Dear Doctoral Candidates, Let me warmly welcome you to the Winter Semester 2025. The purpose of this message is to provide you with an overview of what is new at the Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy (VDP) for this semester. In the near future, I will send a separate message to introduce the new PhD researchers who have joined the programme. 1. Leadership Update 2. VDP Coordinator Consultation Hours 3. Supervision and Co-Supervision 4. VDP Steering Committee and Doctoral Student Assembly 5. Office Space 6. Profile and U:Cris 7. Moodle 8. U:Rise and VDP Events 9. Writing Evenings 10. The Feedback Foyer 11. Transition to Postdoc Workshop 12. VDP Summer School - Call for Organizers --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Leadership Update Prof. Benjamin Schnieder has returned to his role as Director of the Vienna Doctoral Programme (VDP) and the Doctoral Programme of Philosophy. Please continue any pending business previously handled by the interim Director, Prof. Arne Moritz, directly with Prof. Schnieder. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. VDP Coordinator Consultation Hours Starting this semester, I will be offering consultation hours every Tuesday (working days only) from 10:00 to 11:00 during the winter semester 2025 (WiSe25). You are warmly welcome to visit my office (B-0301, NIG) to discuss any matters related to your doctoral studies — including supervision, event organization, training opportunities, or funding options. You may inform me in advance if you wish to present your case beforehand, but no prior scheduling is required for these consultation hours. For meetings outside the consultation time, please write to VDS Philosophy at vd.philosophy(a)univie.ac.at with the subject line “Request for meeting”, and include the purpose of the meeting as well as your full availability. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Supervision and co-supervision It is advisable that meetings with supervisors take place once per month, and they should occur at least once per semester. If this is not the case, please feel free to contact the VDP office for advice regarding your supervision. All such matters are handled with strict confidentiality. Please also keep in mind that co-supervision and thesis advisory committees are practices encouraged by the University of Vienna to enhance the quality of PhD supervision. See: https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/phd-program/co-supervision/ https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/members/faculty/non-supervisory-faculty/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Steering Committee and Doctoral Student Assembly If you wish to bring topics to their agenda of our Steering Committee and of the Doctoral Student Assembly, please contact your student representatives, Lisa Tragbar [lisa.tragbar(a)univie.ac.at] or Mira Magdalena Sickinger [mira.magdalena.sickinger(a)univie.ac.at] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Office Space The hot desks for students who are not employees of the Department of Philosophy have been expanded to five. A new call for registration for the summer semester 2025 (SoSe25) will be announced next year. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Profile and U:Cris Please send or update your profile information for our webpage. See samples at https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/members/phd-researchers/ To further outreach your academic activities and work, please use u:cris. This comes with several advantages: You have the opportunity to showcase your research and outreach activities on the official research platform of the university. This option is available to all PhD students. The Doctoral School gains a better overview of publications and activities, which might support future budget decisions. What to do: Log in with your u:account credentials at: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/ (scroll down to the bottom of the page to sign in). Add any information you’d like to have displayed (e.g. publications, talks, outreach). You also have the option to link your u:cris profile on the VDP website under your name: https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/members/phd-researchers/ To do so, simply send an email to the VDP, subject “u:cris profile” If you have any technical questions, please contact the u:cris-team directly! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Moodle Entries and Content that has been updated, created, or replaced old content in our moodle course during the last semester and summer break are: Booking Rooms at the Department of Philosophy Funding Request and Reimbursement Guidelines Conference Participation Grant - Application Form Speakers Fees Form --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. U:Rise and VDP Events All VDP events will be announced via u:rise, the platform for Professional & Career Development at the University of Vienna. Importantly, other doctoral schools and university units also announce their events through u:rise, and many of these may be open to you or relevant for your research and career development. We encourage you to check the available offers regularly at: https://urise.univie.ac.at/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Writing Evenings, WiSe25: A new season of our weekly writing evenings starts today, 6 October, at 2 pm. Please find more details and registration information at urise --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. The Feedback Foyer The VDP is launching a Peer Feedback Exchange Forum this semester, which will take place twice during the term. To participate, you’ll need to register and provide some details about the text you plan to submit so we can pair you with a suitable peer. During each session, participants will be assigned a peer’s text to review. You’ll have 90 minutes to read and prepare your feedback, followed by 30 minutes dedicated to discussing the feedback together. Dates: 10. November 2025, 16:00 - 18:00, 3A NiG 15 December 2025, 16:00 - 18:00, 3A NiG Registration via urise --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Workshop - Transition to Postdoc: Funding Opportunities, Proposals, and Pathways The VDP is organizing a workshop designed to provide PhD students in philosophy with practical guidance on funding opportunities and proposal writing for postdoctoral research. If you are considering a postdoctoral career, this event will be of particular interest to you. Please note: Registration is mandatory (there are only 10 spots). Date: 23 October, 11:00 - 13:00, B0305, NiG Registration via urise. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. VDP Summer School - Call for Organizers The Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy is seeking proposals for the sixth edition of its summer school, to take place in 2026. We're currently accepting proposals for organizing and leading our next year's Summer School. Deadline: 5 November 2025 23:59 (CET) Funding: The VDP will cover organizational costs for the conferences, as well as travel expenses for international and local instructors. How to apply? Interested parties should submit a proposal for the upcoming Summer School, which should not exceed 2-3 pages. The proposal should include: 1. Suggested title(s) 2. A description of the summer school 3. Target audience(s) (e.g., late master's students, PhD students, postdocs) 4. Dates 5. Organizing team, including VDP members, postdocs and faculty (ideally up to 4 to 5 members) 6. List of possible instructors 7. Description of the teaching formats (lectures, workshops, group discussions) and daily activities 8. A detailed budget plan (summer schools may charge a fee). VDP doctoral researchers must consult the Funding Request and Reimbursement Guidelines document when preparing this plan. Additionally, organizers are encouraged to seek additional funding. Who can apply? A team of VDP members (VDP doctoral researchers, and VDP supervisory and non-supervisory faculty). Submission Details Please ask questions or submit proposals in PDF format by email to vd.philosophy(a)univie.ac.at (Subject: "Summer School Proposal") Information on VDP summer schools is found at https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/phd-program/doctoral-training/summer-sch… --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wish all of you a fruitful semester! Raphael -- MSc. Mag. Raphael Aybar, BA Scientific Coordinator Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy University of Vienna Universitätsstraße 7, B0301 1010 Wien +43-1-4277-46020 https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/ vd.philosophy(a)univie.ac.at raphael.aybar(a)univie.ac.at