PhD

Statistics and Operations Research

Brief description
Programme outcomes
Fields of activity
Structure
Personal requirements
Admission
Contact and help

Brief description

Degree programme code: 794 370 136
Degree programe duration: 6 Semesters
Degree: PhD
Language of instruction: English
Admission procedure: Click here

You find useful information on the website of the SSC.

Programme outcomes

The PhD programme in Statistics and Operations Research prepares students for an academic activity in the academic and non-academic fields (applied research) of statistics, operations research or financial and actuarial mathematics.

The structured courses provide students with a sound academic education at international level and enable graduates to conduct successful research in statistics and/or operations research independently and according to international standards.

Students of the PhD programme are involved in the research-oriented and international environment at the Faculty from the beginning of their studies onwards. It allows them to get in contact with leading researchers working at the Faculty or with guest professors visiting the Faculty. This way, students are able to familiarise themselves with the current state of research and contribute to it with their own publications already during their studies.

Fields of activity

A PhD programme serves as a preparation for a career in research in the academic environment of a university or other research institution. The profound methodological education provided by the PhD programme in Statistics and Operations Research enables graduates to analyse complex problems from different fields using modern scientific methods and to provide well-founded quantitative decision-making support.

Structure

Courses ECTS credits required: 30	ECTS credits
Lectures or courses The Department of Statistics and Operations Research (ISOR) offers courses and seminars for doctoral candidates from the fields listed below. Students must choose at least two different fields. 1. Advanced Theoretical Statistics 2. Advanced Applied Statistics and Data Analysis 3. Advanced Stochastic Processes and Models 4. Advanced Optimization	30

Courses
ECTS credits required: 30

ECTS credits

Lectures or courses

The Department of Statistics and Operations Research (ISOR) offers courses and seminars for doctoral candidates from the fields listed below. Students must choose at least two different fields.
1. Advanced Theoretical Statistics
2. Advanced Applied Statistics and Data Analysis
3. Advanced Stochastic Processes and Models
4. Advanced Optimization

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In addition, students of the doctoral programme have to:
submit an application for approval of the intended doctoral project (within the first year after admission to the degree programme);
give a public presentation on their intended doctoral project at the Faculty (held in the framework of the ISOR Colloquium);
submit a progress report to the doctoral advisory board in regular intervals of at least once a year.

Curriculum/Study plan

For all legal regulations and a detailed description of the structure of this degree programme, please refer to the framework curriculum (Rahmencurriculum) and degree specific curriculum)

Doctoral advisory board:

Approval of the intended doctoral project: The application for the approval of the intended doctoral project has to be submitted within the first year of studies to the competent body responsible for study matters including a confirmation of supervision, a research proposal, a time schedule and a list of resources needed. Students have to present the intended doctoral project in the course of the research seminar. If the intended doctoral project is part of a research project that has already been approved externally, the competent body responsible for study matters may approve the doctoral project prior to the presentation at the Faculty.

Doctoral thesis agreement: The doctoral candidate and his/her supervisor have to conclude a doctoral thesis agreement comprising the name of the student, the student ID number and date of birth, the name of the thesis supervisor, the topic of the doctoral thesis, the research proposal, a time schedule, key information about the extent of supervision (particularly about the frequency of the scheduled feedback meetings between supervisor and student) and the declaration of commitment of the doctoral candidate to abide by the rules and regulations of good academic practice.

Doctoral thesis: We encourage the publication of partial results of the doctoral project in academic journals and their presentation at academic conferences prior to the submission of the doctoral thesis.

Public defence: Following the positive assessment of all subjects of examination and of the doctoral thesis, the doctoral candidate has to defend his/her doctoral project in the final oral examination in front of an examination committee.

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Personal requirements

This doctoral programme lays emphasis on statistics and operations research as a science. Graduates of the master’s programme in Statistics are eligible for admission to the doctoral programme. Qualified graduates of other degree programmes may be admitted under certain conditions (the relevant director of studies will be able to provide information for graduates of other degree programmes).

A substantial part of the PhD programme is based on independent research. Therefore, the motivation to discover something new is an important factor for successfully completing this programme.