DISCOVER VIENNA
FIND YOUR STUDY PROGRAM IN VIENNA
VIENNA AT A GLANCE
Located in northeastern Austria, the beautiful city of Vienna is the capital of the country. With its total area of 414.65 km2, Vienna is Austria’s biggest city. Nowadays, more than 1,800,000 inhabitants live, work and study in the city, i.e. almost one-third of the country’s population. In fact, in the past, due to the migration from other countries of the Empire, Vienna’s population was increasing rapidly and in 1910, the city was considered the fourth biggest in whole Europe. Nowadays almost forty percent of Vienna’s inhabitants are foreigners mainly from other European countries such as Poland, Germany, Turkey, Hungary, and even Bulgaria. The official language in Vienna is Austrian German. Because of the many nationalities that live in the Austrian capital, English is also spoken by a lot of inhabitants in the city, especially among the young generation. Moreover, Turkish and French language can be heard on the streets of Vienna really often. The climate in Vienna is considered oceanic with hot summers and relatively cold winters with snowfalls. In June and July, temperatures go up to 28 °C, while in December and January, it is around -2 to 0 °C. The city of Vienna offers its citizens an excellent and extensive transportation network with a unified fare system under the so-called Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region (VOR). Vienna’s public transportation includes buses, underground metro lines, as well as trams. In fact, Vienna is the hub of the Austrian railway system in that it connects all parts of the country. Moreover, the railway system connects the city of Vienna with other major European destinations. Prague in the Czech Republic and Bratislava in Slovakia can be reached within approximately two to three hours by bus and even less by train from Vienna. Amazing Budapest is also not far from the Austrian capital. Students in Vienna and all the travel aficionados living there can benefit from city’s ideal location and spend every weekend in a different city in exchange for a one-wy ticket price of approximately 7 to 15 EUR, depending what kind of transportation they choose and the company they use. Moreover, with a valid student or ISIC card, every trip costs almost fifty percent less. Only eighteen kilometers away from the city center is located the Vienna International Airport that handles more than two million passengers every year. All year round, there are cheap direct flights from the Vienna international airport to destinations such as the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and many others.
Academic Year
Summer Semester: March – September / Winter Semester: October – February
Official Language
German
Higher Education Institutions
19
Population
1888776
Living Costs
900 – 1000 EUR
STUDYING IN VIENNA
Vienna offers many opportunities to its citizens, including an excellent level of higher education. In fact, the city of Vienna is home to eighteen public and private higher education institutions, many of which rank among the world’s top. For example, the University of Vienna is not only the largest university in Austria and one of the biggest higher education institutions in Europe but also a top university that ranks 154 according to the QS World University Ranking. Founded in 1365, the University of Vienna now accommodates more than 90,000 students from both Austria and all around the globe. This is due to the fact that courses there are not only offered in German as a main language of instruction but also a sizeable number of degree courses available in English. From business and economics, through engineering, to medicine, the University of Vienna offers a broad range of degree courses in a variety of fields. Students with different areas of interest will find what they are looking for and can set the roots of their future career life by making the University of Vienna their academic home. As for the student accommodation options in Vienna – just like in the rest of the country –, universities do not offer private on-campus student accommodation. Students can either live in a dormitory or they can rent a room in a shared apartment. The types of rooms in student halls of residence vary – from single rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom on the floor to rooms in apartment-like dormitories. The monthly price for one person in a student dormitory usually is between 350 and 385 EUR including the bills. What students need to keep in mind is that places in student dormitories are usually taken fast so the sooner one applies the better. In case one is not assigned a room in a student hall of residence or simply prefers to live somewhere else, renting a room can come at a higher price. For one person living in a room from a shared flat, the monthly rent with all bills included is approximately 400 to 500 EUR. However, this still depends on the exact location of the flat because the closer it is to the city center, the higher the price will be
VIENNA LIFESTYLE
Vienna is not only an education hub but also considered the cultural and one of Europe’s classical music capitals, having been home to world-known musicians and composers, such as Mozart, Schubert, and Beethoven. Art and culture have a long tradition in the city of Vienna, be it in terms of opera, fine arts or theater. Every year, thousands of tourists from around the world come to Vienna to taste its rich cultural life through different events that take place. Among the most famous ones are the Vienna Opera Ball at the Vienna State Opera, as well as the unique Vienna Festival, where dances, theater plays and opera productions from all over the world are performed for five weeks on end. Vienna really has something for everyone. Besides the hundreds of options citizens have in terms of cultural activities in the city, even an ordinary Sunday morning can be turned into an exciting and most importantly delicious experience. By visiting the five-star hotel and restaurant Sacher located in the very city center of the Austrian capital, people can taste the world’s most-famous cake – Sacher cake (Sacher-Torte) – which is made according to an original recipe. This chocolate-apricot dessert, combined with the unique Viennese coffee, is a piece of Vienna and is an absolute must for every single person who is about to move to the capital.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN VIENNA
Shaping more than twenty percent of the country’s GDP, Vienna happens to be one of the wealthiest and economically most powerful cities in Europe. The city of Vienna is a service-driven place, due to its orientation towards knowledge-intensive business services. Vienna’s stable economy is attracting many foreign enterprises from different sectors and is home to many headquarters of companies. Among the largest employers in the region are Siemens Group, OMV, and Heineken giving employment opportunities to thousands of people in fields, such as mechanical engineering, engineering, telecommunication and many more. Moreover, even students can benefit from the names of those firms by having the opportunity to do an internship in a first-class company.