VDTR Newsletter No. 6
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July 2026

Newsletter No. 6

Flying kites against a blue sky

 

Dear VDTR Members,

With a slight delay, we are sending out our latest newsletter to mark the end of the spring/summer semester of 2026. In addition to looking back on past activities, we would especially like to look ahead and draw your attention to current activities and upcoming events, including our call for applications for two VDTR pre-doc positions (deadline: 19 July). We’d appreciate it if you could let interested candidates know about this call (and, of course, if you apply yourself).

We wish you a relaxing as well as productive summer and will be back in September!
Best regards
The VDTR Team


P.S.: The VDTR Office will be closed from August 10–31.

Content

1. VDTR News

2. Upcoming Training Opportunities 

3. Funding Opportunities (Fellowships, Research, Mobility, Prizes)

4. Events and Activities of our Partner Institutions (Workshops, Conferences)

1. VDTR NEWS
A group of 4 people looking at a screen

VDTR Call for Applications - deadline 19 July 2026

You may have already heard about this: The Vienna Doctoral School of Theology and Research on Religion VDTR invites applications for two fully funded, three-year doctoral positions in theology or research on religion. Find the call and all necessary information can be found on our website.

VDTR Peers in Malta

In collaboration with the Archdiocese of Malta and as a VDTR peer activity, the doctoral candidates in theological ethics organized their own summer school on the theme “Moral Theology in the Mediterranean,” held in Malta from 26–30 May 2026. The program included both an international doctoral colloquium and participation in the conference “Who Cares? Society, Religions, and the Concern for the Other,” hosted by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta. You can read the full report here.

Smart Collaboration Award for Coordinators of Doctoral Schools

The doctoral school coordinators at the University of Vienna work together across faculties - and in some cases across the entire university - strengthening the field of doctoral studies as a whole. In recognition of this, the coordinators received the Smart Collaboration Award as part of the Univie Awards 2026. The award ceremony took place on June 25, as part of the Univie Summer Party.

2. UPCOMING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 

14 - 18 September 2026: VDTR Writing Week

This is your chance to carve out dedicated time for your dissertation, articles, or other academic writing — all in the company of peers, in an atmosphere that's both productive and genuinely supportive.

Come and go as it suits you: shape your own schedule, join for a day or the whole week, and take part exactly as much (or as little) as feels right for you. Just bring your laptop, notebook, and whatever else helps you write, and we'll take care of the rest.

(And yes — plenty of coffee breaks along the way!)

 

Everyday from 9am to 5pm in Seminar room 5 (1st floor, Schenkenstrasse 8-10).

Save the Date: Next Open Research Day on 9 November 2026

Mark your calendars! Our next Open Research Day is coming up — a cornerstone event of the VDTR, held once per semester.

This is your opportunity to present research, get valuable feedback, sharpen your presentation skills, and connect with PhD students and supervisors across disciplines. Come celebrate the thematic diversity of our community! Registrations will start in September.

Course Offerings of the DSPL60 (fall/winter 2026/27)

are now available online. 

Browse the course directory and find your course programme. 

Take a look at the comprehensive training offer on u:rise! 

Many training opportunities are available, including several training dates for the basic teaching qualification and various courses on the use of AI in research and teaching. Contact us if you need help finding the right course for you, we are happy to help!

u:rise Highlights for VDTR PhD candidates: 

Mini-Workshops on Research Data Management during the summer (Offers in German and English)

Do you work with research data and want to learn more about how to manage, document, or make it reusable? Then we warmly invite you to join the summer workshop series!

The Research Data Management team is offering a series of compact mini-workshops over the summer. Each one-hour session provides a practical, hands-on introduction to key topics in research data management. Afterwards, there is optional time for questions, discussion, and applying what you've learned directly to your own data.

The individual sessions don't build on one another and can be attended independently — feel free to join whichever topics are relevant to you, based on your own needs and interests.

More information can be found here.

3. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Marietta Blau-Grant, OEAD, 1 September 2026 (last chance!) > preparatory online seminar on 14 July 2026

DOC Fellowship, ÖAW, 15 September 2026

EurAsia Young Scholars Award for Research in East and Southeast Asia (Alpha+), ÖAW, 15 September 2026 (also postdoc)

Mannagetta Fellowships, ÖAW, 20 October 2026

ÖAW Post-DocTrack, 16 November 2026

FWF ESPRIT program, rolling submissions

Transkribus CLARIAH-AT Scholarship (also postdoc)
rolling submissions

License Pool for Software, CLARIHA-AT (also postdoc)
rolling submissions

Travel Grants, CLARIAH-AT (also postdoc)
rolling submissions

FWF Book publication grant
rolling submissions

Become an OeAD science ambassador and talk about your research at schools in Austria!

rolling submissions 

4. EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF OUR PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

20 - 23 July 2026: Summer School "Religion und Politik - eine komplexe Beziehung (in German)

07 - 11 September 2026: Circle U Summer School "AI and Society in a Transforming World"

Winter Term 2026/27: Circle U Lecture series on Academic Freedom

Would you like to give us feedback on our Newsletter? Is there something you would like to share with the VDTR community? We would love to hear from you! Please send your thoughts to contact.vdtr@univie.ac.at
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Vienna Doctoral School of Theology and Research on Religion VDTR
University of Vienna | Schenkenstrasse 8-10, 1010 Wien | vdtr.univie.ac.at
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