| Johannes Kepler University Linz | |
|---|---|
| Johannes Kepler Universität Linz | |
| Latin: Alma Mater Kepleriana | |
| Established | 1966 |
| Type | Public |
| Rector | Richard Hagelauer |
| Students | 13,700 (2008)[1] |
| Location | Linz, Austria |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | http://www.jku.at |
The Johannes Kepler University of Linz (German: Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, short: JKU) is a public institution of higher education in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, diploma and doctoral degrees in business, engineering, law, science, and the social sciences.
Today, 13,700 [1] students study at the park campus in the northeast of Linz, with 1 out of 9 students being from abroad. The university was the first in Austria to introduce an electronic student ID in 1998 and the whole campus has Wireless LAN coverage.
The university is home of the Johann Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics (RICAM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
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The JKU was established as the "College of Social Sciences, Economics and Business" (Hochschule für Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften) in 1966. The Faculty of Sciences and Engineering was established three years later and in 1975, the college was awarded university status and the Faculty of Law was integrated on campus. The university was named in honor of astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) who wrote his magnum opus harmonices mundi ("The Harmony of the world") in Linz during the early 17th century and taught mathematics at a school for the landed gentry (Adelichen Landt-Schuelen) near Linz.[2] At present, the campus added the "Science Park", an additional building for science and engineering institutes.
JKU's campus is located in the northeast of Linz, in the Auhof area of the St. Magdalena district. The university buildings are placed in a 90 acre (364,000 m²) park centered around a pond.
The campus is accessible by the public tram lines 1 and 2 and the express bus line 77. On weekdays, trams travel every 7–8 minutes and a trip to the city center (Hauptplatz) takes approximately 16 minutes.
The JKU is also located close to Austria's autobahn network at theDornach exit on the A7 Mühlkreisautobahn (ca. 1 km or 0.6 miles). In anticipation of extending the campus, an additional autobahn exit, Auhof, is currently in the construction stages and is expected to better facilitate traffic, allowing a more direct route to the university.
A bicycle path in the north-east corner of the town located along the north side of the Danube river provides direct access to the university and helps to reduce traffic in the area.
Many larger dormitories are within walking distance of the university, such as the Julius Raab Heim, the WIST Haus, the Kepler Heim, the ESH and the KHG Heim. Several other dormitories are located in different parts of Linz, providing housing for more than 3,100 students in all of Linz.[3]
Some of the dormitories become hotels during the summer holidays, most notably the Julius Raab Heim under the name Hotel Sommerhaus.
The university Rector and Academic Senate are responsible for the university's management. There are four vice rectors who are each assigned to specific task areas and who assist the Rector. The university board is an independent body that advises and counsels the Rector and Academic Senate on management issues. Deans and faculty committees are responsible for management on a faculty level. Rector and deans are elected for a 4 year period whereas faculty committees are elected for a 2 year period.[4]
In 2007 Richard Hagelauer was elected Rector. At present, Ferdinand Kerschner is head of the Academic Senate and Ludwig Scharinger is head of the University Council .[5][6][7]
The Johannes Kepler University has three faculties with a total of 110 institutes (seven of these not associated with a specific faculty).[8]
The Faculty of Social Sciences, Economics and Business is the oldest and largest faculty in terms of students and graduates. The faculty consists of 32 institutes and offers academic degrees in Economics and Business Administration, Business Informatics, Business and Education, Social Economics, Sociology and Statistics.[9][10]
The faculty's abbreviation SoWi is derived from the German name of the faculty, Sozial- und Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
The Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences was established in 1969 and initially offered degrees in Technical Mathematics, Computer Science and Technical Physics. Over time, degrees in Technical Chemistry, Mechatronics and Information Electronics were introduced.[10]
Several Master's degrees to specialize in the area of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics, such as Pervasive Computing, Industrial Mathematics or Biophysics are available. Doctorate degrees are offered in the areas of Natural Science and Technical Science.
The TN faculty consists of 51 distinctive institutes and the German name is Technisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, hence the abbreviation TN or TNF.
The Faculty of Law was officially established in 1975. Before that time period, law degrees were offered by the SoWi faculty, which was then theFaculty of Social Sciences, Economics, Business and Law. In addition to Diploma and doctorate degrees in law, the RE faculty offers a Bachelor's degree in Business Law in cooperation with the SoWi faculty.[10] Law degrees are also offered via multimedia distance learning.[11]
The abbreviation RE is derived from the first two letters of the faculty's name German name, Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät. At present, the RE faculty consists of 20 institutes.
The JKU maintains several distance learning centers in Austria that offer degrees and courses at the German FernUniversität Hagen, the British Open University and JKU's own distance law degree program.
There are three other universities in Linz: The University of Arts Linz, a public university for arts and industrial design (ca. 800 students), the Anton Bruckner Private University for Music, Drama, and Dance with approx. 1000 students enrolled, and the Catholic-Theological Private University Linz with about 500 students, which has been a Papal faculty since 1978.