The University of Vienna is hiring a predoctoral University Assistant in Computer Science: a paid PhD job in the Multimedia Information Systems research group, working on automated detection of misinformation in multimedia content. It is an employment contract, not a scholarship. The basic salary is EUR 3,776.10 gross a month on a full-time basis, and this post is 30 hours a week. The contract is advertised for three years and can be extended to four. The start date is 15 December 2026, and the Deadline is 30 November 2026.
You need an excellent master’s degree in computer science, media technologies, business informatics or a similar field, and excellent German and English. You apply through the university’s job portal (job ID 5431) with a CV, a motivation letter that sketches a doctoral project, your master’s thesis abstract and your degree certificates. Below I cover the duties, the pay in real terms, the German requirement that rules many applicants out, and how to write the motivation letter for this University of Vienna paid PhD in computer science.
University of Vienna paid PhD in computer science: key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Employer | University of Vienna (Universität Wien) |
| Faculty and group | Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia Information Systems research group |
| Doctoral school | UniVie Doctoral School Computer Science (DoCS) |
| Title | University Assistant Predoctoral (prae doc) |
| Research topic | Automated detection of misinformation in multimedia content |
| Hours | 30 hours a week |
| Salary | EUR 3,776.10 gross a month on a full-time basis, higher if relevant work experience is credited |
| Pay grade | Collective agreement §48, VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) |
| Contract | Three years: 1.5 years first, extended automatically to three unless the university gives notice within 12 months; extension to four years possible |
| Start date | 15 December 2026 |
| Job ID | 5431 |
| Contact | Professor Wolfgang Klas, wolfgang.klas@univie.ac.at |
| Closing date | 30 November 2026 |
German is mandatory
The advert lists excellent written and spoken German and English as a required qualification, not a nice-to-have. If you do not speak German at a high level, this post is not realistic, however strong your computer science record is. Look at the comparison table further down for English-only options.
What the predoc job involves
A “University Assistant Predoctoral” in Austria is a junior academic staff member who does a doctorate as part of the job. You are employed, paid a salary with social insurance, and you also teach. The duties listed are:
- Research: take part in research projects and studies, with your own focus on detecting misinformation in images, video and other multimedia.
- Publish: contribute to papers, articles and conference presentations.
- Sign a doctoral agreement: you are expected to sign a doctoral thesis agreement within 12 to 18 months of starting.
- Teach: including running your own courses, as the collective agreement defines.
- Supervise students: for example on bachelor’s or master’s projects.
- Organise events: help with meetings, conferences and symposiums.
- Administration: take part in department, teaching and research administration.
You would also join the university’s Doctoral School Computer Science (DoCS). Your supervisor and day-to-day lead would be in the Multimedia Information Systems group, where Professor Wolfgang Klas is the named contact.
Salary: what EUR 3,776.10 means for a 30-hour post
The figure in the advert is the full-time rate. This job is 30 hours a week, so you are paid a share of it. The advert does not do the sum, so here is my calculation, assuming the standard 40-hour full-time week used in the Austrian universities’ collective agreement:
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time basic salary | EUR 3,776.10 gross a month | Stated in the advert |
| Hours in this post | 30 a week | Stated in the advert |
| Estimated gross for 30 hours | About EUR 2,832 a month | My calculation (3,776.10 × 30 ÷ 40) |
| Payments a year | 14 | Stated in the university’s matching advert for a physics predoc post |
| Estimated gross a year | About EUR 39,650 | My calculation (2,832 × 14) |
These are gross figures before Austrian income tax and social insurance, so your take-home pay will be lower. Treat my estimates as a guide and confirm the exact figure with the university. The salary also rises if you have relevant professional experience that the university credits.
Vienna is not cheap for rent, but it has good, affordable public transport, and the advert mentions easy access by public transport. Students and staff often share flats to keep costs down.
Requirements: essential and desirable
| Criterion | Status |
|---|---|
| Master’s degree in computer science, media technologies or business informatics, or an equivalent with a strong computer science focus, with excellent marks | Essential |
| Excellent written and spoken German and English | Essential |
| Strong communication skills and motivation to work in a team | Essential |
| Strong motivation to publish in top peer-reviewed conferences and journals | Essential |
| Perseverance, focus, integrity, ability to deliver, organisational leadership | Essential |
| Comprehensive IT user skills | Essential |
| Knowledge of multimedia systems, digital media technologies and semantic analysis of multimedia content | Desirable |
| Knowledge of misinformation detection, including AI methods, user interfaces and feedback systems | Desirable |
| Programming in Java, C, C++, C#, Python or JavaScript | Desirable |
| Familiarity with Internet of Things, web systems, databases, cloud computing and formal methods | Desirable |
| Research methods and academic writing experience | Desirable |
| Knowledge of university processes and remote teaching experience | Desirable |
The university says it gives preference to women when qualifications are equal, and specifically encourages qualified women to apply.
