University of Vienna
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University of Vienna |
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 Latin: Alma Mater Rudolphina or Universitate Vindobonensi
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| Established | 1365 |
| Type | public |
| Rector | Professor Georg Winckler |
| Students | ca 63,000 |
| Location | Vienna, Vienna, Austria |
| Website | http://www.univie.ac.at |
The University of Vienna (German: Universität Wien) is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. Opened in 1365, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Though according to Austrian tradition the school no longer qualifies as a full university, it still offers more than 130 courses of study, and is commonly referred to by Austrians as haupt-uni.
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[edit] History
The University was founded on March 12, 1365 by Duke Rudolph IV and his brothers Albert III and Leopold III. It therefore carries the additional name “Alma Mater Rudolphina.” After the Charles University in Prague, the University of Vienna is the second oldest university in Central Europe and the oldest university in the German-speaking world.
In 1365, Rudolph IV sanctioned a deed of foundation for a doctoral level university in Vienna modelled after the University of Paris. However, Pope Urban V did not ratify the deed for the department of theology, presumably due to pressure exerted by Emperor Charles IV who wished to avoid competition with Prague University. In 1384, approval was finally received from the Pope and Vienna University was granted the status of a full university, including the theology department. The first university building opened in 1385.
The current main building on the Ringstraße was built between 1877 and 1884 by Heinrich von Ferstel. The previous main building was located close to the Stuben Gate (Stubentor) on Iganz Seipel Square, current home of the old University Church (Universitätskirche) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften).
In 1897, women were admitted as full students for the first time—although limited to just the philosophical faculty. The remaining faculties followed, though in part with a considerable lag: medicine in 1900, law in 1919, Protestant theology in 1923, and finally catholic theology in 1946. Eight years after the admission of the first women students, Elise Richter became the first woman to receive habilitation, and she became professor of Romance Languages in 1905; she was also the first female distinguished professor. Not until after the Second World War was physicist Berta Karlik named the first female chair of the University.
[edit] Research and teaching
The research activity of the University comprises some 6,100 scholars. Of these, around 3,200 are active as staff of the University of Vienna and around 900 are active in projects financed by third sources. About 2,000 of these 6,100 belong to external teaching engagements, and many of them nonetheless contribute to the scholarship of the University.
[edit] National and international rankings
The University of Vienna was placed 65th in the The Times Higher Education Supplement University World Ranking 2005, rising from 94th place in 2004. Amongst European universities, the University of Vienna was ranked 19th, having been 31st in 2004. The University is also ranked 40th in the world in the field of biomedicine, and 42nd in the field of social sciences. These world rankings make the University the highest ranked in Austria.
Despite these rankings, in 2006, the German newspaper, Die Zeit, ranked the University poorly, stating its performance in chemistry, biology, and physics as the main contributing factor.
With more than 63,000 students, the University of Vienna is the largest university in Vienna, and is colloquially known—particularly by its students—as the "Hauptuni", or "Main Uni" ("Uni" being short for "Universität"), despite all state universities in Austria being equal.
[edit] Organization and present developments
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 voted 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 former 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, no longer a full university.
[edit] The University Library
[edit] Largest research library in Austria
The University Library of the University of Vienna today comprises sections of the Main Library and of the 50 department and institute libraries at various university locations through the city of Vienna. They are all organized according to the Archive of the University of Vienna. Of first importance, the University Library is responsible for the supply of information to all members of the University. However, its some 350 staff also provide access to the interested public. Use of the books in the reading halls is possible for all persons, with no identification necessary. Library identification is only required upon the checking out of books. The University Library is particularly concerned that its website provides direct access to information, which is offered worldwide over data networks (electronic journals, online databases).
[edit] Library statistics (2005)
- Book inventory: 6,531,875 (of which 2,564,591 belong to the Main Library)
- Journals: 11,536 (of which 2,944 belong to the Main Library)
- Active borrowers: 84,650
- Search queries on OPAC each day: ca. 388,000
- Borrowings and renewals of books each day: 9,200
- Oldest book: Plinius, Historia naturalis (1469)
[edit] Library history
In a letter on March 12, 1365, Duke Rudolph IV had already thought of a publica libraria, where the most valuable bequeathed books of the deceased University members should be collected. This collection was much enlarged by many legates and became the cadre of the old “Libreye,” which was shared a room with a student hospital. There were libraries in the individual faculties and at the Duke's College. Starting from the 17th century, there was a revival of interest in the old library with its manuscripts and incunabula, and the modern library in the Jesuit College came into the foreground.
