The ISTernship is a summer scholarship program at ISTA which offers research opportunities to outstanding bachelor’s and master’s students interested in biology, computer science, data science, mathematics, physics, neuroscience and interdisciplinary areas.

Selected ISTerns  will work on a project conducting research under the supervision of one of the professors at ISTA.

ISTerns will receive an introduction to research at ISTA as well as an introduction to the ISTA Graduate School. The program culminates with a poster session, where the ISTerns present their work to their peers, faculty, and the ISTA community.

The duration of the ISTernship program is agreed between ISTern and professor after the selection process is completed.
The period of duration of the ISTernship program is at minimum 2 months and maximum of 3 months taking place between May 15 and September 15.

No. English is the language used for communication at ISTA.

In your application, you need to indicate your preferred professor(s) to work with. The available research topics and professors for the 2025 intake will be made available on our website by December 2024. Selected ISTerns and professors will decide on a project to work on together.

You do not need to contact the professor(s) during the application phase.

If you notice that you have made a mistake in your application or you want to make amendments, please send an email to isternship@ista.ac.at. We can then reopen your application for you to make any changes and you can resubmit. However, please note that we cannot guarantee a timely response in peak times and all required updates must be done by the application deadline, therefore we encourage applicants to double-check their application components before submitting it to prevent mistakes.

If your institution is associated with a university and is not listed as a separate institution in the database, you will need to indicate the university listed in the database.

The search function should enable you to find the correct name used for your institution in the database. Please make sure to enter the entire institution name first, so that you can see all the options from the dropdown menu.

ISTA uses a third-party institution database (ROR), and unfortunately, we are unable to add institutions to the list. If your institution is not listed in the ROR list, no problem. Please refer to the instructions below:

1. Under the “Current Studies” section, fill in all fields accurately. For the field “Institution Name” enter the name of any institution from the same country as your institution that is available in the list.
2. Go to “Extracurricular Academic Background (Optional)” in the field “Additional information you would like us to know about your application” and indicate the correct name of your institution.

Please note this will not affect your application in any way. We are aware of the limitations of the institutions database.

We welcome applicants from across the world.

Applicants must be enrolled Bachelor- or Master of Science students (or similar) in good standing at a degree-granting institution. They must have completed at least the fourth semester of their bachelor’s studies before the respective start date.

Applicants who graduated with a bachelor’s or master’s degree within a year from the program start date, are also eligible to apply. That means applicants who graduated before May 15, 2024 are not eligible to apply for the program. 

Students accepted to or enrolled in a PhD program are not eligible to apply.

ISTernship applicants can also apply for ISTA’s PhD program, however, if they are invited to an interview for the PhD program that would make them ineligible.

All short-term mobility programs between ISTA and Russia have been suspended. As a result, any applicants currently enrolled in universities located in Russia are ineligible to apply for the ISTernship call.

Applicants should use our application portal to apply for the ISTernship Program. A link to our portal will be published on our website. The call for applications for 2025 will open in late December 2024 and the application deadline is February 5, 2025 (15:00 CET).
Please note that reference letters also need to be submitted by the same deadline of February 5, 2025 (15:00 CET). Late submissions will not be considered.

The application deadline for the 2025 intake is February 5, 2025 (15:00 CET).

The deadline for reference letters is the same (February 5, 2025 (15:00 CET)).

To complete your application, you will need the following:

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV):
Make sure to include the following:

1.   your educational history from high school onwards
2.   relevant work experience
3.   additional qualifications
4.   list of publications (if any)
5.   scholarships, awards, etc. (if any)

2. Statement of Purpose:
A one-page essay in which you explain the following:

1.   your research experience and the research area(s) you find the most interesting
2.   your motivation for applying to the ISTA ISTernship program
3.   which professor(s) you are interested in working with

3. University Transcripts/Diplomas:
From current degree and completed/previous degrees preferably in English.

4. Contact of 1 (minimum) or 2 (maximum) referees:
The referee(s) should be someone who taught or supervised your work in an academic setting.

1.   their names
2.   institutions, and
3.   email addresses

The referee(s) will be contacted directly by us (by email) and will be asked to submit a reference letter for you via the system. The reference letter is needed to complete your application.

The letter of recommendation is a statement where the referee assesses the qualities, characteristics, and capabilities of the applicant in terms of that person’s suitability for the ISTernship.

You need to indicate at least one referee in your application. These are people who have taught you or supervised your work and are, therefore, able to evaluate your academic and research performance.

Referees are contacted directly with a link to a recommendation form. Your application is complete only if at least one of your referees submits a letter of recommendation.

Please be aware that the deadline to submit the letter of recommendation is the same as the application deadline. Therefore, please give your referee(s) enough time to submit the letter.

No language certificates are mandatory for the application. You may upload a language certificate for English if you want to.

Updates on all complete applications will be sent from March 31, 2025.

Selected applicants will have 1 week to accept the offer.

