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• Order your u:card

  To prepare your u:card (the new student ID card of the University of Vienna) it is also necessary to upload a scan of your travel document (passport or identity card – also stating your citizenship) as well as a photo directly to your u:space account and to accept the library regulations. You will get detailed information regarding the topic of ordering the u:card when receiving your student ID number.

   

  Details concerning the photo for your u:card:

  • The head must fill about 2/3 of the picture.
  • The background must be single-coloured and provide sufficient contrast to the face.

  The Photograph:

  • must be no older than six months
  • must allow recognition of the person beyond doubt
  • must be uploaded as a JPEG or PNG file, max. 5MB
  • must be in colour
  • must show nothing but the person to be photographed

  Useful links:

  u:account

  u:space
• How to pay the fee for the Austrian Student’s Union

  All exchange students are exempt from paying a tuition fee at the University of Vienna. However they are required to pay a Student´s Union Fee (=ÖH- Beitrag) each semester (2024/25: 24,70€)

  You will find information on payment options in your u:space account under "Financial Matters": "Students’ Union fee". Here you can also check whether your payment has been registered ("received on" willl appear next to the fee).
  
  One possibility is to pay the fee with a credit card (only Mastercard or Visa) via u:space. In this case the sum is credited to the University of Vienna’s account immediately.

  Furthermore you can also find information on what details need to be provided for a bank transfer (IBAN, BIC, and your identification number for the respective semester). Please enter your identification number in the field "payment reference". If your bank does not include this field, please ask your bank which field to use to ensure that the mandatory identification number is communicated to the receiving bank with the transfer. After completing the payment it usually takes about a week for the money to be transferred to the University of Vienna’s system.

  Please note that if the payment is not received within the deadline (winter semester: 31 October; summer semester: 31 March), your enrolment cannot be finalised.
• Validate your u:card

  Exchange students receive their u:card at the orientation session, regardless of whether they have paid the students’ union fee or not. However, you cannot validate the u:card until the Austrian Students' Union fee has been registered in the University of Vienna’s system.

  You will be able to purchase the semester ticket for public transport and once you have activated your u:account you may register for courses without a valid u:card. However, you will not be able to use the library for free nor get any student discounts (for example for theatre tickets) until your u:card has been validated.
  
  It is possible to get discounted copy cards and discounts for Mensa menus (canteen) through the Austrian Students' Union (ÖH). Please contact the Students’ Union directly for information on how to take advantage of discounts using your u:card.

  Further Information:

  • u:card 

   

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• Course types

  There are different types of courses at the University of Vienna:

  Courses with a final exam ("nicht-prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltungen")

  • e.g. lectures ("Vorlesungen", VO)
  • Regular attendance is not mandatory
  • There is usually a written or an oral exam at the end of the semester 

  Courses with continuous assessment ("Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltungen")

  • e.g. training courses ("Übungen", UE), proseminars ("Proseminare", PS) and seminars ("Seminare", SE)
  • Compulsory regular attendance
  • Assessment criteria are active course participation, presentations, midterm-tests, papers and written and/or oral end-of-term tests

  As an exchange student you do not have to take courses from the STEOP module ("Studieneingangs- und Orientierungsphase"). Indeed, we generally recommend that you do not take any of these courses during your stay. 

  Students who have been nominated for the bachelor programme may also attend courses from the master's programme provided they have sufficient knowledge on the subject. This must be clarified in advance with the mobility coordinator.
• Course catalogue (u:find)

  The course catalogue u:find contains all courses (“Lehrveranstaltungen” or LVs) offered at the University of Vienna and is only available online. Moreover, you can search for staff and organisational units within the University of Vienna.

  Courses taught in languages other than German are marked with a blue button in u:find.

  The course catalogue is available from August or January for the forthcoming semester. It will, however, still be updated and new courses can still be added until the beginning of the semester. If you need to know what kind of courses are available before the new course catalogue is published, please use the one from the previous winter or summer semester, which will give you an idea of the courses on offer. Please keep in mind, however, that not all courses are offered every year/semester.  
• Courses outside your nominated field of study

  Please note that as an exchange student you generally have to select courses in the field of study that you have been nominated for. If you are interested in taking courses from a different field of studies, this counts as taking courses outside your nominated field of study.

  This must be discussed with the mobility coordinator of the other field of study AFTER your arrival in Vienna. However, there is no guarantee that a place will be available.

  Each field of study handles this topic a bit differently. You will find some initial information regarding the possibility of attending courses outside your nominated field of study in this list.

  Exceptions: specific courses related to Austria, which are, in principle, open for every exchange student, and language courses at the Language Center of the University of Vienna.
  
  Please note that you must always register for a course, even if you are just interested in taking it. Students cannot attend a course unless they have registered online within the registration period.

  Information about the confirmation of courses outside your nominated field of study on the Learning Agreement can be found below under the item “Learning Agreement”.
• Stay abroad to conduct research for your thesis

  If you are going to come to the University of Vienna for research purposes and would also like to have additional support beside your independent research, please discuss this matter with your mobility coordinator at the University of Vienna.

  According to the curricula of the University of Vienna, no ECTS credits are awarded for pure research activities for bachelor, master or PhD theses or other scientific papers. During their stay at the University of Vienna, exchange students can only obtain ECTS credits for completed courses and exams. Consequently, it is not possible to sign ECTS credits for research activities on the Learning Agreement. 

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• Course registration

  The deadlines for course registration depend on your field of study and are usually listed in the course catalogue u:find in the individual course details. Registration for courses in the winter semester usually starts in the beginning of September; registration for courses in the summer semester in the beginning of February.

  The first-come-first-served principle does not apply during the course registration periods. Please note that it is mandatory to register for a course, even if you are not yet sure that you will eventually take it. It is not possible to attend a course without prior registration by the respective deadline, nor is it possible to be registered by the course instructor after the deadline.

  In most cases, course registration is done online via u:space. In some cases, course registration must take place via e-mail or in person. You will find the relevant information in the course directory.

  --> General information incl. registration deadlines

  --> Additional information on how to register for courses via u:find/u:space
• Mandatory attendance at the first course session

  Please note that in the case of courses with continuous assessment (UE, PS, SE), course registration itself does not guarantee a spot in the course: if you do not attend the first session of the course without prior notification, you will be de-registered, and your spot will be given to someone on the waiting list.

  Therefore contact the course instructor IN ADVANCE if you are not able to attend the first class, otherwise you will lose your spot even though you registered correctly.
• De-registration from courses

  Should you change your mind during the semester and decide not to attend a course after all, you will have to de-register from the course. As a rule, de-registration from courses will be possible in u:space within the first two weeks after the course has started.

  
  Students who do not de-register from a course in time will most likely receive a negative grade (5).

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• Discounts for incoming students

  Please note that the course fee must be paid in full when you register for the course. You will be refunded the discount subsequently when you present confirmation of your exchange student status to the Language Center. 

  By presenting their Certificate of Arrival, incoming students can obtain a discount of 20% on preparatory intensive courses in February and September, on summer language courses and on the trimester course. There is no reduction for German semester courses.

  Course books are not included in the course fee.

  Incoming students get a discount of 25% on the regular price of language courses for languages other than German.