| University of Klagenfurt | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1960 / 1975 / 1993 |
| Type | Public |
| Rector | Heinrich C. Mayr |
| Admin. staff | 804; 501 of them academic staff (incl. temporary project posts) |
| Students | 10,050[1] (effective: winter semester 2009/10) |
| Doctoral students | 1134[2] (effective: summer semester 2011) |
| Location | Klagenfurt, Austria |
| Website | www.uni-klu.ac.at/ |
The University of Klagenfurt was founded in 1960 in Klagenfurt, Austria. It began as a College of Educational Studies (Hochschule für Bildungswissenschaften). Since October 2004 the official German name is Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt in order to stress the intercultural connections between the Alpine regions and the Adriatic Sea. (In English the university leaves out the cognomen Alpen-Adria.) It hosts about 10,000 students and about 800 staff, including about 500 academic staff.
The University is situated on a campus in the Wörthersee region of Klagenfurt. It hosts four faculties: (1) Humanities and Social Sciences, (2) Management and Economics, (3) Interdisciplinary Studies and Continuing Education (with additional centers in Vienna and Graz), and (4) Technology.
Klagenfurt University has come off very well in the regular rankings of courses and universities.[3] Unlike at many other universities in Austria, there are few courses where pressure of numbers leads to students being excluded. The student-staff ratio is also very favorable.
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In 1964 the Kärntner Universitätsbund was founded, an association to develop a university for the Carinthian region. In 1966 the plan was to set up an institute of higher education in economics; however, by 1968 a new plan had been formed to create an institute for educational science. In 1970 the Austrian parliament passed a law allowing its development, and in 1971 the first, temporary building was in use. In 1972 the first student completed a doctorate there.
From 1973 to 1978 academic courses were started in philosophy, history, German and English language and literature, French, the Slavic languages, mathematics, geography and linguistics. From 1973 the first regular courses at degree and doctorate level began and teachers were trained.
These courses were at first still taking place in temporary buildings, however, as work did not begin on the main university building until 1974. The final, south section was completed in 2000.
In 1975 new laws on the forms of higher education came into force and the name of the institute was changed to Universität für Bildungswissenschaften. This also required a university council to be formed: its first meeting took place in 1976.
In 1977 the first graduation ceremony took place for students completing a Magister degree.
An inter-university research institute for teaching technology, media skills and the teaching of engineering was founded in 1978 but closed down ten years later. In 1979 an inter-university research institute for distance studies was founded. This changed its name to the interuniversity institute for interdisciplinary research and further education (Interuniversitäres Institut für interdisziplinäre Forschung und Fortbildung, IFF) in 1991.
Since 1983 the university has formed partnerships with various foreign universities, now 28 in all. From the same year on, new courses in applied business administration and computer science were developed.
The university officially became the "University of Klagenfurt" in 1993, at the same time setting up faculties for humanities, applied economics and computer science. Since 2004 the university has been officially called the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt. The new faculty for technology has opened in 2007. With its thematic focus on Ambient Intelligence and Applied Computer Science, it is closely collaborating with the adjacent Lakeside Science & Technology Park, one of Austria's largest projects of campus development.
Diploma programmes, Bachelor's degree & Master's degree programmes[4]
Teacher training programmes
Doctoral degree programmes
The Faculty of Humanities currently offers eleven subjects in the humanities and has two specialized institutes. Their ambition, besides carrying out subject-specific tasks, is to foster multilingualism and intercultural education – with particular emphasis on the Alps-Adriatic region.
The Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies develops, tests and evaluates innovative ideas in the academic fields of research, training and organization. The objective of the faculty is to tackle prevailing social problem areas by creating adequate research and learning processes.
The Faculty of Technical Sciences is dedicated to research and training in the fields of informatics, information technology and technical mathematics. The faculty was founded in January 2007 and superseded the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Informatics as well as a newly-established Department for information and communication technology. The faculty is headed by Dean Professor Martin Hitz and Pro-Dean Professor Bernhard Rinner. It is organized into seven institutes and offers four bachelor degree courses, four master degree courses, two doctorate programs as well as two teacher training degree courses.
The special research area self-organizing networked systems works together with the independent research institute Lakeside Labs.[5]
The School of Management and Economics at the Alps-Adriatic University of Klagenfurt has a focus on applied business management while fostering interdisciplinary links with law, sociology, economics and application-oriented geography. Within these disciplines, the faculty concentrates on areas of research and development, teaching and consultancy work in fields where cultural, business and social factors interact.[6]