Medical University of Graz PhD Programme

The Medical University of Graz runs one of the more transparent doctoral schemes in Austria, and the transparency is the point: successful applicants receive a fully funded working contract of 30 hours a week for three years, structured as one initial year plus a two-year extension, at a stated gross monthly salary of EUR 2,832.10. That is employment, not a stipend or a fee waiver — you are paid staff of the university, with Austrian social insurance and a doctoral residence permit that follows from the contract. The university states plainly that students of all nationalities are encouraged to apply, and that its Welcome Center helps with the visa application and residence permit, which matters when you are coordinating document attestation from Colombo. Entry requires a Master's degree or equivalent in the natural or life sciences or medicine, and it must have involved a written thesis — a taught master's without a research component will not clear the bar. Research covers the full spread of a medical university: cardiovascular and metabolic research, cancer biology, neuroscience, immunology, molecular medicine and translational clinical research. For a Sri Lankan MSc or MPhil graduate in biomedical sciences, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacy or medicine, this is one of the cleanest funded doctoral routes into continental Europe.

The call that opened 29 July 2026 closed on 10 September 2026. Calls follow an annual summer cycle, so the next one typically opens the following summer — monitor medunigraz.at for the current round.