Association of Private Hospitals in Austria - Scholarships for diploma and doctoral candidates (Verband der Privatkrankenanstalten Österreichs)

What the VPKA scholarship gives you

You will receive up to 2,000 EUR for your final-year project. Half of this amount will be paid to you upon award of the scholarship, and the other half after you have submitted your approved final-year project. The VPKA will also reimburse verifiable travel expenses for research trips within Austria. The funding lasts for 12 months for a diploma thesis and 24 months for a doctoral thesis. You may apply for an extension of up to 6 months. The funds are provided by the Association of Private Hospitals in Austria (VPKA). Each call for applications has a total budget of 5,000 EUR, so the number of grants awarded per round depends on how many strong applications are received.

Who can apply

• Level: You are writing a diploma thesis or a doctoral thesis (dissertation).
• Where you study: You are enrolled at an Austrian university or university of applied sciences.
• Topic: Your dissertation focuses on the topic of the ‘healing environment’ or ‘patient-centred care’. It examines how non-clinical factors such as communication, interpersonal care, the physical environment or distraction affect patients’ recovery, mental wellbeing or satisfaction.
• Field of study: Any discipline relevant to this topic, such as medicine, psychology, sociology, communication studies, health communication, nursing or architecture.
• Supervisor: A supervisor from the university must co-sign your project plan.
• Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome to apply, provided they are studying in Austria.

How to apply

Send the VPKA a project description that your supervisor has co-signed. The last known deadline is 5 October.

If you are working on a diploma or doctoral thesis in Austria, our guide Scholarships in Austria introduces further funding options that may support your studies.