What are teaching assistant positions?

At the Department of Development Studies, each teaching assistant supports one of the five fields in teaching and research: development research from a global history perspective, development research from a political science perspective, development economics, development policy and development cooperation, and development sociology. Our teaching assistants, who usually work 11 hours a week at the department, belong to the group of student employees according to Section 30 of the collective bargaining agreement for university employees. The contracts are issued for a minimum period of employment of four months; longer employment periods are usually agreed, which last up to two years and in justified individual cases up to four years.

The teaching assistants of the five fields also share cross-departmental tasks among themselves. For this reason, we regard willingness to cooperate and respectful communication on an equal footing to be of particular importance.

Who can be employed as teaching assistant?

Students, who have not yet completed the Master's degree in Development Studies or another related Master's or diploma degree when the employment contract is concluded, can strengthen our team as teaching assistants. Once such studies are completed, further employment in the following term is not possible. The University of Vienna pursues an anti-discriminatory employment policy and values equal opportunities and diversity. We take this aspiration seriously and encourage applications from students of underrepresented groups in academia, especially from third countries, who have to pay tuition.

What remuneration do teaching assistants receive?

According to Section 48 of the collective bargaining agreement, student employees belong to employment group C. The monthly gross salary for 20 hours per week is prorated according to the amount of employment, i.e. for 11 hours it is around 55 percent of this amount.

How are positions awarded?

Since teaching assistant positions do not have to be advertised, employment can commence in agreement with the person in charge of the field after the position becomes vacant. In order to provide as many students as possible the opportunity to work with us, our department usually advertises the teaching assistant positions to be filled via our website, our student mailing list and our ie-newsletter. After the application deadline has passed, suitable candidates are invited to a personal interview in a selection process and a new employee is selected.

Are there other teaching assistant positions that are not assigned to the five fields?

If special budgets are available, for example for projects or special tasks, additional teaching assistants can be employed at the department. These positions can differ from our usual contracts in terms of the length of employment and the number of hours per week. Permitted are teaching assistants contracts with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 hours per week. The appointment is usually made as described above.