Visa and residence
The advert does not mention visa support. Citizens of the EU and EEA can work in Austria without a work permit. Applicants from outside the EU, including Nigeria, India and most of Africa and Asia, need an Austrian residence permit before starting. Austria has residence routes for researchers, but processing takes time, and the start date here is 15 December 2026. If you need a permit, ask Professor Klas whether the start date can move.
About the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna was founded in 1365, which its job adverts mention in their motto, and it is one of the oldest universities in the German-speaking world. The advert lists what it offers staff: flexible working hours and partial remote work, an international team, over 600 free internal training courses plus coaching, and a salary that rises with credited experience. It also states an anti-discrimination employment policy.
How to apply for the University of Vienna paid PhD in computer science
- Open the advert: use the “Apply on website” button on the THE Unijobs listing, which takes you to the University of Vienna job portal (job ID 5431).
- Prepare your CV: include your degrees and marks, programming skills, research projects and any teaching.
- Write the motivation letter: it must include ideas for a doctoral project proposal (structure below).
- Add your master’s thesis abstract: one page is enough.
- Scan your degree certificates: include transcripts if your marks are your strength.
- Add publications and teaching evidence: only if you have them; they are optional.
- Submit by 30 November 2026: through the portal.
- Questions: email Professor Wolfgang Klas at wolfgang.klas@univie.ac.at.
How to write the motivation letter and project ideas
The advert asks for ideas for a prospective doctoral project inside the letter, so this is part research proposal. A one-and-a-half to two-page structure:
- Opening: the post (job ID 5431), your master’s degree and your current position.
- Why this topic: what draws you to misinformation detection in multimedia, linked to something you have already done.
- Your skills: the methods you can bring, for example deep learning for images or video, natural language processing, knowledge graphs, or user-facing systems.
- Project ideas: one main research question and two possible directions, such as detecting manipulated images in news posts, linking claims in videos to fact-checks, or designing interfaces that warn users. Keep it short and realistic.
- Teaching: any tutoring or teaching assistant work, since the post includes teaching.
- Close: your German level and your availability from 15 December 2026.
A sample opening, for illustration only: “My master’s thesis at [university] built a [model type] that flags edited images in social media posts with [result], and I would like to extend this work towards multimodal misinformation detection in the Multimedia Information Systems group.”
What happens after you apply
The advert does not set out the stages. University of Vienna predoc hiring usually involves a review of written applications by the group, an interview (often online first, sometimes with a short presentation of your master’s thesis) and then an offer through the university’s HR system. Because the start date is only two weeks after the closing date, expect a quick decision or a later agreed start.
Common mistakes
- Applying without German: it is a stated requirement.
- No project ideas: the letter must include them.
- Treating it as a scholarship: this is a job with teaching and admin duties, and the panel will judge your fit as a colleague.
- Reading the full-time salary as your pay: at 30 hours you get a share of it.
- Leaving the visa question until after an offer: non-EU applicants should raise it early.
Who should apply and who shouldn’t
Apply if you have an excellent master’s in computer science or a close field, an interest in AI and multimedia, and you speak and write German and English at a high level. Graduates from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and other countries where you studied in German are the natural fit.
Don’t apply if you speak no German or only basic German. In that case look at English-language paid PhD posts in our list below, or at funded study routes in our guide to scholarships in Austria without IELTS and our Erasmus Mundus scholarship guide.
Similar paid PhD positions to compare
| Position | Institution | Pay | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Assistant Predoctoral, Physics | University of Vienna, Austria | EUR 3,776.10 gross a month (full-time basis, 14 times a year) | 1 November 2026 |
| Doctoral Researcher in Computational Genomics | University of Helsinki, Finland | EUR 2,600 to 2,850 a month | 19 November 2026 |
| Fully funded PhD in Structural Biology | Masaryk University, Czech Republic | From CZK 30,000 net a month | 8 January 2027 |
| PhD Scholarship, Source Imaging for Drug Resistant Epilepsy | Swinburne University of Technology, Australia | AUD 42,440 a year stipend | 22 November 2026 |
FAQs about the University of Vienna paid PhD
How much does a PhD student earn at the University of Vienna?
For this predoc post the basic salary is EUR 3,776.10 gross a month on a full-time basis. At 30 hours a week that works out to about EUR 2,832 gross a month by my calculation, more if work experience is credited.
Do I need German for the University of Vienna computer science PhD job?
Yes. The advert lists excellent written and spoken German and English as required.
When is the deadline for the University of Vienna predoc in computer science?
30 November 2026, for a start on 15 December 2026.
Is the University of Vienna predoc position fully funded?
It is a salaried job with social insurance, not a scholarship. You are paid for research, teaching and administration while you complete your doctorate.
Sources and updates
I checked this post on 29 October 2026 against the Times Higher Education Unijobs listing 409150 and the University of Vienna’s own job portal entry for the post (job ID 5431), which confirms the 30-hour week, the 15 December 2026 start and the 30 November 2026 deadline. The 14 yearly payments come from the university’s matching physics predoc advert. The monthly and yearly estimates for 30 hours are my calculations, not the university’s figures. I will update this page if the dates change.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
