University of Graz

The University of Graz (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz), founded in 1585, is Austria’s second oldest university and one of the largest in the country. Many excellent scientists, amongst them six Nobel laureates, have taught and researched here. With 32,500 students and 4,300 employees the University of Graz contributes significantly to the vibrant life of the Styrian capital. Its location in Europe encourages a lively scientific, economic and cultural exchange with South-East Europe, from which not only the city benefits, but also its educational institutions.

The university is divided into six faculties, the two largest are the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the Faculty of Natural Sciences. The other faculties are the Faculty of Law; the Faculty of Business, Economic and Social sciences; the Faculty of Environmental, Regional and Educational Sciences; and the Faculty of Catholic Theology. The Faculty of Medicine was separated from the university by state legislation in 2004 and became an independent university – the Medical University of Graz. The faculties offer a wide range of undergraduate (BA, BSc), graduate (MA, MSc), and doctoral degree (PhD) programmes, as well as special teaching degrees in their specific areas of expertise.

Since its re-installation, the university has been home to many internationally renowned scientists and thinkers. Ludwig Boltzmann was professor at the university twice, first from 1869 to 1873 and then from 1876 to 1890, while he was developing his statistical theory of heat. Nobel Laureate Otto Loewi taught at the university from 1909 till 1938 and Victor Franz Hess (Nobel prize 1936) graduated in Graz and taught there from 1920 to 1931 and from 1937 to 1938. The physicist Erwin Schrödinger briefly was chancellor of the university in 1936.