 4
    Prepare the certificates: Master’s transcript with grades and confirmation of enrolment in the doctoral programme.
  5. 5
    Prepare the project documents: an abstract of 1 to 2 pages and a dissertation proposal of 10 to 20 pages, excluding cover page, table of contents and bibliography.
  6. 6
    Write in English for the natural sciences, technical sciences, medicine and psychology. Humanities, social sciences and cultural sciences may be submitted in English or German.
  7. 7
    Upload four PDF files, five when resubmitting, each no larger than 3 MB, and submit by 15 September 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
  8. 8
    State any interest in the IWM or IFK cooperation in the cover letter accompanying the application.

Program timeline

  1. Online application form opens

    Aug 17, 2026

  2. Submission deadline, 23:59 CEST

    Sep 15, 2026

  3. All applicants informed how the selection procedure continues, about 3 to 4 weeks after the deadline

    2026-10

  4. International peer review, panel discussion and ranking

    2026-10 to 2027-05

  5. Funding decisions communicated

    2027-06 to 2027-07

  6. Within four months of the award announcement

    the fellowship must begin

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