Incoming

Welcome to the information area for international exchange students in Mathematics at the University of Vienna!

On this website, you will find information about your ERASMUS stay in our field of study at the University of Vienna. Please read the information carefully. If you have further questions, please contact your mobility coordinator (see below) who has been indicated in your Letter of Acceptance.

Please make sure you also read the International Office's checklists which are relevant for your period of stay carefully as they provide important general information. You can find these lists on the right sidebar of the linked website, under "Downloads".

Content of this page:

Contact Persons
Course offer and course choice
Learning Agreement / Department-Specific Confirmations
Course registration
Exams and Transcript of Records

1. Contact persons

Mobility Coordinator

Our mobility coordinator will help you with questions concerning your studies at our department. He/she provides information regarding specific courses, course registration and exams, the Learning Agreement, courses offered in English, etc.

Univ.-Prof. PhD Henk Bruin

E-mail address: henk.bruin@univie.ac.at
Telephone: 0043-(0)1-4277-50617
Fax: 0043-(0)1-4277-850617
Address: 1090 Wien, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1
Room No.: OMP1 09.127

Office hours during the semester: Wednesday 15h-16h (excluding holidays)

In case you will be doing research in Vienna (for example for your master thesis) and require additional supervision, please discuss this with your mobility coordinator as soon as possible.

If you have already arrived in Vienna and need advice or signatures for documents such as the Learning Agreement, we kindly ask you to consult the coordinator during his/her office hour. This can be done without appointment. Alternatively, you can make an appointment outside of the office hour by e-mail.

Please always indicate your level of study (BA, MA, PhD, BEd, MEd), when contacting us by e-mail!

International Office

For general information concerning your ERASMUS stay, please visit the website of the International Office. The International Office receives your nomination from your home university and sends you the Letter of Acceptance. They can answer questions regarding your admission and student ID card, accommodation, living in Vienna, etc.

2. Course offer and course choice

Course Catalogue

For other (organisational but not related to study-content) questions, it may be more appropriate to contact Mag. Hazivar (alan.hazivar@univie.ac.at). Starting in 2021, the department is changing to a new Bachelor's curriculum. Unfortunately, this is indicated on the course catalog in a most confusing way. For incoming ERASMUS students at Bachelor's level, the relevant bachelor program is the 2014 one. Therefore:

Pick your courses from the 2014 version, even though it says "discontinued". As the 2021 version only started in WS2021, currently only the first academic year is scheduled according to this curriculum. Starting with WS2022, the second year of the Bachelor's courses can be chosen according to the new curriculum, and so on.
Choose separate courses, not "modules", that is courses with a six-digit number 25XXXX + a two-letter code (VO for lectures, UE for exercises, SE for seminars). "Modules" on the other hand have a three-letter code, consist of more than one course, not always running in the same semester. Therefore the total ETCS-number of a module might not agree with the sum of the ECTS-numbers of the courses listed under it in ONE semester (as the remaining ECTS might be part of another semester).
Be aware that at this department lectures and exercise classes are separate units, with separate ECTS-numbers. In principle, you could choose one without the other, although choosing both together is the usual thing to do.
For courses outside the math department, you should ask the ERASMUS coordinator of that department for permission. Language courses are always OK. Incoming students nominated for mathematics, however, should do the majority of their courses at the mathematics department.

The courses offered by our department can be found in the course catalog. Detailed course information, such as the language of instruction, first course sessions, lessons per week, and ECTS credits are stated in the respective course descriptions. Should you need even more detailed information about a certain course, please contact the mobility coordinator.

The course catalog for the upcoming semester is published in August (for the winter semester) or January (for the summer semester). If you need an overview of the offered courses earlier, please refer to the course catalog of a relevant preceding semester. (However, many courses are NOT offered in a one-year cycle.) Please note that not all courses are held each semester and changes to the course offerings are possible.

Our courses are usually held in the faculty building.

Language requirements and courses taught in English

In order to take up your studies in our field of study, you are required to speak and write German at a B1 level for the Bachelor's level, or English at a B1 level for the Master's or PhD level, according to the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). ERASMUS students do not need to complete any official language test; however, your home university must confirm the required level during your online nomination. Basic language skills in German are strongly recommended in order to be able to find your way around in Vienna.

In our field of study there are regularly courses taught in English. You can find them in the course catalog u:find entering the following command (replacing bracket terms appropriately, keeping the space characters).

