Training Programme

Academic education and skills training. The DKCC offers students a special programme that strengthens their research skills as well as communication and team skills. The interdisciplinary working environment at the University of Graz and the focus on the profile-building area of "Climate Change Graz" support this endeavour. Doctoral students are also integrated into international networks and brought together with partners from the world of science.

Excellence. The faculty of the DKCC covers a stimulating variety of research areas and offers an outstanding research environment in which students from different disciplines can find excellent research topics and guidance for their dissertations. The DKCC offers both discipline-specific training and interdisciplinary seminars and colloquia, summer academies and workshops. The DKCC aims to train a select group of outstanding doctoral students for careers in universities, public and private research institutions, international organisations, management consulting, business and public administration.

Every doctoral student in the DKCC programme has a primary supervisor and a secondary supervisor in their dissertation project. The second supervisor (co-supervisor) is a DKCC faculty member from another discipline who provides support in interdisciplinary issues and complements the research project. The first supervisor remains the main person who is responsible for scientific questions, assistance and control with regard to the successful completion of the dissertation (content, schedule, publications). The doctoral student and first supervisor meet regularly to discuss the progress of the dissertation. Meetings with the second supervisor take place less frequently and are orientated towards the progress of the work and the student's concerns.

Career and personal development: In addition to the first and second supervisor, every doctoral student has a mentor. Mentoring is understood as a "beneficial relationship in which one person shares their knowledge, skills and experience to give direction and support to another person in their career and life". Students choose their mentor themselves - depending on what best supports them in their development and goal achievement. Mentors can be academic experts with many years of experience, such as university professors, or alumni from the first phase of the DKCC (peer mentoring). Together, goals for the dissertation project are formulated and personal and professional visions are visualised. In addition, the mentor acts as a contact person in the event of conflicts.