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The University of Vienna (Austrian German: Universität Wien, Austrian German: [univɛrsiˈtɛːt ˈviːn]; Latin: Universitas Viennensis) is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation. With around 85,000 students and approximately 11,000 employees, it is one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Europe. As of the academic year 2024–2025, the university offered 185 degree programmes.

The University of Vienna is associated with 17 Nobel Prize laureates and has been home to numerous scholars of historical and academic significance, including Erwin Schrödinger, Karl Popper, Stefan Zweig, Friedrich Hayek, Gustav Mahler, Sigmund Freud, Gregor Mendel, Ludwig von Mises, among others.

History

Middle Ages to the Enlightenment

The university was founded on March 12, 1365, by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, hence the name "Alma Mater Rudolphina". After the Charles University in Prague (1347) and Jagiellonian University in Kraków (1364), the University of Vienna is the third oldest university in Central Europe and the oldest university in the contemporary German-speaking world; it remains a question of definition as the Charles University in Prague was German-speaking when founded, too. However, Pope Urban V did not ratify the deed of foundation that had been sanctioned by Rudolf IV, specifically in relation to the department of theology. This was presumably due to pressure exerted by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, who wished to avoid competition for the Charles University in Prague.

The pope later granted an endowment to the university in 1365, while papal assent was finally received in 1384. This led to the University of Vienna and its Faculty of Catholic Theology being granted the status of a full university. The first university building opened in 1385. It grew into the biggest university of the Holy Roman Empire, and during the advent of Humanism in the mid-15th century was home to more than 6,000 students.

In its early years, the university had a partly hierarchical, partly cooperative structure, in which the Rector was at the top, while the students had little say and were settled at the bottom. The Magister and Doctors constituted the four faculties and elected the academic officials from amidst their ranks. The students, but also all other Supposita (university members), were divided into four Academic Nations. Their elected board members, mostly graduates themselves, had the right to elect the Rector. He presided over the Consistory which included procurators of each of the nations and the faculty deans, as well as over the University Assembly, in which all university teachers participated. Complaints or appeals against decisions of the faculty by the students had to be brought forward by a Magister or Doctor.Being considered a Papal Institution, the university suffered a setback during the Reformation. In addition, epidemics, economic stagnation, and the first Siege of Vienna by Ottoman forces had devastating effects on the city, leading to a sharp decline in enrollment. For Emperor Ferdinand I, this meant that the university should be tied to the church to an even stronger degree, and in 1551 he installed the Jesuit Order there. As time went on, conflicts between the Jesuit school and the university arose. This led Emperor Ferdinand II, in 1623, to pass a law that incorporated the Jesuit College into the university. It was only in the mid-18th century that the Jesuits lost influence over the university and when Empress Maria Theresa ensured that the university went under the control of the monarchy. The university would later focus on the education of physicians and civil servants. Her successor Joseph II continued her reforms and further liberalized the university, abolishing official attire and allowing both Protestants and Jews to enroll by 1782, as well as introducing German as the compulsory language of instruction the year later.

Campus

The University of Vienna does not operate from a single, unified campus. Historically, the university's activities were centred in the city centre. Today, its academic facilities are distributed across Vienna. The university's main building on the Ringstraße serves as its symbolic and administrative centre and is commonly referred to as the Hauptuni (main building). The Main Building houses the Rectorate, most of the deaneries, the central service units, the Main Library, a few departments with their specialist libraries and numerous lecture halls.The Campus of the University of Vienna was opened in 1998 and was created by converting the old general hospital. It houses a large number of departments and specialist libraries. The University of Vienna does not have one single campus. The remaining facilities of the University of Vienna are spread across more than 60 locations in Vienna and other federal states.

Nearby facilities include the Neues Institutsgebäude (New Institute Building, NIG), located directly behind the main building. Other important locations of the University are the Max Perutz Labs Vienna, the University Centre Althanstraße, the University Vienna Biology Building (UBB), the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Mathematics at Oskar Morgenstern Platz.

Since 2004, the Medical University of Vienna has been an independent university; before, it was part of the University of Vienna as a medical faculty.

Library

The Vienna University Library is the oldest university library in the German-speaking world (founded in 1365) and comprises the Main Library and the 33 departmental libraries at various university locations throughout Vienna. The library's primary responsibility is to the members of the university; however, it is publicly accessible. Use of the books in the reading halls is open to all persons without the need for identification, which is only required for checking out books or other media. The library's website provides direct access to information such as electronic journals, online indices, and databases.

