Doctoral programs & Ph.D.
Doctoral Service Centre

Colleagues from the IDA Lab Salzburg (Intelligent Data Analytics) advise active Medical Science doctoral students free of charge on all statistical issues including clinical studies. For researchers outside the doctoral program Medical Science, a consultation fee of € 20 per hour is charged.

The methodology of qualitative research is enjoying increasing acceptance. The disciplines of human medicine, pharmacy and nursing science are utilizing qualitative methods more and more frequently. This can involve various forms of qualitative interviews with individuals or groups as well as the multiple dimensions of observation. Visual methods in the form of photos and films as well as various documents and electronic process data are also used. At the same time, it is also about the basic constructions of qualitative research designs and decisions in the context of qualitative sampling. We will be happy to help you find the right scientific theory, methodology and methods for your research and advise you on the qualitative research process. For researchers outside of of the PhD Medical Science, a consultation fee of 60 euros per hour is charged.

The Doctoral Service Centre offers the following courses via the Clinical Research Centre Salzburg (CRCS):

•     The right study for your research question
•     Preparation of a study protocol
•     Submission of a study to authorities and ethics committees
•     Monitoring, inspections, audits

These courses are free of charge for PhD students in the PhD Medical Science program. Fees apply for persons outside this doctorate. Courses are also offered in English for groups of seven or more participants.

Please contact: CRCS-Studien@salk.at

Research on and with humans requires authorisation by an ethics committee.

In the province of Salzburg, the Provincial Ethics Commission is responsible for studies on medicinal products, medical devices and new medical methods.

Responsibilities of the Provincial Ethics Commission Salzburg include:

•  Clinical trials of medicinal products according to Medicinal Products Act (AMG)
•  Clinical trials of medical devices according to Medical Devices Act (MPG) or Medical Device Regulation (MDR)
•  Performance evaluation tests (in-vitro diagnostics)
•  Research projects that fall under the Hospital Act (KaKuG) in conjunction with the Salzburg Hospital Act 2000 (SKAG)

Multicentre studies and industrial studies must always be submitted to a leading ethics committee in accordance with the AMG or MPG.

CAVE: when testing software, apps, etc., the study is considered ex lege as a study in accordance with the Medical Devices Act (MPG) and falls under the jurisdiction of the provincial ethics committee.

The Institutional PMU Ethics Committee assesses only

• questionnaire studies
• anonymized and pseudonymized retrospective data analyses
• anonymized samples from established biobanks studies with healthy test subjects before the research projects are carried out.

It is not responsible if the review is assigned to another body by law (in particular the Medical Devices Act, Medicinal Products Act, Hospitals Act in conjunction with the Salzburg Hospitals Act).

For research projects outside the province of Salzburg, responsibility is transferred to the locally responsible commission. An overview of the Austrian commissions can be found at the Federal Ministry of Education, Science & Research (BMBWF).

We will be happy to help you find the right ethics committee and advise you on the individual steps involved in submitting an application.

Healthbits consist of nursing bits and public health bits. They offer a university-based yet practice-relevant continuing education programme for interested PhD students and other researchers from the fields of human medicine, pharmacy and nursing science.

This enables them to update their knowledge on a wide range of topics quickly and easily. All courses are based on learning-on-demand strategies and can be completed online using learning modules, so that the courses can be completed at any time and from any location: e.g. health economics, project management, change management, public health for healthcare professionals, communication in healthcare professions, etc. After successfully completing the program, you will receive a certificate from Paracelsus Medical University. The online modules are in German only.

Find out more about the online training program at Pflegebits.at and Public-Healthbits.com.

Advice for international & Erasmus+ students is avaliable at our International Office. The office supports incoming and outgoing exchange students from the Bachelor to the Doctoral level.

The aim of our English language editing service is to facilitate the publication of scientific manuscripts, increase the eligibility of proposals and optimise the readability of texts, e.g. in slides or research posters.

All editors are native speakers with many years of experience. The editing process is limited exclusively to the English language (i.e. word choice, grammar, text structure). No co-authorship claims arise from the editing process. The costs per hour are € 30,- for active doctoral students in Medical Sciences and € 60,- for external persons.

This innovatve online course combines didactical training with English language skills.

This course focuses on the following topics:

• Module 1: Tools for English as a Medium of Instruction
  • Introduction
  • Digital Tools
  • Pronunciation and prosody
  • English for the classroom
  • Academic and English for Specific Purposes
• Module 2: Introduction to EMI practice
  • Multimodal communication in the classroom
  • Teaching methodology and planning
  • Practice teaching through mini-lectures
• Module 3: EMI practice teaching
  • Course design including objectives, outcomes, and assessment
  • Peer observation
  • Practice teaching including individual peer feedback

PMU doctoral students as well as PMU teaching staff and teaching staff at any Austrian higher education institution can apply for an additional 50% discount upon registration. Please attach a copy of enrollment confirmation (for students) or teaching load (for teaching staff) when registering.

Each module is awarded with 2 ECTS under Optional Activities.

Participants must have English language skills at minimum B2 / ideally C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Official test score is not required.

Further information and registration at the International Office (international.office[a]pmu.ac.at).

Course 1: English for staff
Lecturer: James King
Level: Participants must have at least A1 level
Format: Face-to-face at the Salzburg campus

Course 2: Business English
Lecturer: Sophia Lambrakis
Format: Hybrid
Level: Participants must have at least B2 level

Contact International Office (international.office[a]pmu.ac.at.