University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is the central and most important actor in the internationalisation of the tertiary sector in Austria. This is related to the size of the University, its spread of subjects, the attractive location and the active pursuit of the internationalisation strategy.

Roughly one quarter of students are non-Austrians, more than 2,000 exchange students are welcomed and supported at the University each year. Conversely, the University assists the mobility of around 1,000 outgoing students. One third of academic staff of the University of Vienna comes from abroad, the percentage of newly appointed professors from abroad is over 60%.

The University has many degree programmes in English (see below). The University raises over EUR 15 million from the European funding sources every year. More than 50 partner universities, approximately 350 ERASMUS partner universities and memberships in different organisations to ensure excellent international networking at an institutional level.

On 12 March 1365 Duke Rudolph IV (the “Founder”) founded the University of Vienna, "Alma Mater Rudolphina Vindobonensis" as it has been called by literary sources, along the lines of the Sorbonne in Paris. The members of this "universitas magistrorum et scholarium" (the community of teachers and learners) were even initially exempt from taxes and military service. The University of Vienna celebrates its 650th Anniversary in 2015.

Nobel Prize Laureates who taught at the University of Vienna include Robert Bárány, Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Hans Fischer, Karl Landsteiner, Erwin Schrödinger, Victor Franz Hess, Otto Loewi,Konrad Lorenz and Friedrich Hayek. The University of Vienna was the cradle of the Austrian School of economics. The founders of this école who studied and later instructed at the University of Vienna included Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Friedrich von Wieser, Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

The University of Vienna has the highest ranking in Arts and Humanities, where it is placed 35 and 54th in the world according to the THE and QS ranking respectively. Outstanding subjects include Geography, Linguistics and Philosophy. It is rated high in academic reputation and number of international students, but low in terms of faculty to student ratio and citations per faculty.

The University of Vienna is subdivided into 15 faculties and four centres. Faculties are responsible for research and teaching, while centres fulfil specific tasks for the University or predominantly serve either as research or as teaching bodies. 49 directorates of studies and the Studienpräses (officer responsible for the implementation of the study law) are responsible for the organisation of courses. In the area of administration, there are 16 divisions.

Students who do not have sufficient knowledge of German should inform themselves thoroughly about the courses offered in other languages. Please mind that, with the exception of a few fields of study, courses are mainly taught in German. The following master programmes are taught in English:

• Communication Science
• Science-Technology-Society
• Environmental Sciences
• Middle European interdisciplinary Master Programme in Cognitive Science (MEi:CogSci)
• European Master in Health and Physical Activity (Joint Curricula)
• English Language and Linguistics
• Anglophone Literatures and Cultures
• East Asian Economy and Society
• Economics
• Botany
• Ecology and Ecosystems
• Molecular Microbiology, Microbial Ecology and Immunobiology