University of Vienna

The University of Vienna (German: Universität Wien) in Austria was founded in 1365 by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria and hence named Alma Mater Rudolphina. It is the largest and oldest university in the German-speaking world (except the University of Prague, which used to be partly German-speaking). To distinguish it from other Viennese universities, it is also often informally (and incorrectly) referred to as "Hauptuni" ("main university").

Organizational Structure: History and Present Developments

University of Vienna, main building, seen from Beethoven's apartment

Festsaal (Ceremony Hall) in the main building

The University of Vienna (as all universities and academies in Austria) featured an innovative system of democratic representation. Power inside the university was shared equally among the three pressure groups: students (the largest), junior faculty and full professors. All groups had the right to send representatives to boards that then took votes on almost all issues. While guaranteeing that all groups had equal chances to bring up changes in the university, some argue that it led to corruption, especially in the nomination of people into prestigious positions.

The present government of Wolfgang Schüssel enacted a reform of the university system in Austria, leading to a concentration of power with the full professors, the introduction of a board of governors (with a government majority in electing it) and tuition fees (currently € 378/semester). Another element of these harshly criticised reforms was the creation of separate medical universities out of the Austrian medical schools, one of them being the Medical University of Vienna -- in the traditional sense, the University of Vienna is therefore not any longer a full university.

Famous scholars

Nobel-prize winners 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 school who studied here included Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Friedrich von Wieser, Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

Famous alumni

Some of its better-known students include Bruno Bettelheim, Rudolph Bing, Josef Breuer, Elias Canetti, Felix Ehrenhaft, Kurt Gödel, Franz Grillparzer, Paul Feyerabend, O. W. Fischer, Ivan Franko, Sigmund Freud, Jörg Haider, Ernst Gombrich, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Karl Kautsky, Arthur Koestler, Otto Weininger, Karl Kraus, Richard Kuhn, Lise Meitner, Gregor Mendel, Josef Mengele, Franz Mesmer, Alois Mock, Karl Popper, Peter Porsch, Wilhelm Reich, Manfred Rumpl, Peter Safar, Arthur Schnitzler, Adalbert Stifter, Kurt Waldheim, and Heinz Gregor Wieser, Gustav Mahler

Gallery

Image:Uni Wien Feststiege, Vienna 2.jpg|One of the staircases in the universityImage:Uni Wien Bibliothek, Vienna 2.jpg|Main reading room of the university libraryImage:Erwin Schrodinger at U Vienna.JPG|Bust of Erwin Schrödinger in the courtyard arcadeImage:Ludwig Boltzmann at U Vienna.JPG|Bust of Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, in the courtyard arcadeImage:University of Vienna - Botanical Garden.JPG|University of Vienna botanical gardenImage:Vienna_Campus_II.JPG|Universitätscampus Wien

See also

*Studying in Vienna
*Education in Austria

External links

*Official website (German and English)
*Study in Austria: A Guide