In 1756, the University library was finally opened, and the books of the Imperial Library (2,787 volumes), which Gerard van Swieten then presided over, were annexed. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1773, the new Academic Library was erected out of the book collections of the five Lower Austrian Colleges and from a large number of duplicates of the Imperial Library.
On May 13, 1777 — the birthday of Empress Maria Theresia — it was opened in the building of the Academic College. This original inventory contained around 45,000 books, which soon expanded during the Josephine dissolution of the monasteries. In contrast to its predecessors, the new library was now generally accessible.
From 1827 to 1829, it received the neoclassical annex (Postgasse 9) to the Academic College, and it remained there until 1884. In that year, the main library moved its some 300,000 volumes into the new main building built by architect Heinrich von Ferstel on the Ringstraße. Magazines for some 500,000 volumes awaited the collection. With an annual increase of up to 30,000 volumes, the reserved space was quickly exhausted. It has required expansions of book storage again and again. Today, the Vienna University Library has the largest book collection in Austria.
[edit] Location
The academic facilities of the University of Vienna occupy over 60 locations in the city of Vienna. The historical Main Building on the Ringstraße forms its center. The seat of the university’s executive and most of its administrative offices are situated there. The nearby University Campus forms an additional spatial center. A large number of the academic facilities have settled there, and the new lecture hall center was erected there.
In the New Institute Building (NIG) of the University, one can find one of the last functioning Paternoster elevators in Austria.
[edit] Faculties and Centers
Catholic Theology, Protestant Theology, Law, Economics, Computer Science, History-Culture, Philology-Culture, Philosophy, Pedagogy, Psychology, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Geography, Astronomy, Life Sciences, Translatology, Sport Science, University Sports
[edit] Famous 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 here included Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Friedrich von Wieser, Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.
Other famous scholars who have taught at the University of Vienna: Theodor Adorno, Theodor Billroth, Ludwig Boltzmann, Anton Bruckner, Conrad Celtis, Viktor Frankl, Eduard Hanslick, Berthold Hatschek, Moritz Hoernes, Hans Kelsen, Johann Josef Loschmidt, Oskar Morgenstern, Johann Palisa, Richard Pittioni, Pius II, Karl Freiherr von Rokitansky, August Schleicher, Ludwig Karl Schmarda, Joseph von Sonnenfels, Josef Stefan, Carl Auer von Welsbach
[edit] Famous alumni
Some of its better-known students include: Franz Alt, Bruno Bettelheim, Rudolph Bing, Lucian Blaga, Josef Breuer, Elias Canetti, Felix Ehrenhaft, Janko Ferk, Paul Feyerabend, Heinz Fischer, O. W. Fischer, Iwan Franko, Sigmund Freud, Kurt Gödel, Franz Grillparzer, Jörg Haider, Ernst Gombrich, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Elfriede Jelinek, Percy Julian, Karl Kautsky, Elisabeth Kehrer, Arthur Koestler, Karl Kraus, Richard Kuhn, Paul Lazarsfeld, Gustav Mahler, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Lise Meitner, Gregor Mendel, Mordkhe Schaechter Franz Mesmer, Alois Mock, Pius III, Karl Popper, Peter Porsch, Wilhelm Reich, Nabil AlNayeb, Peter Safar, Wolfgang Schüssel, Arthur Schnitzler, Adalbert Stifter, Kurt Waldheim, Otto Weininger, and Manfred Rumpl
[edit] Gallery
 One of the hallways in the university |
 Bust of Baron Theophil von Hansen, the constructor of the main building |
 Bust of Erwin Schrödinger in the courtyard arcade |
 Bust of Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist, in the courtyard arcade |
 University of Vienna botanical garden |
 Universitätscampus Wien |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official website (German and English)
- Study in Austria: A Guide
