TU Wien

TU Wien (German: Technische Universität Wien) is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the largest and most important universities in the country, known for its strong programs in many areas of study.

The university focuses its teaching and research on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. These fields help create new technologies and solve important problems in science and industry.

TU Wien has about 28,100 students, with around 29% of them being women. The university has eight different faculties and employs about 5,000 staff members, including 3,800 academics who guide the students and carry out research.

History

The university began in 1815 when Emperor Francis I of Austria started it as the Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute. Johann Joseph von Prechtl was its first leader. Later, in 1872, it was called the Technical College. Finally, in 1975, it became known as TU Wien.

Academic reputation

TU Wien is a university of technology in Vienna, Austria. It studies many areas of science, from basic research to practical technology work with businesses.

TU Wien is ranked around 190th in the world by the QS World University Ranking. Its computer science department often ranks among the top 100 in the world.

Organization

TU Wien has eight faculties, each led by a dean. These faculties are Architecture and Planning, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Sciences, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Mathematics and Geoinformation, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and Physics.

The university is managed by the Rector and four Vice Rectors who handle areas such as research, academic affairs, finance, and human resources. There is also a Senate with 26 members and a University Council with seven members that oversees the university.

Research

TU Wien encourages development in many areas of technology by combining basic research with different engineering fields. The university works together with other universities, research institutes, and businesses on projects.

The main research areas at TU Wien include computational science, quantum physics, materials, information technology, and energy and the environment. The EU Research Support helps researchers and staff prepare and complete projects with the European Union.

Notable faculty and alumni

TU Wien has had many famous teachers and graduates who have done important work in many fields.

Some of these people include Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen, an Austrian locomotive designer, Alexander Meissner, who helped invent the Electronic oscillator, and Alfred Preis, who designed the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Other notable figures are Christian Andreas Doppler, known for his work in mathematics and physics, and Ferenc Krausz, a Hungarian–Austrian physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023.

The university also counts Ingeborg Hochmair, who developed the first microelectronic, multi-channel cochlear implant, and Paul Eisler, the inventor of the printed circuit, among its distinguished alumni and faculty. Many other scientists, engineers, and architects have made significant contributions to their fields after studying or teaching at TU Wien.

• Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen (1903–1992), Austrian locomotive designer and engineer
• Alexander Meissner (1883 – 1958), Austrian engineer and physicist, co-inventor of the Electronic oscillator
• Alfred Preis (1911–1993), designer of the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor
• Benno Mengele (1898–1971), Austrian electrical engineer
• Camillo Sitte (1843-1903), Austrian architect
• Christian Andreas Doppler (1803–1853), Austrian mathematician and physicist
• Edmund Hlawka (1916-2009), Austrian mathematician
• Edo Šen (1877–1949), Croatian architect
• Elfriede Tungl (1922-1981), civil engineer, first Austrian woman to earn a doctorate in civil engineering, in 1973 became the first female associate professor at TU Wien.
• Ernst Hiesmayr (1920-2006), architect, artist and former rector of TU Wien
• Ferdinand Piëch (1937-2019), Austrian business magnate, engineer and executive who was the chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Group
• Ferenc Krausz (born 1962), Hungarian–Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 2023
• Franz Pitzinger (1858–1933), Constructor General of the Austrian Navy
• Gottfried Ungerboeck (1940), inventor of trellis modulation, IBM Fellow
• Günter Blöschl (born 1961), Austrian hydrologist
• Hannspeter Winter (1941-2006), Austrian plasma physicist
• Heinz Zemanek (1920-2014), Austrian computer pioneer
• Hellmuth Stachel (born 1942), Austrian mathematician
• Herman Potočnik (1892–1929), Slovene space pioneer
• Hermann Knoflacher (born 1940), Austrian engineer
• Hubert Petschnigg (1913–1997), architect (completed his studies at TU Graz)
• Hugo Ehrlich (1879–1936), Croatian architect
• Ignaz Sowinski (1858–1917), architect
• Ina Wagner (born 1946), Austrian physicist, sociologist, professor of computer science 1987 – 2011, TU's second ever female professor
• Ingeborg Hochmair (born 1953), electrical engineer, developed the first microelectronic, multi-channel cochlear implant
• Irfan Skiljan, author of the image viewer software Irfanview
• Jörg Streli (1940–2019), Austrian architect
• Karl Gölsdorf (1861–1916), Austrian engineer and locomotive designer
• Leon Kellner (1859–1928), grammarian, Shakespearean, and Zionist
• Marie-Therese Hohenberg (born 1972), Austrian architect
• Milan Vidmar (1885-1962), Slovene electrical engineer
• Milutin Milanković (1879–1958), Serbian geophysicist and civil engineer
• Ottó Titusz Bláthy (1860–1939), Hungarian mechanical engineer
• Paul Eisler (1907–1992), inventor of the printed circuit
• Paul Schneider-Esleben (1915–2005), visiting professor of architecture
• Peter Schattschneider (born 1950), Austrian physicist
• Peter Skalicky (born 1941), rector of TU Wien from 1991 to 2011
• Richard von Mises (1883–1953), scientist
• Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Austrian philosopher and transdisciplinary researcher
• Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887–1953), early Modern architect
• Siegfried Becher (1806–1873), professor of economics
• Silke Bühler-Paschen, professor of physics
• Tillman Gerngross, Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth College, leading entrepreneur and bioengineer, founder of GlycoFi and Adimab
• Ulrike Diebold (born 1961), Austrian–American physicist, vice president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
• Victoria Coeln (born 1962), Austrian light artist
• Viktor Kaplan (1876–1934), inventor of the Kaplan turbine
• Vinzenz Bronzin (1872-1970), Italian mathematics professor, and pioneering finance theorist
• Yordan Milanov (1867–1932), one of the leading Bulgarian architects from the end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th century
• Zvonimir Richtmann (1901–1941), Croatian physicist, philosopher, politician and publicist

Library

The TU Wien library, called TU Wien Bibliothek, started in 1815. The big building was finished in 1987 and has six floors for students to read and study, with about 700 desks to sit at. It also has special owl sculptures made by an artist from Switzerland.

Sports

In October 2007, the university welcomed teams from around the world for the World Interuniversity Games. This event brought together students from many universities to compete in various sports.