Doctoral programme at the School of Education at JKU in cooperation with the Linz Center for Education Research and Evaluation

Key points and implementation

The curricular basis is provided by the new teacher training programme for secondary education (BEd. and MEd.), which has been implemented since the academic year 2016/17 and is delivered by the PHDL and the Linz School of Education at the JKU Linz together with eight other partners (universities and colleges) in the Central Austrian cluster.

The programme embeds the research work of doctoral students in a continuous support structure consisting of three main elements:

• Research colloquium: PhD students are supported in their dissertation work by regular research colloquia, for example in the development of a well-founded research proposal at the beginning. Research colloquia include a mix of workshops on research methods, seminars on key topics in education research and lectures by international guest professors. The group is made up of international students. Students who cannot be present in person are offered audiovisual participation.
• Personal supervision and declaration of intent: each student selects a supervisor from the Linz School of Education (and, if appropriate, a second supervisor from a different university, e.g. in the foreign student's home country). The student and the supervisor sign a ‘declaration of intent’, which explains the needs, requirements, intermediate steps and support in more detail and makes the course of study predictable for the students.
• Additional courses and events: In addition to the research colloquium, students must attend additional courses at the JKU, other international universities or scientific associations. The research colloquia are supplemented by guest lectures from international experts. In addition, ‘declarations of intent’ typically include the obligation to present your research, its background and results at international conferences, in order to enable you to receive feedback and additional suggestions from conference participants.

The new doctoral programme is also particularly suitable for people in employment.

Aims of the cooperation on the part of the Private University College of Education of the Diocese of Linz

• Joint supervision of dissertations
• Provision of research fields at the university, cooperation schools and in the Linz Centre for Educational Research
• Integration of doctoral students into the scientific community
• Research cooperation

Potential supervisors for the PhD Programme in Education