TU Wien

TU Wien – Technology for People

TU Wien is Austria’s largest research and educational institution in the field of technology and natural sciences. Here, over 4,000 academics are working on ‘Technology for People’ in five key areas of research across eight faculties.

The content of the courses offered is based on the excellent research, benefiting around 26,000 students in 62 courses of study. As a driver of innovation, TU Wien strengthens Vienna’s status as an economic hub, enables collaboration and contributes to the prosperity of society as a whole.

Mission Statement

In order to enable universities to fulfil their specific social tasks – scientific research and teaching as well as raising public awareness – the high good of freedom of research and teaching must be preserved and continuously cultivated. TU Wien is firmly anchored in Austria’s innovation and science system. In accordance with its mission statement ‘Technology for People’, this anchoring is built on the following foundations and values:

  • Research
  • Academic Affairs
  • Participation

Research – Developing Excellence in Scientific Research

As a premier research university we build our reputation through our scientific and artistic research. TU Wien conducts research and pursues the advancement of the arts (both in the specialist and trans- and interdisciplinary subjects offered). It is committed to maintain the high standards it has achieved and to further enhance them by networking, collaborating and pooling its strengths in national and international collaborations.

History of TU Wien

TU Wien has its origins at Karlsplatz in the centre of Vienna. It was founded in 1815 under the name ‘k. k. polytechnisches Institut in Wien’.

On 4 April 1805, Emperor Franz II (I) (1768–1835) instructed the Imperial Commission on Education to produce a report on the question of establishing a polytechnic institute in Vienna.In March 1810, Johann Joseph Prechtl (1778–1854) was appointed to develop an organisation plan and course programme.

After countless revisions, the draft received imperial approval on 31 August 1817.

Prechtl himself was appointed the director of the future educational institution on 24 December 1814.

TU WIEN Alumni make history

TU Wien Alumni
Christian DopplerJoined the Imperial and Royal Polytechnic Institute as an Assistant in 1829. Gave his name to the Doppler effect.
Richard ZsigmondyStudent at the Technical University of Vienna from 1883. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1926.
Viktor KaplanStudied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University from 1895. Gave his name to the Kaplan turbine (hydroelectric power stations).
Heinz ZemanekStudied Communications Technology at the Technical University from 1937. He built one of the first fully transistorised computers, called ‘Mailüfterl’.
Franz ViehböckGraduated from TUW with a degree in Electrical Engineering, first (and so far the only) Austrian astronaut. Currently on the Board of Berndorf AG.
Judith EngelStudied Civil Engineering at TUW. Project leader in the construction of Vienna’s Central Railway Station. Head of ÖBB Infrastruktur AG from 2022.
Barbara OberhauserStudied Technical Chemistry at TUW. Senior Vice President and Head HSEF, NAYARA Energy
Susanna ZaprevaGraduated in Electrical Engineering at TU Wien. She is currently CEO of enercity AG.
Anna KiesenhoferStudied mathematics and physics at TU Wien. She became famous for her victory in the road race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021.
Ferenc KrauszIn 2023, Ferenc Krausz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his fundamental research in laser optics. In its citation, the Nobel Prize Committee specifically mentioned the experiments he carried out at TU Wien. Ferenc Krausz has been Director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching since 2003.

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