About PhD Program
The Vienna Graduate School of Finance (VGSF) invites excellent students to apply for the PhD Program in Finance (full-time program) starting in the coming academic year. Up to six scholarships will be offered to the best applicants. The application period for the academic year 2016/2017 will be opened on November 3, 2015 (2:00 pm CET) and will end on January 29, 2016 (2:00 pm CET).
The VGSF is a center of excellence in finance, located at the new WU campus in Vienna, Austria. Its main activities are academic research and PhD education. The VGSF offers a stimulating learning and research environment to outstanding students from around the world.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
The program is open for students from all countries with all academic specializations, provided they hold a Master degree or equivalent and have sufficient level of formal training. Students who are going to graduate soon (by June 2016) may apply, too. To participate in the selection process a candidate’s application must be received through the electronic application facilities.
Applicants to the VGSF program should be aware that there are two rounds of evaluations. The first evaluation will take place after December 11, 2015 (2:00 pm CET), and will consider all complete applications which have been submitted by that date. A first round of offers will be made based on that pool of applicants. If not all available positions can be filled on the basis of that first round, applications received after December 11 (2:00 pm) will also be evaluated. Note that the second and final phase for 2016/2017 runs until January 29, 2016 (2:00 pm CET).
Applicants must provide the following documents:
- curriculum vitae
- self-statement of purpose
- all degree certificates
- all official transcripts
- proof of aptitude (GRE or GMAT)
- proof of English competence (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS)
- reference letters
VGSF graduates can look forward to a rewarding career at leading academic institutions. Former VGSF students have been placed at institutions like Aarhus University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Hong Kong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH), Erasmus University Rotterdam, the University of Utah and the University of Wisconsin, USA.
The VGSF PhD program consists of two parts: rigorous coursework and work on the PhD thesis. The students attend courses covering all major topics in finance and analytical methods required for doing research. In particular, the courses focus on Corporate Finance, Asset Pricing and Quantitative Methods in Finance. In the past academic years students had the chance to attend courses taught by international scholars such as Tomas Björk, Rüdiger Fahlenbrach, Nicolae Garleanu, Francisco Gomes, Christopher Hennessy, David Lando, Jacob Sagi, Rossen Valkanov, Jiang Wang and Toni Whited. After passing the required exams, students start to conduct research projects on their own. In our weekly research seminar students have the opportunity to meet internationally renowned scholars presenting their state-of-the art research.
Josef Zechner,
Director of the PhD Program
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.vgsf.ac.at/application/