For courses taught in English during the winter semester: lang:en SPL [25] [year]W (for example, lang:en SPL 25 2015W)
For courses taught in English during the summer semester: lang:en SPL [25] [year]S

At the Faculty of Mathematics, as a rule, courses at the BA level are taught in German (although some training courses are offered in English); courses at the MA and PhD level are taught in English.

ECTS and course types

Please note that the number of courses and the amount of ECTS credits you need to obtain at the University of Vienna depends on your home university’s requirements.

There are different course types: lectures (Vorlesungen, VO) and lectures with discussion (Vorlesungen mit Konversatorium, VK) are courses where regular attendance is not mandatory. There usually is a written or an oral exam at the end of the semester in order to obtain a grade. Training courses (Übungen, UE), proseminars (Proseminare, PS), and seminars (SE) are courses with compulsory and regular attendance. Assessment criteria are active course participation, presentations, midterm tests, papers, and written and/or oral end-term tests.
Grades are awarded within a five-digit grading system ranging from 1 (excellent) to 5 (unsatisfactory).

As an exchange student you do not have to take courses from the StEOP module ("Studieneingangs- und Orientierungsphase" i.e. "Introduction and Orientation Phase"); you are even recommended not to take any of these courses.

Advanced students who have been nominated for the Bachelor's program may also attend courses from the Master's program if they have sufficient knowledge on the subject. However, this must be approved by the mobility coordinator first.

If you have been nominated for our field of study, you can follow all types of courses offered by our department.

Courses for external students in our field of study

Exchange students who have not been nominated for our field of study but who would still like to take courses at our department can participate in lectures. You do not have to discuss your participation in lectures with our mobility coordinator first; if you want these lectures confirmed on your Learning Agreement, however, he/she is the person to do so.

Exchange students who have not been nominated for our field of study but who would still like to follow courses at our department can participate in lectures without having to discuss this with the course instructor or the mobility coordinator beforehand. For participation in other types of courses, they are asked to see the mobility coordinator during his/her office hours after their arrival in Vienna in order to discuss the possibility. However, permission to participate in our courses cannot be guaranteed beforehand.

3. Learning Agreement / Specific Confirmations

Learning Agreement

On our part it is sufficient if you provide your Learning Agreement after your arrival in Vienna at the beginning of your ERASMUS stay.
Please see the mobility coordinator during the office hours to discuss the details of your course choice in person.

Confirmation of other courses

Please note that our mobility coordinators can only confirm courses from our field of study. If you wish to attend courses outside our field of study, you should use an extra Learning Agreement which lists these courses. Further information on this matter can be found here.

Participation in language courses at the Language Center can be confirmed by our mobility coordinator. Please bring a registration confirmation or a certificate of a completed course.

Participation in courses relating to Austria can also be confirmed by our mobility coordinator, since these courses are offered for all exchange students regardless of their nominated field of study. Please bring along a copy of the course list when getting the signature.

Regarding Learning Agreements, following courses at other faculties is occasionally allowed, but the decision lies with the ERASMUS coordinators of those other faculties. Students should take the initiative to contact them to discuss this. For names and contact data of coordinators on other faculties, please contact the International Office. However, we expect that at least half of the ETCS is done within Mathematics (Lecture codes starting with 25).

Other study-related confirmations

In case you need particular documents signed for your home university that include course-specific information such as language of instruction etc., please see your mobility coordinator during the office hours. For any documents that should just indicate the dates of your registration or de-registration at the International Office, please contact the International Office.

4. Course registration

At our faculty, courses at MA- and PhD- levels, and thus all course taught in English, do not require online registration; you can simply come to the first lecture and register there. Please be sure not to miss the first lecture though, as later registration might not be possible.

Should you wish to take a course taught in German at the BA level where online registration is required, please check this page for a description of the registration procedure (in German only) or contact our colleagues from the SSC (Study Service Center).

5. Exams and Transcript of Records

In order to sit exams it is often necessary to register for exams via U:SPACE. Registration for exams usually starts 1-3 weeks before the day of the exam.

Exam dates

The exam dates are usually announced during the first course session at the beginning of the semester. Exams are usually held at the end of the semester or up to one week after that.

Transcript of Records / Confirmation of Attendance:

Grades and ECTS credits are usually registered in U:SPACE within one month after the exam. The system allows you to print your transcript of records with a digital signature at least until the end of April (stay in the preceding winter semester) or until the end of November (stay in the preceding summer semester).

In case you do not need a grade or ECTS credits but just a confirmation of attendance for a course, please mention this to the respective course instructor right at the beginning of the semester.