New PhD students arrive on campus

Last week, the new intake of PhD students of the IST Austria Graduate School arrived on campus. After an introductory week, the 18 PhD students from 12 different countries will start their work in the research groups of IST Austria.

For Anastasia Pentina, who came to IST Austria with an MA in Mathematics from Lomonosov Moscow State University, IST Austria was the ideal choice to do her PhD as the interdisciplinary program allows her to pursue research in computer science while having a background in a different field of science. The interdisciplinary PhD program, as well as the proximity to both Vienna and Slovakia, are the main attractions of IST Austria for Maroš Pleška, who completed his MA in Molecular Biology at the Comenius University in Bratislava. Katarína Hríbiková, also an alumna of the Comenius University, says: “the possibility to study advanced courses for another year before working on a dissertation project, and the groups of researchers in cell biology at IST Austria made me want to work on my PhD at IST Austria”. “I like the IST Austria Graduate School, in particular the rotations, as I can try out projects before signing up for three years,” comments Daniel Capek, who obtained his MA in Genetics and Developmental Biology from the University of Vienna. Konstanze Simbriger, who joined IST Austria with a BS in Biology from the University of Innsbruck, says: “I was convinced by the interdisciplinary aspect of IST Austria. I had also applied to study in the US, but really liked IST Austria when I came on the visit day. I particularly liked the graduate school, especially that I can start work for my PhD with a BS degree.” Bo Wu, who received his MA in Computer Science from the National University of Defense Technology China, added: “IST Austria is a new, active institute, where I feel I can do good research, and it is a beautiful place to work”.

Before joining IST Austria for their doctoral studies, the students attended the following universities: Comenius University in Bratislava; Lomonosov Moscow State University; National University of Defense Technology China; Royal Holloway, University of London; Saarland University; SASTRA University; St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences; Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; Technical University of Denmark; University of Bristol; University of California, Davis; University of Copenhagen; University of Havana; University of Innsbruck; University of Vienna.

The students for the third intake of the IST Austria Graduate School were selected from 421 applicants, 53 of whom were invited for personal interviews at IST Austria. In the first year of the multidisciplinary IST Austria Graduate School, the students will work on research projects in three different groups and attend advanced courses covering the entire spectrum of research represented at IST Austria. Upon successfully passing the qualifying exam, students join research groups at IST Austria to pursue their doctoral research. Online application for joining the IST Austria Graduate School in fall 2013 opens in mid-November until the deadline of January 15, 2013.