PhD Admissions

Essential and required prerequisites for the PhD program:

Prerequisite for the admission to the PhD study program is a three-year Bachelor and a two-year Master degree in the field of business or one of the social or economic sciences from an accredited post-secondary educational institution. Applicants who do not completely fulfill these requirements can qualify by successfully completing a two-year Master of Science program at Modul University Vienna.

Applicants for the Researcher/Lecturer program path must be willing to assist in teaching and/or administrative tasks at the undergraduate level.

Step 1: Online Application

Please submit your complete application online!

Apply using MU's online application tool!

Fill in all required fields and be prepared to upload the following documents:

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Motivation Statement
  • Research Proposal and Career Interest*
  • Bachelor (3-year) and Master (2-year) diploma
  • Bachelor and Master Transcripts including supplements
  • One example of a research publication or report (optional)
  • Copy of passport
  • Photo
  • Two letters of recommendation from academic sources
  • English proficiency level C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. We accept the following certificates:
TOEFL Internet-Based Test  100 points. We do not accept individual section scores below 20.
IELTSBand score between 7 and 7.5. We do not accept sub-scores below 6.0. 

*A research proposal should contain a short summary of the current state of scientific knowledge, the research question and its relevance, a concrete description of the planned methodology, including data, materials used and statistical evaluation, a sketch of potential results and the anticipated limitations of the conclusions. This will typically take 5 to 10 pages. Please make sure that the area of research matches to at least one of the academic profiles listed here and give at least one name of a potential supervisor.

Please note that all documents must be submitted in English and only complete applications will be processed!

Step 2: Application Review & Interview

Your application will be reviewed by the admissions team to assure eligibility for the PhD study program. The dean then will evalate the application in regards to a potential supervision by one of the university´s professors. You will be contacted to schedule an online interview to further discuss the proposal and project supervision.

Step 3: Admission Decision

If the PhD project can be supervised by one of MU´s faculty members, the Admissions Committee makes the general admission decision based on its estimation of the applicant's potential for academic success. To aid in making its decision, the Committee carefully considers the applicant's previous field(s) of study, academic performance, motivation, extracurricular activities, interview, and academic aptitude. As a last step, the committee evaluates whether or not the applicant qualifies for a potential study fee reduction up to 50% of the actual PhD fees. If approved, admissions documents will be sent to the future student.