Rudolf IV had already provided for a publica libraria in the Foundation Deed of 12 March 1365, where the valuable books bequeathed by deceased members of the university should be collected. Through many legacies, this collection was subsequently greatly increased and became the basis of the old Libreye that was accommodated in the same building as the student infirmary. In addition, there were libraries in the separate Faculties and in the Duke's College.

From the 17th century onwards, interest in the old library, with its manuscripts and incunabulae, went into decline and the modern library in the Jesuit College came to the fore. In 1756, the oldest university library was finally closed down and its books, 2,787 volumes, were incorporated into the Court Library, of which Gerard van Swieten was then director. After the dissolution of the Jesuit order (1773), the new "Academic Library" was created out of the book collections of the five Lower Austrian Colleges and many duplicates from the Court Library. This was opened on 13 May 1777, the birthday of Maria Theresa of Austria, in the building of the Academic College. Initially, the stock consisted of some 45,000 books, and during Emperor Joseph II's dissolution of the monasteries, this was soon considerably extended. In contrast to its antecedents, the new library was open to the general public. Between 1827 and 1829, it acquired the classicist extension (Postgasse 9) to the Academic College, in which it was to be accommodated until 1884. In that year, the main library, with some 300,000 books, moved to Heinrich von Ferstel's new Main Building on the Ring, where stacks for some 500,000 volumes had already been prepared. With an annual growth of up to 30,000 volumes, the surplus space was soon filled. Book storage space had to be extended continuously. One hundred years later, the complete library, including departmental and subject libraries, comprised more than 4.3 million volumes.

Organization

The University of Vienna, like all universities and academies in Austria, once featured a system of democratic representation. Power in the university was divided equally among three groups: students (the largest group), junior faculty, and full professors. All groups had the right to send representatives to boards, who then voted on almost every issue. From 2002 on, the government of Austria, headed by chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, reformed the university system, transforming the institutions into legal entities, but also concentrating power in the hands of the full professors.

The reform also introduced a board of governors and tuition fees. In 2013, those amounted to about €381 per semester for students from Austria, the European Union as well as some non-EU countries, while students from developed non-EU countries usually pay double that amount. The reforms also separated the medical departments into separate medical schools, such as the Medical University of Vienna.

Management

The main bodies of the university are the Rectorate, the University Council, the Senate and the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). There are 15 faculties and five centres, as well as a large number of other organisational units that support the administrative and academic tasks of the University.

Rectorate: Is responsible for the strategic direction of the University and consists of the Rector and four Vice-Rectors.

University Council: Alongside the Rectorate and the Senate, this is one of the highest governing bodies and consists of nine members who are appointed for a term of five years.

Senate: This is another central governing body of the University of Vienna and consists of 18 members.

Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Supports the University in relation to international scientific developments and long-term strategic decisions.

Programmes

Students at the University of Vienna can select from 185 degree programmes. In the academic year 2024/25, the University awarded 4,106 first degrees (bachelor's and diploma degrees), 1,841 master's degrees, and 242 doctoral and PhD degrees.The University of Vienna offers degree programmes in various disciplines, which are offered as the bachelor's and diploma programmes, master's and teacher education programmes, and doctoral programmes and PhD programmes

Faculties and centres

The University of Vienna consists of 15 faculties and 5 centers:

• Faculty of Catholic Theology
• Faculty of Protestant Theology
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics (not to be confused with the Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Academic reputation

In the THE ranking for 2026, the University of Vienna came in at number 95, making it the first Austrian university to break into the top 100. In the QS World University Ranking 2026, the University of Vienna ranked 152nd worldwide, making it the highest-ranked Austrian university. In the Shanghai Ranking for 2025, the University of Vienna continues to rank in the 101-150 group, remaining the highest-ranked Austrian university and the only one from Austria in the top 200.

Overall, the University of Vienna ranks among the top 50 in 13 subjects in the subject rankings of these three providers in 2025. The University of Vienna has the highest ranking in Mathematics and in Arts and Humanities. In Mathematics it is placed 34th in the world according to the Shanghai-Ranking. In Arts and Humanities it is placed 35th and 54th in the world according to the THE and QS ranking respectively. Outstanding subjects include Geography (ranked 28th globally in 2013), Linguistics and Philosophy (both 46th globally) and Law (ranked 73rd globally). 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.

