Guiding principles

  • We stand for scientific training of highest international quality for Doctoral students. The activities and requirements of our PhD program go well beyond the standards of the Doctoral programs of the respective universties. Also, our activities create a feeling of cohesion among the member of the school which is enhancing the quality of education for each individual.
  • Excellence in education is achieved primarily through excellence in research. Our elected faculty members are internationally recognized experts in their research area. The most important criterion for recruiting students is their potential for high-quality research. We support our students to publish their results in journals and conferences of highest international quality.
  • We create an open, fair, and inclusive environment for all members of the school. We run a weekly research seminar to facilitate communication among students and faculty members. We organize retreats, open problem sessions and other events to foster active work on research topics. Our recruiting process is open for candidates world-wide, regardless of nationality or gender. The language at all events of our school is English.
  • We are committed to introduce our students to the international research community. We offer every Doctoral student to spend up to 6 months abroad for a scientific visit at a related research group. We enable our students to participate in and present their research at international workshops and conferences. We invite distinguished researchers to visit Graz and encourage interaction with our students. We organize joint events with thematically related graduate schools in Europe.
  • We support our students at the start of their academic career beyond scientific aspects. We host a mentoring program where each student can seek advice from mentors at different career stages. We offer seminars on topics of relevance for researchers such as presentation skills or career planning. We organize social events to connect the members of the school.
  • We evaluate our Doctoral school and seek for improvement of our program. We let our program undergo regular evaluation from outside experts. We have an international advisory board from which we seek advice. We exchange ideas with similar programs in mathematics and computer science.

The PhD program

The Graz school of Discrete Mathematics is embedded into the respective graduate school of the participating universities. Students are employed by one of the universities and associated to our school subsequently. The curricular requirements to finish the PhD program are as follows.

Activities and extra rules

  • We offer every Doctoral student of the school to spend up to 6 months abroad in order to be exposed to a different research culture and to build up scientific connections.

  • Every Doctoral student of the school will be assigned two mentors besides the advisor - one faculty member and one more junior scientist (postdoc or more experienced PhD student). We encourage a regular exchange between mentor and mentee on scientific progress of the mentee and beyond.

  • We run the research seminar "Advanced Topics in Discrete Mathematics" on Friday mornings, where students, faculty, and guests present their current research. The seminar is preceeded by a coffee break that serves as a regular meeting point for the members of the school.

  • The PhD students of the school participate in the organizational matters. In particular, they elect a student speaker who is invited to faculty meetings to articulate the student's interests.

  • Every student is encouraged to attend the seminar "Scientific Communication", which takes place every summer semester and provides training on presentation skills. Other seminars on ''soft skills'' will be organized periodically.

  • At each participating University the required number of PhD thesis referees is at least two. For students of our school, we ask for three thesis referees by default (one of which can be the advisor).

Bylaws

see here