Administrative Details for Students
Vienna definitely is a very good place to spend your student days!
With a heap of state and private universities and other academic institutions, the city is by far the largest student hub in the German speaking region, accomodating approx. 130.000 students.
The ECTS-System
This system ("European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System") has been adopted by virtually all universities to facilitate recognition of academic records within Europe.
Widely used in addition to the "traditional" Austrian system of Semesterwochenstunden (which counts the weekly hours of course attendance within one semester), the ECTS-System is supposingly based more on the actual students' workload, which is supposed to also include the workload of homework and study time.
For more details refer to the official ECTS Users' Guide (pdf-File).
Enrolment at University
The steps to be taken for your registration at the University differ depending on your status (Regular Student, Joint Study, Erasmus,...). Please refer to the Student Mobility Office or the Department for Studies and Examinations for detaillied information about the process and the given timeframe. In some cases a pre-registration (online) for exchange students is necessary before arriving in Vienna.
Residence Registration in Vienna
It is mandatory for everyone to register with the Municipal District Office (Magistratisches Bezirksamt) within three days after your arrival in Vienna.
You have to bring your passport and the completed Meldezettel, a form which can be downloaded as pdf-File (additional information attached as well).
Additionally, all EU citizens who are staying in Austria for longer than 3 months have to register again within the first 3 months in order to receive a confirmation of registration (Anmeldebescheiningung, a fee applies).
One of these Municipal District Offices can be found in every district, a list is provided online. Pay attention to check the opening hours!
Explanations and Abbreviations
In study programs and lecture timetables you are more than likely to stumble upon a lot of abbreviations for courses such as these ones:
| VO | Vorlesung | lecture | usually professors "chalk and talk", (often) large group, limited interaction |
| VU | Vorlesungs- übung | lecture & exercises |
usually "chalk and talk" with practical exercises, (often) larger group |
| UE | Übung | practical training |
small group, (often) personal registration, participation welcome, group work |
| PS | Proseminar | seminar | small group, (often) personal registration, participation welcome, group work |
There are quite some courses for which you have to register personally at the beginning (which is mostly the semester start). Make sure to check this fact as it might be very difficult to "repair the situation" if you forgot to register and the course is full.
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We hope you enjoy the visit on this site and your time in Vienna!