An overview of the QS World University Rankings by subjects:

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings by subjects:

The Shanghai-Ranking in Mathematics:

Awards

The University of Vienna has affiliations with eleven Nobel Prize winners. In addition, 15 academics from the University have been awarded the Wittgenstein Prize, Austria's most prestigious academic award. Since 2007, the University of Vienna has received 159 ERC Grants awarded by the European Research Council (ERC). This puts the University of Vienna in first place among all research institutions in Austria (as of 2025).

Notable people

Faculty and scholars

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 school 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.

Other famous scholars who have taught or teach at the University of Vienna are Theodor W. Adorno, Alexander Van der Bellen, Manfred Bietak, Theodor Billroth, Ludwig Boltzmann, Ulrich Brand, Franz Brentano, Anton Bruckner, Rudolf Carnap, Conrad Celtes, Adrian Constantin, Viktor Frankl, Sigmund Freud, Karl Samuel Grünhut, Eduard Hanslick, Edmund Hauler, Jalile Jalil, Leon Kellner, Hans Kelsen, Adam František Kollár, Johann Josef Loschmidt, Franz Miklosich, Oskar Morgenstern, Otto Neurath, Johann Palisa, Pope Pius II, Karl Popper, August Reinisch, Elise Richter, Baron Carl von Rokitansky, Rudolf von Scherer, Peter Schuster, August Schleicher, Moritz Schlick, Ludwig Karl Schmarda, Joseph von Sonnenfels, Josef Stefan, Olga Taussky-Todd, Hans Thirring, Walter Thirring, Walter G. Url, Leopold Vietoris, Carl Auer von Welsbach, and Wilhelm Winkler.

Nobel laureates

There are total 17 Nobel Prize Laureates affiliated to the university as follows:

Alumni

Some of the university's better-known students include: Kurt Adler, Franz Alt, Wilhelm Altar, Maria Anwander, Napoleon Baniewicz, Ilse Barea-Kulcsar, Bruno Bettelheim, Rudolf Bing, Lucian Blaga, Hedda Bolgar, Michael Brainin, Josef Breuer, F. F. Bruce, Elias Canetti, Ivan Cankar, Otto Maria Carpeaux, Friedrich Cerha, Felix Ehrenhaft, Olga Ehrenhaft-Steindler, Mihai Eminescu, Stephen Ferguson, Paul Feyerabend, Heinz Fischer, O. W. Fischer, Ivan Franko, Sigmund Freud, Adolf Albrecht Friedländer, Alcide De Gasperi, Nathan Michael Gelber, Hilda Geiringer, Kurt Gödel, Ernst Gombrich, Franz Grillparzer, Karina Grömer, Werner Gruber, Karl Samuel Grünhut, Pamela Gutman, Hans Hahn, Jörg Haider, Michael Haneke, Friedrich Hayek, Leo-Ferdinand Henckel von Donnersmarck, Theodor Herzl, Anneliese Hitzenberger, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Edmund Husserl, Marie Jahoda, Max Jammer, Elfriede Jelinek, Percy Julian, Karl Kautsky, Leon Kellner, Hans Kelsen, Hryhoriy Khomyshyn, Jan Kickert, Rudolf Kirchschläger, Gertraud Knoll, Arthur Koestler, Jernej Kopitar, Karl Kordesch, Arnold Krammer, Karl Kraus, Bruno Kreisky, Richard Kuhn, Hermann F. Kvergić, Paul Lazarsfeld, Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Gustav Mahler, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Lise Meitner, Gregor Mendel, Karl Menger, Franz Mesmer, Egon Orowan, Franz Miklosich, Alois Mock, Wolf-Dieter Montag, Matija Murko, Paul Niel, Joachim Oppenheim, Eduard Pernkopf, Anton Piëch, Ioan Nicolidi of Pindus, Pope Pius III, Hans Popper, Karl Popper, Otto Preminger, Wilhelm Reich, Wolfgang Rohrbach, Peter Safar, Monika Salzer, Mordecai Sandberg, Mordkhe Schaechter, Karl Schenkl, Max Schloessinger, Marianne Schmidl, Andreas Schnider, Arthur Schnitzler, Albin Schram, Joseph Schumpeter, Wolfgang Schüssel, Peter Schuster, John J. Shea, Jr., Mihalj Šilobod Bolšić, Maria Simon, Felix Somary, Marian Smoluchowski, Adalbert Stifter, Countess Stoeffel, Yemima Tchernovitz-Avidar, Eric Voegelin, Maria Wähnl, Kurt Waldheim, Calvin Edouard Ward, Otto Weininger, Slavko Wolf, Eduard Zirm, Stefan Zweig, and Huldrych Zwingli.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)