WIMEK research proposal

PhD candidates benefit from a well-conceived proposal that includes their ideas and ambitions, provides a quick start, and offers flexibility when needed. The WIMEK PhD proposal is written by the candidate in consultation with and feedback from the supervising team prior to submitting it.

The main objective of the Graduate School is to safeguard quality of PhD projects with respect to scientific quality and originality, feasibility and intellectual challenge. WIMEK will send the proposal out for review to 2 independent reviewers. The PhD candidate and supervisory team are responsible for finding and securing both reviewers. In many cases, the suggestions of the reviewers lead to further improvement of the project proposal. In some cases major revisions are needed to the proposal. The decision regarding the approval of the project proposal lies with the Scientific Director of WIMEK and is based on the reports of the reviewers, the rebuttal of the candidate and his/her supervisor(s), and potential amendments to the project proposal.

Full project proposals must be uploaded in Hora Finita within 6 months after the start of the PhD project. The PhD candidate and/or his/her supervisor(s) should contact the graduate school office a.s.a.p. in case of special conditions why this term cannot be met. The graduate school then takes this into consideration and may allow a fixed-term extension of the deadline for submitting the WIMEK PhD proposal.

Without the approval of a PhD project, an education certificate (SENSE diploma) will not be granted (in the case of WU a PhD graduation might be still possible but in that case the chair group will not receive the full output financing). Secondly, all WU PhD candidates need to pass a GO / NO-GO evaluation within 18 months after the start of the PhD Project. An approved project proposal is one of the prerequisites for receiving a GO decision.