The acceptance rate for the ISTernship is normally around 3 %.

All ISTerns receive a monthly scholarship payment. For 2025, the monthly scholarship payment is 1,150 Euros.

In addition, ISTerns receive an allowance for their travel costs and access to affordable health insurance and subsidized housing.

ISTA has entered into an agreement with OeAD in order to facilitate administrative matters.

After accepting your offer to the ISTernship, you will receive the official scholarship document from OeAD. In case you need a visa for coming to Austria, OeAD will send a confirmation to the respective Austrian representative.

OeAD will disburse the monthly scholarship and travel allowance, and arrange an insurance after your arrival if necessary. Note: for visa applications, you will need to take out a travel insurance valid for 10-14 days. For further information, please see www.oead.at/scholars.

All selected ISTerns will have access to subsidized affordable housing either on campus or in Vienna.

By public transport:

1. Take the U4 subway (green line) in the direction of Heiligenstadt until the last stop “Heiligenstadt”.

2. Take the ISTA Shuttle Bus or Bus 400 to the stop “ISTA”. The trip takes approx. 25 minutes.

The best way is to browse our website, the most up-to-date source for events and institute-related announcements. If you’d like to find out more about the PhD program at ISTA, please visit: http://phd.ist.ac.at

You’re also invited to “like” our Facebook page, follow us on Instagram or connect via Twitter to stay in the loop about ISTA and the whereabouts of our scientists!

In addition, there is the quarterly newsletter, which is a summary of the highlights of our institute, in a compact quarterly format.

You can contact the ISTernship Program Team via isternship@ista.ac.at

ISTA strives to guarantee on-campus housing for the duration of your internship and/or for the first year of study as a PhD student, however this is not always possible due to demand. Certain groups, f.ex. those relocating from further afield, may be given priority.

Selected  ISTerns for the ISTernship Summer Program will have access to housing on campus or in Vienna.

There is a variety of extracurricular activities such as sports, student groups and social clubs. Read more here.

You can choose to have breakfast or lunch at the cafeteria. Other options include a café/pub, a Starbucks corner, coffee kitchens in each building, and vending machines. See more about Dining here.

At the moment, we have scientists from over 70 different countries and a very diverse and international student population. About a quarter of our students are Austrian.

ISTA is committed to promoting diversity and equality, and we encourage applicants from all over the world to apply to the PhD program at ISTA.

Austria has a statutory social security system; this means that you will be automatically covered by social insurance as soon as you start your PhD program or scientific internship at ISTA. ISTA will take the necessary steps to register you with the Austrian health insurance company (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse – ÖGK). Social insurance is funded by social insurance contributions, which are paid both by the employer – ISTA – and the employee – PhD student or intern. Insurance contributions are calculated on the basis of the employee’s gross income. Read more here.

The OeAD will support selected  ISTerns for the ISTernship Summer Program obtaining access to subsidized health care.

No. English is the language used for communication at the Institute.

However, being able to speak German makes a lot of things much easier in daily life in Austria. For this reason, ISTA provides free German courses for students enrolled in the PhD program.

If you are not from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you will need to apply for a visa in order to legally take up employment and register as a PhD student at ISTA.

When you get an offer from ISTA, you will be sent information on how to apply for your visa from abroad.

ISTA is located just outside of Vienna, in Lower Austria. The ISTA campus is a 25-minute bus ride from Vienna Heiligenstadt station (U-Bahn line U4) using the ISTA shuttle bus. Please see this page for directions to the institute.

Housing is available on the ISTA campus. International students are prioritized if they choose to live on campus.

There is a guesthouse with 38 rooms (24 single rooms, 6 single rooms equipped to be suitable for persons with disabilities, 4 double rooms, 4 junior suites), for short stays of up to 2 months. For longer stays (2 months to 1 year), there are 28 short term apartments and 90 long term apartments. There are both single and family/shared apartments.

A room or apartment can be rented for a period of up to one year after arrival, giving incoming international students time to find suitable accommodation for the subsequent years. Housing on campus is subject to availability.

Please find more information on the ISTA website.

Selected ISTerns for the ISTernship Summer Program can live on campus (subject to availability) or in Vienna on accommodation provided by the OeAD.

Many ISTA PhD students and staff actually prefer to live in the hustle and bustle of Vienna, since Vienna is consistently voted one of the best cities in the world to live in, with affordable accommodation and excellent public transport connections meaning there is no problem in commuting to campus.

Students also have the choice of living in the nearest town of Klosterneuburg (a quiet area with beautiful woods and close to the world-famous monastery Stift Klosterneuburg).

Our PhD students are an integral part of the scientific community, and apart from scientific research activities, they are also actively involved in various sports and other leisure activities.

There is the annual ISTA Institute Retreat, which scientists and staff of the whole Institute are invited to attend, and at which students are a significant presence.

Some of our students also live on campus, and are actively involved in all the activities that the Institute has to offer.