International Office

Basic information for preparing your timetable

Semester dates and periods when there are no classes (‘holidays’)

You can obtain more information about the structure of the academic year on the website of the University of Vienna. 
 

Course directory (u:find) 

  • The course directory u:find lists all courses (Lehrveranstaltungen, LV) offered at the University of Vienna
  • The course directory for the upcoming semester is available as of August (winter semester) or January (summer semester). However, please note that the directory is not yet complete at this point and courses may be added up to the beginning of the semester. If, for example, you need an overview of available courses for the Learning Agreement before that, please refer to the course directory of the winter or summer semester of the previous year. Please note that not all courses are offered every semester.
  • Courses held in a language other than German are labelled in u:find with a blue button and the respective ISO abbreviation of the language (e.g. ‘en’ for courses held in English).
  • You will find your field of study under the relevant directorate of studies (SPL). Sometimes several fields of study are listed under one SPL. For example, Directorate of Studies 4 Business, Economics and Statistics includes the fields of study Business Administration, International Business Administration, Statistics and Data Analytics, and Economics.  
    You can obtain more detailed information about the field of study and the individual courses directly from your mobility coordinator.

You can find further tips on using u:find on the u:find help website.

to the University of Vienna's course directory (u:find)

Courses in other languages than German are labeled in the u:find course directory with a blue button and the corresponding ISO abbreviation of the language.

The “ISO abbreviation” for courses taught in English is, for example, “en”. A list of ISO abbreviations for other languages can be found on the ISO Codes website.

There are two ways to search for courses taught in foreign languages.

Option 1:

  1. Enter one or more search terms into the search bar in u:find.
  2. Click on “Courses”
  3. By clicking on “all languages,” you can filter for courses in a specific language.

Option 2: 

You can also find courses in other languages than German by entering the following command in u:find (without square brackets, with spaces):

  • lang:[ISO code of the respective language] spl[SPL number] [year][W or S]

You can find the “SPL number” by clicking on “Browse” (“Blättern”) in the course directory — each study program directorate has its own number. 

Example for courses taught in English in Cultural and Social Anthropology in the winter semester 2020:

  • lang:en spl24 2020W

Sometimes several fields of study are grouped together under one SPL (study program directorate). In this case, you can filter courses in other languages than German for a specific field of study using the following command:

  • [year][W or S] lang:[ISO code of the respective language] +sge:[name of the field of study]

Example for courses taught in English in Statistics in the winter semester 2020:

  • 2020W lang:en +sge:Statistik

Please use only the German names of the fields of study, since the English names often do not return any search results.

Types of courses

The University of Vienna makes a distinction between two different types of courses:

  • Courses with non-continuous assessment (npi LV), such as lectures (Vorlesung, VO) – attendance is not compulsory; assessment is usually based on a written exam at the end of the semester.
  • Courses with continuous assessment (pi LV), such as exercises (Übung, UE), introductory seminars (Proseminar, PS) and seminars (Seminar, SE) – attendance is compulsory. Assessment is based on participation, presentations, mid-term tests and an academic paper and/or final oral tests.

As an exchange student, you do not have to attend courses that are part of the introductory and orientation period (STEOP). In fact, it is generally recommended that you do not complete any of these courses during your stay abroad.

Bachelor’s students can usually also take courses from the corresponding master's programme, provided that they have the necessary previous knowledge. In any case, you have to clarify this with the mobility coordinator in advance.
 

Courses – registration and deregistration

  • Registering for courses 
    When you are able to register for courses usually depends on your field of study. Registration for courses in the winter semester usually starts at the beginning of September; registration for courses in the summer semester usually starts at the beginning of February. The applicable registration periods will be announced individually for each course in the u:find course directory. 
    During the registration period, the first-come-first-served principle does not apply. Please note that you have to register in any case, even if you are only interested in attending a course. You cannot attend a course if you have not registered within the registration period via the online registration system. Teachers cannot register students after the end of the registration period.
    Course registration usually takes place online via u:space. In some cases, you can also register by e-mail or in person. Further information is available in the course directory. General information incl. registration periods
     
  • Compulsory attendance in the first course unit
    Please note that it is not sufficient to only register for a course with continuous assessment (UE, PS, SE). If you do not show up for the first session of a course with continuous assessment without providing a reason, you will be deregistered. Places that become available this way will be allocated to students on the waiting list.
    Therefore, if you cannot attend the first session of a course with continuous assessment, please make sure to contact the lecturer IN ADVANCE. Otherwise, you will lose your place in the course even if you have successfully registered for it.
     
  • Deregistering from courses
    If you decide during the semester that you do not want to attend a course after all, you must deregister from it. Deregistration is usually possible up to two weeks after the start of the course directly via u:space.
    If you fail to deregister from the course in time, you will usually be assessed with the grade ‘insufficient’ (grade point: 5).

Exams

  • Online registration for course exams
    You can register for exams via u:space and u:find. You can only take an exam if you have registered for it within the registration period.
     
  • Deregistering from an exam
    If you do not want to take an exam for which you have registered, you must deregister from the exam. If you registered for an exam but do not show up without providing a legitimate reason, you will be blocked for the next exam date. 
     
  • Grading system and ECTS credits
    Austrian grading system
    1    = excellent performance ('Sehr gut') 
    2    = generally good, some errors ('Gut') 
    3    = satisfactory; balanced, a number of critical errors ('Befriedigend') 
    4    = sufficient; performance fulfils the minimum criteria ('Genügend') 
    5    = not sufficient/negative assessment; significant improvement required ('Nicht genügend')
     
  • ECTS credits
    At the University of Vienna, the workload of individual courses and the amount of studying required is indicated in the form of ECTS credits.
    Full-time students at Austrian universities usually complete courses comprising no more than 30 ECTS credits per semester.
    Your home university is responsible for the recognition of credits. If you have any questions regarding recognition, please contact your home university.

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