Strategic priorities

In today’s world, new knowledge, technological and societal developments chase each other with unprecedented speed, generating opportunities but also new, complex challenges. 

The University of Vienna, a top 100 university, spans a wide range of disciplines, from natural and life sciences to arts and humanities, and can therefore play a unique role in addressing these challenges. Building on our established strengths, we have identified six strategic priorities where we aim to make a meaningful impact by harnessing the insight and expertise of our scholars and educators.

What are cultural identities and political systems? How can we guarantee high-quality education? What roles do language, religion and demographic change play in the pluralistic society of the 21st century? 

The Culture, Education and Democracy strategic priority addresses the foundations of human coexistence and communication in the face of racial, gender, and political conflicts. 

Working on this strategic priority:

Research networks

• Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET)

Research platforms

• The Challenge of Urban Futures: governing the complexities in European cities
• Transformations and Eastern Europe
• Mediatised Lifeworlds: Young people's narrative constructions, connections and appropriations
• Mobile Cultures and Societies
• Responsible Research and Innovation in Academic Practice
• Gender: Ambivalent In_Visibilities (GAIN)
• Multilateralism Revisited: The Past, Present, and Future of International Negotiation and Cooperation
• Trustworthy Science Communication

Interinstitutional research networks

• Joint Research Network Elfriede Jelinek! with the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK)

New technologies, especially artificial intelligence and machine learning, are rapidly and radically changing our private and professional life. Can we harness their power and ensure a sustainable, human-centred application? 

The University of Vienna is perfectly positioned to contribute to the development of these technologies and to explore their impact on society, ethics and law. 

Working on this strategic priority:

Research networks

• Data Science

Research platforms

• Governance of digital practices (until 2024)

Social inequalities, nutrition, physical activity and the media affect our identity, health and well-being. 

In the Global Health strategic priority, academics connect across disciplinary boundaries to investigate how we can promote physical and mental health for all people.

Working on this strategic priority:

Research networks

• Health in Society Research Network

Research platforms

• The Stress of Life - Processes and Mechanisms underlying Everyday Life Stress
• AIPN - AI-powered Personalized Nutrition for well-being and disease prevention
• Non-Enzymatic Protein Modifications in Neurodegeneration

Interinstitutional research networks

• Post-Covid Care 
  (Inter-university cluster project with MedUni Vienna)
• Harnessing AI to Strengthen Vaccination Communication  
  (Inter-university cluster project with MedUni Vienna)
• AICARD - Transforming Cardiac Research 
  (Inter-university cluster project with MedUni Vienna)

Ready to face the challenges of the future? At the University of Vienna, scientists in the fields of quantum physics, materials science, mathematics and computer science investigate fundamental questions on space, time and gravity and develop technologies and materials of the future, such as quantum computing or intelligent and green materials.  

In 2025, 100 years of quantum research were celebrated. The University of Vienna discussed the topic intensively as part of the 2025 semester question. Read about it in the Rudolphina, the research magazine of the University of Vienna.

Working on this strategic priority:

Research platforms

• Research platform Accelerating Photoreaction Discovery
• Research platform MMM Mathematics-Magnetism-Materials
• Materials At The Edge (MATE)

Interinstitutional research networks

• Interinstitutional research network Quantum Aspects of Spacetime (TURIS) (with the Austrian Academy of Sciences)